Sweet Adeline

Five - Fist Bump

Asher

She was scared.

I watched as her face flushed a deep red and her body tensed when he touched her neck. Her eyes darted furiously around the room, searching for a way, any way, out from under his hands.

Dr. Allen's fingertips slowly moved down the middle of her back, tracing along the tip of each vertebrae, ensuring it was straight throughout. As his hand grew closer and closer to the small of her back, the more tense Adeline became.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her breathing became labored, and her fingers dug tightly into the examination bed. She had all of the signs of an anxiety attack, but she was fighting it. If we didn't stop, she was either going to pass out or break down.

"Stop, please." I say firmly to Dr. Allen.

His hand is removed immediately, and Adeline takes a shaky breath. "If everything is good so far, I believe its okay to cut this short."

Dr. Allen nods and quickly charts on his laptop. "We're all done." I say, drawing her attention to me. "Tie your gown and sit for a minute."

Adeline quickly climbs onto the bed after closing the back of her gown. I wrap the blanket around her shoulders, and she holds it tightly to her, trying to cover as much of herself as she could.

Dr. Allen thanks Adeline for her time and assures her that everything is in shape before moving onto his next patients. She relaxes a bit as he steps out the door, but she was still too worked up for me to consciously leave her.

"Breathe with me, okay?" I say as I roll my stool in front of her. "In....and out" I let the large breath of air out and watch as she mimics me.

Slowly, her face dims to a soft pink, and her body relaxes.

"Thank you" she writes

I smile at her kindness, "You're welcome. I know it seems like we have all of the control because we're the doctors, but actually you do. We do everything at your pace and nothing you don't consent to unless it's absolutely mandatory." I sigh, " If something becomes too much, tell us to stop and we will. Don't let yourself become too overwhelmed again. We can always take a break and breather for a moment."

Adeline goes to write something, but before she can start Owen knocks loudly and enters the room.

"Hey, everything okay?" he ask breathlessly, like he had rushed over.

I look to Adeline, and she looks to me before turning back to him and nodding.

Owen

Dr. Allen had rushed to tell me that Adeline was upset, but when I walked in, she looked fine.

I wasn't surprised. Asher was amazing at talking to people. He had a natural calming affect about him that affected everyone he spoke to. All of his patients loved him.

We ended up going home after I walked down to the ER. It was my day off, but I still wanted to check in on how things were going.

Evelyn had clamed down rather quickly after everything happened. She was exhausted, but she wasn't too terribly upset. Evelyn understood we were doing was best for her, even though she didn't like it.

The girls retreated to their rooms when we got home, and I went to my office to do paperwork. We did our own things for a while, but Evelyn eventually came into my office and took a nap on the couch in the corner while I worked.

I felt my pocket vibrate, and I pulled out my phone to see a message from James. James Bentley was my other best friend, and he was the head of general surgery at our hospital.