30. To Lean On
TO LEAN ON
“Luca.”
Two weeks later, Luca was leaving his office to walk toward the hospital and start his rounds when his name was called.
He turned to see Gabriela’s cousin jogging to catch up to him. “Hi, Ava.”
“Got a minute or are you in a hurry?”
“I’ve got a minute. What’s going on?”
Though he might have guessed. It was not often OB wanted to talk to pediatrics.
“Your patient Taylor Owens. You reached out to see if she had her checkup with me.”
“Did she?”
He’d sent the message yesterday from home. Just checking charts and updates and had yet to see anything.
“Today,” Ava said. “She had an appointment two weeks ago and canceled it. I thought maybe they were, you know, exploring other options.”
“Without even knowing how far along she was?”
“They could have gone anywhere else for that,” Ava said, “but they did reschedule and I saw her a few hours ago.”
“I guess I missed an update to the charts.”
“Or the system is slow, but I’m sure you’ll see it later. I’ll give you a rundown if you want.”
“Yes, please.”
They were still walking, but much slower. There weren’t many around other than medical professionals, but they hadn’t gotten to a place they could go in and talk privately. At least that he knew of.
“Hang on a second,” she said when he opened the door and held it for her to enter the hospital from the connecting hallway. She led him to another door. “In there, it’s open. Not that I’m too worried, but I don’t like to always talk out in public either.”
“That’s fine.” He followed her into a room. One that patients could meet with staff in.
“She’s just over six months pregnant. On the small side.”
“That’s further along than I thought,” he said. Not that he’d know exactly, other than he knew her uterus was enlarged for her age. She wasn’t a super skinny girl, but not overweight.
When she lay on the table and her skin went flat in most spots, it was pretty obvious to him what the bump had meant, but again, he wasn’t going to assume.
“She’s not taking the best care of herself. She admitted to drinking and smoking pot a few times.”
He closed his eyes and tried not to show how much this bothered him.
It was not surprising news.
How many children were born into this world in that exact situation?
Too many to count.
Too many that could use a good home that he would have been more than willing to open his door for.
“I hope she’s going to take better care of herself now.”
“I laid the law down to her and her aunt. I don’t know exactly what they are going to do, but I’m not positive Taylor wants to keep the baby. I asked their plans. Right now, they’ve got two options. Birth and keep it, or birth and adoption.”
“So due in May?” he asked.
“May tenth or thereabouts. It’s a boy.”
“If she wanted to know the sex, I’m assuming she’s thinking of raising it. She has a boyfriend, she said.”
Ava shook her head. “He’s not in the picture. There were a lot of tears in the office. He’s out the door and saying he doesn’t believe it’s his anyway and wants no part of it. It’s kind of sad.”
“And the aunt?”
“She’s stressed. Torn. She never had kids and didn’t really want them, but didn’t want her niece on the streets. I’ll see her again in four weeks.”
“Thanks for giving me an update,” he said.
He’d be watching more on her charts.
“No problem,” Ava said, moving toward the door. “I told her she still needs to make an appointment with your office. She’s missing a few vaccines.”
“I noticed that. I should have said something then, but honestly…”
“I know, too much more to worry about. If she hasn’t gotten them by her next appointment, I’ll remind her.”
The two of them walked out, he went to his ward, Ava going to the maternity ward.
When he got to his floor, things were relatively quiet for five patients.
Luca saw them all, ordered more tests, spoke with parents, then noticed it was almost eight and he was starving.
No reason to go to the ER for an hour. He’d never get out of there if he went down now.
He went to his office to finish up notes and get orders set for the night while he grabbed something to eat.
The cafeteria wasn’t open, so he found a vending machine, searched through and settled on a granola bar and a cookie. It’d hold him over until he was home and could have something more substantial before he crashed into bed.
His phone went off with a text, so he reached over to see what he was needed for and was pleasantly surprised Gabriela’s name popped up saying she hoped his night wasn’t horrible.
He tipped back in the chair and hit the button to call her.
“Hey, it can’t be too nutso if you’re calling me back right away.”
“Since you know the number of patients on the ward, and another added earlier today, I’ve spent the entire time here.”
“I was hoping Anthony could have gone home,” she said, her voice almost whining. “But he’s not doing what he’s told, so I’m not surprised he’s not ready.”
“I told his parents that. Honestly, I think he likes it here. Says he gets waited on more and not told to stop watching TV.”
“Plus, he’s missing school,” she said. “I heard that last night too.”
“I just ran more blood work. With any luck, he can go home tomorrow.”
“I’ve never met a kid who likes to be in the hospital,” she said. “But there is a first for everything.”
“I talked to Ava on the way over tonight. She gave me an update on Taylor.”
He hadn’t brought the teen’s name up once since the first night.
Since her shoulder was there for him to lean on.
Then she made him feel lighter than he had in years by offering for him to go to her house the next night.
And what awaited him when he walked in the door. Yeah, it brought a massive smile to his face.
An openness to his heart that was slowly falling once again.
She brought up the subject first...in her way. And that was fine with him.
It didn’t all have to be fun and games with them. It didn’t all have to be serious either.
But it was nice to know it could be when or if they wanted it to be.
“What did she say?”
“That she’s over six months pregnant and on her own. The boy is out, not even admitting it’s his and wants no part of it.”
“That’s sad, but not unheard of. Maybe he’ll change his mind.”
He shrugged. Not that she could see it.
Or the thoughts that had been running through his mind all night while he tried to shove them in a closet.
Things that had no business popping in, things he’d told himself he shouldn’t be considering, but yet, he wasn’t doing that great of a job convincing himself of it.
“Who knows? Ava brought up the options, keeping the child or adoption. They seemed on the fence on what they were doing so she broached it to get their minds working.”
“Do you think she’ll keep it?” she asked.
“No clue. I’m not even positive she’ll stay on the island. We might not even see her again, though she’s due for some shots. We’ll see if she makes the appointment.”
“There are so many things outside our control. Might be for the best if you don’t see her again.”
He heard the underlying words.
That maybe he’d get down again.
See the things he never had and wonder why the universe dealt him that hand.
For such a smart man, he could get lost in his thoughts.
Just like he’d been doing all night. Again.
“We have a lot of other patients who need us just as much,” he said. He reached for the cookie.
“What junk food are you eating?” she asked.
“A stale cookie now,” he said around a mouthful. “I missed the cafeteria before it closed.”
“I hate that too,” she said, laughing. “Doctors are the worst at taking care of themselves.”
He smiled despite himself. “Occupational hazard.”
“Next time I’m sending you with a care package,” she warned. “Actual food. Possibly labeled. Or, I can just leave you something from my last night as a surprise.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Just make sure that it’s nothing too obvious. You know, people still haven’t caught on here about us.”
Which shocked him more than anything.
It’d been almost two months that they’d been sleeping together.
So relationship in his mind.
If he counted his first day of work when they were “flirting” and getting to know each other.
That was three months ago.
“I think there is some speculation now.”
“Really?” he asked. “And when were you going to fill me in on that?”
“When we had the next five days off together.”
He laughed. “Okay. I can wait until then. As long as I don’t get blindsided here at work.”
“If someone asks, just tell them yes,” she said cheerfully. “If you’re okay with it. I’m not sure anyone will ask you directly like they would me.”
He didn’t think so either.
Many were still feeling him out some.
He leaned back in his chair again, it squeaking under his weight, the edge of the day finally dulling. “Are you all rested now that your rotation’s over?”
“Rested-ish,” she said. “I slept like a normal person last night. No alarms. No panic dreams about missing labs, calls, or appointments. I just love that feeling. I rolled over at almost eleven and didn’t care I missed the gym because my workout buddy wasn’t around anyway.”
“That sounds like a great night,” he teased.
“It was glorious. I didn’t even feel guilty.”
“Now that’s growth.”
She laughed softly. “What about you? Almost done for the night? Think you’ll get out of there on time?”
“Yep. Less than an hour,” he said. “I’m counting the minutes and the crumbs.” His hand wiped them to the edge of the desk and into the garbage bin next to it.
“Well,” she said, “finish your cookie. You’ve earned it.”
“How about other things I might have earned?”
“Ohhhh,” she said. “Are we going to have phone sex? While you’re at work? That’s scandalous, Dr. Brewer. I might love it too.”
He laughed with her. “I wasn’t going there, but it seems you were.”
“Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to lie?”
He grinned at the humor in her voice.
“I don’t always listen to my parents, do you?”
“Nope. Not anymore,” she said. “And finish up so you can get out of there. I mean it. We’ll talk tomorrow when you can.”
He hung up after that.
The warmth in her voice lingered longer than it should have, and he realized, somewhere between stale sugar and easy laughter, that this was exactly what he’d needed.