MILESTONES
Miles had read somewhere That if life is indeed a journey; then each birthday is merely a milestone in our journey through life. Now lying in his hospital bed he had plenty of time to reflect on it and birthdays in general. Some were more major than others, the 30th being one in particular. It was a time to finally start to live more like a mature adult and not living like you did when you were twenty-one. Well when he was that age, he was already in medical school, his future life more or less planned out. Not that it hadn't taken a few un expected turns along the way which brought him to why he was spending his 30th birthday in the hospital.
The team had been halfway through completing their latest case when it seemed like out of nowhere he had been taken ill with a mysterious bacterial infection. Now after two days in the ICU and aggressive IV antibiotic treatment he was pronounced out of danger and on his way to a sure recovery.
Hearing the rattle of lunch trays, Miles sighed and idly wondered what flavor jello would be on his. Stephen had informed him that the team would be catching an evening flight so he assumed they'd already left for home. Though it surprised him that Natalie hadn't been in to say goodbye. He knew he'd really scared her when he'd just suddenly collapsed. In fact he'd been scared himself; one moment talking about patients and the next waking up on a gurney with a killer headache and high fever.
A light knock on the door drew Miles from his thoughts and he called out, "Come on in." He knew it wasn't any medical personnel, they never knocked.
The door opened and Natalie stepped in arms full of packages and a smile on her face. "Happy Birthday, Miles," she said brightly.
"I thought Connor told me yesterday that you had an evening flight to catch," Miles said.
"I did. I just didn't say which evening. How are you feeling, Miles?" Stephen asked stepping into the room.
The younger doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Better. They tell me that if I continue to improve I'll probably be out of her in a couple of days. Then a few more before I can fly home," he replied.
"I'll see if I can get the time to fly home with you," Natalie told him as she settled the packages on the bed.
"Hey, is Frank and Eva with you?"
"They were a little behind bringing the cake. I got your favorite—chocolate and butter cream. Even if you don't feel like eating much I'm sure the nurses will enjoy the treat," Natalie answered.
"Speaking of nurses, are you being a good patient?" Frank asked as he entered a bakery box in hand.
"You'll have to ask the nurses," Miles replied.
"Where do we want these?" Eva asked, opening up a bag with plates and forks and napkins.
"What? No party hats?" Miles joked.
"We didn't forget you, kid," Frank replied removing from a bag a green purple and gold hat being the words Birthday Boy.
"Hey, Frank, now that I'm officially thirty do you think you can finally stop calling me Kid?" Miles asked as he put on the hat.
"Not a chance," Frank stated clapping him on the shoulder.
"Ooh I've gotta get a picture of this," Eva said reaching in her purse for her digital camera and quickly reading it. "Say Birthday cake."
"Birthday cake," Miles replied giving her a weary smile.
"We got you some stuff you could use while you're in here," Natalie explained as she handed him the first package.
He carefully tore open the package to reveal a pair of navy blue sleep pants and a loose fitting t-shirt. "Finally something to wear besides these gowns. Thanks," he said as he set it aside to take the next one.
"Now when they get you up and walking around you won't be giving everybody a moon shot," Frank joked.
"This one could only be from you, Nat," Miles said holding up the portable CD player and selection of classical music CDs.
"Well they're nice and relaxing music," she replied.
The next few packages contained a pair of slippers, robe and some puzzle books and pencils. Laying aside the gifts, Miles leaned back against pillows saying. "Thanks everybody. You sure know how to throw a party,' he joked.
"Let's hope that the rest of your birthdays aren't spent in the hospital," Natalie replied patting his shoulder. She began gathering up the presents and laying them aside.
"Anybody ready for cake? Eva asked.
"Yeah. I'll take a small piece," Miles replied.
Eva set to work getting the cake and ginger ale served. "Think you can manage it by yourself, Birthday Boy?" she asked, handing him the plate and fork.
"I can manage very well, thank you," Miles replied taking a bite of the butter cream frosting.
"Hey, you've got a frosting mustache," Frank pointed out.
Natalie reached for clean napkin and dabbed at Miles' face noticing that he already seemed tired from the brief visit. "We'll just head off in a few minutes so you can rest," she told him.
"Hey, thanks for everything," Miles said, reaching up to take off the hat.
"Just get back home soon, okay," Natalie said and began to gather up the discarded wrapping paper.
"Don't worry I will. Hey, wanna tell the nurses they can help themselves to the cake?" Miles suggested.
"We'll do that on our way out, Stephen told him.
"The door opened to admit Allie, Miles' primary care nurse. "Are you going to be wanting your lunch yet, Dr. McCabe?" she asked.
"Not right now," he answered.
She looked at the cake and the packages and asked, "Hey, what's the big occasion?"
"My 30th birthday," Miles replied. "There's still plenty of cake left if anybody wants some."
"Oh, I'm sure we will. Happy birthday," Allie replied. She turned to the rest of the other team members. "Please don't stay too much longer as he really needs to rest."
"We were just leaving," Stephen replied, motioning to the others to follow.
"Se you soon, Kid," Frank told him as he followed the others out.
"Bye, everybody," Miles told them. "And thanks again for everything." Watching his friends leave he wearily settled back in the bed.