In due time (Completed)

Chapter 12- Conclusions

Kate

"See you on Monday!"

Yeah right! Monday passed by in a blur. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Now, it's Friday morning. All of us are in the residents lounge getting ready for the day. Hazel was gathering her long strawberry blonde hair into a bun. Nic was slipping into her white coat. Dimitri just walked out of the restroom while Javi placed his stethoscope around his neck and Tyler... another no show.

It was way too early in the program for a resident to already be on leave, so that didn't explain his absence. Nobody really bothered themselves about it but they weren't extremely pleased with the situation either. For the past 4 days, we've all had to juggle between different doctors to compensate for Tyler's absence. It wasn't easy.

Okay, it's not like I purposely make it my mission to worry about people, it's like I've been programed this way. It's the way my mum raised us so this entire week I found myself coming up with different scenarios to explain Tyler's absence.

What if he's been kidnapped and is being held hostage?

What if he got into a fight at some club and couldn't defend himself and is now lying beaten in some abandoned parking lot?

I was kidding myself with that one. With all that muscle! There's no way anyone could get the jump on him.

What if he died of a heat stroke and is slowly decomposing in his apartment and no one knows about it?

The weather has been scorching hot these past few days.

What if the mafia has him because he ran over their cat?

Eventually I came to the conclusion that I just watch to many crime drama series. So, I let it go. At least I tried to. It was a nagging itch at the back of my head that I just couldn't scratch but I was at work and there's no time for distractions especially since I have a heart transplant to assist on.

I headed out to find my mother since I was on her service today. I caught up to her in the hallway to our patients room. She had a file in hand and looked like a woman on a mission.

"Hey, mum," I greeted her once I managed to catch up to her.

"Hey, sweetheart," she replied enthusiastically, "ready for your first transplant?"

"I guess."

We entered the room and in the bed was a middle aged woman. She was smiling at us as we entered the room. For someone who's about to have their vital organ removed from their body, she seemed more cheerful than nervous.

"Good morning, Alice," mum greeted her. "This is Dr Grey and she'll be briefing you before we head up for surgery."

And I did. I explained the procedure, the risks and the recovery and then I prepared her for surgery once mum left the room. I rolled her into OR 4 and left to scrub in for surgery. It was great having something to keep my mind occupied but worried thoughts still danced around at the back of my head.

The surgery was a success. I watched as a nurse rolled Alice out of the room with her new heart, into recovery before I scrubbed out.

While washing my hands under the faucet, I zoned out into space. I had no idea why I was acting like this but clearly my subconscious knew better than I did.

"Kate, did you hear what I said?" I was snapped out of it when the faucet automatically turned off and I heard my mother's strong, awakening voice.

"I'm sorry, what?" I shook my head to focus back on the present.

"I said good job, sweetheart," she repeated herself.

"Oh yeah. Thanks, mum."

"Are you okay? You seem a little distracted, Kate," she pointed out. I thought I was doing a pretty good job at hiding it but apparently not.

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, mum," I dried off. In desperate hopes that this conversation would end soon, I diverted. "I got to run. I'm on Dr Callaghan's service as well. She has a teratoma patient. I'll see you later."

She nodded and I was out the door. I kept myself busy for the rest of the day and that definitely had me distracted. It was a good distraction, as far as treating tumor patients goes, but in the afternoon, that itch started up again.

I headed towards the parking lot when I found Dimitri standing against his Ferrari, texting someone. I haven't asked him but maybe he knew where Tyler was.

Just ask him! It's not going to kill anyone if you do.

Betrayed once again by my annoyingly considerate subconscious and my equally traitorous legs, I found myself making my way towards Dimitri.

When have I ever done something like this? Approaching an alpha male to find out the location of one of their own. Uhmm, never! I might need a CT.

"Hey, D," I started, causing him to look up from his screen.

"Kate," he said as a way of greeting, "what can I do for you?"

Oh wow. Straight to the point, huh. Okay then. "You and Tyler are good friends right?"

He snorted at my question, "is that even a question. He's like my brother from another mother, Kate. Why, what's up?"

"Oh, uhm," I didn't know how to make it sound like genuine concern without coming off as a complete creep, which I am not FYI. "I just wanted to know if you knew where Tyler was. I'm sure you've noticed that he didn't show up for work the whole week and that's sort of not allowed so early in the program unless in cases of extreme emergency, obviously,"

When I realized that I was rambling, I just got to the point. "I just wanted to know if you knew anything. That's all."

He sighed, "I wish I could be more help, Kate but just like you, I haven't heard from him or seen him the entire week. Last time was on Saturday when we hit the bar."

"Ohh," that was not helpful at all. I didn't know if he was lying as part of some wierd bro- code or something but he was definitely convincing. "Well then, thanks I guess."

I turned to walk away but he stopped me when he spoke again, "Kate, he does this sometimes, usually when he needs to clear his head. He's been through a lot and sometimes he just takes a breather but he always comes back,"

I smiled at him for letting out that little bit of information. "Thanks, D," I replied with gratitude.

"Anytime. See you on Monday."

I nodded and walked away a little more relaxed than I'd been this entire week but still pissed for having to cover his damn service and I'm sure the others were too.

It was strange how I could switch from being concerned about someone's well-being to having near murderous thoughts about them but all thoughts eventually left my mind as I anticipated the weekend ahead.