It's the first time that I notice the dimple on the doctor's right cheek when his lips pull up into a soft smile.
"They told me that someone was with him when he got hit. Any chance you remember the license plate on the hit-and-run vehicle?" He asks but there's an almost familiarity in his eyes and a softness in his tone, unlike the down-to-business surgeon he was a minute ago when he came out to offer up the news about Reeve.
One of the police investigators has already shown up at the hospital to ask me all of his questions but I didn't have much to tell him.
"No," I say, wishing I had something to offer up. "I barely saw anything. Reeve pushed me out of the way and I fell to the ground. By the time I realized what was going on and looked back, the car had already sped away and Reeve was on the ground," I say, swallowing hard at the memory of not knowing if Reeve was going to be okay.
"Oakley's has video surveillance outside. It happened a couple of blocks away, but the car drove past the bar while fleeing the scene. Oakley Humphries' is turning the video surveillance over to the investigator for the case. We'll get them," Bex says, his jaw clenching.
My uncle called me to find out if he should come to the hospital to be with me but I told him to do what he could at the bar and that I would meet him back at the house once Reeve was out of surgery. He agreed.
"Did you sustain those injuries from the accident?" Dr. Morgan asks, pointing at something.
I look down to see the dried blood and ripped denim of my jeans where my knees hit the pavement.
"Yes... I mean, I'm fine. It's nothing like Reeve's injury," I say, waving him off.
"I can ask a nurse to clean you up if you--" Dr. Morgan starts.
"No! Thank you but no... There are people here who need more help than I do. I'll take care of it when I get home, but thank you."
I break eye contact with Dr. Morgan when it seems like he would like to go against my wishes and page a nurse over. When I look over at Sam, he seems to see that I'm hoping for a conversation change and he chimes in.
"When can we see Reeve?" Sam asks.
Sam's kept a cool and calm demeanor this entire time but now I can see that it's starting to shake a little. He wasn't there at the accident with Reeve like Bex and I were, and he barely got here before Reeve was wheeled into surgery. He's anxious to see Reeve and I can't blame him.o am I.
"He's in post-op recovery right now but as soon as he's awake and ready to take visitors, I'll have a nurse bring you back to see him."
"When can he go home?" Coach Bex asks.
"Due to his injury and the concussion, they'll want to keep him today and overnight for observation, but there are no active concerns."
I wish he were going to get to go today, but I can feel the relief felt between us, three, standing side by side.
He's going to be okay, and he will get home soon.
"If there aren't any more questions, I have another patient I need to check in on," Dr. Morgan says.
"No, that's it. Thank you for all you've done," Sam says.
"We appreciate it," Coach Bex says.
Sam and Bex both reach out, shaking the doctor's hand and then Dr. Morgan's eyes shift to me.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Keely," he says, that look of familiarity in them again, like somehow, he knows me... or of me. Maybe we met in college? But he doesn't look familiar to me at all, and I'm sure I wouldn't forget a tall, handsome pre-med student. Plus, he must have graduated years before me for him to have the position he does at the hospital.
"Please excuse me for asking.., but have we met outside of this hospital before?" I feel a little silly for asking in front of Sam and Coach Bex but it will bug me for weeks, possibly even years if I don't ask where he knows me from.
"Not yet, but we will soon. See you around, Keely."
He gives me a playful smirk before turning around and heading back down the hallway in which he came.
"Not yet but we will..."
What?
Bex turns to Sam, with me standing in the middle before Dr. Morgan is even out of earshot.