Page 36 of Deprivation

“Well, I’ll leave you two to fuel up for today’s emergencies,” I call over my shoulder as I walk toward the door. “Jake, let me know if you and the kids want to hit the park on Sunday. See you.” I wave as I head back to the office and away from further temptation.

* * *

Kat

“So, you two seem awfully chummy?” I inquire as Jake and I walk swiftly back to the ER, knowing Dr. Silver’s there alone. “Hitting the park? When did this bromance happen?” I chuckle.

“He’s a good guy, Kat. You should give him a chance.”

“Well, he needs to work on his first impressions. But I’ll admit, when he’s not acting the part of the arrogant orthopod, he isn’t too bad. Heck, I actually saw him crack half a smile the other day. Wasn’t sure he knew how.” I take a large slurp of my succulent coffee before we enter the locked doors to the ER.

“Well, I bumped into him when I took the kids to one of their soccer games. He plays in an adult rec league, and he’s really good. The kids conned him into practicing with them a few times. He’s great with both of them. Kind of a shame he feels the same way about relationships you do. He’d make a great dad,” he insinuates as we turn toward my favorite work station.

Sitting down at my computer, I look at Jake contemplatively. Stunned by the direction of this conversation, I hesitantly push for more. “What are you getting at, Jake?”

“I’m just saying, maybe you two can’t see the forest for the trees. He’s been hurt, you’ve been hurt. He all but intimated that if he was going to trust anyone again, it was most likely going to be someone like him who’d been wronged.” He grabs the chair back of the seat beside me and swings it around so he can sit facing me. “I think you might have an admirer,” he says, lifting one brow and grinning.

“What? You’ve lost your mind. That guy’s not interested in me. Heck, look at him. He can have any woman he wants. And probably does. He’s smart. A successful surgeon. I’m sure he’s loaded, and he’s not bad looking,” I ramble off.

“Is that so?” Jake smirks.

“Oh, knock it off. This conversation is pointless. You know as well as I do that I’m a dick magnet.”

“Who’s a dick magnet and if it’s you, Kat, can I hang with you?” Meghan asks, clapping her hands as she stops on her way to the supply room.

“Not the good kind of dick, Meghan. The ‘he’s a dick’ kind. If they aren’t one when I meet them, it won’t be long before they become one.”

“Oh, there you are, Kat. I’ve been looking for you.” All heads turn toward the unpleasant voice which has just invaded my little sanctuary.

“Ah, Dr. Silver, we were just talking about you.” I smile as Meghan swallows a laugh and Jake attempts to bury his shit eating grin.

“That’s nice. I have a young lady in room twelve who’s concerned she has placed two tampons into her vagina. Could you do her pelvic exam for me?” Dr. Silver asks, not in the least concerned about our private joke.

“How exactly did that happen?” I inquire, utterly amazed at human kind.

“She said she couldn’t remember if there was already one there when she put it in,” he states as a matter of fact and walks away.

“God, how big is her vagina?” I mutter.

“Better you than me, Kat.” Jake chuckles. “Better you than me.”

* * *

An hour later, I’m back to my computer documenting the last few patients I’d cared for, including the forgetful female with thankfully only one newly placed tampon. My mind keeps playing back what Jake said earlier, “I think you have an admirer.”No! There’s no way.Granted, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how he felt pressed against me after handing me that beer. Truth was, I was a little surprised he left his hand on my hip after passing the drink off. But I was still recovering from the electricity I felt as his hand brushed mine. It’s been so long since I’d been with a man, I’d turned into a prepubescent teen, examining every interaction for clues.

“Kat?” Jumping from the sudden intrusion, I’m jolted back to the present by Dr. Silver’s unwanted interruption. “There’s an allergic reaction in room six. I signed up for it about an hour ago, but I’ve been delayed getting to it. Could you see him?”

Um, you just got back from the cafeteria. So you went to eat knowing they were sitting there? Ugh, this guy.“Sure, Dr. Silver. I’m right on it,” I reply, trying not to reveal my continued disgust with his work ethic.

As I approach room six, I knock on the door, open it, and begin to introduce myself when I stand stunned momentarily. A young male, appearing in his early twenties, is seated on the bed with his lips resembling, well, a platypus. Gathering my senses, I walk to the sink to wash my hands before asking my next question. “So when did this happen?”

Speaking with a lisp I suspect he acquired when his lips grew three sizes larger than usual, he answers, “I woke up like thith.”

I interview the patient and his girlfriend on any possible stimulus for his swelling. He denies any new medications, soaps, lotions, or detergents. He states he’s had some food allergies which have caused his throat and tongue to itch in the past, “—but nothing like thith,” he replies.

I inform them we’d be providing intravenous steroids, Benadryl, and reassessing him frequently. He denies shortness of breath or difficulty swallowing. He also states he’d gone to bed symptom free the night before. As I turn toward the door to advise nurse Holly of his treatment plan, his girlfriend states “I’ve been trying to help him, too. With his allergies, I mean.”

I turn to her in question, “What do you mean?”

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