16. Chase
Chase
Ilove Christmas, and I hate it all at the same time. People tend to lose their minds over the holidays, and even though it’s only Christmas Eve, I feel like I’ve been triaging the weirdest emergencies all day.
By the time I get a chance to change into clean scrubs and wolf down a bag of chips, it’s four o’clock.
“Shiiiiit,” I groan.
I’m usually a glass-is-half-full type of person, but days like today feel like they’re trying their absolute hardest to beat me down. Grabbing my cell phone from my pocket, I dial Logan’s number, thankful he doesn’t start his on-week for two more days.
“Hey, Chase. Is everything okay?” he asks, clearly confused. We mostly stick to texting.
“Yeah, uh, no, actually. I’m running way behind, and I need a huge favor.”
“No problem,” he says, despite not knowing what I need. “How can I help?”
“Can you pick up the order I placed at Sunrise Canyon Café and meet me in the physician’s lounge in an hour?”
“Sure, man. See you then.”
“You’re the freaking best. Thank you!”
I finish my dictations, return a couple of work-related texts, and check in on the lady we took to the OR this morning.
I have just enough time to haul ass to my car and grab the few decorations and gifts I managed to buy for Marcy and Helen and race upstairs.
When I get to Marcy’s room, it’s empty.
I knew it would be because Marcy has treatment today and Helen sits with her whenever she can.
I get the small pre-decorated tree set up in the corner, wrap string lights around the rails of Marcy’s bed, and throw a fake garland over the TV.
I wish I could do more, but time is the one thing I never have enough of, and it was a stretch to be able to get anything at all.
When I drove over to my place to pick it up after it had been delivered, things were weird.
I walked in the front door, and the space felt all wrong, but for once it had nothing to do with the odor or the clutter…
which was still fully present. It was because Logan wasn’t there.
A short while later, I get a text from Logan telling me he’s downstairs waiting for me. Not for the first time, I’m grateful his hospital badge gives him access to the physician’s lounge. He probably spends more time in there than anyone when he’s between flights.
Chase:
On my way down now.
Pushing into the lounge, I sigh in relief that he came through. He’s holding bags in both hands, but what catches me by surprise is his attire.
“You got a date?” I ask, taking one of the bags from him. I aim for joking, but I’m afraid he can hear the pinch of…what exactly?
Anxiety?
Jealousy?
Hurt that he didn’t tell me his plans?
He looks down at his outfit, and I swear he blushes.
“Oh, uh, no. It’s just…you know, it’s Christmas Eve, and you know, if you wanted me to pick this food up, I assumed it was for something…” he trails off, and I see the look of horror cross his face as he realizes the meal isn’t for us. Well, not just for us. “Ohmygod, I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not. I’d love for you to stay and meet Marcy.”
I’m probably seeing things, but I swear his face falls slightly.
“No, that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to intru…wait, Marcy? What about Kendra?”
“Kendra told me a couple days ago that she wouldn’t be able to make it up for the holidays. And trust me, you’re not intruding. Marcy will love you.”
Logan eyes me warily.
“I don’t know, man. I don’t really want to spend my Christmas crashing your date with your side piece.”
I throw my head back in laughter.
“Good to know you think so highly of me, Kirkland. You’re definitely staying now, and you’re going to be uncomfortably full after eating those words. Come on,” I say, grabbing one of the bags of food from his hands.
“Chase,” Logan groans my name, and it’s full of gravel.
Oddly, I don’t hate it, and it makes me almost giddy.
“Nope. You’ve got the other bag of food, and I have to badge through the doors, so I need you. Come on,” I say again, smiling when he follows me into the elevator.
“Where are we going?” he asks.
“To surprise my side piece and her mother with dinner,” I say with a grin so wide my cheeks hurt.
“Her mother?”
“Duh. Don’t you know the best way to impress a woman is by impressing her mother?”
“No, Chase, I don’t know that because I’m gay, and I was one of the lucky ones who never had to date a girl in order to figure that out,” he says.
The elevator pings, telling us we’ve arrived at our destination. When we exit, it’s pretty easy to tell you’re on a pediatric floor. There are bright colors everywhere; cartoon murals adorn the walls, and toy stations are set up in the lobby.
Logan leans into me and whispers, “I think I may have gotten the wrong idea.”
“I think maybe you did,” I whisper back, nudging him in the ribs. “You can set your stuff down here. We need to scrub in, and depending on how Marcy’s feeling, we may need to wear masks. Have you had any cold symptoms recently? Sneezing, coughing, runny nose?”
Logan shakes his head.
When we enter Marcy’s room, he smiles. “Did you do all this?”
“It’s not much,” I confess. “I wish I could do it for all the kids, but the hospital hires a guy who hands out small gifts to everyone, so that’s something at least. He’ll be here tomorrow morning.
Helen, that’s Marcy’s mom, works all the time and does the best she can, but I get the feeling she doesn’t have a huge support system, so I just wanted to do a little something extra. ”
“So, this dinner is for them,” Logan says, staring at me with a funny look on his face.
“Yeah. I mean, there’s enough here for all of us. The girls eat like birds,” I reply with a sad smile. “Marcy doesn’t usually have much of an appetite on chemo days, but I’m hoping the pie will convince her to at least eat something.”
Logan and I set up the spread of food and sit down to wait for Marcy’s return.
Looking over at him, the sleeves of his button-up rolled to his forearms, his tattoos exposed, I begin to realize just how good-looking he is.
He has blond tips in his otherwise light brown hair, but they look good, not like a nineties bleach job gone wrong.
He has the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen, and his ever-present chains hang around his neck, disappearing underneath the buttons of his shirt, drawing the eye.
The diamond studs in his ears really give him a bad boy vibe, and he wears it well.
“You look nice,” I tell him. “Thank you for picking up the food.”
“It was my pleasure,” he replies. “Scrubs aren’t really Christmas dinner attire, but you make them work,” he offers with a smile.
“I meant to bring a change of clothes, but with everything else going on, I forgot them,” I admit.
“No, really, they suit you,” he says, his eyes raking over my frame. “In fact, they’re kind of hot. Can’t say I’ve ever had a surgeon fantasy, but that might be changing.”
Logan has been comfortable in his own skin since I’ve known him. The circumstances of our first meeting were far too somber for me to get a glimpse of the real him, but ever since reconnecting, I’ve learned to tell when he’s joking or just giving me a hard time.
This moment isn’t either of those things.
I swallow hard, but before I can answer, I hear a small gasp and turn my attention to the doorway.
Marcy’s eyes light up at the scene in front of her.
“Dr. Chase!” She wraps her thin little arms around my waist. “Is this for me?”
“Merry Christmas, Marcy Bear.” My eyes find her mom still standing in the doorway with a hand pressed to her mouth.
“Merry Christmas, Helen.” She nods, too choked up to speak, so I do introductions.
“Ladies, this is my very good friend, Logan. He flies the helicopter for the hospital and is the reason I was able to get the food here on time,” I add, with an appreciative glance in his direction.
“Logan, this is Marcy and her mom, Helen.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” Helen whispers.
“I’d love to see the helicopter!” Marcy says excitedly. “I’ve never been on a plane or anything,” she adds.
“Maybe we can make that happen,” Logan says.
“How was treatment today, kiddo?” I ask Marcy, pulling a paper plate from the stack as she climbs into bed.
“Eh, not so bad. It was the last dose of this round, so it was a little lighter.”
“Like, turkey and stuffing lighter? Or like straight-to-the-pie lighter?”
“Definitely the pie,” she giggles.
I wink at Helen and scoop pie onto the plate, handing it to my favorite patient, even if she’s technically not mine.
The four of us spend the next hour chatting and eating. Logan fits in seamlessly as he engages with Marcy, patiently answering all her questions about flying.
Marcy squeals with delight when she unwraps the dolphin blanket I got for her.
Eleven is a weird age. She wants to be grown up, but she isn’t, and she definitely doesn’t want childish things—not from me anyway—so I got her something practical.
“It matches the slippers,” I tell her, setting a bag with tissue paper in her lap.
“Thank you, Chase. This means the world to us. I wish you were on her medical team,” Helen says, placing a hand on Marcy’s shin.
“Me too,” I admit.
Marcy fights hard after that, but eventually, fatigue wins, and she falls asleep clutching her new blanket.
“I know you guys have had a long day, so Logan and I will clean up and let you get some sleep.”
“Here, let me. You’ve already done so much,” Helen says, standing immediately.
“Absolutely not. I did not bring all this in here just for you to clean it up,” I tell her quietly.
With a small laugh, Helen says, “Dr. Matthews, if you were fifteen years older, I’d marry you right this second.”
I laugh out loud before covering my mouth with my hand.
“I’d make a terrible husband, Helen. I’m married to my job and work a hundred hours a week.”
“And don’t forget you’re a neat freak with more than a touch of OCD about bath towels,” Logan chimes in, clapping me on the back.
Helen quirks a brow at me.
“We’re roommates,” I explain quickly.
“Must be nice to have a friend and roommate who works with you. At least you can understand each other’s world and how crazy your days can be.”
I nod and smile. It’s been a long day, and with Marcy full and happy, I’m ready to go home.