Page 30 of Dr. Off Limits

Sutton

Gilly and I turned up just before nine at ward six, ready for rounds as we’d been instructed to do. We’d been warned that things would start off very similarly to med school—we’d have a tight leash at first, despite our change of status to doctor.

“Is it just the two of us?” she asked.

I nodded. “I believe so.” I knew so. I’d checked the rota carefully to see who would be working. Jacob wasn’t on there at all. None of the consultants were.

“Robert and Jean are on nights.” Each group of year one foundation doctors had been split between night and day shift. I’d finally caught a break and got days.

“Urgh, I’m not looking forward to the night shifts,” Gilly said. “Apparently it’s really quiet most of the time and impossible to stay awake.”

The second week of orientation had passed by in a blur. I’d only seen Jacob twice and then it was from a distance. I was conscious that he could turn up at any minute and I avoided the doctor’s dining room like it was a tropical disease, but I survived. Just like I always did. Now I was ready to start on the wards. Hopefully Jacob had been able to influence my shifts so we weren’t on together.

“You think Dr. McDreamy will be the consultant in charge today?” Gilly asked.

I shook my head. “There’s no Dr. McDreamy. It’s either McDreamy without the Doctor part or it’s Dr. Off Limits.”

She looked at me as if I’d lost my mind and I shook my head. “Sorry, it’s just I was a big Grey’s fan. Back in the day. I like to get things right.” I was more than a little on edge. I was hoping against hope that Jacob and I could maneuver around this department without having too much to do with each other.

“Me too,” she said. “Although I never did understand what he saw in Meredith.”

“Dr. Scott and Dr. Peters,” Jacob called from behind us. “Follow me.” My stomach dove to the floor and kept falling through the linoleum heading straight to the center of the earth.

He wasn’t supposed to be here today.

He rushed past us and we had to scurry to keep up. “Let’s recap, make sure you haven’t forgotten anything from med school. Tell me what acronym we use when handing over patients.”

“SBAR,” I said from behind him and then immediately wished I hadn’t. My plan had been to stay under the radar—to coast along out of sight. Maybe it was instinct or maybe I just wanted Jacob to know I was capable, but the words just kept coming out. I might be older than all the other foundation doctors. I might be able to cut hair on the side, but I had studied hard and I knew what I was talking about. “Situation—a concise statement of the problem. Background—pertinent and brief information related to the situation. Assessment—analysis and consideration of options.”

We stopped and Jacob breezed into a small room just behind the nurses’ station. Two people sat around the small table.

“Continue, Dr. Scott,” Jacob said. I took a seat so I didn’t fall down at him addressing me as doctor.

“Then finally Recommendation—action requested or recommended.”

“Dr. Patel and Dr. Musa are a year ahead of you in the foundation program. They’re going to be providing handover today. Who’s first?”

Jacob was so in charge of this handover it was almost dizzying. He was blunt and to the point without being rude and best of all, he was teaching. Testing. Making us better. If I hadn’t already slept with him, I’d be imagining what it would be like right around now. His manner was intoxicating.

The two foundation doctors in their second year started to give us a rundown of the patients and any changes overnight. I tried to focus by making copious notes.

We would be seeing four patients during the course of the shift when various test and scan results came in.

“Sounds like you had a good night. Thank you for your work. Go and get some rest,” Jacob said. The weary doctors filed out like they were half asleep already.

Jacob’s pager started to bleep. “Accident and Emergency need a consult. Let’s let things get settled on the wards while we go down to A&E.”

Moving at the speed of light, he swept through the door, forcing us to scramble after him again like chicks following their mother.

“How often do we get called down to A&E?” Gilly asked Jacob as we caught up to him at the lifts.

“It depends how often they need a peds consult,” Jacob answered and frowned as if he just couldn’t bear such an inane question.

The lift doors opened to reveal at least six people already in the lift. They shifted over to make space, but it was tight. Gilly dipped into a space on the left, leaving a slightly bigger space for Jacob and me. He stepped about halfway in and I slotted in in front of him, careful to stand as far forward as possible so there was no danger of us touching.

The lift doors closed and it was like something in the air shifted; all I could think about was the fact that Jacob was right behind me. I could feel his body heat, the sounds of his breathing filling my ears. I just wanted to spin around and push him against the wall and kiss him.

I was losing it.

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