Shepherd's Anatomy

Twenty Three

Ellis

I leave to take my boards today, and Leo is acting like a sad puppy. The rest of my resident group is inside the van already. "Leo, Go back inside and do you work. I'm not going to be like this when you leave to take your boards." He looks at me, his eyes big and sad. "Go." I say, not breaking eye contact.

He gives me one last slanted look, then makes his way back inside. I take a deep breath, smile and wave goodbye to Alex, and board the bus. I originally wanted to focus on trauma, but after a little bit of reconsideration, I have decided on peds.

So here I am. I'm going to be an attending.

...

"You want to go into pediatric surgery, correct?" The test proctor, who I've learned is named Juliah, says to me.

"Yes. I originally wanted to go into trauma, but I have narrowed it down to peds." I say.

"Okay. We're going to get started on the test." Juliah explains.

And so it begins, one gruelling hour at a time.

...

It's shortly after the second break, and I think I've got it in the bag. I have answered one hundred questions already. The next one is easy ish. "Fourteen year old girl, severe abdominal pain, localized to the lower right quadrant."

"Oh. That's easy. Appendicitis most likely needs a appendectomy.

I'm feeling pretty confident about my answers so far, but then the thought of Leo creeps into my mind. I can't stop thinking about how he's probably at the apartment, having to put up with Ruby and Harriet.

Then my confidence begins to falter a little, but I keep up the pace.

...

My resident group has completed the oral boards. They gave us a day to sightsee, so I end up with a girl named Jaycie. We spend a lot of the day eating food. Turns out, she likes food just as much as I do.

It's only three pm and we have eaten so much. We meet up with the rest of the group at the hotel to go to the casino.

Jaycie ends up winning, but not much. The rest of the residents and I are laughing at her desperately trying to gain a win at the slot machines. I think Jaycie is the only one of us who is that determined.

We stumble back to our rooms, drunk.

...

I wake in the morning with a pounding headache. I take an aspirin and start packing my stuff. As I shove the box of unopened tampons into my bag, a thought crosses my mind, but I push it out. I'm probably late because of stress. I have been really stressed about boards, so it's logical, but I still make a mental note to do something when I get home.

Jaycie and I sit next to eachother on the airplane back to Seattle.

When we land, I see Leo standing there waiting for me, with Christopher and Harlow in his arms. I give him a confused look. "Zola and Tuck had to go to the bathroom. Zola's going to be pissed when she sees that you're already here." Leo laughs.

I take Harlow from Leo's arms. Out of the twins, Harlow likes me best. They're both approaching their second birthday, in a week, November fourteenth. Zola comes out of the bathroom, a 'seriously' look plastered across her face.

I smile and hand her Harlow. Harlow screeches in protest. "She missed you." Zola says pointedly.

"I can tell." I say. Tuck emerges from the bathroom and takes Christopher from Leo.

I take Leo's hand, and we leave the airport.

...

"You find put if you passed in an hour." Meredith says. We're sitting in the attendings lounge, Cristina leaning on the back of the couch, Amelia sitting in the chair, Meredith is leaning against the counter. Leo is busy rounding on patients with Zola.

I nod, and take a breath. "I think I'm Preganant." I say. It only takes that to make the room dead silent.

"Have you peed on the stick?" Cristina asks bluntly.

"No. But I'm really late. I was supposed to have it before my trip, and it never came. It could be stress though. I'm going to take a test tonight." I say.

"I wonder how Leo will react." Amelia days pointedly.

"Me too." I say.

...

It's been an hour. I sit nervously on the edge of the seat. My phone pings. I almost pass out from being overwhelmed. "I passed!" I say with disbelief.

"You're going to be a Peds fellow!" Alex says, walking in.

I flash him a smile. "When do I get my Navy scrubs?" I ask, a smile on my face.

"Tomorrow. When you officially start as a peds fellow." Alex says.

I'm so happy. I knew I was going to pass, but I was still really nervous.

Sometimes life just decides to work out like that.

...

"Leo." I say. He looks up from his phone. He's lying on his back on the couch, all stretched out.

"Yeah?" He says. He looks into my eyes.

"We need to talk." I say.

He sits up quickly. "If this is about the cheese I left out, I promise I won't do it again." He says.

I offer a small laugh. "No, its not that."

"What did I do?" He says. He looks frightened.

"Leo. I think I'm pregnant."

I watch as a smile grows across his face. "Really?" He asks.

"Yeah. I just have to take a test." I smile.

"We should buy some." Leo says. Let's go to the store."

...

I watch as the two lines show up across the stick. We're going to have a baby.

Leo draws me into a tight embrace. "We're going to have a baby." He whispers into my ear.

I'm going to be an fellow and have a baby.

___________
I forgot that I had just done an Ellis chapter, and I already wrote this and didn't want to delete it. I hope you enjoyed.