Page 4 of Stat: Love In Scrubs
She stood still for a moment, not saying a word and giving me a sympathetic smile before gripping her clipboard, then looking down at it.
“You’re all set to go. Take a moment to clear your mind. There’s no one else scheduled here for you.”
I nodded. Most of my clients whose pregnancy I had been following had either had their babies or weren’t close to delivering.
“Alright. I’ll let the nurses on my floor know that my phone is always available in case anyone needs to call. Can you get someone to check in on the Hamptons every ten to fifteen minutes? I just want to make sure she is alright. You know what? I’ll wait around here for another hour, then I’ll head out.”
Rhonda shook her head and pulled her clipboard into her chest. She did that when she was ready to hand out lectures, and I wasn’t in the mood to hear one, but she was damn near my elder, and I knew I didn’t have a choice. She had been there on that fateful day with my wife and me, so I knew she held a soft spot for me with this. I continuously told her I was fine, but clearly, she didn’t believe me.
“You overwork yourself. You don’t think it would excite Esa to hang with her dad for the day? When do you ever get the chance to leave here this early? Take it, Desmond. I will personally check in on this couple myself and send you text updates.”
I stood stone-faced, but I knew everything she said was right. Esa had been talking about doing a movie night for a while, but I would get home too late, so we had an outstanding reschedule.
“I hear you. I expect those text messages. Don’t make me come back up here, Rhonda,” I cracked with a smile and a wink.
Her cheeks warmed, and she waved me off.
“Boy, you’d better be gone now.”
I smiled and made my way to the lockers to get my things. I had been here for a minute now, and I was ready to get home. I hadn’t been able to spend as much time as I would have liked with my baby girl, so I planned to rectify that, especially since this was my weekend off, unless one of my clients went into labor.
I made my rounds around the floor once more before heading to my car. I planned to stop by my parents’ place before heading home, so they knew I would pick Esa up today.
Before I left the building, they paged me over the loudspeaker. Instead of heading to the garage, I went to the administrative floor and then made a beeline for Mrs. Hamilton’s office.
I knocked, letting her know I had made it, then stood and waited for a brief moment before she invited me inside. She gestured toward the seat across from her desk, but I stood. I couldn’t come to a conclusion about why she had asked me to come here.
“Doc, please have a seat. It’s nothing bad. You can relax,” she announced.
I released a breath, then pulled the seat away from the desk to take a seat. I settled back into the seat and gave her my undivided attention.
“It looks like you were on your way out, and I caught you just in time.”
“Yeah, Rhonda was practically trying to push me out of the doors.”
Mrs. Hamilton chuckled, then grabbed a stack of papers beside her and placed them in front of her.
“I’ll get right to the point. We love the work we have been seeing you doing. Death rates amongst your floor have decreased more than sixty percent. Not to mention, we have only gotten good reviews about you from your patients. I’m going to mention this off the record, but Mr. Mathews is getting ready to retire from the head of Obstetrics.”
I straightened my spine and then slid to the edge of my chair to make sure I heard her correctly. I had been waiting for this moment for a few years now, and if I got the right idea, the chance was finally presenting itself.
“I was aware of him retiring soon, especially once I saw him use all that vacation time.”
We laughed.
She nodded. “I’ll get right to it. You’re at the top of the list. Keep doing what you’re doing, and the job is yours. But it will definitely come with a lot of responsibility. I wanted to share this with you early to prepare yourself, or know whether you wanted this opportunity.”
I sat still, no words formulating in my mind or out of my mouth. Damn, I had gone this hard for this opportunity, and it was so damn close I could touch it.
“I’m going to assume this all has you a little speechless. I don’t mean to overwhelm you. I just wanted you to prepare yourself for the next level,” she said, then smiled before standing to her feet.
I followed suit and held my hands out to shake hers.
“Thank you for letting me know and for the opportunity.”
“No problem. Now go enjoy the rest of your day. I’m sure your daughter can’t wait to see you,” she responded.
The mention of my daughter immediately put a smile on my face and put me in a better mood.
