I have good news, and I have bad news. I'll start with the bad news. There is only one more chapter after this one. The good news is that I have an idea for a new story. I don't know exactly how it will work, but I have some time after finals to figure it out.
- ladybell
Chapter 12
When the plane landed in Avonlea, Anne and I got to work on moving our belongings to our new house in Four Winds since we were both so eager to begin a new chapter in our lives. We hired a couple movers to help us along with the process. Our first stop was at my parents' house. Mom was a little emotional at the sight of Dad, Anne, and me moving my things from my old room into the trucks, saying "My baby's all grown up now" softly to herself, but she regained her composure before saying goodbye to us. Our next stop was at Green Gables, and Marilla had almost the same reaction as Mom. She too couldn't believe that the day would finally come for Anne to move out. Looking into her eyes, I could tell that she still thought of us as children.
"It was as if she came here only yesterday," she whispered when I wasn't looking.
After everything was loaded, Marilla went outside to hug us both and to wish us well. She was holding back tears, and so was Anne.
"It'll be alright, Marilla," Anne assured her. "Gil and I will be okay, and if you need me, you know where to find me. You'll always be welcome at our home."
She silently nodded. The movers secured the trucks, and Anne and I got into our car. Marilla waved goodbye to us, and when she wasn't in sight in the rear view mirror, Anne sunk down in her seat. This was going to be hard on her; I could tell. While I knew she excited to be moving into our brand new home, the move also meant that she would have to leave her beloved Green Gables behind. It was the first place that felt like a true home to her, so of course, she was reluctant to let it go. I wanted nothing more than to make her happy, and I hoped and prayed that I could.
"Are you alright, Anne-girl?" I asked, concerned.
"I'll be fine," she replied, wiping a tear with the back of her hand.
"We don't have to do this."
She looked straight into my eyes. "What?"
"We don't have to do this. If you want, we can turn around right now, and -"
She cut me off. "No, Gil. This isn't about me; it's about us. We have to do this for us." She took my free hand and held it. "I love you, Gil. I want us to have a home together and begin a new life. Sure, it'll get some getting used to being away from the home that I've known for so long, but...home for me is wherever you are."
I grinned slightly. "I love you, Carrots." I leaned over to give her a kiss.
"Watch it, honey, or you'll run off the road," she teased.
"I'm willing to take that risk." I winked at her.
"Gil, what am I gonna do with you?" she asked, shaking her head in a mock dramatic fashion.
"Oh...I don't know...kiss me again?"
After a playful slap on the arm, I got my kiss, and we finally made it to our new house. It was a cute little home that had just enough "scope for the imagination." There was a little garden that looked out into the open along with a gorgeous view. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms with a hearth fire in it (something that I had always wanted), and there was enough room for the two of us.
"Do you like it, Anne?" I asked.
"I love it," she said, putting her arm around my waist. "It's perfect, absolutely perfect. I still can't believe Marilla and your parents and Uncle Dave pitched in their money to get us this place."
"I know."
The movers were getting a bit impatient, so we told them where we wanted our things placed. After everything was unloaded, we realized that we pretty much had two of everything, and this house wasn't big enough to hold everything we had.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Anne.
"Decide what works best with the space and donate the rest to charity?" I suggested.
"That sounds good, but what if we can't decide what stays and what goes?"
"Hmm...rock, paper, scissors?"
"Deal."
It took Anne and me a little while to decide what to keep and what to give away. We did have to resort to rock, paper, scissors a few times, and luckily for me, I got to keep my TV, couch, and Batman action figure. (What? Who said you had to grow up when you got married?) Since it was getting late, we decided to give the rest of our belongings away the next day. Uncle Dave stopped by to give us our official welcome to the new house and to see how we were with unpacking everything; I'm assuming Mom or Dad called him after we left.
"I can't wait to start decorating," said Anne to Uncle Dave. "I love this place so much already; it's a cozy little home just waiting to have something done to it. It's a blank canvas that I can begin with, and I like starting from scratch."
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to do that, my dear," he said. He turned to me. "Gil, do you know when you'll be able to start the job?"
"Anytime you need me, Uncle Dave," I replied. "I'll be ready."
"How about tomorrow?"
My jaw dropped. "Tomorrow? Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm serious."
I was shocked. As much as I wanted to start right away, I knew I couldn't leave Anne in our new house alone by herself with loads of boxes that needed to be sorted out. It wouldn't be fair to her. "Umm...on second thought, would it be alright if I waited a few days?" I asked. "I don't want to make Anne unpack everything by herself when I'm at work, and I know I won't be able to help her out much since my schedule will be unpredictable." I hoped he would understand.
"That'll be fine," he replied to my relief. "You both need time to settle in, and those extra days will give you more time to relax before you start those irregular hours."
"Thanks," I said.
"Don't mention it, my boy. Now go help that pretty little wife of yours unpack, and get started on a family ASAP. Do you hear me?"
I laughed. "Sure do."
Anne laughed as well. We said good night to Uncle Dave and did as much as we could to organize everything before going to bed. That first night in our new house was special, really special. It was our first night in a place of our own, and we truly felt like a married couple. I wanted to enjoy these next few days with Anne because it would be awhile until we could spend some true quality time together. Being a doctor not only meant helping patients and saving lives, but it meant long hours, little sleep, and randomly getting up at 3 AM sometimes. I was prepared to do what I needed to do, but I wasn't sure how Anne would react to it. She always seemed to worry about me, and since we were newlyweds, I didn't know if she would be supportive or would look down upon the whole situation. Maybe I'm the one who worries too much; who knows?
The next day Anne and I drove down to donate our leftover belongings to charity. They were grateful for what we did, and it felt good giving something back to the community even though we were new to the area. Later after much focus and concentration, we got everything - and I mean everything - out of the many boxes and into their respective places. Anne was surprised at the speed at which we got it all done. I honestly expected us to finish unpacking at the end of the three days, but I was glad I was wrong. I spent the rest of my time doing other things with Anne. I gave her the go ahead to paint the walls whatever color she desired because I knew she wasn't going to choose neon pink or cryptic black paint for our house. I knew her well enough by now to know that our tastes are very similar.
On the night before my first real day of being a real doctor, Anne and I were laying in bed when she put her arm around my waist, sensing that I was a bit jittery for my first day of work.
"Go get 'em tomorrow, Gil," she said barely above a whisper.
"Thanks, honey," I said. "I'll need it."
"Why? Are you scared?"
"Not really, but I'm a little nervous."
"That's normal, sweetie. Everyone gets nervous on their first day."
"I know, but what if I mess up somehow? And you know mess ups in the medical world can probably cost millions of dollars or even lives!"
"You can't worry about the 'what if's.' If you do that, then you're more than likely to mess up. You have to be calm, cool, and confident but not cocky. Just relax, okay?"
"Okay." I kissed her on the cheek. "I'm so glad I have a smart wife."
She laughed. "What makes you think I'm so smart, Gil?"
"You married me."
She snickered, turned off the light, and kissed me good night. I knew I had a long day ahead of me, and I needed as much sleep as I could get.
I woke up early the next morning, anxious to get to work. I tried my best not to disturb Anne while she was asleep, but she woke up anyway. She was just as excited as I was about my first day and wanted to make sure that I had enough energy to last through my long hours. After eating breakfast and getting ready, I gave Anne one last kiss before heading out the door.
When I arrived at the hospital, I met Uncle Dave who was sitting in the break room and waiting for me.
"Good to see ya, Gil," he said, shaking my hand.
"You, too," I said.
"Ready to get started?"
"Oh yes."
He got up from his seat and led me to my first patient, Jane Gibson, but before that, he put her file in my hands. "It's a pretty bad case," he explained. "She was involved in a multi-car pile up the other night, and it's a miracle that she's still alive. Look at her MRI results."
I opened the folder and was astonished with what I saw. "Wow." Her brain was far from the normal condition of a healthy one, and it appeared as if she escaped death by a matter of centimeters. As lucky as she was, the battle wasn't over yet.
"See what I mean?" asked Uncle Dave.
"Yeah," I replied, still shocked at the test results.
"Her husband and son are in there with her in her room. They're taking it pretty hard, so be gentle."
I nodded. I swallowed hard and remembered what Anne said to me the night before: Be cool, calm, and confident but not cocky. After taking a deep breath, I walked in the room.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Gibson," I managed to say, even though Jane was still asleep.
Mr. Gibson turned to face me. "Hello, Doctor," he said.
"How is your wife?" I asked.
"Hanging in there." He looked at his young son who was no older than five. "Ty's worried about his mother; he's afraid that something will happen to her."
"Doc, is Mommy going to die?" Ty asked, looking straight into my eyes.
I didn't want to lie to this little boy. "I don't know," I replied honestly, returning his gaze. "I don't want to make any judgments too soon. Her case is very special, Ty. Your mommy is very lucky to be here after a bad crash like that. She is strong, and she will fight to the end, no matter what happens."
"You're darn right about that," commented Mr. Gibson. "Jane's always been a fighter, ever since the day we met."
"Doc, if Mommy dies, will she go to Heaven?" asked Ty curiously.
"She will," I replied, meaning it from the bottom of my heart. "She will."
Ty looked as if he was a little more at ease after that, and his father mouthed "Thank you" to me. I simply nodded. He shook my hand, and I told him that I would be back later to check on them. When I came back after visiting other patients, I noticed that Jane wasn't in her room. I went out into the waiting room to ask one of the nurses what happened when I spotted Ty and his father sitting in a corner by themselves silently sobbing. I went over to them.
"Doc," said Mr. Gibson barely above a whisper. "Jane...s-she's...gone."
I froze. Gone? I couldn't believe it. I knew from Day One of med school that I would someday lose a patient, but I never expected it to happen so soon. Jane Gibson left behind a loving husband and child who were now beginning to mourn.
"I'm s-sorry," I said, knowing that it wasn't going to do much to relieve the pain. "I wish I could have done more to help her." I felt so bad inside.
"It was her time, Doc," Mr. Gibson said. "She's in a better place now, and I know she's looking over me and Ty."
"You're a strong man."
He shook my hand again. "Thank you for all you've done for us."
"You don't need to thank me." I barely did anything, and this man was thanking me.
"No. I need to. You were honest when others would have lied through their teeth and put us at ease; I can never thank you enough for that."
"You're welcome."
I went back to the break room where I met Uncle Dave in the morning and found him in there. I didn't even have to say a word, and he knew what I was thinking.
"It's always hard losing a patient," said Uncle Dave. "It's never easy, Gil."
"I never expected it to be so soon," I said. "I never imagined that for my first day at work."
"I know; I know."
He patted me on the back, but just then, I received an emergency phone call.
"Dr. Gilbert Blythe, we need you here immediately. Mrs. Chelsea Taylor is going into labor early, and her doctor is on vacation," said the nurse frantically.
"I'm coming!" I said, sprinting out of the break room.
"Take it easy!" shouted Uncle Dave.
I made it just in time. I was able to get into my surgery clothes and wash up before delivering Mrs. Taylor's baby. I walked into the room and shook hands with the Taylors.
"I'm Dr. Gilbert Blythe. I'm in for Dr. Phillips who is on vacation right now," I introduced myself.
"I'm so glad you're here," said Mrs. Taylor before letting out a painful scream.
"I need to examine you quickly to see if you're ready to push or not."
"Okay."
I determined that she was ready to push, so I instructed her to do so. Her husband held her hand.
"C'mon, honey. Push!" he encouraged her.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.
"I see the head," I said. "Keep going. You're doing great."
She kept on pushing. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Slowly but surely, the rest of the baby came out, and a new baby girl was born.
"It's a girl!" I exclaimed. The Taylors were so happy.
After I cut the cord, I handed the baby to a nurse to clean her up before gently giving her to her mother.
"Happy birthday, honey," said her mother. "I'm your mommy, and I'll love you forever." She kissed her on the forehead before handing her to her father.
"Hey, pumpkin," he said. "You're the prettiest girl on the planet. I love you, baby."
I couldn't help but smile. This was a bittersweet moment for me. After losing one of my patients earlier in the day, I witnessed the birth of a beautiful and healthy baby girl.
"What are you going to name her?" I finally asked.
"Jane Alison Taylor."
I smiled. It was a little ironic yet sweet at the same time. I said goodbye to the happy parents and Uncle Dave and went back home. I was tired. Anne was waiting for me and wanted to know how my day went. I told her my entire tale from start to finish, and at the end of it, she gave me a hug.
"Well, honey," she began, "you survived your first day, and it'll be smooth sailing from now on."
"I'm not too sure about that," I said, "but at least I know what to expect now."
She didn't say anything more and suggested that we both go to bed to rest for the next day. Sleep never sounded better.
