Page 5 of Paging Dr. Hart
Ethan leans back in his chair, seemingly at ease. “That’s what I’m doing now, internal medicine, at Highview Hospital in Cleveland. I’m in my second year. Last spring, they named me chief resident.”
I’m sure he’s bragging about his accomplishment to impress me for the interview, but it has the opposite effect.So arrogant.I frown. “You’re close to finishing your residency there. Why switch to radiology?”
That pretty smile of his fades. “I always wanted to do radiology. I originally applied to a couple of programs but didn’t get in. Internal medicine was Plan B. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great specialty. Just not for me.”
This admission, that he didn’t get into radiology on the first try, embarrasses him. I can tell. It’s in the subtle ducking of his head and refusal to meet my eyes.
“How about you? What made you go into radiology?” His gaze travels over my face, touching lightly on my hair and ending at my eyes. There’s a quiet curiosity in that look, an intensity that makes my skin prickle.
“Pretty much for the same reasons as you.” I don’t tell him about the hours I spent at my mom’s bedside in the hospital. Or about the promise I made that I would become a doctor. How I swore to dedicate my life to healing others. Those details are mine, not to be shared.
“Will your current residency be upset if you leave? Do they know you’re interviewing today?” Sometimes people do interviews like this in secret, not wanting to burn bridges with their current training program.
“My internal medicine director knows that I always wanted to get into radiology. He’s friends with Dr. Washburn, so when he heard you had a position open unexpectedly, he recommended me for the spot.” Ethan leans forward, closer to me. The room fills with a clean man smell, warm laundry and generic brand soap with a hint of mint. I inhale deeply, breathing in that scent.
His next words shock me. “It’s going to be a resident exchange program. That’s how it’s going to work. I come here for residency, and the rest of you, including me, start doing rotations up in Cleveland. Two of us will go up there for a couple of weeks at a time. They don’t have any residents in the Radiology Department at that hospital, so they need our help.”
This is the first time I’ve heard of a plan to go to Cleveland, and I don’t like it one bit. A particular little furry cat friend at home named Fred would object to my absence. He would be angrily peeing in my shoes for weeks if I left him alone for that long.
I scowl, annoyance rippling through me. “What I’m hearing is thatyoucome here to Columbus and get your dream job. In return, the rest ofusradiology residents drive three hours to a strange hospital to work as cheap labor in an understaffed department. Is that correct?”
Ethan stares back at me, not smiling anymore. Thunder clouds gather in that tiny room. Angry lightning flashes from his eyes to mine and back again.
He says, “I guess you could look at it that way, but that’s not how I see it.”
“Oh, yeah?” I arch an eyebrow in challenge. “And how,exactly, do you see it?”
“As the only way I get into the residency I’ve wanted since med school.” He sets his jaw. “Listen, don’t blame me. I’m just telling you what I know.”
Like mirror images, we glare at each other.
It all becomes clear to me. This interview is a formality. If what Ethan says is true, then Dr. Washburn already plans to send us to Cleveland. Knowing him, he made some shady backroom deal with the hospital there. The mysterious text, my ruined lecture, my stained shirt, and now this Cleveland news. Can this day get any worse?
4
Turns out, itcanget worse.
“Aren’t you supposed to show me around?” No more smiles from Ethan, just a steely glare.
“Oh, of course,” I say with exaggerated politeness, my tone saccharine. “How rude of me to forget. That’s what I’m here for,” I say, slitting my eyes at him, “to serve you.”
I stand and go to the door where, overdramatically, I wave my hands with a flourish. “Please follow me.” I flick my long, red hair over my shoulder and stomp out into the hallway without waiting for Ethan. But when I turn, he’s there, right on my heels. Too close. He slams into my back with a muffledoomph. I lurch forward, windmilling my arms so I don’t fall, and shoot an irate glance over my shoulder.
Rude.
“This is the Radiology Department. Down that hallway are the MRI and CAT scanners.” I point to the left and right. “Ultrasound, X-ray, and mammography are down the other hallway. Nuclear medicine is downstairs.” We make our way to the department’s center. “This is where our administrators and lead technicians work.”
The ultrasound rooms are empty. Melanie must be in between biopsies. I stop to introduce Ethan to Amy. He unleashes thesmile on her. She stands staring, mouth agape. When Ethan turns away to peer into one of our fluoroscopy rooms, Amy catches my eye behind his back. “Wow,” she mouths silently at me, motioning at him with her thumb.
I shrug my shoulders in response. He’s decent-looking. So what? Doesn’t mean he’s a good doctor or even a good person.
Something about the way she’s ogling him irritates me. I grab his wrist and drag him away. “Come on. More hospital to see.” I haul Ethan along, leaning my full body weight forward to counter his large size. When he glances down at my hand, I let go, my hand and cheeks suddenly on fire.
We fly through the tour. It’s easy showing him around. I’ve spent so many hours in this hospital I could do it in my sleep. Going up and down stairways, I take him to the Emergency Room, operating rooms, laboratory, and pharmacy.
By the time we’re done, it’s past 1:00 p.m. The growl of my stomach reminds me that all I had today was a few sips of iced latte before a certainsomeonemade me spill the rest.
“You hungry? No tour is complete without a trip to the cafeteria.”
