T h i r s t

e i g h t e en

4 years later

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"So I have nothing to worry about?" Mrs. Keyser asked me, her eyes fearful.

"Not at all. It was a benign tumor and it's very unlikely to recur." I smiled. "But you do need to keep in mind about what I told you. Cut back on the smoking, the alcohol."

"And the fatty food. I remember, yes." She grinned.

"And you'll be fine." I declared.

"Thank you, doctor." She stood up to leave, and I held the door open for her. She lingered, throwing me furtive glances.

"I don't mean to intrude, but are you seeing anyone?"

Contrary to popular belief, no, I didn't get that question a lot from 60 year old women.

"Uh . . . no." I could have lied. Why didn't I?

"My son's single too and he can't seem to find anyone."

"Oh." I chuckled, rubbing my forehead.

"He's handsome, don't worry." She simpered and shuffled through her bag to pull out a picture. She wasn't kidding. I could clearly see the resemblance; dark hair and bright blue eyes. There was a time I'd be into that.

"His name's Henry and he's a telemarketer. He doesn't make much but he's a good boy."

"This is very generous, Mrs. Keyser but I'm taking a break for a while."

Her smile flickered and she put the photograph back into her bag, nodding.

"I understand, dear. Thank you again." She gave me a genuine smile and left. I lingered there for a while, wondering if I'd made the right decision. It had been 4 years. Wasn't it time to move on?

What if Henry was the one?

I sighed and leaned against my desk, unconsciously fiddling with the necklace he'd given me. It was pathetic, I know. I was pathetic. But I wasn't wasteful. He'd left it and the spare key in an envelope that said 'Kitten' in his handwriting and slid it under my door, which only made me cry again. What was I gonna do? Throw it out? I guess I could've kept it in a box or something.

"Dr. Meyers?"

"Yes, Kathy?" I smiled at the redhead nurse who'd snuck her head in.

"Dr. Coulson needs you for a consult."

"I'm busy, Kathy. Ask Cindy."

"Dr. Clarke's on leave today."

I sighed and got up to follow her. "I really hope it's not another rectal FB."

"You and me both." Kathy rolled her eyes, making me laugh as the elevator doors closed. They dinged open onto the first floor, where there as usual was a different energy. It reminded me a lot of St. Matthews. I wondered what Dr. Perez was doing right then.

"Coming through!" We heard behind us and cleared way for the crash cart to propel down to one of the bays.

"Not that one." Kathy assured me and lead me to another bay. Bloody gauze and soiled clothes were already on the floor and I saw Penn and his EM residents panic around the man.

"Lorina. Great to have you here. Spects, debrief." He told one of the residents, the one who looked the most disheveled of all.

"46 year old male police officer. GSW to the abdomen brought in 10 minutes ago, unconscious. Known smoker, alcoholic. Bullet located but we can't stop the bleeding."

"Not bad, spects." Penn grunted and pressed down on the wound which was still gushing.

"What kind of gun?"

"A real one, Meyers. You gonna help?"

"If it's a shotgun, some pellets could still be in there." I said, having to speak louder over some commotion outside the bay.

"Well it's not. Tell me why he won't stop bleeding."

I went over and he released the gauze, and the blood spurted out.

"Did you give him Epi?"

"What do I look like?" Penn sneered and the yelling in the background continued.

"Kathy, go see what the fuck that is."

All three of them looked up at me as Kathy quietly slipped out, giving me room as I snapped on gloved and inspected the wound.

"See that?" I asked Coulson, holding it open. "What's that look like to you?"

"A pellet." He sighed, his head dropping.

"Prep him for surgery. Kathy, call Clarke." I said and disposed of the bloody gloves as the residents snapped into action.

"Kathy?" I called and she snuck her head in. "Ma'am, he won't listen."

"Who won't?"

"His partner." She said, looking at the stretcher. I huffed past her and she sprinted to keep with my pace to show me where. And I pulled the curtain aside.

And forgot how to breathe.

There he was, angry, sweaty and covered in blood, just like the first time I saw him.

"Lo?" He breathed, his voice incredulous.

I cleared my throat, beckoning words to come come to me. "Your partner needs to be taken into emergency surgery right away. And in order for us to do our job, we need quiet and some amount of cooperation from your end to save his life. Am I clear?" I asked, frown as deep as it would go to keep the tears from falling.

"Yes, ma'am." He breathed.

"Good. You'll be summoned when we're done. Kathy." I said and turned around, absolutely hating the fact that my voice trembled at the end.

"Dr Meyers, are you ok?"

"Clarke?"

"On her way."

I nodded and rode the elevator right to the top. I experienced something I didn't beyond my first day of work.

My hands were trembling.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Please don't forget to vote, comment and share!