Love On Call

by Radclyffe

  “The students missed the MCA, but the ER team handled that without a hitch.” Glenn shrugged. “Considering it’s the students’ first clinical experience, they aren’t half bad, actually.”

  “High praise.” Chuckling, Carrie offered her half-eaten box of popcorn. “Want some?”

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  “We’re going out for pizza in a while if you want to come.”

  “Thanks, but I already had some.”

  “Really?” The look in Carrie’s green eyes bordered on suspicion mixed with disbelief. “You left the hospital before sundown?”

  “Oh, come on,” Glenn protested. “I do…sometimes.”

  Carrie snorted. “It’s okay to admit you don’t want to come along. Just don’t think you’re getting out of the hospital barbecue this weekend.”

  “I swear! I already ate. I walked down with Mari after shift and—”

  “Who’s Mari?” Carrie knew everyone, considering she was the CEO’s admin, and she didn’t know anyone in the ER by that name.

  “Mari Mateo. One of the new PAs, just started.”

  “Huh. Since the ER is technically freestanding, those hires went through Abby and not our HR department.” Carrie gave Glenn an inquiring look. “Is she nice?”

  “Nice?” Glenn felt the word roll around on her tongue like a shoe that didn’t fit. Mari was a whole lot of things—smart, capable, sensitive, maybe a little vulnerable, and, well, why not admit it, beautiful. “Sure, she’s nice.”

  “And you went out to dinner with her.” Carrie’s eyes narrowed. “That’s almost newsworthy, considering about the only place you ever go outside of work is Harper and Flann’s parents’ house for Sunday dinner.”

  “Pizza, Carrie, pizza.” Glenn sighed. “Give me a break.”

  “Uh-huh. Just make sure she gets to the staff cookout too.”

  “Flann already reminded me. I’ll make sure she’s aware—hell, I’m not gonna drag her there.”

  “Mateo, you said?” Carrie asked, looking like she was only paying half attention.

  “Yes, why?”

  “No reason.”

  Carrie fell silent, an unusual state for her. The crowd started to break up before the last competition was over. Ten thirty was late for most everybody who had to get up before four in the morning to feed the animals, milk the cows, get the work of the day started before the heat or the rain or some other unexpected event interfered.

  “I’m gonna get out before the crowds,” Glenn said.

  “Headed home?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah.” Glenn toyed with the idea of making a quick stop by the ER to check on the new attending on his first night on call. He seemed solid, but he was still fresh out of his residency, and he didn’t know the place like she did.

  “You know,” Carrie said casually, “you don’t actually have to supervise every single person in the ER.”

  Glenn laughed. “Are you mind-reading again?”

  “Honestly, Glenn, you’re not all that hard to read. I’m surprised you even left today.”

  Glenn didn’t mention she hadn’t been planning on it, at least not until she was absolutely certain everything was tight and tidy, but she’d been drawn away by Mari. “Are you trying to say I’m a control freak?”

  “I wouldn’t be that harsh. But seriously,” Carrie said quietly, “it wouldn’t hurt to ease up a little bit now and then. You deserve it.”

  “This coming from the woman who I know for a fact works twelve-hour days almost every day.”

  “Have you seen my boss? She’s merciless.”

  From the other side of Carrie, Presley Worth chuckled. “Are you admitting defeat?”

  “Me?” Carrie grinned. “Never. I love my work, and if I never had to leave the hospital, I’d be happy.”

  “We only have a few more major projects to accomplish,” Presley said, “and then your hours will seem more human.”

  “Really?” Carrie snorted. “You mean after you strong-arm the construction crew into getting the new MRI wing done in six months and build the heliport in six weeks…Oh, and don’t forget pushing through the approval for our trauma accreditation so we can actually get the helicopters to land on the heliport that we haven’t built yet.”

  “I didn’t say it would be instantaneous.” Presley smiled, the kind of smile fighter pilots wear as they climb into the cockpit. “It might take a month or so.”

  Harper Rivers, Presley’s soon-to-be spouse and current chief of medicine at the Rivers, laughed out loud. “Darling, you do realize that at most places, things like that take a couple of years?”

  “Well,” the new CEO said nonchalantly, “this isn’t most places.”

  “Like I said,” Carrie said with a long-suffering sigh, “I love my job and I would sleep in the office if I could find a place to put a cot.”

  “You can always bed down on the floor,” Glenn suggested. “Plenty of room behind the desk.”

  Carrie gave her a raised eyebrow. “Some of us are more civilized than that.”

  Glenn grinned, half listening to Carrie and Presley’s banter while most of her concentration was focused on several teens who’d just congregated at the bottom of the stairs, Blake and Margie in the mix. She noticed that another girl and boy joined them, and after they all spoke awhile, the four began wending their way toward the exit.

  Glenn stood. “I’ll see you at the staff meeting tomorrow night.”

  “Go home,” Carrie said sternly.

  “Yes, dear.” Glenn didn’t think it necessary to add she might take just a little detour to make sure Blake and Margie didn’t run into any trouble on their way home.

  *

  Mari would have sworn on all that was holy she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, but she lay awake in the half dark with all the events of her first day running through her mind like a runaway movie reel. Her first day. She’d gone to sleep in this room for a week, but it still felt like today was her first day. The first day that really counted. The first day of the life she’d fought for and made happen. She’d imagined what this day would be like, but she hadn’t expected most of it. The medical part was even better than she’d hoped. It was strange, the contradiction, of loving an emergency, of thriving on the challenge of going to battle against an enemy that was as real to her as she imagined an enemy on the battlefield might be to a soldier, all as a consequence of someone else’s suffering. Life was on the line, and although she might not die if she failed, someone else would, and that to her was in many ways worse than her own pain. Without the suffering of others, there’d be no need for her skills. So she’d gone to battle and loved every minute of it.

  She been right that this profession was what she wanted to spend her life doing, but she hadn’t expected to discover such a vibrant community inside the hospital. She had immediately sensed the currents of a unique society with its own customs and history flowing around her like so many branches of an ancient river, in the halls and nurses’ stations, even the cafeteria. The village was another community, with its own rhythms and tides. Glenn, when she finally let herself think about Glenn, was the most unexpected part of all. She had hoped to connect with colleagues, make friends, but she hadn’t expected to meet anyone special. Someone at once secretive and welcoming, revealing and hidden. A puzzle and an open book. All Glenn’s many contrasts fascinated her, but she was most grateful to Glenn for giving her hope that she could belong somewhere again. She turned on her side and pulled a pillow close, snuggling her face into the old, familiar contours, smiling to herself as she thought about Glenn sitting across from her in the pizza parlor, still feeling the heat of Glenn’s dark-eyed scrutiny and the comfort of her unpitying understanding. Yes, much, much more than she had imagined her first day would be like.

  Chapter Ten

  Glenn arrived at the small ER conference room fifteen minutes before her scheduled seven o’clock lecture and found Mari already seated at one end of the oval conference tabl
e with her iPad and a cup of coffee in front of her. Dressed for the workday in pale blue, wrinkle-free scrubs, her name tag clipped to her breast pocket and a stethoscope slung around her neck, she looked rested and relaxed. No one else had arrived yet.

  “Did you take those home and iron them?” Glenn asked.

  Mari frowned. “Oh! You mean the scrubs? Yes.”

  “When did you do that?”

  “I picked them up yesterday when I was here and ironed them this morning.” Mari gave a pointed glance at Glenn’s equally pressed darker blue set. “Don’t you?”

  “I used to. Now a friend in the laundry does them for me.”

  “Ah—special status. Let me guess—ex-Army?”

  Glenn grinned. “Navy, but us vets stick together. I’ll ask him to do yours. You want the same color all the time?”

  “I’m not fussy.”

  “They look good on you—I’ll tell him the baby blues.”

  Mari quickly looked down at the iPad, color racing across her cheeks. “Thanks. If he can’t do it, that’s all right.”

  “Billy won’t mind.”

  “Well then, I owe you double.” Mari leaned over and lifted up a small green thermal insulated bag covered with multicolored fish. She unzipped the top and withdrew a cardboard cup with a Styrofoam lid that looked very much like the one she was drinking from.

  Glenn stared at it and actually felt her taste buds start to tingle. “Is that—?”

  “A little thank you for giving me a break on the lecture today.” Mari slid the cup down the table toward her. “Double espresso, macchiato. I just guessed on that part.”

  Glenn scooped up the cup, removed the lid, and took a deep breath of some mighty fine coffee. “Perfect.” She sipped and sighed. “You have my undying thanks.”

  Mari laughed. “I sort of owe you for rescuing me and taking this session.”

  “Believe me, if this is what I get in thanks, I’ll do all of yours.”

  “Well, I stop there almost every morning, so it’s no trouble.” Mari smiled. “Free of charge.”

  Glenn settled a hip on the edge of the table. “It’s absolutely not required, but whenever you happen to think of it, you will have my eternal gratitude.”

  “You’re welcome, and let’s call it done.”

  “Done. How did you sleep?” Glenn asked.

  “Just about the best night I’ve had in forever.” Mari paused a second. If she thought Glenn looked like she’d had less than three hours’ sleep, she didn’t say so. “You weren’t on call, right?”

  “No, I wasn’t, and I decided to leave Dr. Jaspers on his own last night. I saw Baker in the cafeteria, so she survived her first night too.”

  Mari laughed. “Was it difficult for you, not checking up on them?”

  “Actually, yeah,” Glenn confessed. “A good friend of mine, you’ll meet her before long, Carrie Longmire, suggested I’m too controlling.”

  A good friend. Girlfriend? Mari assumed Glenn’s interest was in women, although she hadn’t actually come out in so many words. The tone of the whole conversation the night before had left little doubt, but she hadn’t considered that Glenn might have a girlfriend. But then, why would she think about it? It wasn’t like they were out on a date. Still, she felt a moment’s discomfort. “Does Carrie work here?”

  Glenn nodded. “Yeah, she’s the CEO’s admin.”

  “She obviously knows you a lot better than me,” Mari said lightly, “but I think you’re just doing what needs to be done, especially this time of year with so many newbies aboard.” She pointed to her chest. “Including staff.”

  “You’re practically a vet after yesterday’s initiation.” Glenn drained her cup and fervently wished for more. She’d gone home but she’d had a hard time falling asleep. Her body had been as keyed up as it used to be waiting for a call out in the field, only last night there’d been an undercurrent of excitement in the unrest that buzzed in her veins still.

  “And really,” Mari continued, her tone unexpectedly urgent, “do you know anyone in medicine who would want someone taking care of them who wasn’t a control freak? I wouldn’t. I’d want someone in charge who was going to be looking at every single little detail and double-checking every single person who had anything to do with taking care of me. Believe me, when I was—” Mari broke off, embarrassed to discover she was trembling. Why was it so easy to open up to Glenn, to reveal everything she’d kept from everyone else?

  Glenn glanced at the door, saw the shadow of a student pass by. They only had a few more minutes. Gently she said, “When you were what?”

  “Sorry. I…” Mari shook her head. “Not exactly the right time or place.”

  Glenn nodded. “You’re right. Your call, anytime.”

  “Thanks.”

  Glenn wanted to know more. Whatever darkness haunted Mari’s past, every time Mari touched upon it, her eyes filled with sadness. Glenn ached to stanch the pain as much as she ever had a battle wound. Not the place, and not the time. The students filed in and Glenn grabbed the remote for the projector and moved to the head of the table. As she launched into her abbreviated intro at precisely 0700, she watched Mari out of the corner of her eye. When she brought up an aerial shot of the hospital to orient the students to the critical locations, Mari’s attention swung back and forth from the screen to Glenn. She’d given plenty of briefings before, but she’d never enjoyed having an audience. Mari’s attention wasn’t really on her, but she enjoyed the fleeting imagining. Quickly, she pointed out the east administrative wing, the central building with reception, the library and cafeteria, and the six-story west wing with the ER, OR, ICUs, outpatient clinics, and the patient floors.

  “And here”—Glenn tapped a spot at the west wing—“will be an open colonnade leading to the building”—she made a circle with her laser pointer a few inches away—“housing the new MRI suite.”

  “Nice,” Antonelli said. “When do you think that will be up and running?”

  “We hope to break ground before the end of the summer and have the facility opened by late spring.”

  “No shi—kidding.” Antonelli whistled. “That’s pushing things. You’ll be lucky if you have your bids in by three months.”

  “Got some experience there,” Glenn remarked.

  “My old man used to be a general contractor. The company put up a lot of buildings in this area, and there’s pretty stiff competition for something like this.”

  Glenn would have agreed if it hadn’t been for Presley Worth. Their new CEO had a way of making things happen a lot faster than anyone else could ever anticipate. She had all the resources of the SunView Health Consortium, a huge international medical consortium headed by her brother, at her command and numerous contacts of her own. In addition to being the CEO of the newly minted Argyle Community Hospital System, she was the head of the eastern division of SunView. Presley had the power to get things done on her timetable and did. As much as Glenn revered Edward Rivers and the entire Rivers family, she was convinced along with most everyone at ACH that Presley Worth was the CEO they needed to keep the Rivers alive and flourishing.

  “Until the MRI suite is up and functional,” Glenn said, getting the discussion back on track, “we’ll evaluate traumatic injuries, neurological events, acute abdomens, and the like with CAT scans and X-rays. Most things that require an MRI would be done after the initial evaluation and treatment anyhow.”

  “What about the helipad?” asked Baker, a short, serious, steady African American student. “I heard that could be happening a lot sooner.”

  Glenn nodded. “You’re all here for three months. There’s a good chance we’ll be taking medevac patients before you’re finished.”

  “Oorah,” Antonelli muttered.

  Marine, Glenn noted, dimming the lights. “So let’s start with the evaluation of the multiple trauma patient.”

  When the hour was over and Glenn finished answering the students’ questions, she waited while they all trooped ou
t to join Mari.

  “I imagine that was all pretty boring for you,” Glenn said.

  Mari closed her iPad. “Not at all. I think it’s good to know what they know, and what I can expect them to know because I’m absolutely certain they heard it before.”

  Glenn laughed. “And so you can remind them when they forget?”

  Mari grinned. “Absolutely.”

  “Speaking of remembering, or remembering to remind you,” Glenn said, grinning when Mari gave her a confused look, “Carrie informed me I needed to tell you about the hospital staff barbecue this Saturday afternoon. It’s an annual thing. Kind of a celebration of summer and the chance for everyone at the Rivers to get together and celebrate…well, just that we’re all still here, and the hospital is still standing strong.”

  Carrie again, Mari thought. “Why the Rivers? Almost everyone calls the place by that name.”

  “Flann and Harper’s great-great-great-grandfather founded the place along with a few of the town notables a little over a hundred years ago. There’s been a Rivers as chief of staff here ever since. Their father Edward heads the medical staff now, but since the hospital was sold, Presley actually runs the place.”

  “That’s some legacy,” Mari said. “And of course I’ll be there. It sounds like fun and it will give me a chance to meet some of the other people from the hospital.”

  “I don’t suppose you play softball, do you?” Glenn surveyed her with unabashed eagerness.

  “Ah, no,” Mari said. “Is it a requirement?”

  “No, not really.” Glenn sighed. “We’re always looking for new talent. The ER has a team and we play a bunch of other teams from the hospital, and town teams like police and firefighters. Not everybody on our team is actually from the ER—Flann and Harper play for us, and Carrie, she pitches—wicked, wicked pitcher.”

  “Aha.” For the first time in her life Mari wished she’d been more into sports instead of clothes when she’d been a teenager. “Sorry. I’m out.”