32. Marcus
32
MARCUS
I couldn’t believe Emma was back. It was honestly an unexpected shock to see her. A good shock, because I hadn’t let myself even hope that she would come back. Did this mean I had another chance to have her in my life?
I turned as I headed toward the trauma room. She was practically running as she hurried away. I needed to keep my head and focus on my work, but Emma was a pleasant distraction. I had kept her face in my memory, but gazing into her eyes, it was as if I had forgotten exactly how beautiful her eyes really were.
Slowly, the ER calmed and the chaos quieted down. I was no longer needed, patients were cared for, and now they had to move forward with the recovery part of their treatment. Before I headed home, I wanted to ask Emma for coffee or dinner. She wasn’t around, or at least I couldn’t find her, and I didn’t bother to pester the nursing staff to ask after her.
Emma was back. I’d see her again. I had to.
The next morning, I headed straight into James Collins’s office.
“Marcus, how can I help you this morning?” he said as I stepped into his office.
“Emma was back on the floor last night,” I mentioned.
“That’s not going to be a problem for you, is it?” he immediately asked me.
“Not at all. I just wanted to say that her presence yesterday made all the difference and I was coming to make sure that you had plans on offering her a position back with the hospital.”
He let out a chuckle as I let my demands be known.
“What?” I asked.
“You aren’t the first one in my office this morning to let me know,” he said.
“Seriously?” I asked.
He nodded. “Seriously. Her coordination efforts last night made the difference in the lives of several people. I’ve had other surgeons blowing up my email, and Rosa Hernandez was up here as I came in. She wanted to make sure she told me in person before going home after her shift. She wanted me to know that we needed Dr. Chen back, immediately. We will definitely be extending her an offer to return. Well, while I’ve got you here, I have a question about this triage protocol that was being used. What can you tell me about it?” he asked again.
I shook my head. I had no idea what strategy Emma used to work her magic last night. “What I can tell you is that we don’t have an official triage protocol in place.”
James’s face twisted up with concern.
“On a day to day basis, what work processes we currently have in place are working out fine. They could be improved upon. However, last night was an extreme situation. If we didn’t have Emma keeping tabs on patients and available doctors, last night could have been problematic. If we have another situation come up like last night, we absolutely need to have a protocol to fall back on and a point person to be properly trained. We need Emma in surgery, but we also need someone who can take control in that kind of situation.”
“I was under the impression that she had put one together and made a presentation to our board,” he said.
“Well, you’re familiar with Dr. Kevin Thompson, right?” I asked, not hiding my exasperation.
James nodded.
“Well, Dr. Chen and I had only been kicking around the idea of establishing an intake protocol. We had nothing concrete, and nothing was discussed when she was requested to make that presentation. It didn’t go well simply because there was nothing for her to present. I am very much under the impression that he was pushing for that presentation to be made before there was anything to present as a personal vendetta against Dr. Chen.”
I continued to lay out my opinion on the entire situation, regardless of whether James was actually interested or not. My intention was to make the point that Emma had basically been caught unaware and unprepared and that, with actual preparation time and a bit more of a heads-up than forty-eight hours, she would definitely have a working protocol. The two of us would definitely have a presentable working protocol.
James’s brows continued to pull together, and the furrows in his brow grew deeper as he thought about what I had said.
“So, you think if I gave you two some time, you could come up with a viable triage protocol?” he finally asked.
I nodded. “That’s what I just said.”
He nodded almost absentmindedly, but I could sense he was working it over and over again in his mind. “Okay, let’s do that,” he said. “Can I count on you to coordinate with Dr. Chen? I’ll reach out to Emma and let her know.”
“You’re going to have to give her time. After all, this need for an incoming protocol started as a random idea.”
“But what about her previous presentation?”
“As you pointed out, it did not go well. She had, what? Two days to pull it together. I gave her some of my thoughts on it, but clearly, that wasn’t enough. Besides, she needs to be able to take what she successfully implemented last night and distill it down into understandable sound bites of information that the board can comprehend. She’ll be translating ER and surgical terms into a vocabulary that a bunch of men and women who wear business suits for a living will understand,” I explained.
“I want the two of you on this project. Will you be able to coordinate with her and get it done?”
“I can do that,” I said as I left his office and headed down toward the emergency department. I paused in the hallway and sent Emma a text. I wasn’t sure if it would go through or if I was going to be blocked. I hadn’t attempted to text her since I knew she was back in New York.
As I stood there waiting for her to respond, I realized I might be a little too eager for my own good. The message I sent was still unread, and I reminded myself to check on it later. I tucked my phone away. I needed to give James an opportunity to reach out to her before I did since it wasn’t my place to let her know she might have a job at Manhattan Memorial again.
It wasn’t until later that afternoon that my watch buzzed and a message flashed. I let out a heavy breath. It was Emma, and it said, We need to talk .
With a quick flick, I quickly tapped out a response, inviting her to lunch.
Lunch? My place? I typed.
When? She responded.
My instinct was to say tonight, but I needed to give the kids a bit more of a heads-up before having her arrive. While Jason would be thrilled to see her, I needed to be respectful of my daughter’s feelings and make sure that Lily had adequate time to mentally prepare herself.
Saturday? I typed out.
Will Lily be around? She does not like me.
Lily will be around. But I promise she will behave. We’ve been in therapy.
You too, or just her? Emma asked.
Both, together and separately. She’s making a lot of headway. We both are , I admitted.
Okay, I’ll be there. I look forward to it.
Bring notepaper. We have some work to do.
Work? she asked.
This is a working lunch. Hasn’t James called you yet?
No, but I guess that’s something I need to look forward to.
I groaned as I realized I had just done exactly what I had told myself I wouldn’t do. It wasn’t my place to let her know about the job. But it’s too late now, I guess . I decided to go ahead and fill her in the rest of the way.
Can I call? I texted.
My phone rang immediately. It was her.
“What do you know that I don’t?” she asked as soon as I said her name. She sounded eager and excited.
“I had expected James to have reached out by now. So, I do apologize for jumping ahead here,” I said. “I can’t say exactly what he’s going to call about, but he did ask for me to coordinate with you regarding pulling together a proposal and presentation regarding what you pulled off last night.”
“Last night? All I did was keep everything moving.”
“Exactly. You kept the ER flowing smoothly during a very difficult time. We need to take what you did and distill it down into the actions and thought processes that made everything work,” I explained.
“But it was…” she started and then just stopped talking for a moment. “It was automatic.”
I nodded and hummed. Automatic. Of course something as intricate and complex as juggling so many patients in an intense crisis would come naturally to a woman like Emma.
“I guess we have our work cut out for us. Be prepared to stay through dinner,” I said.