Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Grace
After stabilizing my patient, I went to the ER and found Jackie behind the desk.
“You look tired,” she spoke.
“I’m fine.” I smiled.
She sat there and glared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Up all night with Dr. Finn?” Her brow raised. “Don’t try to deny it, Grace. He stopped by here earlier looking for you. He said he needed to give you your phone and key.”
I took in a deep breath. Damn him.
“Fine. He came over last night.”
“I can’t believe you caved.” She cocked her head.
“It wasn’t the first time. Please don’t tell anyone,” I begged.
“I won’t, but what do you mean it wasn’t the first time?”
“We met in New York and had sex the night before I left to come here.”
“What?!” she exclaimed.
“Shh...We met in a bar, and we were never supposed to see each other again. I didn’t know he was a neurosurgeon, and I certainly didn’t know he worked at this hospital. Imagine the shock.”
“Damn, Grace.”
“Tell me about it. I vowed it wasn’t going to happen again, but I had a weak moment. After all, look at him.”
“Trust me, I have. I get it. But you broke your rule. You let Dr. Jamieson Finn break your rule.”
“I know.” I placed my hands on my head. “It’s not going to happen again.”
“Sure, it won’t.” She pursed her lips. “By the way, your new residents are waiting for you in the conference room.” She handed me three file folders.
“Thanks.”
As I was walking down the hall, I quickly examined their files. Pushing open the conference room door, I stepped inside and introduced myself.
“Good morning, I’m Dr. Harper. Welcome to Cedars-Sinai. It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Meadows, Dr. Sanders, and Dr. Adler.” I smiled. “You’re with me for your trauma rotation. Trauma can be tricky, so you need to be on your game at all times. We’re here to save lives, people. So, let’s go save some.”
I walked out of the conference room, my residents following behind.
“Dr. Harper, we have a trauma coming ten minutes out. Surfing accident.”
“Okay. Let’s get ready,” I spoke as I looked at my residents, and we headed outside to wait for the ambulance.
The ambulance pulled up, and I ran over and opened the doors.
“What do we have?” I asked.
“Twenty-four-year-old male, abdominal trauma, possible head injury. BP 90/50. Pulse is 126. You ready for this?” the paramedic asked.
“Oh my God,” Dr. Sanders shrieked before she hit the ground.
“I need some help out here. I have a resident down!” I yelled.
“Jackie, where am I?” I shouted as we raced the stretcher inside.
“Trauma three,” she replied.
“Anyone else going to faint on me? Because if you are, I suggest you leave now! Call the O.R. and tell them we’re on our way! I need as much O negative as you can get from the blood bank,” I spoke to Sara, one of the ER nurses.
“His BP is dropping, Dr. Harper.”
“He’s lost a lot of blood. Push one of epi and get me the crash cart.”
He flatlined.
“Charge to 200. Clear.” I shocked him and looked at the monitor. “Dr. Adler, start compressions. “Charge to 250. Clear.” I shocked him again.
“We got a rhythm,” Dr. Adler spoke.
“Let’s get him upstairs. Dr. Adler, you can scrub in.”
We ran down the hallway and to the elevator. Everyone stared in shock as they saw part of his surfboard and intestines sticking out of his abdomen.
“Dr. Harper, there’s blood coming out his ears,” Dr. Adler spoke.
“Page Dr. Finn, stat, and tell him to meet us in the O.R.”
Dr. Adler and I were scrubbing in when Jamieson walked in.
“You paged me?” he asked.
“Surfing accident.”
Jamieson looked through the glass at the patient and then over at me.
“Damn. Is that part of his surfboard?” he asked.
“Yes. He has blood coming from his ears. There’s probably an intracranial bleed somewhere. They’re getting the CT now.”
“Looks like I’m scrubbing in with you.” He smiled. “We really have to stop meeting like this.”
I rolled my eyes as I looked over at Dr. Adler and she was staring at Jamieson.
“Hello.” He grinned as he started scrubbing in. “And you are?”
“Dr. Adler.” She smiled like a schoolgirl in love.
“She’s my new resident,” I spoke. “Let’s get in there, Dr. Adler.”
I walked into the operating room, where the scrub nurse put on my surgical gown and gloves. Walking over to the patient, I looked at the scans that were taken.
“The good news is the board didn’t hit any major organs, and it isn’t too deep. We should be able to carefully pull it out.”
“I’m opening up his skull,” Jamieson spoke. “He’s got a brain bleed. If you don’t pull that board out completely straight, you’ll pierce something, Dr. Harper.”
“I know that, Dr. Finn.” I shot him a look as I could see the smirk beneath his mask.
“Dr. Adler, we’re going to grab the board together and slowly pull it out.
But make sure you pull up straight. One wrong move or slight curve, and things will get a lot worse.
On my count. One. Two. Three.” We slowly pulled the board out, and blood shot out everywhere.
“Damn it. Hang four fresh frozen plasma units and four O neg units.”
After five hours in the O.R., my surfboard patient was stabilized. Jamieson stopped the bleeding in his brain, and I fixed his abdomen and put his intestines back in their proper place.
“Is his family here?” I asked one of the nurses.
“Yes, Dr. Harper. They’re in the waiting room.”
I sat in the on-call room with my knees to my chest as I read Sam’s text message.
“Stop blocking my numbers and call me. I need to talk to you. Please, Grace. You can’t spend the rest of your life not forgiving me.
I screwed up. I know, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
You are the love of my life. Please, I’m begging you to call me.
This is driving me insane. Especially since I don’t know where you’re at. I need to see you.”
I deleted the message and blocked the number.
Things were quiet in the ER, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and saw that Jamieson was doing a craniotomy in O.R.
three. I walked over and sat in the gallery to watch him.
Why? I had no idea. He was a very skilled surgeon, and I knew why they said he was the best in the country.
Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about last night.
But I was pissed that he said something to Jackie.
“He’s so hot,” one of the nurses sitting next to me spoke to another nurse.
“I know, and he’s so amazing in bed,” the nurse sitting beside her spoke.
“You had sex with him?”
“I did. In the on-call room.”
“God, what I wouldn’t give to sleep with him.”
“Don’t expect anything. He’s got a heart of stone, and he has a rule. No commitment and no strings. Break those rules, and you’ll never see him again. That’s why Julie up and quit.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. She somehow got it in her head that she could change him and told him she wanted a real relationship with him. He got mad, told her that she meant absolutely nothing and that he only used her for sex.”
I sat there, taking in deep, calming breaths as I listened to their conversation.
“Sounds like a real asshole,” I spoke.
Both of the nurses looked over at me.
“As long as you don’t expect anything from him, the sex is worth it,” the nurse with the black hair spoke.
“Sounds like Dr. Finn gets around.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you?”
“I’m Dr. Harper. The new attending trauma surgeon.”
“Oh. So, you’re not familiar with him.”
“No.” I smiled. “I just came up here to see the famous Dr. Finn in action.”
“He does get around. To be honest. Who could resist him? I mean, look at him. Neurosurgeon, hot, sexy, smart, rich. He’s perfect in every way except emotionally. As I said, he has a heart of stone. But he can get away with it. He’s so dreamy.”
I rolled my eyes as I took a sip of coffee. Getting up from my seat, I walked out and headed to the ER.