2. Quadir
2
Quadir
D r. Quadir Burrus let out a long sigh as he collapsed on his white leather couch. It had been a long day at the hospital, and he needed just a few moments of peace and quiet before his second job started ringing his line. Rubbing his temples, he kicked off his Tom Ford loafers and thought about the patients he’d encountered earlier. His mind instantly jumped to six-year-old Ramel. Q wanted to do everything he could to make sure Ramel lived a full, healthy life. He prayed that his family made a decision within the next few days so that he could start getting Ramel prepped for surgery.
Thinking of Ramel made him think about the brown skin beauty that was in his room. He had no idea the relation between Ramel and the woman, but he had to guess they were either siblings or aunt and nephew. Their relationship really didn’t matter to him. What mattered was the fact that he ran into her at the gym and again at the hospital. He didn’t know if that was a sign from the man above, or if he should run in the other direction.
When he was at the hospital, he purposely acted as if he didn’t know who the woman was. He wanted to test her to see how she’d react. Her facial expression conveyed that she felt slighted, but she didn’t act a fool, so she got a few points for that in his book. Quadir was used to the ratchet type of woman who caused a scene any and everywhere. Being a doctor, he wanted to keep everything in his work environment as professional as possible. That was the main reason why he never fucked any women that he worked with. He knew exactly what he was working with in his pants, and women never controlled themselves after they got a taste.
“Yeah?” He answered his second phone, seeing his right-hand man, Levi, calling.
“Wassup Grim? You off?” Levi greeted him by his nickname.
Q earned the nickname Grim Reaper a long time ago when he was in the streets heavily. The name was given to him because niggas knew he didn’t play and would put they ass down with the quickness. He had a graveyard of bodies attached to his name. After he went to school to become a doctor, Quadir traded in his dopeboy ambitions to be a lifesaver. That came in handy for his homeboys that were still in the streets. He was a lifesaver for them too whenever they got into some bullshit and needed to be treated.
The money he earned from being in the streets paid for his schooling, and he still had plenty left over which afforded him a life of luxury. Including the entire medical suite set-up in his home that he had to use for his friends and other associates.
“Yeah,” he ran his hands down his face. “Everything straight?”
“We good out here. You trying to step out tonight though?”
“Nah bro, I got a surgery in the morning.”
“Aight Dr. Doolittle,” Levi snickered. “Ima fuck witcha then.”
“Bet. Be safe out there, Levi. I don’t want no calls in the middle of the night.”
“I ain’t the one you gotta worry about,” he chuckled before hanging up.
Quadir knew that Levi was right—his homies weren’t always the problem. It was the mafia that he’d been employed by that gave him the most issues. The head of the Sartori crime family, Luca, hired him as their family doctor, and he’d been stuck with them ever since. Any member of the Sartori syndicate knew to call him whenever they got injured in their line of duty. The problem was that most of them were located in Philadelphia, so he’d have to hop on Luca’s jet immediately to get there and save the day. Often times, he had to have his colleagues cover him at CHKD because he was so busy patching up one of the Italians.
Living a double life was exhausting to say the least, but there was no way out with the Mafia. Luca Sartori owned him and had been owning him since the first day Qua decided to jump into the street life at the age of twelve. Luca made it clear to him that no matter what he did or where he went, he always worked for him. The only way out was a bullet to the brain. Q wasn’t interested in dying before his time, so he sucked it up and did what he had to do. His cooperation ensured the safety of his family as well as Levi and his organization’s money and drug flow.
Working for the Sartori’s wasn’t all bad though. Quadir had unlimited access to Luca’s jet, and Luca always kept his pockets stacked with money. On top of that, he could find out information on any person he desired. Qua really didn’t have to work if he didn’t want to, but he had a deep passion for his job. His little sister, Nicole, had been born with cerebral palsy and that’s what sparked his interest initially in the field of medicine. He was sixteen when she was born, and that’s when he made the decision to get serious about school and college.
Quadir worked really hard to graduate high school early with college credit, all while being a full-time dope boy. By the time he was seventeen, he was attending school at Columbia University in New York. He took accelerated courses which took him from the traditional four-year bachelor’s degree to having it completed in two. He graduated at the top of his class from med school at the young age of twenty-three and completed his residency and his time of selling dope at twenty-six. Now twenty-seven, he was at the top of his game as one of the lead pediatric surgeons at CHKD.
Sighing loudly, Qua opened his eyes and picked up his ringing phone again. “Wassup, dad?”
“Hey son, you sound tired. Long shift?”
“The longest,” he rubbed his eyes. “And I have surgery in the morning.”
“Something simple?”
“That’s the plan. It’s a brain tumor on a seven-year-old boy, but from the images, it should be a clean-cut surgery,” he let his dad know.
Q’s dad, Kadeem, was a retired doctor. He specialized in pediatric medicine as well, but unlike his son, he didn’t take the surgeon route.
“You got it. There’s nothing my son can’t handle, but I’ll let you get your rest so that you’re prepared tomorrow. Call me when you have some time tomorrow.”
“Alright pop, I love ya.”
“I love you too, son,” Kadeem said before hanging up.
Q drug himself off the couch and upstairs to his massive bedroom. He quickly hopped in the shower then slid in between his Egyptian sheets and drifted off to sleep.
He was not ready at all when his alarm went off the next morning. He didn’t even feel well rested, and he hated that, knowing he was about to perform surgery on someone’s child. He got up so that he could get some coffee in his system. That would surely help him. Taking his phone off the charger, he jogged downstairs and got his Keurig going. He sent his mom a good morning text like he did every morning then prepared his coffee. He took it upstairs with him and got ready to head into the hospital. After quickly showering, he threw on a Nike jogging suit, grabbed his backpack, and was out the door.
On his drive in to CHKD, the woman from the gym crossed his mind again. Her beauty was unmatched, and he was honestly surprised that he hadn’t seen her around before. Q felt like most of the fine ass women in the 757 were well known and popular because of their looks. While he appreciated that, he appreciated a lowkey woman even more. Because of his lifestyle, he didn’t want to take anyone serious who was going to have his real business out there. As far as the women he dealt with knew, he was simply a very wealthy doctor.
“Good morning, Dr. B!” One of his nurses, Jackie, greeted him when he walked on to his floor.
He smiled and nodded at her. “Good morning, Jack. Our patient good to go?”
“He’s nervous but ready,” she confirmed.
Qua nodded again then walked into his office. Placing his backpack on the floor, he quickly changed into the emerald green scrubs and slipped his feet into his black Adidas sneakers. He checked his phone to see his dad had texted him a good luck message. After he loved the text, he left his office and headed to the prep room where little Neeko and his family waited.
“Neekoooo,” Q greeted him with enthusiasm, a smile, and a hi-five. “You feeling good?”
Neeko looked up at him and nodded slowly. Qua looked over at his mother and father, greeting them as well.
“Yeah? Jackie told me you were nervous. Talk to me man, what’s got you feeling nervous?” He asked with pure concern.
“I don’t want something to go wrong,” Neeko confessed with worry written all over his face.
Q playfully twisted his lips up. “I thought you trusted me?”
“I do,” Neeko laughed.
“Ah, I got a smile out of you before surgery, and I bet I’ll get an even bigger one after surgery, right?”
He nodded again. “Yeah.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear my man,” they slapped fives again. “Who’s your favorite artist again? Lil’ Baby?” Neeko nodded. “Aight bet. We’ll play some Lil’ Baby for you before we start the surgery, sounds good?”
A huge smile spread across Neeko’s face. Qua spoke to his parents, being sure to answer any last-minute questions and comforting all of their concerns. Once he was sure that everyone was on board, he let them know they’d get started shortly then departed the room.
On the way up to the OR, Q said a prayer like he always did with every surgery. His mother was a praying woman and had instilled that trait in him as well. Surgeries were always a scary time for families, so he made sure he got all the assistance he could get from the man upstairs. It put him in the best mental space as well to perform at his best. After the prayer, he kissed it up to God then got prepped to get Neeko back to 100% health.