The Home Run

Chapter 4

I woke up to the nurses coming back into the room to check Alex's blood pressure and pain level. "Hey Caitlin what time is it?" I asked as I stood up from the bed. Alex groaned and looked at me. "It's 7:30" she replied as she strapped the cuff on his upper arm "I've got to go, I'm going to be late for rounds. I'll come back later" I told Alex as I grabbed my things "ok" he replied as I walked out of the door. I quickly made my way downstairs to the locker room and changed. I made myself look presentable then ran out and got to where we normally meet up with the doctors. I sighed as i realized I made it on time. Once everyone got their assignments for the day, mine being the emergency room again. We made our way to the designated area.

The whole day was pretty slow, which was a good and a bad thing in the world of doctors. Good because nobody got hurt and we could hang out and do almost nothing, but at the same time bad, because we had nothing to do.

Just as I was about to leave for the day an ambulance arrived so I rushed out to meet them. "What do we have?" Dr. Walker asked from behind me just as Tracy was coming out of the ambulance. "15 year old female, she was found unconscious in the grass, she has a rigid abdomen and a possible broken ankle." She announced "ok thanks tracy, thanks will" Dr. walker said. Will is another paramedic, he's around my age with ginger hair and amber eyes. "Thanks guys" I told them as I made my way back inside. "Dr. Clark can you page the pediatrics department and let them know what we have?" Dr. Walker asked I nodded my head and made my way over to the nurses station. I quickly dialed the doctors number and waited as the phone rang. "Dr. Ryan speaking" a female finally someone answered "Hey Dr. Ryan, this is Dr. Clark, we have a 15 year old female down here in the emergency room and we need a consult." I replied "ok, I'll be there in a few minutes" she replied. Just after she hung up so I made my way back over to the patient and started helping Dr. Walker.

When Dr. Ryan the pediatric surgeon got here she quickly looked over the chart and did a few tests. "She need to get to the OR now. She has severe internal bleeding" Dr. Ryan announced. It didn't take long for everyone to make their way to the OR.

Once we got there we started scrubbing in. After we finished we walked into the room where the patient was already prepped and ready. Dr. Walker and Dr. Ryan got in their positions and started getting to work. I assisted by holding the retractors and suctioning.

It took 3 hours for them to finish the surgery, but once it was done everyone could let go of the breath we didn't know we were holding. The surgery was touch and go for a while, but the amazing surgeons next to me were working their hardest and it kept this 15 year old alive.

We walked out and I followed the attending surgeons to the waiting room where they met the family and explained how the procedure went. The police were also waiting and they asked for our official statements. The police said they got calls about a fight and when they arrived everyone was gone except the girl, so they called for assistance.

After everything was done, I went down to the locker room to change. As soon as I walked in I saw Diana. "Hey, late night?" I asked as I sat on the bench and took my shoes off. "Yea, who knew paperwork took so long" she laughed and looked over at me "how about you?" she asked "i just got out of surgery" i replied as i changed into my pjs from last night since thats all i had to wear. "thats cool. Pajamas really?" she asked laughing "i stayed here last night" i told her as i closed my locker and locked it. "because of alex?" she asked and i nodded. "You know I love you but come on. You can't seriously be going back to him. You deserve so much better" she told me as I stood up and but my scrubs in the dirty basket. "I don't know. He could use a friend and that's all" I told her as I grabbed my stuff "I'm starving, I'll see you Monday?" I asked and she nodded. Thank god for Friday's.

I walked out and towards the cafeteria. It was already closed so I decided to go to the nearest drive through which was chick-fil-a. I got my food and drove back to the hospital. I parked and walked through the emergency room and to Alex's room. When I walked in I saw he was on his phone with the tv on. I made my way over to the reclining chair and sat down. "I started to think you forgot about me" he laughed as he sat his phone down "no, I just had a busy day" I told him as I started eating. "Can I have some fries?" He asked and I handed him the bag as I ate my sandwich. "So about this morning. I've never seen you leave anywhere so quickly" he laughed "that's because I was almost late. Which wouldn't be good, and I didn't have an excuse since I stayed here last night" I replied smiling so how are you feeling?" I asked "still in pain but I'm sure that's normal. They took the chest tube out a few hours ago and that fucking hurt" he told me "more than it going in?" I asked "absolutely not" he smiled and his phone dinged signaling he had a text. He picked it up and read it before sitting it down. "They said I can get discharged tomorrow" he announced after a few moments of silence "that's good" I told him as I finished my food. "Come here?" He asked as he moved over to make room for me on the bed. I got up and sat down next to him. "I've missed you so much" he told me and I laid my head on his chest and felt his heart rate increase which was confirmed by the heart rate monitor. "Damn a guy can't hid his emotions anywhere in a hospital" he announced which made me laugh and look up at him. He smiled and started drawing shapes on my arm. "Alex I don't know what we're doing" I confessed "well, we're both laying down next to each other" he replied "you know that's not what I mean" I told him "we're together, that's all that matters" he told me as he lifted my chin with his fingers and kissed me. It didn't take long for all of my emotions to rush over me. I sat up and straddled his waist and continued kissing him. The kiss got even more intense. His hands were placed on my hips but one of them slipped under the back of my shirt. He slowly rubbed my back and my hands softly pulled his hair. He pulled away gasping for air. "It fucking sucks to stop but I really had to breathe." He told me smiling. I looked at him and really took in his appearance. He's definitely aged well. His hair was a bit longer and his body was definitely in better shape. His voice got slightly deeper but nobody would have noticed if they were with him every day. His eyes are bright but not like they use to be, his jaw is covered in stubble and he's got a tan. I looked down at his side and moved his hospital gown to the side just so I could see his ribs. It was covered but I could already tell it was healing well. He kept rubbing my back and his other hand softly grabbed my face and moved it so I was looking at him. "You're so beautiful." He told me as he ran his thumb across my cheek "you don't look too bad yourself" I smiled and he slowly pulled me back into a kiss. I placed one hand on his chest and the other in his hair. The kiss was soft but full of so many masked emotions. Alex slowly pulled away "marry me" he said. "alex i can't" i sighed and moved off of him but he wrapped his arm around my waist and kept me next to him. "why?" he asked "you know why" i replied "i already told you i would quit. Baby you mean more to me than baseball" he admitted and i looked at him "you don't mean that" i said "i do. I love baseball, i have my whole life. But i seriously can't lose you again. You're my whole world" he told me "i need time alex. Im in the middle of my residency, you have an amazing career. We can't do this yet" I told him "will you at least go on a date with me? I leave tomorrow afternoon and I can't just leave without knowing we have a chance" he asked and his voice cracked. I looked up at him and saw his eyes were watering. "Fine. After you get discharged we will go get something to eat" I told him and he pulled me into a hug. "Please don't give up on me" he whispered right before we pulled away.