…The Day Before…
-'Hank…Hank! I need to talk to you about something…', Divya said.
-'Okay. Sure.', Hank responded, setting the bottle of wine and glass on the table, somewhat surprised and worried. ' What's up?'
-'Dr. Van Dyke didn't administer the wrong medication to Mr. Kassabian', she started reluctantly, almost ready to break down and cry. 'I did. It was my mistake... It was me.'
…Today…
Hank was not ready to accept what Divya had told him the previous night. His shock was obvious. The way he talked (or the way he didn't talk) to her, and even how he treated her in front of their patients was different today. Divya was brought along to visits, but surprisingly she was not allowed to any serious contact with the patient; even removing sutures was a job for Hank. At the end of the day, Hank's behavior, along with the incident with Mr. Kassabian had made her question her abilities as a doctor.
Hank hadn't confronted her yet. She could only imagine his feelings and thoughts about her mistake. Of course, the feedback she was getting from his behavior wasn't a good sign. This made her feel terribly sad, since she considered Hank, and his brother Evan, a family to her. No, she wouldn't be able to get over it if she lost them from her life. It would be too hard an obstacle to surpass.
Mrs. Cameron was the last visit of the day. Of course, Divya's only work had been writing down the symptoms, talking to her and providing Hank everything he needed to do the necessary exams. It got to the point where Divya was surprised that Hank had let her take Mrs. Cameron's temperature. She'd manage to discuss with him a few diseases that lined up with the patient's symptoms, but it was obvious that Hank was more interested to the patient, than he was to her opinions.
Now, as they get out of the house and move towards their car, Divya is almost struggling to hold the tears in. Hank has been humiliating her in front of their patients all day, double-checking her every minor move. Eventually, while on the road, Divya starts crying but really hopes Hank doesn't notice. But in a minute's time, he sees her face on the car's mirror.
-'What's wrong?' , he asks, taking the corner, almost apathetically.
-'Hank, I'm so sorry…', she manages to say in between her sobs.
Hank takes a big breath. 'Please, just stop it.', Hank replies with a bit of a nerve.
After hearing those words, Divya doesn't talk, just cries, trying not to let any sound out. It feels like getting punched in the heart.
The rest of the trip follows in mutual silence.
When they finally arrive at the Lawson's place, Hank parks the car and walks into the house like nothing is wrong. Divya follows him, a few meters behind, trying to wipe out the tears, to hide the fact that she has been crying from Evan. But he is smarter than she thinks.
-'Hey…so how was it today without me?', he smiles, pouring some water on an empty crystal glass.
-'It was fine, really. I missed your sarcastic comments every now and then.', Hank sais, with a hint of a smile on his face, while dropping his brown bag on the floor. His answer pleased his brother, until Divya got in the room. Evan noticed the red spots under her eyes.
-'Hey…whoa, what's wrong? Something happened? Divs…?'
-'No, Evan, everything is fine', Hank replies, serving himself a glass of water, as well.
-'Hank, I know I made a terrible mistake, and I am deeply sorry.', she started with her deep low voice. 'I know you are mad. But I am human. Humans make mistakes…', she tries, her voice pitching at the end of her every sentence, betraying her being on the verge of crying. Hank stares at her with an amazed look.
-'Yes, Evan, something did-in fact-happen, now that you ask. She was the one to give the steroids to Mr. Kassabian, she's the one who almost rode him to death.'
Divya breaks down in sobs. His words felt like a hundred knifes slid right through her eneasy heart.
-'And you know what, Divya, humans do make mistakes, but when you're risking someone's life you ought to be more careful than that.', he sais, gradually raising his voice.
-'Hank, it's okay, she understands.', Evan tries, his voice was low.
-'No, Evan, cause she's been crying all the way home and I still don't think she understands the majority of her mistake. And apologizing right now doesn't mean anything to me! She should have been more responsible than that.' He knew Divya was hurting, but it seemed like he was hurting much more himself.
-'Hank, I think she's mature enough to understand her mistake.', his brother intervened, trying to make him come to his senses. Divya wasn't as incapable as he regarded over his angriness.
-'Well, I don't think she is!', Hank practically yells, hitting his glass hard on the table. Now the conversation starts to get heated.
Evan places his hands on Hank's sides trying to calm him down as he was almost shaking.
-'Let me go, Evan. Let me go!', he demands. Hank looks at Divya who is leaning at the wall in front of them, his eyes burning in flames.
-'Oh STOP it now and get OUT of our house!', Hank yells at her. For a brief second there, he loses all control. He grabs his glass of water and throws it with as much force as his hand allows to Divya. Not just the water. The whole glass.
Silence. Silence is the only thing to be heard. Divya's left arm starts bleeding heavily. She falls down on her legs in shock, as she loses the sensation of her feet for a moment. Evan stares at his brother, startled. You could see it from the gaze filled with wonder in his eye and from his shaking hands that Hank had now realized what he did was wrong. Divya tries to stand up successfully and runs as quickly as she can to the door.
-'Divs! Wait!' , Evan shouts. 'Hank, go out and apologize right now!' ,he yells at his brother. 'You see what you did to her? This was YOUR mistake!'.
Hank runs out while she has already crossed half the parking lot.
-'Divya! Divya, wait…!'
But she keeps going, her high heels making it difficult to keep balance.
-'Divya! Wait, please! Just…' .Hank had quickened his pace by now and almost reached her.
-'Hey…' ,he whispers, getting in front of her and grabbing her. He places his one hand on her right shoulder and the other one around her left arm, just below the wound. Divya pushes him away at first, but she then remains stiff under his soft touch.
-'Hey…Come over here. Let me take a look at that, OK?' ,he proposed, pushing her from her back towards a chair. Divya didn't know how to react, so she did what she was told.
Hank sits her down on a chair next to their outdoor table, taking a sit right in front of her. He bends forward and carefully touches her left arm with his hands, getting a close and careful look to the wounded area.
-'Ev, get me my bag.',he orders his brother.
They both wait in silence until Evan comes out with Hank's brown bag. Divya slowly pulls off her own bag, letting it slip and fall on the ground.
-'I'm gonna have to pull out all the thrusts from your hand, in order to be able to stop the bleeding' ,Hank admits to his physical assistant, while putting a pair of gloves on. He places his left arm over her left shoulder, in order to keep her still and slowly touches a glass thrust with a pair of tweezers with his right one. Divya flinches in pain and Evan, who has been watching the whole scene, approaches quickly and grabs her right hand, carefully placing it between his own and slightly squeezing it.
-'Okay. Ready?' ,Hank asks her.
She nods.
Hank doesn't countdown from three. Maybe he wanted Divya to be caught by surprise, as was himself by her revelation.
The first one causes so much pain that Divya feels it in her bones. She opens her mouth, revealing the pain she is in, but not a single whisper comes out. Her hand squeezes Evan's in an instant, himself not being able to stand watching her suffer like this. But Hank doesn't stop, in order for Divya to take a break. He keeps going, removing all the thrusts, in try to finish faster. He knows first hand this is the best way to do it, rather than stopping to take a break.
Divya's cries become stronger and more intense. She feels the pain travelling through her veins, but there' not much to do. No matter how fierce it is, she keeps holding still, feeling somewhat safe under Hank's hands. Somewhat, that is* she still doesn't know how mad Hank is, nor if he would take it out physically on her during his treatment.
After two of the longest minutes of Divya's life, Hank is finally done.
-'Okay, that's it. All done. It's all out' ,he sais with a reassuring tone while looking at her in the eyes. He touches her right shoulder in a try to calm her down and relax her breathing rate. Divya is not sure if he truly cares, or just does it out of obligation and good manners.
Hank waits a couple of minutes, letting Divya catch her breath, while he gathers the thrusts together to throw them away.
-'You're okay?' ,asks Hank.
She simply nods.
-'Now, I'm gonna have to apply some more pressure on the wound', he sais while taking a small handkerchief from his bag and letting it out of it's steril bag, 'in order to make sure the bleeding is stopped before I wrap it up'. He then places his right hand on top of the blanket and over Divya's wounded arm area.
-'Ready?' ,he asks again.
Divya nods.
And then again, no counting back, Hank slowly starts applying pressure over her wound. At first, the pain is somewhat bearable., but after a while it gets too much. Hank applies too much pressure, you could say he is partially driven by his inner anger. Divya was smart enough to understand this. But she didn't say anything. Now, little screaming voices come out of her, with Evan still sitting beside her and holding her hand, as he had been doing the whole time.
Hank knows he's being unprofessional, but this makes him feel better. When he finally stops, he grabs a bandage and presses it over her arm. Right after, he takes a gauze and wraps it around, securing it in it's place, before taking a long deep breath.
-'Okay. That's it. We're done', tries Hank. He then stands up, takes his bag and heads inside. But Evan catches up with him, after ordering Divya to stay put.
'Hey, Dude, what was that for? This is the the first time that we have ever seen Divya cry, and all you have to say is 'We're done', and then just walk away? Now, I know she did a mistake, but you did one, too. Divya is our family, and you don't cut out family like that. Now go over there and apologize, right now.'
Evan was as serious as Hank hadn't seen him in over ten years. Hank stays over there, in shock. He admit that his brother had a point. His behavior towards Divya must have been far from understandable. Hurting her doesn't solve anything ~ it only makes things worse.
He sees Divya still sitting on the chair, looking down on the floor. He pulls the chair he'd been sitting out of the way and kneels down in front of her.
Hank touches Divya's left shoulder, rubbing it back and forth. She raises her eyes in surprise.
-'Divs, I am so sorry. It was a big mistake and I am terribly sorry. I was angry- I still am. But I crossed the line'.
Hearing those words from Hank's mouth breaks her heart. She approaches for his free hand and grabs it tight, tears start coming out of her eyes and down her cheeks.
-'Hank', she tries in between sobs, 'I am so sorry. I would understand it if you wanted me out of your practice-and out of your life. And if this is the case, it's okay with me', she sais, her voice higher at the end of the sentence.
-'No, Divs…', Hank responds, placing his left hand behind and around her neck, rubbing it softly, with gentle and careful moves. 'I wouldn't be here if this was the case. And I wouldn't want you to stop being my assistant, unless you proved to be a bad doctor. Which you are NOT, no matter what you may think. You are amongst the best medical practitioners I've ever met, and trust me, I've met lots. Not to mention, you're the smartest of them all. I would never want you out of my life'.
Divya smiled behind her tears. She suddenly feels the security of being around family. A family that loves you and supports you, no matter what. Even the way Hank is all over her, hugging her in a reassuring way, seems like a wall of protection for Divya. It is just her and Hank. Hank was sitting so close to her and there was no space to lean back. But she doesn't feel suffocated. She feels protected.
-'Do you mean that, Hank?'
-'Of course I do, Divya', he sais with a smile.
-'Thank you so much. If you decided to cut me out I would be so devastated…because I consider you like my family. And I just don't think I could take that, no…I just hope you forgive me someday'.
-'Already have', Hank answers. 'Even the best ones make mistakes sometimes. But they sure do the best they can', he sais, now rubbing her back with his one hand. Using his other one he parks her front hair behind her ears and gently rubs her cheek.
-'I can't believe I hurt you like that. I can't believe I caused you so much pain. I'm sorry Divya'. Hank whispers, whipping her tears with his fingers.
Divya places her hand over his.
-'It's okay Hank. Don't mind over it', she sais smiling.
Hank now encloses her in a tight hug. Divya rests her face on his chest and has already stopped crying. He hugs her, while rubbing her back and the back of her face, still kneeling down.
That hug lasts more than a full minute.
Now, Hank stands up, extending his hand to Divya.
-'Come on now, let's go inside. You need to rest. There was a lot you went through today'.
-'No, that's okay', Divya resisted, 'I can rest at my own place'.
-'Actually I'd prefer if you stayed here with us tonight. It'll be alright. I promise I will lock Evan in the underground dungeon of ours', he sais smiling.
-'Uh, okay then. But just so you know…' she starts while walking inside the house with him, 'your brother is very good. Besides all the sarcasm… You are lucky to have a brother like him'.
-'I know…' ,replies a smiling Hank.
They both go up the stairs that lead to the bedrooms, when Divya stops, her knees feeling weak, breaking down, and she would fall, if Hank wasn't there for her to catch her.
-'Hey…hey…it's okay', he whispers.
-'I'm sorry, I just feel a little light-headed and dizzy…'.
-'It's okay. It's just from the stress and blood loss. Let's go lie you down...' , Hank sais, helping her on the stairs by supporting her with his hand under her shoulder.
-'Okay…Almost there'.
They go inside a room and Hank gently sits her down on the bed.
-'Let me help you get comfortable', he sais while Divya keeps her eyes closed to reduce the dizziness she is feeling.
Hank carefully puts out each of the earrings Divya was wearing and places them on the night table.
-'Let me get you some PJs', Hank sais, leaving the room. He gets back a couple of minutes afterwards, holding a pair of blue pyjamas in hand.
-'Okay, now let's get your shirt off, he tries, taking it off. He then puts the top of the pyjamas on Divya. He helps her lose her skirt and put the bottom of the pyjamas as well
He then pulls her hair gently back into a ponytail.
-'Okay…now lie on your back', he proposes while gently pushing down on her chest.
Hank doesn't leave the room until he is sure that everything is comfortable for Divya. He tucks her in and then bends over her.
-'Now take some rest for me, okay? Just forget about the world and let everything slip your mind. Doctor's orders', he whispers, giving her a peck on the forehead.
He sits there for a couple more minutes, making sure she is okay. Before he leaves, he rests two fingers over her neck, gently reaching for her pulse.
Hank leaves, closing the light in the room.