entered the room designated as Emergency, she was besieged by patients, dozens of them surrounding her immediately, wanting to see her, trying to tell her what was wrong, trying to grab her attention first. The doctor on duty, a small, thin, older man by the name of Vance Hastings, looked like he was about to become one of the patients himself.
“Getting too old for this,” he wheezed as he dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. “Ten-hour shifts at this pace are for the young.” He finally managed a smile at Shanna. “But if you need help, I might have another hour or two left in me.”
Shanna chuckled. “How about I prescribe bed rest for now, and if I need you later on, I’ll come and get you?”
“Bless you, my child. You’ve just saved an old man’s life.”
His friendly smile was nice, very soothing. Yet she wondered why he pushed himself so hard when it was so clearly difficult on him. How difficult, she couldn’t have even begun to guess until the end of her first hour on shift, when she’d already seen ten patients and was beginning to question if she’d be able to hold out for another nine hours.
“It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?” Ben said, stepping into the cubicle where she’d just dressed and bandaged a little girl’s foot and sent her back to her mother’s arms.
“Is it like this every day?” she asked, leaning against the wall, trying to take a two-minute break.
“Some days it’s worse.”
“So, conversely, some days it’s better?” she asked.
“No, not usually. At least, not during summer. People are active, they get hurt more, other weather-related things pop up. It’ll slow down when the weather cools, though. Not that you’ll be around long enough to see that.”
“Big assumption to make, isn’t it? Especially when I stalked you halfway around the world just so I could do what I’m doing.”
To help her, he pulled the paper cover off the exam table and replaced it with a fresh one, then set about the task of restocking the table-side tools. “It’s also a big assumption to make, thinking you’ll want to stay that long. I’m a boring man, Shanna. I work and that’s it. So once you’ve started to observe what you think you want to observe in me, what you’re going to find is...nothing. And if this fascination with me is the only reason you’re here, you’ll be long gone before the cool weather hits.”
“But what if I’m not, Ben?”
“Are you challenging me to another wager? Because this is the one you’ll lose.”
“If I lose, I’m your yerba maté tea slave for the duration of my stay, whatever that turns out to be—I’ll give you adequate notice if I leave, by the way. And if I win, the first thing I want is a humble apology. Next thing is my morning coffee served to me in bed. Amanda did that for me this morning and it was nice, so I want a morning coffee slave for the duration of my stay.”
“Which is going to be over long before cold weather strikes.” He smiled. “No matter how adequate your notice is.”
“Do you want me to leave?” It seemed like he might, but she wasn’t sure. Then she saw it, the distance in his eyes replaced by that glint. It was his giveaway, she realized. A little tease, an invitation to advance, but only a little.
“I never like to lose a good doctor. But I have an idea Brooks Medical Center never likes to lose a good doctor, either. Especially one who comes with the Brooks name.”
“How long have you known?”
“I did an internet search before I took you out on house calls. Back in Italy, unraveling your curious background didn’t seem necessary because it had nothing to do with my hospital. And going for six days without telling me you’re a doctor is curious, Shanna. But the moment you invaded my Emergency it not only became necessary to find out about you, but urgent, given your intention to volunteer.
“Yet you didn’t say anything to me?”
“And yet I didn’t say anything. People
“Getting too old for this,” he wheezed as he dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. “Ten-hour shifts at this pace are for the young.” He finally managed a smile at Shanna. “But if you need help, I might have another hour or two left in me.”
Shanna chuckled. “How about I prescribe bed rest for now, and if I need you later on, I’ll come and get you?”
“Bless you, my child. You’ve just saved an old man’s life.”
His friendly smile was nice, very soothing. Yet she wondered why he pushed himself so hard when it was so clearly difficult on him. How difficult, she couldn’t have even begun to guess until the end of her first hour on shift, when she’d already seen ten patients and was beginning to question if she’d be able to hold out for another nine hours.
“It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?” Ben said, stepping into the cubicle where she’d just dressed and bandaged a little girl’s foot and sent her back to her mother’s arms.
“Is it like this every day?” she asked, leaning against the wall, trying to take a two-minute break.
“Some days it’s worse.”
“So, conversely, some days it’s better?” she asked.
“No, not usually. At least, not during summer. People are active, they get hurt more, other weather-related things pop up. It’ll slow down when the weather cools, though. Not that you’ll be around long enough to see that.”
“Big assumption to make, isn’t it? Especially when I stalked you halfway around the world just so I could do what I’m doing.”
To help her, he pulled the paper cover off the exam table and replaced it with a fresh one, then set about the task of restocking the table-side tools. “It’s also a big assumption to make, thinking you’ll want to stay that long. I’m a boring man, Shanna. I work and that’s it. So once you’ve started to observe what you think you want to observe in me, what you’re going to find is...nothing. And if this fascination with me is the only reason you’re here, you’ll be long gone before the cool weather hits.”
“But what if I’m not, Ben?”
“Are you challenging me to another wager? Because this is the one you’ll lose.”
“If I lose, I’m your yerba maté tea slave for the duration of my stay, whatever that turns out to be—I’ll give you adequate notice if I leave, by the way. And if I win, the first thing I want is a humble apology. Next thing is my morning coffee served to me in bed. Amanda did that for me this morning and it was nice, so I want a morning coffee slave for the duration of my stay.”
“Which is going to be over long before cold weather strikes.” He smiled. “No matter how adequate your notice is.”
“Do you want me to leave?” It seemed like he might, but she wasn’t sure. Then she saw it, the distance in his eyes replaced by that glint. It was his giveaway, she realized. A little tease, an invitation to advance, but only a little.
“I never like to lose a good doctor. But I have an idea Brooks Medical Center never likes to lose a good doctor, either. Especially one who comes with the Brooks name.”
“How long have you known?”
“I did an internet search before I took you out on house calls. Back in Italy, unraveling your curious background didn’t seem necessary because it had nothing to do with my hospital. And going for six days without telling me you’re a doctor is curious, Shanna. But the moment you invaded my Emergency it not only became necessary to find out about you, but urgent, given your intention to volunteer.
“Yet you didn’t say anything to me?”
“And yet I didn’t say anything. People
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