Love On Call

Glenn grinned, half listening to Carrie and Presley’s banter while most of her concentration was focused on several teens who’d just congregated at the bottom of the stairs, Blake and Margie in the mix. She noticed that another girl and boy joined them, and after they all spoke awhile, the four began wending their way toward the exit.

Glenn stood. “I’ll see you at the staff meeting tomorrow night.”

“Go home,” Carrie said sternly.

“Yes, dear.” Glenn didn’t think it necessary to add she might take just a little detour to make sure Blake and Margie didn’t run into any trouble on their way home.

*

Mari would have sworn on all that was holy she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, but she lay awake in the half dark with all the events of her first day running through her mind like a runaway movie reel. Her first day. She’d gone to sleep in this room for a week, but it still felt like today was her first day. The first day that really counted. The first day of the life she’d fought for and made happen. She’d imagined what this day would be like, but she hadn’t expected most of it. The medical part was even better than she’d hoped. It was strange, the contradiction, of loving an emergency, of thriving on the challenge of going to battle against an enemy that was as real to her as she imagined an enemy on the battlefield might be to a soldier, all as a consequence of someone else’s suffering. Life was on the line, and although she might not die if she failed, someone else would, and that to her was in many ways worse than her own pain. Without the suffering of others, there’d be no need for her skills. So she’d gone to battle and loved every minute of it.

She been right that this profession was what she wanted to spend her life doing, but she hadn’t expected to discover such a vibrant community inside the hospital. She had immediately sensed the currents of a unique society with its own customs and history flowing around her like so many branches of an ancient river, in the halls and nurses’ stations, even the cafeteria. The village was another community, with its own rhythms and tides. Glenn, when she finally let herself think about Glenn, was the most unexpected part of all. She had hoped to connect with colleagues, make friends, but she hadn’t expected to meet anyone special. Someone at once secretive and welcoming, revealing and hidden. A puzzle and an open book. All Glenn’s many contrasts fascinated her, but she was most grateful to Glenn for giving her hope that she could belong somewhere again. She turned on her side and pulled a pillow close, snuggling her face into the old, familiar contours, smiling to herself as she thought about Glenn sitting across from her in the pizza parlor, still feeling the heat of Glenn’s dark-eyed scrutiny and the comfort of her unpitying understanding. Yes, much, much more than she had imagined her first day would be like.

Chapter Ten

Glenn arrived at the small ER conference room fifteen minutes before her scheduled seven o’clock lecture and found Mari already seated at one end of the oval conference table with her iPad and a cup of coffee in front of her. Dressed for the workday in pale blue, wrinkle-free scrubs, her name tag clipped to her breast pocket and a stethoscope slung around her neck, she looked rested and relaxed. No one else had arrived yet.

“Did you take those home and iron them?” Glenn asked.

Mari frowned. “Oh! You mean the scrubs? Yes.”

“When did you do that?”

“I picked them up yesterday when I was here and ironed them this morning.” Mari gave a pointed glance at Glenn’s equally pressed darker blue set. “Don’t you?”

“I used to. Now a friend in the laundry does them for me.”

“Ah—special status. Let me guess—ex-Army?”

Glenn grinned. “Navy, but us vets stick together. I’ll ask him to do yours. You want the same color all the time?”

“I’m not fussy.”

“They look good on you—I’ll tell him the baby blues.”

Mari quickly looked down at the iPad, color racing across her cheeks. “Thanks. If he can’t do it, that’s all right.”

“Billy won’t mind.”

“Well then, I owe you double.” Mari leaned over and lifted up a small green thermal insulated bag covered with multicolored fish. She unzipped the top and withdrew a cardboard cup with a Styrofoam lid that looked very much like the one she was drinking from.

Glenn stared at it and actually felt her taste buds start to tingle. “Is that—?”

“A little thank you for giving me a break on the lecture today.” Mari slid the cup down the table toward her. “Double espresso, macchiato. I just guessed on that part.”

Glenn scooped up the cup, removed the lid, and took a deep breath of some mighty fine coffee. “Perfect.” She sipped and sighed. “You have my undying thanks.”

Mari laughed. “I sort of owe you for rescuing me and taking this session.”

“Believe me, if this is what I get in thanks, I’ll do all of yours.”

“Well, I stop there almost every morning, so it’s no trouble.” Mari smiled. “Free of charge.”