by Radclyffe
“Something’s going on,” Quinn said, her tone of satisfaction tempered with concern.
“You’re right,” Syd muttered. No matter what, it couldn’t be good. Multiply injured patients were compromised in so many ways. Their immune systems were suppressed, their nutritional status weakened, and their healing abilities diminished. Something like this, an infection that a healthy individual could come back from without serious problems, could turn into a major life-threatening complication in a trauma patient.
Well, not this patient. He was hers now. Syd held out her hand, her eyes on the field.
“Scissors, please.” Syd enlarged the incision, opening it wide enough to get the self-retaining retractors in. After that, it didn’t take long to find the source of the problem, a large inflammatory mass partially hiding behind the colon.
“That’s why we didn’t see it at first,” Syd grumbled. “It blended in with the colon.”
“Probably ruptured at the time of the crash,” Quinn said. “What do you want to do?”
“We ought to divert,” Syd said immediately, using the suction to evacuate the worst of the infected fluid.
“I agree.”
Syd worked quickly and efficiently, appreciating how good Maguire was at assisting. Only an excellent surgeon could make an excellent first assistant, anticipating what needed to be done because they already knew. By the time Syd stepped back from the table two hours later, the patient was stable and her tension gave way to a rush of triumph. She’d made a difference today.
The circulating nurse untied the back of her gown, and Syd pulled it off along with her gloves and dumped them in the receptacles.
“Hank, write up the post-op orders.”
“Got it,” he said.
“Nice job, Stevens,” Quinn said as she shed her gown and gloves.
“Thank you.”
“Call me if there’s any problem.”
“I will.”
A second after Quinn left, Emmett stuck her head in the door and scanned the room. When she spied Syd, she entered. “Hey, we just finished over there. Morty did a really good job. How’d things go in here?”
“Fine.” Syd filled her in as she helped the nurses move the patient into a bed for transport back to the ICU.
“Wow,” Emmett said, lending a hand. “Great case.”
“Yeah. It was.”
“Listen,” Emmett pushed one side of the bed as Syd guided the other through the OR and out into the hall, “we’ve got a couple hours before clinic and nothing else scheduled until then. How about we take a walk, and I’ll show you the house. Then you can, you know, give your friends a better idea what the place is like.”
Syd searched for a way to say no. “I should probably stick around and keep an eye on this guy.”
Emmett’s brows rose. “Why? He’s stable, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but…”
“The sun is shining,” Emmett said in a light teasing voice. Her mouth quirked as if she knew she’d just delivered something impossible to turn down. And she was right too, damn her.
An hour’s escape in the middle of the day at the height of springtime?
Syd laughed. “All right, let me just get this guy to the ICU.”
“I’m headed over there too.”
“Fine,” Syd said. A walk in the sunshine in the middle of the day was novel enough to be enticing. The fact that she was going to take a walk with Emmett had absolutely nothing to do with her decision. Not a thing. It was all about the sunshine.
* * *
“So,” Emmett said as they walked out through the ER into noonday sunshine, “have you had much of a chance to look around the area?”
“No,” Syd said. “I haven’t really been out of the hospital much since we started.”
“Yeah, I kinda noticed that. There seem to be an awful lot of residents around all the time.”
Syd laughed. “Uh, yes.”
“How’s everybody doing?”
“You mean the ex-Franklins?”
“I meant the new PMC people.”
Syd smiled. Emmett really was trying. “They’re okay. I think the initial nerves are settling down, and the friction has been just the normal kind of personality stuff.”
“That’s good. There’ll always be some people who don’t exactly jibe.”
“For sure.”
Emmett shot her a look. “Problems?”
“No.” Syd wasn’t going to repeat Dani’s complaints of how difficult Sadie was to manage. Smart, Dani allowed, but resistant to authority, especially Dani’s. Not a terrible trait in a surgeon necessarily, but a pain in the behind when it was one of your junior residents. Syd wasn’t about to mention Sadie by name, though, especially not if Emmett and Sadie had a thing. Had had a thing. Past tense. Maybe.
“Are you playing chief resident already?” Syd asked.
“No!”
Emmett’s genuine surprise made Syd regret the offhand remark. Snark wasn’t her thing. “Sorry. You’ve been really fair with all of us, and—”
“Hey, Syd,” Emmett said, catching Syd’s fingers for a second in hers.
Syd’s breath caught, and she casually moved her hand away. “Yes?”
“The sun is shining.”
Syd laughed, a lightness coming over her she totally did not recognize. What was she doing outside in the middle of the day? With Emmett McCabe? She had no idea and right this instant she didn’t really care. “All right. Next year is off the table.”
“Deal.”
They covered half a block in silence before Emmett asked, “Did you see the email about the reception thing?”
“I read it this morning,” Syd said.
“You’re going, right?” Emmett said.
“I was going to ask you if there was any way I could get out of it. Is it like, mandatory?”
“Well, it’s out of the ordinary, which means Maguire set it up special. And that means we all better show. Pass the word to your people.”
“Okay,” Syd said. “I’m on call, though. So maybe—”
“Nope. Maguire has staff covering for us for the night of the reception.”
“You’re kidding,” Syd said. “Staff are staying in house to cover us?”
“Yep.”
“Wow,” Syd said slowly. “I guess it really is mandatory.”
“Guess so.” Emmett grinned. “We’re down this way.”
Emmett led her onto a residential side street about seven blocks from the hospital. The houses were mostly attached twins, set a little way back from the sidewalk, most with small front yards, many with low picket or wrought-iron fences. Unlike the Northeast, where most of the trees had died or been removed over the years, this area was bursting with greenery. Maples and oaks and all kinds of shrubs, and azaleas and rhododendrons. Many of the front yards sported flower beds, and gliders adorned quite a few front porches. Children’s swings and bikes populated many of the backyards visible down the wide paths between houses.
“It really is pretty here,” Syd said.
“Especially in the spring,” Emmett said. “It’s my favorite time of year.”
“Mine too,” Syd said.
Emmett paused in front of a three-story Victorian twin painted a light green with pale yellow trim, its wide front porches divided by a low railing in the middle. The house wasn’t any different than half a dozen others in the neighborhood, but it was well kept up and Syd liked it immediately.
“So this is it,” Emmett said. “We’ve got the right side. The left side will be empty by the weekend. Med students had it before.”
Syd groaned. “I hope they didn’t trash the place.”
“All girls, so that helps.”
“Oh, believe me, I’ve known plenty of party girls quite capable of leaving a place in shambles.”
Emmett grinned. “Is that right?”
That teasing note was back in Emmett’s voice again. Syd arched a brow. “I am not speaking from actual personal experience
, merely observation.”
“Of course.”
“I wish I could get a look inside.”
“Layout’s the same on both halves,” Emmett said. “Why don’t we go in my place?”
The sun was warm on Syd’s shoulders, but that didn’t explain the warmth swirling inside her. This was where she said no. She looked at Emmett and said, “Sure.”
Chapter Fifteen
“So let me show you the backyard first,” Emmett said, pointing down the grass and gravel alley that separated her house from its neighbor. She wasn’t in any hurry to get inside, not when the breeze was so fresh, the sun was shining, and Syd was so relaxed. For the last couple weeks, Syd had been distant. More distant than usual, at least. She’d kept Emmett at arm’s length since the day she and the others arrived at PMC, but lately their conversations had been strictly about patients. Nothing wrong with that, except the absence of anything else at all was so obvious Emmett kept searching her memory for what exactly she had said or done to push Syd even farther away. She couldn’t come up with anything, but she wasn’t imagining the no more teasing, no more casual talk of how everyone was doing—or not doing, no more anything except strictly what was needed to get the work done.
She missed those few brief moments of renewed connection, when Syd had relaxed and laughed and teased her about being Quinn’s guy or accused her of practicing to be chief resident already. She hadn’t even known how much she liked it until it stopped. And wasn’t that the story of her life where Syd was concerned.
Of course, the obvious reason for Syd’s attitude probably had nothing to do with her personally at all. They were competing for the same fifth year spot, and even though they didn’t talk about it, Syd had to be thinking about it. She was. Maybe that was what all the coolness was about, the ever-present competition. She couldn’t change that, but she wished she could. She wished she was only worried about Syd passing her by in the race to claim the number one spot—she couldn’t really believe Maguire meant them to share it. No, she wished she didn’t feel like she was the only one who remembered. The only one who wanted to go back.
“Who cuts the grass?” Syd asked.
The question plummeted Emmett back into the present and she laughed. “The landlord sends somebody around to do it.”
“Oh, good,” Syd said. “That’s not something I want on my to-do list.”
“Not into yard work?”
Syd chuckled. “Not hardly. There was one summer I was very into the gardener…”
Her voice trailed off and her eyes cooled the way they did when she didn’t want to go wherever her memory had taken her.
“Girl gardener?” Emmett smiled.
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Syd shook her head. “I haven’t thought about that in forever.”
“First crush?” Emmett knew she was attempting to cross a minefield without a map, but she wanted to know. Wanted to know Syd.
“Not that I realized.” Syd tilted her head, studied Emmett as if she was about to say more, then looked away. “It’s a pretty nice yard.”
And the moment was lost. Syd was back from wherever she’d been. But all the same, Emmett was happy. For a second, Syd had let her close. “Big enough for a volleyball net or something.”
Syd gave her a look. “How many times have you put up a volleyball net out here?”
Emmett slid her hands into her pockets and shrugged. “Never?”
“Right. Because if you have time for volleyball, you are definitely not working hard enough.”
“I’m very efficient.”
Syd rolled her eyes and turned away. After a moment she said, “It’s cool that the back porches connect, like in the front. At least there’s someplace to sit out and have a beer.”
“I do have time for that.” Getting Syd to open up was like coaxing a cat out of a tree in a lightning storm—just when she thought she was making progress, Syd jumped farther out of reach. But she was damned if she was going to leave her out on that branch. “Why don’t you bring Dani and Jerry around tonight to see the place and we can—”
“Quieter here too,” Syd mused. She knew what Emmett was doing, and she could feel herself giving in to the gentle cajoling. Just like she always did when she spent any time at all with Emmett. She couldn’t help being friendly, but she had to keep it casual, at least. She didn’t need to tell anyone her life story, especially not Emmett. “The place we have now is right off the Northeast Extension, and there’s always traffic.”
“Not around here. Plenty of people walking around, a lot of people have dogs.” Emmett pointed across the back fence and up toward the adjoining yard. “Quinn and Honor live on the street over there. You can actually see their backyard from here.”
“Cozy,” Syd said a little sarcastically. Everywhere she turned, barriers dissolved. How did anyone have a private life around here? As if anyone ever did in a hospital.
“Hey, it’s nice,” Emmett protested. “Neighborhoody.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not big on socializing with my attendings. It just feels weird.” She wasn’t big on socializing with anyone, really. She and Dani and Jerry lived together—that was different. They were family.
“Well, it’s not like I’m having dinner with them or anything,” Emmett said, “but a couple times a year the chief and Honor have all the residents over. Most of the attendings stop by. And Linda—the ER nurse from the night Arly got hurt?—she’s a few more houses down that way.”
“I guess this neighborhood is just an extension of the hospital,” Syd murmured. Maybe moving here wasn’t such a good idea after all. Did she really want to practically live with the people she worked with? Then again, since she rarely left the hospital except to sleep, what did that matter? What she really meant was did she really want to live next door to Emmett and risk bumping into her at all hours. Emmett and…whoever.
Emmett must have sensed her hesitation. “Come on, I’ll take you through the house.”
Syd checked the time on her phone. Weird, they hadn’t been gone that long, but when she was with Emmett she totally lost track of the time. She never did that. “You think we should get back?”
“Nah. We’ve got at least forty minutes before clinic starts. Plenty of time.”
“I want to grab some lunch,” Syd said, suddenly wanting to get back to the safety of the hospital. Out here in the sunshine with birds singing and the breeze ruffling Emmett’s hair, she felt exposed. She felt…alive. She felt more than she had in a long time.
“We’ve got pizza left from last night,” Emmett said. “I can throw a couple pieces in the oven.”
Syd could just say no, and they’d be back at PMC in a few minutes. “What kind?”
“Come on. Pepperoni, of course.”
“What, no artichokes with olives and goat cheese?”
Emmett narrowed her eyes. “You’re just trying to wind me up now, right?”
“Of course.” Syd pivoted and walked toward the front of the house.
Syd’s smile had been fleeting, but Emmett caught it, and a little heat stirred in her belly. She almost grabbed Syd’s hand and stuffed her fist in her pocket before she blew it. That would be a mistake. She wanted to, though. Syd pulled at her like a wire stretched between them, ratcheting tighter and tighter every time they were near. All she had to do was see her and her heart banged at the inside of her ribs. She didn’t want to believe that Syd didn’t feel it, but she wasn’t twenty-five anymore, and she wasn’t that impressionable medical student who was so in awe of someone who’d made it to the next step, who was really a doctor, doing what she wanted to do. She wasn’t that woman now, and she hadn’t forgotten the ache that had lived inside her for a long time.
“So tell me about the rent,” Syd said as Emmett fitted the key into the front door.
Emmett pushed the front door open and told her the details. “You cover the utilities.”
“We can cover that,” Syd said almost to herself. “And the
landlord’s decent?”
Emmett smiled. “More than decent. One of the GYN attendings owns the place.”
“Wow,” Syd said shaking her head. “No wonder no one’s trashed the place, then.”
“It helps.”
The front door opened into a foyer that connected through an open archway on the left to the living room and down the hall to the kitchen in the back of the house. A staircase to the upper floor hugged the wall opposite the living room. Lots of tall windows let in light. The window trim and banisters were all original wood, as was the floor.
“Nice,” Syd said.
“I’ll put the pizza in before we go upstairs,” Emmett said, “and it’ll be ready when we get down.”
“I feel a little guilty,” Syd said.
Emmett paused, her heart suddenly fluttering. “Why?”
“Because I’m not supposed to be having fun in the middle of the day. I feel kind of like this is a jailbreak.”
Emmett laughed, only slightly disappointed. If Syd was thinking anything like what she was thinking, she didn’t want her to feel guilty for any reason at all. “There’s no reason we can’t have a lunch break. Plus we’re three minutes at a run from the ER. If they needed us right away, it wouldn’t take much longer than getting there from someplace else in the hospital.”
