Page 9 of Aching for His Discretion

He seemed to be a very busy man, and I should be doing myself a favor and staying focused on my studying and practicing my procedures so Dr. Wyatt wouldn’t yell at me.

Even so, I couldn’t help but text him every once in a while and get excited when he texted back so quickly and politely.He was such a gentleman.

Now, I was eating breakfast in the hospital cafeteria with my friend Beverly while she was pleading with me to go to Alec’s party, which was apparently going to be at his parents’ house. I assumed the plan involved his parents not being home and gathering all of us to get drunk, get high, and let loose.

“Beverly, I don’t know. I have to study, and Grayson gets lonely after a little while,” I muttered unsurely, and she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please. You study three times as much as we all do, and Grayson is a big boy. He’ll be fine for a few hours. Pretty please,” she asked as I placed a strawberry in my mouth, and I rolled my eyes. Thatbig boywas still my little baby.

“Fine. I’ll think about it,” I muttered, and she clapped happily.

I went to speak when my pager went off, and there was an alert over the loudspeaker.

“Rapid response team, level one trauma alert, ETA now… rapid response team, level one trauma alert, ETA now...”

I quickly stood up and answered my phone, which was also ringing in my pocket, as I waved goodbye to Beverly. Making my way to the trauma bay, I listened to Dr. Wyatt speak over the phone as he wanted me to come to the trauma bay immediately to gain this learning experience and to see what is done when a patient shows up in such terrible conditions…See, he’s not all that bad.

Upon arriving in the ER, I entered the designated room and gasped softly at the horror that was before me. A man was lying unconscious as he had one of his hands cut off, and the remainder of his arm was in a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Dr. Wyatt grabbed my arm and pulled me back slightly as the other doctors rushed in.

“Tell me if you can handle being in this room right now, Monroe,” he ordered seriously, and I nodded.

“I-I’ll be fine. What happened?” I asked in a panic, and he sighed.

“Well, he was just thrown into the waiting room by some unknown men who must’ve kept him alive somehow for the last ten hours. I don’t think he’s going to make it. He lost too much blood, and there doesn’t seem to be much activity on the monitors. He was still breathing somehow, but it came to a stop a minute or two ago,” he responded, grabbing my arm again and moving me so I wasn’t in the way of the incoming trauma and orthopedic surgeons.

“Why would someone do this to him?” I whispered in shock as I looked over at the man who was now flat-lining and going through intensive CPR. His face was void of any life, but it was filled with color from the bruises that had formed.

“Sometimes, gangs do this to send… some kind of message, if you will, to their enemies. They did a hell of a number on him. He had multiple head contusions and rib fractures. His internal bleeding is probably in too many places to count.”

I nodded in understanding and bit my lip as the surgeons shook their heads.

“All right, the patient is unresponsive. Too much blood loss and no brain activity on the monitors. Heart rate is undetectable, and rib fractures have severely impacted his lungs. Let’s call it.” The surgeon took off his gloves and looked over to the clock. “Time of death, 9:41 AM.” He spoke nonchalantly, and I bit my lip as they covered his body with a sheet.

Gosh, who could do something so horrible to another person? It was monstrous…so cruel.

Dr. Wyatt pulled me out of the room and sighed.

“I’m sorry you had to see something so serious… but you need to know the realities you will face in this field.”

“I know,” I whispered, still in a bit of shock, and he nodded to the door.

“Go take a walk outside and clear your head. You have fifteen minutes,” he muttered, and I nodded as I walked away.

After I stepped out of the hospital, I sat on the bench for a moment and rubbed my clammy hands on my pants.A man lost his arm and his life in that order in less than a day. Gosh. Life is too short sometimes.

Chapter five

Teegan

“Gosh, this exam is going to be the death of me,” Beverly muttered as we walked out of class and made our way to the exit. I groaned as simply thinking about studying made the books in my bag double in weight.

“You’re telling me. I feel so stressed and overwhelmed. I wish I could just spend most of my days cuddling with Grayson.”

And Levi.

No! Be good, Teegan.

“Are you sure that cat isn’t a real person? Sometimes, I think you treat him like he is one,” Beverly muttered cautiously as we exited the building, and I laughed softly as I had the same thought the other day as well.

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