(Complete) When Tim Burke meets Julie at a party, she isn't impressed. When they see each other again, Julie decides to give him a chance. As Julie faces burdens and sorrow in her own life, Tim and his family provide the support and love she needs...
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Clare was more than halfway through her residency. She thought of it as a love/hate relationship. She loved her work and the experience she received, but she missed her family more the longer she was away - maybe not more because it was tough at the beginning. She had friends at the hospital, but her friendships amounted to a shared meal or joke. She had dated a little but refused to get serious with any of the men. She was leaving in a year and a half and no amount of love could keep her in California and away from her family.
She was scrubbing in for surgery with Marco, an anesthesiology resident. They had been in plenty of operating rooms together and were joking around about some of their less than patient supervising physicians. For Marco, it was nerve-wracking to be yelled at while administering propofol, which could be a lethal drug or while inserting a needle in a person's spine. In Clare's case, she'd been barked at while making incisions and maneuvering the laparoscope - the list went on and on.
Marco turned to Clare. "Can you find the ovaries?"
"Yeah, but can you keep her asleep?"
A patient almost came to before the surgery was complete. The teasing helped them relax, which was important since they both spent far too much time overworked and sleep deprived. Often they would high-five each other if they made it without being yelled at. They had just high-fived.
Marco said, "I miss the good old days when I had time to have a drink and a burger."
"I hate the cafeteria more than I hate LaPlante." She whispered the name because he was the toughest physician she worked with and he had remarkable hearing.
"That's some hate."
"He's wicked mean."
She may have been away from New England but the word 'wicked' was still part of her vocabulary even if it meant being teased. She had subjected herself to Marco's teasing.
"Ha, ha... I don't have time for your harassment. I'm off to post-op."
"Have wicked fun!"
She turned and stuck out her tongue but was smiling. She was also thinking how damn cute he was when he smiled. If he wasn't her friend, she would have had a serious crush on him.
Clare had been on duty for seventeen hours when the clock struck midnight on her birthday. She was twenty-nine and hadn't lived life yet. If she had chosen family medicine like Nicky she'd be almost done. She would also be sleeping, because twenty-four-hour shifts didn't happen with family med.
Nick shocked Clare when he had been matched to Maine Medical Center. She called him. "Are you mad?"
He laughed. "It was my first choice. I didn't need a fancy residency to prove myself. I want to work for Maine Med, so I might as well let them train me."
Clare chose Stanford to prove herself. She had a minute of jealousy, because Nick got his first choice.
She was doing well, except when she was homesick. It was a quiet night on the obstetrics floor. She sat in a chair reviewing charts, but her vision became cloudy with tears. She wished she could spend her birthday with her family. She wanted to hear Julie get after Tim for eating too much cake. Ava would join in, but Ella would defend Tim. Tim's youngest was a daddy's girl.
