Page 7 of Paging Dr. Breakup
Deirdre was secretly jealous that her brother felt confident enough to set work boundaries and prioritize his personal life and his girlfriend, Lee. Deirdre glanced at Calvin across the table, and he gave her a quick wink. Heat flooded her chest.
If Deirdre truly had an exciting and meaningful personal life, or a family, or hobbies, would she throw herself into her job as much as she did right now? Maybe not, especially if that personal life occurred with one particular person. Her mouth went dry. Moot point.
This was her job. These people were her colleagues. She would continue giving 110 percent and also remain professional, regardless of how much of a tempting vision of a rich life that her brother’s example painted. Regardless of… any other potential temptations.
The meeting shifted to the Breakup Festival and staffing the hospice dunking booth. Anna asked for volunteers, but Deirdre kept quiet and rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. Her pulse pounded in her head.
Water, ice breaking. Falling into the frigid water, even for a good cause and even with safety measures in place, was a no-go. A cold shiver worked its way into her bones. She couldn’t breathe. Her ears buzzed.
Breathe. Push it back. Breathe.
That damned cold wave of grief drowned her at the worst possible times.
Once she had a grip on her emotions, she glanced at Mav. He clearly had guessed why she had clammed up.
“They’re still having the Breakup Festival?” Calvin’s calm, mellow voice unfroze her.
She sat up straight and met his eyes, his expression thoughtful as he studied her, as if she needed a lifeline to draw her out of her watery grief.
Tuli piped up, “Yeah, and if you are quick about it, you can still place your bid for the exact time the ice breaks.”
The absolute last thing Deirdre wanted to do was guess when the damned ice would break.
He continued, “Bidding closes in a few days. The pot is up around fifteen thousand dollars!”
“That’s tempting.” Calvin gave a deep belly laugh, and Deirdre couldn’t help but smile in response. “I do have student loans to pay off.”
Anna leaned forward, almost wolverine-like in her focused expression. “I would be remiss in my job duties if I didn’t mention that there is a state funded student loan repayment program available for physicians. Every year you practice in an underserved area in Alaska, you get a chunk of your debt subtracted.”
Deirdre stared at the paper in front of her like she was cramming for a test. She peeked up at Calvin, who had a thoughtful expression on his face. Calvin here full-time? No way could she avoid him forever.
“Thanks for mentioning it, Anna. I’ll keep that in mind, although my plans are to return to Seattle.”
“I’m sure Bruce and Aggie would love for you to stick around,” Anna said, not giving up. “You’d have a job here.”
Deirdre tapped the table with her pen. “Are you evernotrecruiting, Anna?”
The CEO primly tucked her shoulder-length gray hair back behind an ear. “I take any opportunity that presents itself. You never know when and where you might find great physicians.”
Calvin shifted in his seat as silence descended on the room.
“Anyway,” Deirdre jumped in, “let’s finish with any new agenda items. Our hour is nearly up.”
As they finished out the meeting, Calvin met Deirdre’s eyes and mouthed,thank you.
Chapter Four
Later that day,Cal’s ED shift was in full swing.
He’d treated a man with a fracture—the guy’s hammer mistook a finger for a construction nail. The patient wouldn’t be hammering with that hand for a few weeks.
After stabilizing a woman with severe shortness of breath that turned out to be pneumonia, he placed initial admission orders. When the patient had come into the ED, her oxygen levels were in the low eighties. Now, with a dose of steroid and antibiotics, combined with a breathing treatment and supplemental oxygen, she breathed much easier. Literally. ClickingSIGNon the electronic medical record, he sat back in his chair in the work area. The family physician on call would finish the orders during rounds later today.
One teen’s severe migraine finally responded to a headache cocktail of medications. It was so satisfying to resolve someone’s incapacitating pain and light sensitivity. The big smile from the grateful patient reminded Cal why he enjoyed all aspects of ED work, from the straightforward fixes to those heart-pounding moments when he used his skills to stabilize traumas and manage acute medical conditions.
The most eye-opening discovery about working in a smaller facility with lower patient volumes? He had time for patients and nursing staff. As in, he could actually sit down and talk with them.
Instead of spending the shift calling for stat life-saving equipment and directing personnel through crisis after crisis, he now had the bandwidth to let the patients tell their whole stories. He could truly be present in the exam room instead of always monitoring the unending number of waiting patients in the queue. For the first time in years, he could sincerely ask thepatient what else is concerning you? and not look at the clock when the patient or family offered more detailed information to help him understand their condition.
