I rubbed a knuckle on her little pink cheek. She was almost two weeks old now. She’d probably be getting her first shots soon, and her belly button scab was getting ready to fall off. She was bigger.
This was the one negative side of working in emergency services. Most patients—with the exception of repeat offenders like Nunchuck Guy—were in and out and I never saw them again. I never knew how they did, if they got better, if they got worse. My job was to get them stable and process them to the doctor they needed to see to get well.
Sometimes I did wish I got to see my patients again and again. To see them grow up, stay with them through their lives and witness the changes.
“Are you nursing?” I asked Hannah, talking to her but smiling at the baby. “I brought you some formula if you need it.”
“I am nursing,” Hannah said. Then she lowered her voice. “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you about that. My boob really hurts and it’s kinda warm?” She tugged at her bra strap uncomfortably.
I smiled. “I can have a look at it.”
Hannah looked relieved. “Thanks.”
I handed Lily back to her mommies, and Daniel took me to a table with Doug at it. The music started playing, and the party got started. It was a buffet spaghetti dinner, and Doreen had made a huge chocolate sheet cake with Thank You, Dr. Alexis on it. Daniel sat next to me and held my hand on the seat between us.
I felt so…loved.
By all of them.
I’d had dinner with my own parents last night and I didn’t feel this loved. They made me feel like crap, actually.
Someone brought me a heaping serving of spaghetti and a salad. Daniel got me a glass of wine and kissed me on the side of the head when he sat back down. The room was alive with laughing and forks clinking on plates, friendly faces looking my way and beaming.
Jake was in the bar. He was wearing his uniform and laughing a little too loud with someone over by the pool table. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Doug leaned in while I was watching Jake. “Can I ask you a question?”
I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Sure.”
“What happened with the delivery?” he asked. “They said the cord was wrapped around her neck and you delivered her right. How did you do it?”
“I somersaulted the baby to keep the cord from tightening.”
“Will you show me? How you did it?” he asked.
“You want me to show you?”
“Yeah. I don’t like that I could have messed that up. If it happens again, I want to know how to do it.”
I nodded. “Okay. Sure. Oh, which reminds me, I have a stitch kit I want to give you.”
He lit up. “Really? A kit?”
“Yeah. No more fishhooks and gin.”
Daniel laughed and picked up my hand and kissed it.
Liz made her way over with a Coke for Doug. “Another wine?” she asked me.
“No, I’m good. Thank you.” I smiled.
Daniel nodded at the empty seat next to Doug. “Sit with us.”
“Can’t, I’m on shift,” she said. “Where’s Brian?” she asked, looking around.
“On a date,” Doug said. “Rochester.”
Liz’s smile instantly fell. “Oh.”
Daniel looked at his watch. “He should have been back already. Must be going well.”
“Right,” Liz said, looking away from us. “Well, let me know if you guys need anything else.” Her voice had gone flat.
I watched her walk back to the bar. The guys didn’t seem to notice the shift.
“Did Liz and Brian ever date?” I asked.
Doug scoffed. “Nah. He’s not her type. She likes assholes,” he said, talking into his soda.
I watched her wiping down the bar, her smile gone.
“Nobody likes assholes,” I said quietly. “Sometimes that’s just what you think you deserve.”
After dinner, I showed Doug how to somersault a delivery using a rolled-up sweater baby with a phone charger wrapped around it. Then I did a breast exam in the bathroom and prescribed Hannah antibiotics. “Prescribed” being me telling Hal, the pharmacist, who was eating a slice of cake at the next table, what she needed and him walking across the street to open the pharmacy to give it to her.
When I finished, I went looking for Daniel and spotted him leaning on the bar talking to Liz. I stopped and watched him for a moment from across the room.
This was the place I met him. Really met him. I was sitting on that stool. He was standing in the same spot. Only everything was different now.