I Believe in You

Independence Day

I sat on a bench in the hospital's courtyard when my mom walked up in a white dress and sat beside me.
"I'm not doing so well, mommy." I admitted.
She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me into her. I laid my head on her shoulder.
"You're doing amazingly, my sweet daughter." She assured me.
"Never feel alone, sweetheart. I'm always watching over you."
"I know, mommy." I sighed breathing in her scent.
We sat there for what seemed like hours.
"It's time for me to go visit your sister. She's struggling too, Meghan. Support them. Lean on Conrad. He's so good for you. I love you, baby girl." She smiled at me and kissed my forehead.
"I love you, mommy." I smiled sadly.
I woke up laying in the sleeping quarters at the hospital my eyes wet with tears. As I took a deep breath I could still smell my mom's perfume in the air.
"Meghan?" Conrad said my name walking into the room.
"Yeah." I answered looking at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked observing the wetness on my cheeks.
"Yeah." I assured him.
"I had a dream about my mom."
He nodded knowingly.
"Micha's heart is here. I'm not going to be readily available for Devon. I was thinking it's as good a day as any for their independence day?" He sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah, I agree. Are they here yet?"
"Not yet. They should be here in the next five minutes."
I nodded as my phone vibrated.
I'm outside the hospital. Can you come out here? Elena's text read.
"Elena's here." I told him.
"Is she okay?" He asked.
"I think so. She says she's outside. Will you set Devon and Christina on the path while I talk to her?"
"Of course, babe." He smiled and kissed me.
"I love you."
"I love you too, baby."
I got up and walked through the hospital and out the front door where my sister stood waiting for me.
"Hey, sis." She walked over to hug me.
"Hi. Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to ask you something." She assured me.
"What's up?"
"I'd like you and Conrad to come to dinner with me and my new boyfriend, Justin Martin." She said nervously.
"How long have you been seeing him?"
"Almost five months."
A million fears flashed through my mind as I considered my sister having a new boyfriend.
"I'll talk to Conrad and we'll set something up." I nodded.
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah, really." I smiled as she hugged me jumping up and down.
"I'm going to go tell him." She gushed running off.
It was a relief to see her so happy.
"Meghan." Conrad called from the doorway.
"We've got a problem." He sighed as I turned to look at him.
"Christina hasn't shown up yet." He said as I walked into the door.
"Did you call?" I asked as we walked towards the nurses station where Devon stood with Nic and Irving.
"Went straight to voicemail." He answered.
"Okay. You handle Micha's transplant and Devon will still have his independence day but I'll stay down here and cover Christina's patients and try to get ahold of her." I sighed looking at Conrad.
He nodded.
"Hey. Is everything okay with Elena?" He asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"She wants us to meet her new boyfriend."
"That's good, right? Fully moving on from Alec?"
"Yeah. We'll see how it goes." I shrugged wistfully.
"Go on. I'll see you later." I nudged him towards Micha's room.
"Yeah. Love you." He smiled at me.
"I love you too."
I pulled my cellphone out and tried Christina's number.
"You have reached the voicemail box of Christina Hill. After the tone please record your message. Once you have finished recording you may hang up or press two for more options."
BEEP
"Christina, it's Meghan. I need to speak to you about why you aren't at the hospital for your shift. Give me a call or come in when you get this."
I hung up with a sigh.
"Is everything okay?" Devon asked as he and Nic walked up to me.
"I'm not sure." I answered honestly.
"Her phone is off so we can't get ahold of her. Did Conrad tell you what to do to start your day?" I asked.
"Yeah, he did." He nodded.
"Treat me as a colleague today, not as a mentor." I instructed.
"Try not to worry about Christina. Let me handle that."
He nodded.
I sent him off and Nic walked with me towards the emergency room.
"What do you think is going on with Christina?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. This job isn't for everyone. If it were easy everyone would be a doctor because it's the best job in the world. Despite everything, because of everything." I answered.
Hours later I was preparing to leave when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned around to find Christina in the doorway.
"There had better be a good reason for you to show up here now." I sighed.
"There isn't. I just can't do this. I thought I could but there's no school in the world that could have prepared me for the last six weeks. I'm not cut out for this Meghan. I'm sorry. I already talked to Mrs. Thorpe. I just came to say goodbye." She shook her head.
"Maybe it wasn't a good idea."
"I support you realizing that this wasn't the path for you but you can't just not show up. It risks patient's lives."
"I understand that but I couldn't be here."
"If that's how you feel then fine but you should find Devon. He got the short end of the stick with you not showing up."
She turned without another word and walked away.
Conrad met me at Twisted Luck. The neighborhood bar Chastain's doctor's gathered at off the clock.
"How did it go?" I asked as he sat down in front of me with his beer handing me a blue drink.
"Bell wanted to give the heart to Mayor Dunlap." He sighed.
"I hate the politics in the medical industry. We get paid to save lives." I shook my head.
"Micah and Dunlap both ended up getting a new heart so it worked out."
"Uh incoming." I smiled at him as I saw Devon walk into the bar.
Conrad got up from the table and met Devon halfway.
"In the ER I caught Mitch's PE which Irving missed then I had to hand thirty patients to the next shift with no issues and I did the whole thing without asking you one question." Devon launched into a rundown of his shift.
"Mmm... Okay, are you looking for an attaboy cause you won't get one. You should have asked questions. You should have asked the question before you sent Mitch for an unnecessary thoracotomy. Did you even see a thoracotomy in med school. It's where they cut someone's chest open laterally all the way to their back and then peel back the skin and literally crack open their ribs to get to the pleural cavity. Poor Mitch could have had a noninvasive femoral cath and been home in a few days, but now he's gonna be in the hospital at least a week enduring a hellishly painful recovery." Conrad said firmly.
"Wrong. You didn't check Mitch's records. I did. It turns out he has a hereditary platelet disfunction which means a femoral cath would have caused him massive bleeding and he would have died. So, I made a fast call, and it was the right call, that may have saved his life. You know how I know that?"
"Hmm?"
"He's doing great in recovery right now."
"Look at this guy. He forgot rule number one." Conrad called to me.
"I didn't forget it. I broke it. And I will again. Because you are not always right. No one is. That's why this job is so difficult. When you're wrong I'll be the first one to tell you. If you don't like that then cut me. Right now. Right here. I don't care. End my career because I'm not your slave, your shadow, or your echo."
"Devon!" Conrad called his name as Devon started to walk away from him.
Conrad walked back up into his face.
"Congratulations. You just passed independence day." He smirked and I shook my head.
I'd known this was where Conrad wanted all his interns to end up but it amazed me that Devon was the first one to actually do it.
"Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to get back to my fiancee."
"You're engaged?" Devon asked.
"You're smart, Devon. I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it." I smiled walking up behind Conrad.
"You're engaged to Meghan Bishop?"
"I am." He smiled proudly wrapping his arm around me.
"Why?" He looked at me.
I laughed and Conrad pushed his shoulder.
"Hey!"
"Come dance with me." I urged pulling him onto the floor.