I Believe in You

Operator Error

"Conrad, Meghan! It's Bradley. He's had some kind of heart attack." Devon called running passed us in the hallway towards the emergency room.
"Go." I urged and Conrad ran after Devon.
Bradley Jenkins was the doctor who fell through the skylight after experiencing micro naps from severe sleep deprivation.
Being as pregnant as I was I couldn't move too fast even in my motorized wheelchair which was why I hadn't been working in the emergency room since I'd hit roughly thirty weeks.
I followed Devon and Conrad simply because I wanted to be there for them. They were exponentially closer to Bradley than I was but he was important to Conrad and therefore important to me.
By the time I arrived in the emergency room Conrad was convincing Devon that Bradley was in fact deceased.
I'd say Bradley was Devon's best friend especially since he'd become newly single.
Devon shook his head and walked out of the emergency room.
"Time of death eleven twenty one." Conrad called his death.
"How could that happen?" He asked me exasperated.
"While he worked at the hospital he was constantly drinking energy drinks. His heart couldn't take it."
"His chart says he got a heart valve replacement six months ago." He sighed.
"A QuoVadis valve?" I asked looking up at him.
"Yeah." Conrad said reading the chart again.
"They'll try to defer the blame. Who was the surgeon?" I asked.
"AJ Austin." He answered grimly.
I sighed heavily.
"They'll have one hell of a fight on their hands."
Conrad and I met Zoey and Henry for lunch after work.
"Wow. You are looking stunning." Zoey said hugging me.
"How far along are you? She asked.
"Thirty five weeks, isn't that crazy? In roughly five weeks we're going to be parents." I took Conrad's hand noticing he was still distracted by the events of the morning.
"You two are going to be amazing." She assured us as we followed Henry into the restaurant.
"Henry, slow down." Zoey called chasing after him.
"Do you see that?" I asked nudging my husband.
"See what?" He asked.
"That head nod he's doing." I motioned to Henry.
"No. I haven't. I'll watch him at lunch, okay?" He assured me.
I nodded and we joined Henry and his mom at the table.
I ordered my unborn daughter's favorite dish, Fettuccine Alfredo causing her to do enthusiastic turns in my womb.
Conrad jumped slightly when he noticed Henry's head nod.
"When did he start doing that?" Conrad asked Zoey.
"The head nod? Oh, I don't know. A couple weeks ago? Maybe?" She answered.
"It's not a seizure." Henry said confidently.
"It feels different."
"What does it feel like?" I asked gently.
"Like a twitch, I guess. I don't have much control over it but it doesn't hurt like the seizures did." He explained.
I nodded reassuringly and looked at my husband.
"I'd like to run a quick and painless test just to see if we can figure out the cause of it. I bet it's super annoying, huh?" Conrad asked him.
He nodded and twitched again.
"Of course." Zoey smiled at us.
After lunch we follow Zoey and Henry to Nic's new free clinic which had it's grand opening so Henry could show Nic the VIP trophy he won in Little League.
"That is so cool." She exclaims and notices his twitch.
She looked up at us and we nodded to let her know that we knew about it.
I was getting tired and leaned against my husband as my womb tightened again in another Braxton Hicks contraction.
His phone rang.
"It's Devon." He said and kissed my forehead before walking off.
"I've met Conrad but I don't think I've met you." A tall man with tan skin and longer dark hair said extending his hand to shake mine.
"Dr. Meghan Hawkins. I'm Conrad's wife." I answered with a smile.
"Dr. Alec Shaw." He smiled back.
"Ah. THE Alec Shaw Nic talked into running the free clinic." I laughed.
"Devon found a surgical sponge in a woman and needs my help." Conrad said quietly walking back to me as to not alarm Zoey and Henry.
"Go on. I can still drive." I teased.
"I'll follow her home. Devon was talking about ordering pizza and sharing stories about Bradley." Nic assured him.
He kissed me gently and ruffled Henry's hair before running across the street to the hospital.
After Zoey and Henry went home Alec turned to Nic.
"Is that a no to dinner?" He asked.
"It's a rain check. We just lost a friend and I've got to make sure Meghan gets home safely. She's carrying precious cargo." She teased touching my bump and promptly being kicked by my daughter.
"She wants to know where the pizza is." I explained.
"Smart munchkin." She smiled at me.
"I'll call for it on our way to your place." She assured my unborn child.
"Now she's flipping around in there." I laughed.
We said our goodbyes to Alec and walked out to the cars.
"We need to talk about that before the boys show up." I teased nodding towards Alec.
She laughed.
"If you weren't pregnant I'd shove you."
I laughed too.
We got to the house and went inside to my excited puppies.
"So, tell me about Alec." I sighed sitting on the couch with Nic.
"There's not much to tell just yet. He's brilliant but very against the corporations. I just thought he'd be the perfect addition to our clinic but working alongside him all day... He just really cares about everyone that walks through those doors." She sighed.
"So are you going to go to dinner with him?" I asked.
"Probably." Her cheeks turned bright red.
The front door opened, Devon carried in the pizzas with Conrad and Mina following behind him.
We all sat together sharing pizza and sodas while looking at pictures we had of Bradley.
"Can you believe they're trying to blame AJ?" Devon asked.
"He benched himself today." Mina sighed.
"How can we help him?" Nic asked with a sigh.
"We have to find a way to prove that the QuoVadis device is faulty." Conrad sighed and looked around the room.
"We're all we've got. We have to figure it out on our own." I added touching my stomach.