8. Quadir
8
Quadir
“ S uction,” Qua commanded Jackie.
They were almost done with Ramel’s surgery, and Qua was relieved that he’d been able to perform it successfully with the help of his team and colleagues. It took him nearly six hours to cut him open and carefully excise the pieces of his brain that negatively affected him. Since he was also in a teaching position, he chose two residents to sit in on the surgery with him.
“What do you think, Dr. Sheen, is all of the affected brain tissue removed?” Quadir looked at the white, male resident who stood a few inches away from him.
Dr. Sheen looked at the screen that displayed Ramel’s brain then nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Dr. Amos?” He looked at the other white, male resident.
He nodded as well. “Everything looks good, sir.”
When Dr. Ascot agreed, Quadir started closing up Ramel’s scalp. Once that was done, he breathed a sigh of relief and prayed that everything went just as smooth with recovery. Leaving his nurses to take care of the rest, Qua stepped out of the surgery room and removed all of his protective wear. After giving his hands a good scrub down, he dried them and then headed to the waiting area where Saige, Moon, Hailey, and Winston nervously sat.
“Is he okay?” Saige was the first one to acknowledge his presence.
His eyes lingered on her for a second longer than he liked. His thoughts were still swirling from when he saw her with Carmine a week ago. She didn’t see him, but he saw her and the shit show that Carmine had her wrapped up in. In Q’s eyes, Saige didn’t even seem like the type to deal with a street nigga. She had a certain innocence about her that Qua was able to pick up on right away. Ever since he saw her with Carmine, the only thing he’d been able to think about was if she knew who he really was.
“Surgery was a success,” he confirmed with the nod of his head. “We removed every piece that caused the seizures, so he can now enjoy a seizure free life.”
“Thank you, God!” Saige shouted, breaking down into a fit of tears as she hugged Moon tightly.
“When can we see him?” Hailey asked.
“He’s being transported to a recovery room right now. One of my nurses will come and let you know when he’s ready for visitors. It may be about another hour or so, give or take. We just have to make sure he’s able to breathe on his own for at least thirty minutes before anyone can visit with him.”
Winston shook Qua’s hand. “Thanks, doc. We really appreciate you exercising such great care with our son. Yesterday, when you showed up in his room dressed as Ironman, I knew he was in the best hands possible.”
“Awe, I appreciate that. I’m just doing my job,” Qua offered a smile.
Saige threw her arms around Qua and hugged him tightly. “Thank you for saving my brother. Thank you!”
Slightly thrown off by her joyous response, Qua slowly lifted his arms and hugged her back. The ice box around his heart started to melt while feeling her in his arms. It was a weird sensation, and he was taken aback by how good it felt to hug her.
“Of course,” he gently pulled away from her to stop his heart from defrosting. “I’ll be by a little later on to check on Ramel.”
“Sounds good, doc,” Winston smiled.
Nodding his head, Qua turned around and went to the recovery room to make sure Ramel had been transferred successfully. After he told Jackie to come get him when Ramel woke up, Qua went to his office to take a break. He’d been on his feet for over eight hours because he had patients prior to Ramel’s surgery.
Plopping down in his chair, he let out a long sigh and massaged his temples. Quadir knew that he needed to take some time off soon. He’d been working non-stop for the last three months, and he was beyond exhausted. He loved his job and his patients, but he was well aware that if he didn’t take a break, he was going to burn himself out. He prided himself on being able to always power through whatever just like his father. While it wasn’t necessarily healthy for the body, it was the mindset he’d adapted to. His mother always reminded him to take breaks, and he knew he needed to sooner than later.
“Dr. B!” Jackie shook him awake.
He jumped because he didn’t realize that he was sleeping. “Yeah, sorry.”
She chuckled. “It’s alright. That was a long surgery! But Ramel is awake now.”
“Already?” He checked his watch, noting that forty minutes had passed from when he first got to his office. “Damn, I’ve been out for a minute.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been trying to wake you up for the last five!” She laughed and walked back out of his office.
Getting himself together, Quadir stood up and strolled to the recovery room where Ramel was. He was happy to see that he was alert, and his eyes were moving around.
“There’s the coolest kid on the block. I told you that you’d make it through surgery. How you feeling?” Qua asked, accepting his chart from Jackie and glancing over his vitals.
“Sleepy,” Ramel croaked.
“That’s normal, buddy. It’s just the meds. Do you feel pain anywhere?”
“No.”
“Good,” he took the pen out of his scrub pocket and flipped Ramel’s blanket back. Using the tip of the pen, he lightly drug it down Ramel’s foot. “Can you feel that?”
Ramel nodded slightly. “Yeah.”
“Good. Do you remember my name?”
“Quadir,” he answered confidently.
“Perfect. What month is it?”
“September.”
Qua smiled at him and asked him a few more questions, all which Ramel answered correctly. He was pleased with how coherent he was, so he told Jackie to go and get Ramel’s family. Moments later, they all came rushing in with bright smiles and tears in their eyes. It was obvious that Ramel was their world. Watching them interact with Ramel, his curiosity was gnawing at him about Saige.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked Saige after his curiosity got the best of him.
She nodded then followed him out of the room. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, you just don’t strike me as the type of woman that puts up with a lot of bullshit, but I saw you with Carmine last week.”
Her eyes swelled. “You were there?”
“I was, and I’m trying to figure out what someone like you was doing there with someone like him.”
“Um,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I-I don’t know. I’ve known him for a few years now. He asked me to go, and I said yes.”
“The two of you are dating?” He blurted out without meaning to.
“Uh…something like that. Why?”
He shrugged casually. “I was just wondering because again, he doesn’t seem like your type.”
“My type?” She squinted at him and folded her arms across her chest. “How do you know what my type is?”
“I don’t know. You just seem…well put together, and Carmine is the opposite of that.”
“I’m sorry, how do you know Carmine again?”
“Business,” he licked his lips. Something about Saige had his undivided attention, and he didn’t want their conversation to end.
“What kind of business could a doctor and a tech guru have?”
“A tech guru?” Q laughed and nodded. “That’s what he told you?”
“What do you mean?”
He threw his hands up in surrender. “Nothing. If that’s what he told you then that’s what it is.”
“You know what, Dr. Burrus? You sound very judgmental and what about you, huh? Your little girlfriend approached me in the bathroom and offered to have a threesome with me!” She whispered in a huff.
He smirked at how flustered she seemed even saying the word threesome . “She’s not my girlfriend, and if I fucked you, it’d never be in a threesome. I’d want you to myself.”
“W-w-what?” She swallowed hard.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?” He complimented her.
Quadir ran the same game on women, and it worked every time. First, he gave them the cold shoulder, then he laid it on thick. In no time, he was getting the panties. Even though Saige seemed different, he wasn’t about to treat her any differently. She was going to get the same treatment as the others. He truly did find her beautiful and a bit mysterious, but at the end of the day, his end game was to get inside of her. Nothing more, nothing less.
Saige was still staring at him with a lost expression when Moon stepped out of the room. “Is… everything okay out here?”
“Mmhm, fine. Thanks again, Dr. Burrus,” Saige hurriedly said before going back into Ramel’s room.
Moon looked Quadir up and down. “You like my sister, don’t you?”
“I think your sister is gorgeous. I don’t know her to like her,” he admitted.
“Mmhmm,” she nodded with a smirk. “I knew there was something between you two. Listen, Saige doesn’t date. Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen her with a man. I used to think she was gay,” she laughed at her own joke. “But she’s just all about her career. She needs a nice guy to take her out and show her a good time. She deserves that. She works so hard, and she’s always making sure me and Ramel are good. How about you give me your number, and I set up a little date?” Moon tapped her fingers against each other like she was some criminal mastermind.
Quadir was confused when Moon said that her sister didn’t date when Saige had just told him the exact opposite. It clicked in his head that Saige clearly hadn’t told her sister about her boyfriend. Or whatever Carmine was to her.
“You sure she isn’t going to mind?” He raised a curious eyebrow.
“Dr. B, you let me handle all of that. I will get her there. You just make sure you have something really nice set up for her,” she smiled.
Chuckling, Quadir gave Moon his number then walked back to his office. He was perfectly fine with the little sister playing matchmaker. So long as his end goal was met, he didn’t give a fuck about what happened in between.