Page 23 of Deprived No More

Pulling into the physician’s parking lot, I try to calm my nerves before entering the hospital, just as my phone dances in the front passenger seat.

“Hello?”

“Kat. God, I’ve missed you. Please tell me you can try to fit Libby and me into your schedule soon. I’m dying to see you.” Olivia’s sweet voice lilts through the receiving like liniment.

“Oh, Olivia, you have no idea how much I want that. It’s been a really shitty week.”

“Awe, babe. I’m sorry. What’s next week look like?”

“Well, it’s definitely got to be better than this. Hey, I’m glad you called. I needed to ask a huge favor. Nick’s birthday is coming up, and I wanted to do something special, just the two of us. Is there a chance you could take the girls for the night? I’m pretty sure I can get Rachel to take the boys.”

“Oh, we’d love to have them. What have you got planned?”

“At this point, the only thing I’m sure he wants is sex. We’ve been having a hard time.”

“Oh, no. You two having marriage trouble?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. We just can’t seem to have enough time to ourselves to make it happen without interruptions. We’ve had everything from a fire alarm to Typhoid Mary hit our house lately. We just can’t seem to catch a break.”

“Well, just text me the date and consider it done. And if Rachel can’t take the boys, send them too. I’ll make Mac watch them. Ha. He won’t be asking me for any more babies after that.”

I inwardly groan. Is it because my boys are such a handful or because I’m the only woman on the planet foolish enough to want one more that I now have this pit in my stomach? Whatever this midlife, just one more baby thing is I’m feeling, I need it to go away if it’s not possible. I don’t want to have anything between Nick and me. I’m sure this is just some weird phase I’m going through anyway.

“Kat? You there?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Liv. Yes. I just pulled up at work. Nick had to take the day off with the kids because several are sick. He’s not a happy camper right now, and I’m feeling torn in two directions. I don’t work that much anymore. It’s just the worst timing ever.”

“Babe. Don’t beat yourself up. You can’t prepare for everything. I’ll give him a call. Maybe we can meet him at the doctor, and I can watch out for the ones who aren’t being seen today.”

I nearly cry at her offer. I have the best best friend ever. “Olivia, I-”

“Don’t even finish that statement. You’d do the same for me. I love you. Now go save some lives, Kit Kat. I’ll text you later.” I hear the phone disconnect, knowing she isn’t giving me the chance to decline her offer. Because that’s what the incredible people in my life do.

* * *

“Kat, can you run and grab some more gauze? This guy’s laceration won’t stop bleeding?” Meghan yells from triage.

I bolt toward the lac cart, flinging open drawers to find what I need. Sprinting back to her, we wrap one of the smallest wounds I’ve seen. How could this create such a mess? “Are you on blood thinners, sir?” I ask, mystified.

“Yes. For my heart.”

The poor old guy looks pale, but I cannot imagine it’s from blood loss. There’s no way this tiny cut could have bled enough for that. It’s more likely he’s having a drop in his blood pressure in response to the bleeding, much like when my sister Rachel passes out at the sight of blood.

“I’m going to get you an ice pack. We need to keep this pressure dressing on for a bit and keep it iced and elevated. Hopefully, it’ll slow down the bleeding enough that I can throw a stitch in there and get you home.” I attempt to reassure him.

“Thank you. It was such a freak accident. I was trying to pry two frozen hamburger patties apart, and the knife slipped.”

“It’s not as much of a freak accident as you think. That same scenario happens every year once grilling season returns,” I giggle. “We’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

Walking down the hall, I find Donovan sitting next to my usual spot. Odd, since he rarely comes over here. Well, unless he needs something.

“Hey. Just dropping by to say hi?” I laugh, knowing the odds are good he’s here to ask me to do something for him.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I am.”

I have to bite the inside of my cheek out of guilt. Now I feel bad for judging him. He’s sweet, but often the physicians ask me to do procedures for them so they can focus on their sicker patients. I get it. They have to manage their time well. But most of these physicians still leave on time and get dinner. While that rarely happens for me.

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