Chapter 14 #2
“Ignore her.” She shot a reproving look at Grove. “You can keep her to yourself as long as you need. I understand needing time—and space—to sort yourself out.”
He smiled softly. “We’re taking it slow. I think it’s best if I don’t share too many details yet. But I hope that changes. Soon.”
“You two are killing me with your cautious, methodical approaches to the women in your lives.” Grove crossed her arms, petulant. “Don’t you ever just want to throw her up against a wall and kiss her stupid while she rakes her fingers through your hair?”
Grier glanced sideways at her brother, both their mouths agape before they turned back to Grove and exclaimed, in perfect unison, “Yes!”
Grove shook her head, muttering under her breath, “Savages, the both of you.”
Grier returned to work on Wednesday feeling renewed from her time off with family. She missed having her sister close but was grateful for the visit. They’d crammed so much into the past few days that, although she was tired from the constant activity, she already missed Grove’s presence.
She stopped by the nurse’s station on her way to the break room, preferring in-person updates on her patients to the treatment notes she could read on her computer.
One of the nurses greeted her on sight, “Good morning, Dr.
Savage. Did you have a good break?”
“Hey, Caitlyn. I did. It’s always good to have my sister in town.
How was your weekend?”
“Boring, but good. Mostly binged the newest season of Alpine Gallows with my boyfriend,” Caitlyn replied.
“Oh yeah? Things still going well with… Ben?” Grier fumbled for the name, recalling it just in time.
“Good memory, Dr. Savage. Yes, things are going really well. Thanks for asking!” Caitlyn blushed. “Is there something I can help you with this morning?”
“I just wanted some updates on my patients from when I was out. Anything I should know?” Grier leaned her forearms on the high counter around the nurse’s station, balancing lightly on her toes to reach.
“Certainly. Let’s see who you’ve got on your schedule today…” Caitlyn clicked through a few tabs. “But you’ll be happy to know that Abby was discharged yesterday!”
“Oh, that’s great news!” Genuine warmth flooded her—she was always happiest when one of her patients was well enough to go home.
“Yes, and Jonah isn’t on your schedule today, but he’s also turning a corner. His hip is looking really good. Dr. Rhodes was down here late yesterday doing another evaluation and hinted to Molly that they might be looking at discharge if things continue how they are.”
Grier felt a wave of relief flood through her.
She’d spoken with Dr. Rhodes last week, comparing their independent findings on Jonah’s case and discussing his prognosis.
Grier had found Dr. Rhodes to be a cautious but intelligent provider—an excellent bridge between her and Dr. Vanders, with whom she so frequently found herself at odds.
Dr. Rhodes had agreed that Jonah’s leg would eventually need to be removed—eventually. But she wasn’t convinced he’d progressed to that point yet, and had promised to take that conversation to Dr. Vanders herself.
“More great news, Caitlyn! You’re my favorite person so far today!” She winked at the nurse—a running joke between her and most of the department. Grier handed out “favorite of the day” awards freely and frequently to anyone who happened to win her over.
“Gee, thanks, Dr. Savage.” Caitlyn winked back, a genuine smile filling her face.
“Your patient load today is about as full as you like it, but no one’s in any acute stage of pain.
You’ve got a couple new kiddos—Jeremiah, who has spina bifida and a scoliosis deformity, and Ellie, who has costochondritis secondary to pneumonia. The rest are your usual crowd.”
Grier dropped her heals to the floor and pushed off the counter. “Thanks, Caitlyn” she said as she began to walk away. Then, glancing over her shoulder, she added, “I appreciate you.”
She decided to skip her stop in the break room and head directly for her office.
Once there, she sat at her desk and pulled up Abby’s chart, then Jonah’s, reviewing their latest notes and Abby’s discharge summary.
She dialed the number to the nurse’s station on the surgical floor, and Jenn answered quickly.
“Hey, Jenn, it’s Dr. Savage. Is Dr. Rhodes in yet this morning?” “Good morning, Dr. Savage. Yes, we were just talking about
you, actually.” Grier heard a muffled background conversation before Jenn continued, “She said she’d take you in her office. I’ll put you through now.”
“Thanks, Jenn!”
A few seconds later, Dr. Rhodes picked up the phone. “Grier, good morning! Speak of the devil, a bit, eh?”
Grier felt a warmth of sincerity emanate from the young surgeon’s voice. “Hi, Haleigh! Yeah, I think I felt my nose itching… should I ask why I was the topic of conversation?”
“Oh, nothing pertinent. Just office drivel—and the look on Dr. Vanders’s face when you stole his award at the gala last week. It’s a permanent meme in the minds of some of the staff.” She laughed softly through the phone.
“Ha! Well, let me assure you, that reaction was not the goal of my triumph that night—but it definitely didn’t hurt. I sorta wish I could’ve seen it myself.”
“I’m not sure which reaction was better: Vanders’s dour rejection or the pride that so visibly swelled in your brother’s chest when your name was announced.” She paused briefly. “Both were indisputably emotional, just opposite ends of the spectrum.”
Something in Dr. Rhodes’s tone lingered just long enough to prick at the edges of Grier’s mind.
She didn’t know why, but there was a depth to Haleigh’s words she didn’t have time to analyze at the moment.
Without a clear response to the digression, she offered a hum of acknowledgement before asking, “I trust you’re well? ”
Grier swore she heard the briefest hesitation before Haleigh responded, a calm timber to her voice. “If you only knew, my friend.”
There it was again—a superficial, vague response with an audible undercurrent of implication.
What was she getting at? Grier sensed there was more, but Haleigh was deliberately obfuscating.
She let it go; they weren’t close enough for Grier to push her for information that wasn’t forthright.
She’d have to wait until Haleigh decided to decrypt her own veiled commentary.
Shifting past the formalities of small talk, Grier returned to the reason for her call. “I hear rumblings that Jonah is doing well. I wanted to hear it from you before I get my hopes up.”
“I’m very happy to confirm such rumors.” Grier could hear the smile return to Dr. Rhodes’s voice, her warmth flowing through the phone.
“Left hip warmth has been absent for at least three days. He can bear weight. PT has signed off on his exercises, labs show stable white cells, and the films I ordered Monday afternoon show stable lysis patterns on both the ilium and the femoral head.”
Grier listened intently, her excitement growing with each update. She gushed out the breath she’d been holding, “That sounds nothing short of miraculous!”
She heard Haleigh hesitate before replying. “Yes—cautious optimism is welcome right now. I’m hesitant to offer much more hope beyond this week, given how quickly his tumor grew. But for now, it appears we’ve contained it.”
“You still think he’s going to lose the leg?” Grier asked, her fragile bubble of hope already deflating.
Haleigh sighed. “Yes, unfortunately. I do think the tumor will reactivate—Ewing’s typically does.
I pray we can stop it at the hip, but I’m always skeptical of these fast-growing cases that suddenly seem to enter remission.
” She paused. “For now, though, there’s no reason to keep him here.
He should go home, and live as much of a healthy boyhood as he can. ”
Grier’s mood subdued with Haleigh’s last comment. She knew Ewing’s was a touchy cancer, but she’d been so hopeful that Jonah might beat the odds. She wanted to see him grow into the young man he promised to be. She wanted him to fly.
She cleared her throat, constricted with emotion. “What about Vanders? Has he weighed in?”
“Of course he had—and you know it’s not in agreement. But I don’t play his games. Despite his… seniority, Dr. Miles and I agree that Jonah should be discharged. Oncology has already signed off.”
Grier knew the chief of surgery had the final say in any disputes between his surgeons, and Dr. Miles was rarely deterred from his opinion.
“Ah, I’m glad the chief is on the same page.” Grier found some footing, knowing Jonah got at least this one chance to experience more of his childhood beyond the sterile walls of Aetheridge Children’s Hospital.
“Agreed.”
“Thanks, Haleigh. I appreciate your thoughts on this.” “Anytime, Grier. Have a good day.”
During her working lunch break that afternoon, Grier picked at a salad at her desk while charting her morning treatments when Maren knocked on the open door.
“I’ve decided you need to adopt me, because I’m having serious Grier withdrawals.” Maren approached Grier for a quick side hug before lounging comfortably in one of the guest chairs.
Grier smiled at her friend, but felt herself remain emotionally distant.
She hadn’t spoken to Maren during her time away from the hospital, and hadn’t updated either her or Alix on the latest developments with Tobin.
She’d made a conscious effort to stay present with her family for the remainder of Grove’s visit and had successfully pushed most thoughts of Tobin aside that morning.
But thoughts inevitably drifted to the captain in her quieter moments.
“I missed you, too.” She wasn’t deliberately withholding from Maren, but she was trying to prevent hyperfixating on the situation. She knew if either Maren or Alix found out about Tobin’s injury and subsequent in-home treatment—their kiss—there’d be no reprieve from the questions or cajoling.