Rookie 2 | Ethan Ramsey

Chapter 3~ Secrets

Secrets

"It's ridiculous how I want to have this, but can't have what I want."
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Blue stood beside Ethan in his office, gazing from the window at the patients heading inside.

"The state budget was finalised before Governor Rivera even set foot in the hospital...Edenbrook's in trouble." Ethan said grimly, trying his best to hide the uncertainty in his tone.

"We've always counted on state funding to keep our doors open. The free clinic, more nurses, even this team...and now..." Ethan trailed, allowing himself to spill whatever that was in his mind to Blue.

"How long do we have?" she asked, averting her eyes from outside the window to his side profile, noticing the worry etched on every feature of his beautiful face. "I'd wager a year. Maybe less." Ethan replied sighing, before he turned to Blue.

"If you're worried about your job, don't be. You're an outstanding resident. You'll land on your feet. Besides, I have already loads of testimonial and appraisal written for you ever since your intern year." he said to her. Blue was touched by his words, and his measures to make sure she was not exactly affected by the situation. However, that was not the cause of her concern at all.

"It's not me that I'm worried about. What about the people here that are counting on us?" Blue asked. Ethan looked at her with a pained smile, which still carried pride in it. "Your heart's in the right place. We're not the ones who will suffer most. They will." he replied, nodding down towards the people in the parking lot.

"The budget cuts are statewide. We'll be far from the only casualty. The hospitals that survive will be overcrowded and understaffed. Soon, the state budget office's proposal will go to the legislature. There will be a debate, but it's unlikely we'll be bailed out. Too much money can be saved by cutting us loose." Ethan explained further with a full-on frown now, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in his tone.

"But I don't get it. What the hell is the damn government spending on instead that they are trying to reduce the budget for one of the most important things, healthcare." Blue asked frustratedly. "You'd be surprised at how many politicians do not deem healthcare as one of the top priorities, and instead put tourism and the revenue collected from it at a higher pedestal." Ethan replied.

"Fucking hell." Blue could not help but curse as she took the information in. Ethan glanced at her, seeing the same anger, frustration and helplessness he was feeling as well. "My thoughts, exactly." he said sighing heavily.

"So what do we do?" she asked, calming down a little. "The only thing we can do...we help people for as long as we can." Ethan answered. "That's it?! No way. There has to be a way to fix this! I know it! We can find more funding. We can cut out expenses. Something!" Blue exclaimed, her bottled up emotions threatening to erupt.

Ethan eyed her sympathetically, scooting nearer to her little for comfort. "There very well may be. But will that idea come from you or me? Edenbrook has the whole administrative team working on this. It won't do any good to put the burden on the minds of the staff. They need to be absoloutely focused on their patients....Which is why we can't tell anyone else." he said to her.

Blue looked up at him in shock. "You can't be serious." she replied. "If we told anyone, it would spread like wildfire. Blue, you're a doctor now. You have to come to terms with the fact that there are some things bigger than us...Some things we can't control. This is one of those things." Ethan told her.

"You're asking me to hide this from my friends." Blue said with a shaky breath. "No, I'm asking you to control what you can control. And right now, that's information. The news will get out eventually. But if we can keep our colleagues focused on what matters, for a month, a day, an hour...Isn't that the right thing to do?" Ethan replied.