Precious Ties: The Gift

Chapter 24: Old Acquaintances

"Mary? I can't believe it! How many years has it been?" Tristan asked looking quite flustered in his white doctor's coat as he walked over to Ella's cot.

"Tristan! What are you doing here? It's been like half a lifetime since our Chilton days....I can't believe you're a doctor!" Rory said, glad to have a familiar face in the room. "And living in Australia!"

"It's a long story...." Tristan began, "So this is your daughter?"

"Yes, Ella is just four months old..." Rory began feeling a little more confident now that an old acquaintance was going to be caring for her precious daughter.  At the same time, she was quite amazed that Tristan had done so well with his education after his disgraced departure from Chilton. "Our friends' son was admitted with Bronchiolitis several days ago. They had spent quite a lot of time together so we were watching out for symptoms..."

"That would have been young Cayden," Tristan smiled, "I remember his mom was concerned about a friend's baby!"

"Yes, poor Cayden has been through enough time in hospital this year! He is such a sweet little boy..." Rory responded, suddenly becoming aware of Tristan's height, thinking he must have grown another two inches since high school. She hadn't really noticed that day last year at Chilton when she and Paris saw him from afar. Dealing with Paris' reaction had kept Rory very busy!

Tristan began examining Ella. He was very gentle and thorough. Ella woke up a few minutes later and he couldn't help exclaiming, "Oh I'd know those eyes anywhere! You're so much like your Mommy Miss Ella!"

Rory loved the way Tristan spoke to her daughter. She never would have picked that he would have chosen the field of medicine as a career and certainly was surprised that he had chosen to specialise in paediatrics! He had an amazing way of connecting with this four month old baby that made Rory suspicious that he might possibly have his own children.

"You did the right thing bringing Ella in," Tristan said as he held the baby in his arms. "It's likely she will need to use the nebuliser every four to six hours to keep her airways clear but she is doing okay right now. It would be good if you could try feeding her. The biggest problem is dehydration in babies as young as Ella.  Are you breastfeeding her?"

Rory blushed as she answered. She knew that it was a perfectly normal question for a doctor to ask but this was the guy who used to chase after her! Tristan explained how Ella would probably need shorter but more frequent feeds as sucking would tire her quickly at this stage of the virus.

"As long as Ella takes her feeds okay, I am happy for you to take her home this evening," Tristan said as he passed Ella to Rory to feed. "It was a very good sign that her fever came down easily with paracetamol and she responded quickly to the meds through the nebuliser."

Rory sat down to feed Ella. Tristan continued talking but kept his eyes on the chart he was filling out. "We can loan you a nebuliser and basically if you just use a vapouriser in her room and keep an eye on her temperature, she should be fine. There's no reason why there should be any complications."

"That's a relief!" Rory exclaimed as she fed Ella. "She sounds really snuffly but at least she is having something."

"She's doing well," Tristan said glancing briefly at the content baby, "I'll leave you to it and I'll pop back in a while. The nurse will be in to check on her soon."

As Tristan stepped outside of the room, he shook his head. He still couldn't believe he was just talking to Rory Gilmore! Tristan had thought about her for years after leaving Chilton and had often dated girls who looked like her. He reflected on Rory's unique qualities that he could never find in those other women. Snapping back to reality, Tristan rushed off to see his next patient.