SNOWSWEPT

by CuddleFae

Dr. Lauren Lewis has been assigned to oversee the opening of a new hospital. Overwhelmed by all there is to know and learn in an unfamiliar land, she crosses paths with a mysterious woman with a dark past - a past that has caused her to live by one rule. Trust no one. Thrown into a desperate struggle, can they overcome the barriers between them in their fight to survive?

50. Chapter 50: Surgeries and Secrets

A/N: FIRST chapter of a double chapter post – Chapters 50-51

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CHAPTER 50: SURGERIES AND SECRETS

The Homestead

Bo hopped out of the passenger side of the truck, feeling a sharp pain in the side of her knee. She paused, then slowly put pressure on the limb again, this time with greater success. Lauren came around from the driver's side,

"Worse?"

Bo nodded, "Oh yea. It's a good thing the surgery is tomorrow, or I might have had to start taking those pain killers he gave me."

"Wow. Bo Dennis needing pain killers?"

"Wimpy, I know."

Lauren shrugged, "No, you're just finally realizing you are not Supergirl. You have no cape and sadly, no real superpowers other than those you used on me in the gazebo this morning."

Bo grinned, leaning on her wife as they walked to the door, "Well, I'm sorry to say I don't think I even have those superpowers in me right now."

"Okay. Let's get you on the couch and packed in ice."

Bo smirked, "Just the line you want to hear from your wife on your honeymoon."

"Well, technically, I'm currently on family care leave, not personal leave. That starts next week."

"I hope I'm well enough to enjoy next week."

Lauren smiled, "Well, whatever we do, I plan to make sure that it's relaxing, so use of that leg will not necessarily be required. What do you want to do anyway? Have you given more thought to an island getaway?"

Bo knew she'd reached a point where she couldn't talk her way out of the island thing, so she took the only direction she thought Lauren would agree to, being the concerned medical professional she was,

"If it's okay with you, can we hold off on deciding until we see how my recovery goes? I'm not sure I want to be stuck on a plane if I'm not feeling well. Trying to use an airplane toilet is not on my bucket list."

Gawd, Bo thought to herself. I really hate lying to this woman! Unfortunately, I'm not lying about this pain and I really am worried about how I'm going to feel after this surgery. There's not much time.

Lauren grinned, "Well, luckily, we've scratched off that Mile High Club Membership."

Bo gritted her teeth as she took the steps into the kitchen, "And we had a stellar performance in our rookie season with the club."

The blonde pulled off Bo's coat and then her own before sending Bo into the living room to lay down on the couch while she pulled the compression cold sleeve from the freezer and grabbed the towel from the shelf. When Lauren entered the living room, she stopped short, finding the sofa was already occupied,

"What's going on?"

Bo turned to Lauren, "Apparently, we're harboring a runaway."

"What?" Lauren asked, shaking her head, "Okay – one thing at a time. I need to get Bo set up for ice. Can we do that?"

Mary and LJ nodded, lifting Elise and Rudy off the couch. They walked the pair over to Rudy's princess tent in the corner of the room, now surrounded by all of the wedding gifts. The two girls crawled sleepily inside, LJ kneeling down and covering them both up with their respective sleeping bags.

The two stood, walking back to the fireplace where Lauren was getting Bo settled.

"Do you need your salves, Child?"

"Yes, Mom. Please. And anything we haven't tried yet if you've got anymore tricks up your sleeve."

Lauren sighed, satisfied with her treatment application, but shook her head, "Mom, the swelling is pretty bad. I'm using the compression sleeves first, then we'll add the salves on the second round of ice. I have to give her thirty minutes between treatments, so her skin doesn't burn. The last thing we need is for her to have edema from over-icing."

"Of course, Daughter. Whatever you think is best."

Bo looked up at Lauren, "Can you sit under my leg with a pillow and just get a little closer? I'm freezing."

Lauren looked at Mary who leaned down and felt Bo's forehead and earlobes, "Do you feel ill Ysabeau?"

Bo shook her head, "No. The ice is cold and the temperature dropped on the way back. It was a long day."

Lauren looked at LJ, "Can you grab my phone? I think I left it on the table," she turned back to Bo, "The swelling may be infection. If it is, I'm going to start you on an antibiotic with William's permission."

"Whatever. I'm just freezing."

Mary turned and stoked the fire before she and Lauren pushed the sofa closer to the flames and put several blankets on top of Bo. LJ returned with Lauren's phone, allowing the blonde to consult with Doctor McFarland on what was happening. He agreed with the antibiotics, so Lauren hurried upstairs to her medical bag and gave Bo what she needed.

Finally, Lauren settled beneath Bo's leg, the brunette looking up at her Mom,

"Okay. What's going on and make this fast. I'm literally not going to be able to stay awake long."

Mary looked concerned, but Lauren shook her head, "She was up very early to go into town and check on the puppies, then we spent all day outside building the gazebo…"

"Is it finished?" Mary asked.

Lauren nodded, "Yes, but only one coat of paint. We had to start on making some things for dinner."

Mary smiled, "How did the Boston Cream Pie work out?"

Bo grinned, "It was great, Mom. Thanks for the advice on the three-stage cooking. I never would have thought to do that."

"Happy to help. Now, about our little stowaway over there…"

Lauren shook her head, "I thought you said runaway?"

LJ jumped in, "I seriously had no idea she was in the basket of my sled. I brought the pregnant females here so that Aunt Mary could watch them this week without having to leave Bo. I hitched them to the sled, all except Harper who I told to crawl into the basket."

He looked at Bo, begging her forgiveness, "I'm sorry, Bo. I didn't think to look in since Harper just jumped right in and never looked around. I just zipped it shut and she poked her head out like she always does. We took a nice easy clip here and when I pulled into the garage, we unhooked the sled and Harper just hopped out. She didn't look back or anything so as far as I knew, the basket was empty."

Mary continued, "I invited LJ to stay for dinner since it was just me and Rudy tonight and when he was leaving, we found Elise sleeping between Harper and Aphrodite in Harper's kennel. They knew to keep her warm."

LJ looked up on the mantel, pulling down two cans, "We found a fork, this empty can of tuna and this can of peaches, half eaten. She finished the rest with Rudy after we brought them in. I was in here for about six hours before we found her."

"He helped Rudy with her vocabulary homework and then they watched a movie, roasted marshmallows and played with the dogs outside."

Mary shook her head, "We didn't see any sign of Elise when we were in the garage to let them out, feed them or bring them back in. She must have been hiding. Maybe in the barn, we just don't know."

Lauren shook her head, "Why is she here?"

Mary looked at Bo who sighed. She had promised to keep Cassie's confidence, but she wasn't sure that would be possible. Still, she didn't come clean, hoping LJ might, "I haven't had a chance to talk to you and honestly, I figured she would come to her senses or change her mind or whatever. She's just a kid. Usually, Molly could just talk to her and make it all okay."

LJ shook his head, "Although Molly doesn't even know what's upsetting Elise since she won't talk to her about it."

"And you do?" Lauren asked.

LJ Looked at Bo and said, "I found out yesterday with Bo."

Lauren looked at Bo who looked at her mom, "I was going to tell you tonight once we were settled, although Cassie asked me..."

"Tell me what, Bo?" Lauren asked, "I am responsible for that child! Molly and Mark may have adopted her, but there are conditions, Bo. Legal conditions for them to retain custody!"

Bo nodded, "I know, I know."

"Spill," Lauren said, her eyes firmly set on her wife's.

"Elise has been confiding in Cassie. She doesn't want to live with Molly anymore. She's afraid of her guns. She took them and hid them. Molly looked everywhere for them until they finally sat her down and asked. Elise had buried them under their porch."

Lauren shook her head, "But… she loves Molly and Mark… and LJ. Surely, she can't believe that Molly's guns would be a threat to her."

Mary sighed, "The two of them have developed very strong opinions about weapons – and about their sorrow over the bear that Molly killed with those guns."

"She was protecting them, Mom. Surely, they know that," Bo replied.

Mary nodded, "And you and I both know that once that bear was redirected, we would have tried to lose it while the girls got away before circling well out of the span of the cubs. Bears won't stray too far from their young. They just want anyone in what they consider to be their territory to go elsewhere."

LJ added, "Rudy and Elise have been taught those lessons by the two of you… and by me and Lauren. They know that using a gun on a bear isn't the first action you take."

Bo shook her head, "I've never questioned Molly's reasoning behind her actions that day. The girls were safe and that was all that mattered. Hell, they were terrified for months!"

Lauren nodded, "But since then, they've had the nature lesson from Kat at Denali, and they've had at least two bear encounters that they've rectified by moving away before they ever got close."

LJ nodded, "They're questioning why Molly used her guns. They don't think she had to kill him. I think they think she wanted to."

Mary sighed, "Honestly, I can't say I haven't asked myself the same question. Leading the bear away and circling back around would have been my course of action. Alas, what's done is done."

Bo sighed, "I think we need to bring Faith Grace in on this again."

Mary nodded, "I agree, and she said she would travel here after dinner to see the girls."

"I thought she was leaving our barn apartments today," Lauren asked.

Mary nodded, "She was, but Anna asked her to consult on a case with a young child. She was going to take the train from Talkeetna tonight, but when I called, she agreed to stay. She was in town when she ran into Kyle who asked her if she would be interested in working with the pups

that Tosh confiscated from Big Jim's kennels…"

Bo nodded, "They really need to start training or they'll be useless behind a sled for work or racing."

Mary nodded, "Kyle agrees and we're short staffed right now with both you and Tosh out of commission, so Faith agreed to stay and help. She is actually looking forward to it."

Lauren smiled, "We talked about it at the race – well, about her husband and their dogs. I had no idea she was the primary trainer. He was the driver."

So, Faith is moving into the barn apartments over the kennel and Cassie is going to do their physicals. Then, she's coming out Monday, Wednesday and Friday to check on the moms we have here and give our pups their annual physicals."

"They're due for some shots too. Did the girls come up with names by any chance? Kyle will need names to start training ours alongside Tosh's," Bo reminded.

LJ nodded, "I stamped their collars out in the barn earlier and Rudy put them on. Rudy's pup is still Cinder. Elise's pup is still Snow. The gray and black pups that you and Lauren have are now Grey with an 'e', not an 'a', but still in honor of Doctor Gray because she is a good listener."

"Ohmagosh, they're going to make Faith cry," Lauren chuckled as Bo nodded her agreement.

LJ smiled, "The black pup will be Beauty from the movie Black Beauty because Rudy thinks she's going to be the fastest and she also needs the most patience. The red that Pops has is going to stay Red since she's the only red pup in the litter and Pops has already been calling her Red all the time. They didn't want to confuse her."

LJ counted on his fingers, "Oh and last, Kyle's is already named Jazz, so they agree she should stay Jazz because Kyle should be able to name the dogs too – for all the work she does with them."

"Mom?" Bo asked, "These dogs are from your original line, so you have the final say."

"It's to this generation to name the dogs, though I must say that I wouldn't mind one of Harper's pups and one of Aphrodite's pups – when they deliver – being named Yuji and Yara in honor of those we've lost."

Bo smiled, "Agreed. I've always wanted to do that but didn't know for sure that you would want me to. Thank you, Mom."

Mary nodded while Bo turned back to Lauren, "So, what are your thoughts on Elise?"

"Please don't send me back."

The adults turned to see Elise standing, her curly blonde hair shooting off in all different directions, her eyes red from tears. Lauren's heart ached as she saw the same little girl who had cried in her arms after watching her mom die in the hospital emergency room,

"Come here, Sweetheart," Lauren said, waving Elise over. She lifted her onto the couch in front of Bo since her lap held her wife's injured leg. The child immediately cuddled into Bo's arms, her big blue eyes staring up at the brunette,

"Will you let me stay with you and Lauren now that you're married?"

Bo sighed, "Elise, it doesn't work that way, Sweetheart. You were legally adopted by Molly and Mark so we have to talk to them about it."

Elise shook her head, the tears falling again, "She's gonna hate me. She's gonna think I hate her, but I don't. I tried to forget – I did, but I can't."

Lauren leaned down, propping herself up on her elbow and lowering her head to Bo's hip so she could face the child,

"She's not going to think you hate her and Molly could never hate you, Elise. She loves you and Mark does too."

"But she was mad at me for touching her guns when I hid them. She was so mad. I heard her fighting with Mark after they sent me to bed."

LJ knelt down next to the little girl who had become a sister to him,

"E, Aunt Molly was just afraid for you. Guns can go off and hurt people if they don't know how to handle them and you have never used a gun."

"But my Dad did and I watched him. I held the grip ends and kept the points parts down the whole time. I kept them always pointed away from me. I just didn't want them in the house, and I don't want to be in the house with the guns. My parents kept theirs in a metal safe in the barn. LJ keeps his shotgun in a secret wooden compartment on his sled with PVC pipe inside. Why can't Molly do that? Why does she have to carry them with her?"

Bo shook her head, "It just makes some people feel safer, Sweetheart."

"But none of you carry them with you and you feel safe."

Lauren sighed, "it's complicated, my love. Maybe if you talked to Molly about it, she could explain to you why she always carries them."

"I don't want to talk about guns anymore."

She laid down curling into Bo, "And I'm not going back there. They can come and arrest me, but I know my rights. Judge Payne told me. It's in the envelopes from my mom. She gave me to Lauren, and I want to be with Lauren and her wife."

Bo looked up at her Mom who sighed, shaking her head. Mary took a seat in the rocking chair by the fire as LJ sighed and explained what his Aunt and Uncle had said when he'd called them explain that Elise was safe and at the Homestead,

"They told me not to come home without her. If she stayed, I'm supposed to stay. They don't want Mary to have to take care of a child who's their responsibility."

Lauren nodded, "It's fine, LJ. Did you bring anything with you?"

"I came by sled, so I have my emergency pack."

"Good," Lauren smiled, "Why don't you lay down until Faith gets here."

LJ nodded, taking the blanket Mary offered and dropping to the floor close to the fire. They room fell silent and in a short time, they were all asleep.

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Two Hours Later…

LJ awoke, hearing a banging on the door. He threw off the blankets, ready to stand, but found Rudy cuddled in front of him. He carefully covered her back up and headed for the door. As he opened it, he put a finger over his lips,

"Hey. How are you? Thank you for coming out so late."

He gave Faith a hand up the stairs and held the door for Kyle until they were both inside,

"I put our stuff in two of the barn rooms. I hope that's okay," Kyle said.

LJ nodded, "I'm about to go do the same thing myself."

"Are the girls asleep?" Faith asked, handing LJ her coat.

He nodded, "Elise fell asleep crying. Rudy must have woken up in the play tent by herself because I just found her cuddled in front of me under my blanket."

Faith nodded, "Apparently, she has been crawling into her mother's bed at night lately. No nightmares, just not particularly happy to be alone in her room."

"Is that normal?" LJ asked.

Faith nodded, "It is. You may have done the same with your father when you were young."

LJ shook his head, "Not likely since my parents were not fans of coddling a child."

Faith nodded, "Well, should we have some tea then, Kyle? I wouldn't want to wake her."

LJ smiled, "I'll get Mary and Lauren. They'll want to talk to you. Bo's knee is giving her a world of trouble tonight, so I'll try to let her sleep."

Kyle moved to the sink to start the tea while Faith reached up to the cabinet to pull down cups and saucers. By the time the women arrived with LJ, the kettle was on and the table was set with a tin of Mary's tea biscuits at the center.

Bo had woken up with Lauren, so LJ pulled the ottoman from the living room into the kitchen for Bo's leg, then went back into the living room and put Rudy on the couch with Elise, covering them both and nudging the sofa just a bit closer to the fire. He added another log for good measure, looked back at the pair and then turned to walk out to the kitchen once more, but ran into Kyle. She smiled,

"You are going to be the best dad ever one day. I swear, poem's will be written about your Dad skills."

LJ scowled, "Don't mock me. I love these two and if that makes me less of a man, so be it."

Kyle placed a hand on his arm, "Hey - I wasn't mocking you at all, LJ. I was being very serious. See? No sarcasm on this face – my eyes are actually tearing up here, so cut me a break. I meant every word. Those girls are lucky to have you and you are going to be an incredible father. Maybe having the experience you had as a kid will be a good thing for your children one day."

"How can you say that?"

Kyle shrugged, "Because it's going to make you a better father rather than the father who becomes his father."

LJ nodded, "You know, I've been thinking about that. I can't figure out how Pops didn't turn out like Big Jim yet my Dad turned out just like that asshole despite having my Pops for his dad. Makes no sense."

Kyle shook her head, "I'm afraid that's a question for Pops or the head shrink out there. I have no idea. I just know what I see in you. You're so gentle with them. Maybe it's caring for the dogs like you do."

LJ smiled, "That's all Bo. It's funny that people saw her as violent because even when she tried to push me away, I knew she was exactly the kind of person I wanted to be… she's a good person… the best."

Kyle nodded, "Me too. She never let many people in before… not until Lauren."

"That's very true. They're perfect for each other," LJ said, "I've decided. I'm going to let my Pops adopt me. I'm going to take on a new last name. I just thought you should know before you have my new business cards made."

Kyle smiled, "Okay. Do you know the name yet?"

LJ shook his head, "He didn't say yet. He said he wanted to talk to Bo and Mary about it before he did it. I guess he wants their advice. Anyway, I'll let you know when I know."

"Okay. Let's leave these two to sleep."

"Maybe we should head out to the barn. Those four may want to talk privately," LJ suggested.

"You'd better ask first, kiddo. You're the big brother. They may want your opinion. Did you call your Aunt and Uncle to let them know that she's here?"

He nodded, "I called them after I found her. They know and, well, they wanted me to bring them back, but Mary called and let them know that she was here and that Bo and Lauren would be back soon."

He reached down and pulled the cover up over Rudy's shoulder,

"From what she said, Elise is welcome to stay here as long as she feels she needs to stay. They're just confused since they don't know why she ran away. All they got from me was incoherent mumbling since I didn't know how to tell Aunt Molly the truth. Mary told them that Doctor Gray was coming to talk to her. Once she said that, they both backed off and just asked Mary to keep them in the loop."

Kyle nodded, "Okay. Let's go back out there then."

The two moved back into the kitchen just as the kettle began to whistle. Kyle set to the task of pouring everyone's tea while LJ took the third seat on Bo's side of the table. Kyle sat down next to Faith as the two caught up on the conversation,

"We have a difficult path ahead," Faith said, "Legally, Lauren was instructed to do what's best for the child. If you cannot settle this amongst yourselves, the courts could make that decision for you. I believe your next step must be to bring Molly and Mark into this conversation."

Bo turned to LJ, "Do you think Molly would be willing to lock her guns away for good?"

LJ shrugged, "I have no idea. I mean, those pistols are like a second skin to her when she's out and about. I honestly don't know when or why she started wearing them."

Kyle raised a hand, "Actually, I do but… it's not my story to tell."

Bo shook her head, "Do not go there, Kyle. This is about Elise, not about Molly."

"I know and you know I love that little girl like no one else on the planet… other than Rudy, but it's a big story, Bo…. and deeply personal. I don't even know that Mark knows about it and if he did, it might change things between the two of them."

"Never," LJ said, "My aunt and uncle are more solid than any couple I've ever met… except maybe you… couples."

Kyle shook her head, "This is different."

"How?" Bo asked.

"Please, Bo. This is something that Molly has to share. It's not my place."

Faith reached her hand out to Bo's, her fingers stilling the brunette's hand, "Child, this is clearly not something your friend is comfortable sharing. Are you really going to continue to expect her to put herself in a position where her long relationship with a friend could be damaged?"

Bo lowered her eyes, shaking her head, "No. I just… I have a feeling this has something to do with my father and I'm just… I want all of his acts of shame to be behind me…" she shook her head, "… but that makes this about me which is wrong. This is about Elise."

She looked up at Faith, "What do we do?"

"For tonight, nothing. When she wakes, I'll speak with her and bring her to a place where she feels supported in having a conversation with her adoptive parents. From there, the decision will be Molly's to make. If she chooses her story and her guns over the child, I fear her husband will have questions which she will have to answer or risk losing him over their responsibility to the child. As I said, this will be difficult."

Mary finally spoke, "Let me speak with Molly first."

"Are you sure, Mom?" Bo asked.

Mary nodded, "If he is connected to this, she will tell me. If he is not, she has even less reason not to share. Please understand, I would only talk to her to try to convince her to share her story with Faith, not so that I could share the story with any of you unless it's something she would request I do."

Faith nodded, "I agree. Molly is comfortable talking to Mary and they have daughters who are best friends in common. I will speak with Elise in hopes of getting her to open up to Molly."

Mary looked at Bo, "You have surgery tomorrow and Lauren will, understandably, be there. Is it possible that Shannon or Carolyn could watch the girls while I go to speak with Molly?"

"LJ and I are picking up the puppies from my place and Tosh's in the morning. From there, they'll stay busy with our makeshift puppy daycare and training program. Cassie's coming too, so Elise will want to help her give checkups and shots."

Mary nodded, "Thank you, Child. I'm sure that the girls will be happy to have the two of you care for them in our absence."

Kyle smiled, "Just make sure you send word about Bo's surgery so that they don't worry."

Lauren nodded, "Of course."

"Well, if it's okay with all of you, I'm going to head to my room with some assistance from LJ on the stairs. I've had a long day and need my rest."

Lauren smiled, "Of course. Thank you so much for coming, Faith. As always, we appreciate your coming to help our family."

The doctor nodded, "And perhaps I can see your new property during my stay so that I can check your greenhouse plans, Ysabeau?"

Bo grinned, "I would be happy to have your input. I hate to be so needy, but I want to get this right."

"As do I, so I'm happy to help. I told the boys – Path and Slate – that I would be nearby to help them next week. I believe it is their plan to start clearing land and building then," Faith smiled, "Good night everyone."

Lauren looked at Bo, "I had no idea they were starting this soon. What changed?"

Again, Bo had to find answers that avoided the surprise plans for the coming weeks,

"I'm not sure. I was just told to finalize the plans with Faith so they could get started. The landscaping company I use had an unexpected opening in the early part of the season. I know they're doing Kenzi's train renovation landscaping too. Maybe because the places are in the same area? I'm just guessing. I told them I needed to focus on my surgery and recovery, so they should do their thing."

"Do their thing? With our dream home?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "We've been over the plans, Lauren, so they won't color outside the lines on what we've laid out for them. They're just scheduling things on their timeline instead of mine."

Lauren nodded, "Just don't forget that we're having a wedding…"

"I know and I promise that things will be perfect for that."

"Well, you better make sure that Path and Slate know that you made that promise to me – and to Shannie and Lynnie."

Bo nodded, giving a wave to Faith and Kyle as they put on their coats. Lauren moved to the door to say her goodbyes and LJ headed off to his barn loft room as well.

Bo stood, walking to the living room to stare down at the girls sleeping soundly on the sofa. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the fireplace.

She felt Lauren's arms around her waist and asked, "So, are we camping down here or going upstairs?"

Lauren smiled, "I'm going to open up the inflatable bed upstairs and put them on the floor next to the stove. Is that okay with you?"

Bo nodded, "Of course. I don't think either of us are in the mood for anything but sleep."

"It's almost eleven, Bo. We need to get you into bed. You need a good sleep before surgery. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. Are you hungry? It will be a while before you have food again."

Bo shook her head, "Tea and biscuits did the trick. But you know, it's occurred to me… I've overheard a lot of doctors at the clinic say patients needed a good night's sleep before surgery. Why?"

Bo turned in her arms, "I mean, I'm going to sleep for two hours tomorrow while he cuts me and then I'll sleep for another four hours afterwards – off and on, I suppose - from the anesthesia, then I'm in bed all day until they get me up. I'm going to get more sleep in the next forty-eight hours than I've gotten in the last month."

Lauren laughed, "You're right, but sleep is important for your immune system and if you've got an infection in there, it's important to start getting more sleep so your body can heal it."

Bo nodded, "True."

"Okay, let's get you upstairs and into bed, then I'll make their bed and carry them up."

"I'm sorry I can't help you," Bo said just as LJ walked into the kitchen,

"Sorry. Forgot my phone and my emergency bag," LJ said.

"Wait!" Bo said, "Before you go, can you help Lauren make up a bed for the girls in the loft and carry them up? I can barely get myself upstairs tonight let alone carry one of them."

LJ nodded, lifting Bo into his arms. She squealed as he spoke, "Then let's get you up there first."

He quickly carried Bo up the steps while Lauren followed, shaking her head at the sound her wife had made. They pulled out the bed, pumping it up before putting sheets, blankets and extra pillows on it. Lauren and LJ hurried down to get the girls while Bo made a warm fire, leaving the door open so that the room would heat up more quickly.

The pair returned with the girls wrapped in their warm blankets, gently placing them into the inflatable bed and covering them with the blankets. Bo smiled down at the pair while Lauren walked LJ out, stopping to make sure that the flames were out, and the screen was in front of the fireplace.

She headed back up the steps, finding Bo sitting at the edge of the bed, her eyes still locked on the two girls,

"Bo?"

She looked up at Lauren, "Could we do this if it's what she wants, Lauren?"

The blonde shrugged, "Of course we could, Bo. We can do anything together. The question is, are you willing to say yes to her if it comes to it?"

Bo looked up at Lauren, her eyes filled with tears, "After the childhood I had, how could I ever say no to her?"

Lauren nodded as she moved to Bo, the brunette resting her head against her belly, "What's on your mind, Bo?"

The brunette looked up at the blonde, placing a hand on her abdomen,

"I've been thinking about the baby chat a lot lately. Maybe it was making puppies, maybe it was our wedding, but if Elise does come back into your care, I will be happy to give her a little brother or sister."

Lauren smiled, "I know, Bo."

"I know you know, but I mean… sooner, rather than later."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "Really."

The blonde smiled, "You know, I thought you were just saying yes to appease my silly question."

"It wasn't silly and… did you change your mind?" Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, "Of course not – no. I want a child with you now more than ever. The night we got married, when I saw you dancing with Elise standing on your toes… I just… I thought she's what our daughter would look like. My blonde hair, your curls…"

"With your big brown eyes," Bo concluded, "And hopefully your big brain, but… well, the curls aren't a given since I can't exactly… donate to the cause."

Lauren shook her head, "You have a biological male relative, Bo."

"I don't know if we want my biology in this line, Lauren. I mean, if it was my Mom's side, I could see it but…"

"Bo, Tosh is the kindest soul I know. How could you doubt using him as the donor? Would you rather have a child with no biological connection to you whatsoever?"

The brunette shook her head, "No. I just wish I had better genes. Besides, wouldn't it be weird for my actual niece to call me Mom?"

Lauren smiled, "I'd say your genes are pretty damn perfect. All of the Morton men are handsome, intelligent, very well built and hardworking – even though they were misdirected by Big Jim."

"Don't they have donors in banks or something like that? And what about Patrick… or Jake?"

"You would be okay with that?"

"Are you kidding? Patrick is awesome, Lauren. Of course, I would be."

Lauren nodded, "The only issue is that he's a very smart lawyer and if anything happened to Patrick, I fear him coming for custody of his son."

"Okay, so maybe not the best choice, but we've got time," Bo said, thinking, "You really think my half-brother?"

Lauren smiled, "He is only half Morton – the good half."

"I didn't know there was a good half."

Lauren shook her head, "Bo, the bottom line is that Tosh is a good man, and I would be happy to use him as our donor if both of you are agreeable. Bright side - LJ and Michael would have another blood relative and so would Mark… good blood, Bo. The best of the Morton blood is all that remains. We can add to that. Hell, I can add it to the Lewis blood even if the name will be dead and buried."

Bo nodded, "It's funny you should mention names, because Tosh and I had a chat about his name."

Lauren nodded, "You told me about him wanting a name change and adopting LJ. Did LJ say yes?"

Bo shrugged, "I don't know if he's decided yet, but Tosh has decided on a name. He talked to my mom and she agreed. He wants to be a Dennis."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "Yup. He kicked around a bunch of versions of Morton, but in the end, he wants to be associated with my blood – and for LJ to have that connection. What do you think?"

Lauren shrugged, "I think it's beautiful. And I love that he asked and got Mary's approval."

Bo smiled, "She's like the mother he lost. Their relationship grows every day."

"I'm very happy for him," Lauren smiled.

"Me too," Bo nodded, releasing the blonde, "Let's get into bed."

"Okay. Did you set your alarm?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "I figured you would set yours and wake me. I'm not taking another shower, so roll me out the window and into the bed of the truck in the morning."

Lauren laughed, "Break your legs and possibly your neck before your surgery. Got it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rudy? Rudy!" Elise said, nudging her friend.

Rudy rolled over, looking at her friend, "Are you okay?

"I don't know. Where are we? Did they take us to the orphanage?"

Rudy sat up, "Elise, what are you talking about?"

"Look? Where are we?"

Rudy looked around the room, laid down and pointed up at the bed,

"This is my sisters room. They're up in the bed."

Elise looked up, seeing a mane of brown hair hanging over the side of the bed, "Oh."

"Go back to sleep. If they're not up, we don't have to get up yet either."

"Are you sure?" Elise asked, laying down and picking up Rudy's hair to see her eyes.

Rudy opened one eye, "I'm sure. Sister has her surgery today, member?"

"Oh. What are we doing while they're at surgery?"

Rudy sat up, suddenly excited as she smiled, "We're training our puppies today!"

Elise laughed, "You sure do love our dogs."

Laying back down, Rudy looked at Elise, "But it's still too early. And of course I love our dogs. Don't you love them anymore?"

"Of course I do. I just worry about them. I worry that they're gonna get sick or get one of the things I'm learning about. Dogs can get a lot of stuff. I love working with Cassie, but it's scary how much stuff can go wrong."

"Do you think the Momma dogs will be okay when they have their puppies?"

Elise shrugged, "Well, I've never seen anything be wrong with the puppies and kittens I saw delivered."

"Good," Rudy nodded, "That's good."

"Are LJ and your mom helping?"

Rudy nodded, "And my mom said that Doctor Faith and Kyle and Cassie would be here too. My mom said that Doctor Faith was training puppies when she was just a little girl – before she started training trees."

"Wow. I thought she only did trees and plants."

"Her husband was a racer, but he died."

"That's sad. Is that why she's all alone?" Elise asked.

Rudy shook her head, "She's not alone. She's got us and her niece and our sisters. She's friends with my mom and with your mom."

"Molly isn't my mom. My mom died."

Rudy put an arm over Elise, "I know. I'm sorry."

Elise nodded, "Me too."

"Do you still not want to go home?" Rudy asked.

"I don't know where home is anymore, Roo. I wish I could go back to my house where I lived with my mom and dad, but I know they're not there… and you wouldn't be there and Lauren wouldn't be there and Bo wouldn't be there and LJ wouldn't be there and Cassie wouldn't be there, so it's not home anymore. I don't belong anywhere."

Rudy shook her head, "That's not true. You belong with me."

Elise nodded, "I can always count on you."

Rudy nodded, "And I can always count on you."

Elise nodded, "I love you, Roo."

"I love you too, Elise."

They hugged, closing their eyes and fell back to sleep.

Lauren and Bo looked at each other, Bo wiping the tear that rolled down Lauren's cheek. The blonde whispered,

"She's all that matters, Bo. I don't care what Molly wants. I was named as the legal guardian and I tossed her away without considering how she was going to feel. I didn't know how she felt about guns… or anything, really. I didn't spend a single night with her. I didn't get to know her before I gave her up and now… now I wish I could take it all back."

Bo held her wife, her mind racing with all the ways that she could comfort her or make this situation better. Sadly, feelings would be hurt, and, in the end, she could only hope that Molly and Lauren would work this through with Elise and Faith – that they would all ultimately do what was best for their little orphaned girl.

She closed her eyes, just about falling off to sleep when she felt their bed move. She opened her eyes to see Elise crawling onto the bed. Bo lifted her head just in time to see a look of panic on the young girls' face.

She smiled, pulling back the covers so that she could climb in between her and Lauren. She settled in, curling into Lauren's chest. Bo smiled, covering her up and wrapping an arm over her shoulder. She saw Lauren look up at her, mouthing the words, thank you. Bo smiled and closed her eyes allowing sleep to claim her once more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lauren was jolted awake by the alarm on her phone. She reached back, tapping the screen until she finally hit the stop button, then rolled back towards Bo, instead finding Elise. She remembered the youngster climbing into bed at Bo's invitation just before she fell asleep after hearing the conversation between her and Rudy.

She sighed, knowing she didn't leave much extra time since she wanted Bo to get plenty of rest, so she needed to get up. She tried to move her legs only to find Harper had found the bottom of the bed with Rudy, trapping her limbs. Harper was playing big spoon to Rudy's little spoon, the child wrapped in the blanket she had obviously dragged from the inflatable mattress when Elise had left the bed.

She pointed her toes and slowly slid her legs out from beneath the two before crawling out of bed and down the stairway. Unlike Bo, she needed to shower so that she could have the much-needed conversation with Doctor Savannah Hawthorne.

The house was quiet and she was grateful for that. Soon, there would be conversations about who was doing what and who was coming in and going out. The morning chaos at The Homestead is something she would not miss when she and Bo moved to the cottage.

Her life had always been about quiet mornings. Even Nadia had been quiet in the morning, although by the time she got out of bed, Lauren had surfed or gone for a run, had a shower, dressed and was on her second cup of coffee and reviewing her cases for the day.

She missed the quiet mornings that she and Bo used to share before Mary and Rudy came along. Now, because Mary had become more the matriarch of the family, there were always people coming and going, there were always the weekly family dinners, usually on Sundays, and many daily activities for Rudy and Elise.

Still, this new life was a welcome change for Lauren… something she'd never had with her parents and brother. She loved having a rich family life and close friends. She loved having the kids in the house and enjoyed her time with them. It was such a gift to have a mother-figure in Mary and the guidance of Faith Gray, but there were those times that she missed the morning silence.

Today, she was grateful to have it. As the water flowed over her body, she thought of Bo and their marriage. She thought of her wife's surgery. She thought of her desire to spend some time painting at the cottage today while Bo slept off the anesthesia and, of course, she thought about Elise. A tough conversation with Doctor Hawthorne wasn't the only tough talk to come.

Since learning of Elise's internal struggle last night, she could think of little else. She had always felt the weight of the responsibility she'd been given by her parents, but she felt that weight now more than ever. Why had she given the okay for the adoption so quickly? If Molly and Mark had fostered her for a year or two, Lauren would have been ready to take on the responsibility. She was ready now. Bo was ready now.

She shut off the water, cursing herself for screwing this up. She should have trusted Mary Valaria. She knew her daughter and knew what was best for her. She had chosen Lauren and Lauren had pawned her off on two people that, in all honesty, she barely knew at the time.

Sure, she knew Molly carried guns, but everyone seemed to carry them in Alaska. No, Lauren didn't like guns, but after LJ shot that polar bear an hour after she had arrived, she had been sold on why people might need and want them.

Then she met Bo who, despite knowing there was wildlife that could kill her, she didn't carry a gun of any kind except at the Iditarod. Oddly enough, only now did Lauren realize that she had followed suit without thought. She had her axes, her knife and her bear mace. If those didn't work, she had her spear which she had become quite good with since using it to save Mary on the lake.

Of course, she didn't think of the long sharp pole as a weapon, she thought of it as a tool for emergency maneuvering. Her axes were her weapons. Her growing knowledge of animal behavior and how to respond was her first line of defense and her bear mace was her backup. Her brain had always been her best weapon.

Her body dry and well treated with her favorite lotions, she wrapped her towel around her torso and brushed her teeth before pulling on her robe and using the towel as a wrap for her hair. She headed up the stairs and quickly got dressed before heading back downstairs to have some breakfast. Bo couldn't eat this morning, so she wanted to have breakfast before she woke her up.

She brewed a pot of coffee and added wood to the stove, getting a nice hot fire going for the day. She placed a pan on top of the burner and added a piece of rye bread, waiting for it to thaw. When it did, she knew the pan was ready, so she added a pat of butter, waiting for it to melt to add her egg, a few mushrooms, and some greens to the pan. She scrambled it all together and, when cooked, sat down and ate the high protein meal with a slice of bread.

When the coffee was ready, she poured herself a cup and opened her laptop to check her emails. In her new position, most emails were about case consultations, zoom meetings, budget requests, notifications of supplies ordered and, as always, requests for her to speak at conferences or be a guest lecturer at any number of universities around the globe.

As strange as it was for her to believe, while consulting with Kate on one of the cases from the helicopter crash, she had invented a new procedure. Kate was afraid to try it, since it was a mashup of several of Lauren's skills, so the blonde had jumped into the surgery and completed the repair on a pericardial laceration from a deep chest wound.

The patient was, so far, still alive and improving, though he was in the critical coronary care unit under the close observation of Kate and Kelly. She smiled, thinking of how well her youngest surgical nurse was doing with her new cardio chief. The two were already finishing each other's' sentences in surgery and she could also tell that Kelly felt much better with Kate than she'd ever felt with her. Kelly knew that Shannon was Lauren's number one, so working with Kate had allowed the younger nurse to step out of Shannon's shadow and find her own feet.

Shannon was now every cardiothoracic surgeon's number one surgical nurse, so when there was an emergency, it was Shannon who was called. She rarely did scheduled procedures anymore and Lauren had already talked to Carolyn about making her an on-call Surgical Nurse without scheduled hours for both the hospital and the Trauma Center when it opened.

She talked to Carolyn first because she was the one who handled all of the nursing schedules – removing Shannon would short Lynnie a nurse. But she also asked her because it would change their lives – drastically.

Lauren knew the strain well. She had been an on-call surgeon since her intern days, but she loved it… thrived in it. She rarely left the hospital, choosing instead to sleep in the staff rooms rather than miss the chance to be used first on a surgery. She knew that Shannie loved being in surgeries – loved being the most desired surgical nurse, but she also loved Carolyn and loved their new life together. She was finding hobbies just like Lauren was and she wanted the time to do them.

This job would mean that Shannie would have to stop mid-household chore to run off to a surgery that could lead to another and another. On the other hand, it could be one surgery and she was back home for the rest of the day. It was an adjustment, no doubt, but one Lauren thought the two of them needed to talk through.

As Lauren sipped her coffee, she smiled, thinking of her urge to paint the gazebo. It was such a simple, mindless task, but it got her as excited as doing a surgery used to make her.

Normally, she might be worried, but the day of the gala, she felt like someone had given her thirty epi-pens. She was completely absorbed with patient after patient, excited to see what they would lay on the table before her. It was like taking a test, only this wasn't a game – it was life and death. Still, the thought of losing a patient had never entered her mind – not once and Lauren was happy for her newfound confidence. She felt reborn as a surgeon – a much better surgeon.

She sighed, putting her mug down when her phone sounded again. It was time to wake Bo. She stood, going back to the bathroom to brush her teeth, then headed back upstairs. She smiled, seeing Rudy was now under the covers being spooned by Elise who was being spooned by Bo while Harper laid across the legs of the girls.

Bo's hair was swept back across the pillow. It was very long. She needed a trim. For now, it would have to wait. Lauren pulled back the covers and removed the brace from Bo's knee. She shook her head, seeing even more swelling than the night before. The knee was hot to the touch. She went to her bag and opened the antibiotics, carrying another pill over to Bo,

"Here, Sweetie. Take this."

"I'm not allowed," she mumbled.

"This you can have. Just enough water to make sure it's down. They'll give you more during surgery, but we have to keep your levels up."

Bo did as told before laying her head back down. Lauren leaned in, whispering in her ear, "The girls are in the bed with you. I don't want to wake them, but you've got to get up now, Sweetie."

Bo nodded, sitting up slowly. She looked over at the girls and Harper. She smiled, looking up at Lauren,

"They look wiped."

Lauren nodded, "They were up quite a bit last night."

Bo looked down at her knee, "Whoa."

"I know. The sooner we get to the hospital, the better. No brace, be careful."

Bo turned, lowering both feet to the ground before standing, her weight on her good leg. Lauren pulled her sweatpants on, then handed her deodorant, then a hair tie, then a t-shirt, then a hoodie. She put socks on her feet and then sneakers before putting the brace on over her sweats.

"Ready?"

Bo nodded, "Have to brush my teeth and wash my face… and pee. Gotta pee."

Lauren smiled, moving to the stairway in front of Bo. She held up her crutches.

"No. I'll have to use those for the next week. Give me a few more hours without them."

Lauren nodded, hooking them onto her elbow as she stayed in front of Bo while she descended the steps. This would be their life for the next few days unless Bo took Rudy's offered bed. Lauren had a feeling that when she got home, Bo would change her tune about the single bed. Her sleep schedule wasn't going to match Lauren's anyway.

After Bo finished in the bathroom and pulled on her coat, she turned to Lauren, "Anything I need to take?"

Lauren held up her work bag, "It's all in here. Your wallet, insurance card, everything."

"We have to do that insurance thing."

Lauren nodded, "I'll make those calls today. I have our marriage license and all of your information to transfer you to my insurance."

Bo nodded, "You still have to sign the mortgage papers and my new beneficiary paperwork."

Lauren agreed, "And you still haven't signed all the paperwork for our vehicles."

"Okay, so we'll have signature hour tonight in my hospital room. Bring Patrick."

Lauren smiled, "Sounds good. Ready to go?"

Bo shrugged, "I'd hoped my mom would be up."

"Do you want me to get her?"

Bo smiled, "No need. I just saw her hat go past the window. She's outside with the dogs."

They headed outside, Lauren calling Mary to the garage.

"Hey Bo!" LJ said.

"LJ! You're up?"

He smiled, "I heard the garage doors go up, so I thought I'd come out to help your mom with the morning routine."

"Thanks for that. Who's handling the dogs at the kennel this morning?"

"The twins are handling it until I get there. I talked to their mom and she said she would supervise. I told her to record hers as overtime hours for the office. Is that okay?"

"Is she scheduled for us today?"

He shook his head, "She's with Penelope today, but she called Penelope to let her know she would be in late."

"Overtime it is then. She'll have twice the work to catch up on with Penelope."

LJ nodded, "Either way, she's getting paid and that is all I care about. Do you have a problem with me pulling her from Lauren's staff when we need her?"

"Nope. Not at all. We had her first."

"Hey!" Lauren protested, "I heard that!"

"Well, it's true."

She smiled, "I know. We all wish we had two of her."

LJ nodded, "Sure enough. Cassie said the other vets are helping out at the kennel while you're out of commission."

"That's true too," Bo said, "I told her they would get bonuses at the end of the month. Kyle agreed."

LJ nodded, "Sounds good."

"Ysabeau. Are you all set?" Mary asked, giving her daughter a hug.

"Yes, Mom. I'm ready. The girls are up in our bed. It was a rough night and there was a little conversation this morning between them. Elise feels like she doesn't have a home. I think they've both concluded that their home is with each other."

Mary smiled, "That's a home you can carry with you."

Bo nodded, "Indeed."

"Well, I don't want you to be late. Lauren, you'll call me?"

Lauren nodded, "I'll call you as soon as she's out of surgery."

Mary hugged the blonde, "Thank you, Daughter."

"You're welcome, Mom. Wake those two up whenever you're ready for their energy."

She walked Lauren to the truck while LJ helped Bo, lifting her into the truck rather than watching her try to maneuver her way in. She laughed,

"Are you going to hang around to carry me everywhere this week?"

LJ laughed, "Whatever you need, Bo. I'm there. Just call. By the way – I think I'm going to take you up on that offer for a cabin on the river if it still stands. You were right. Going back and forth to my new property is getting old quick. It's better a weekend home when I have weekends free."

Lauren smiled, "Airbnb that place!"

LJ grinned, "Yea, because there's such a demand for rentals in Alaska in the middle of nowhere."

Lauren shrugged, "You never know what people want or when they'll want it! With eight billion people on this planet, someone has got to want some cold solitude. I mean, think of all the people that are living in temperatures over one hundred degrees! I'm sure they'd welcome our state for vacation."

LJ shrugged, "I guess it can't hurt to look into it."

"Talk to Anna and Kate. They've traveled their entire lives."

"Will do. Good luck, Bo."

"Thanks, LJ."

He waved alongside Mary, the two pulling out and heading down the long drive when suddenly, Rudy and Elise came running out of the house, chasing the truck down the driveway.

Luckily, Lauren saw the pair and stopped. They ran to her, crawling into the truck from the drivers' side. LJ and Mary smiled watching them lean over to hug Bo before climbing back out of the truck and hugging Lauren.

She knelt down for a minute to talk to them, then climbed back into the truck. She gave them a nod to run back to the house before she moved the truck and once, she knew they were clear, she closed the door and headed out.

"We almost missed them!" Rudy said, running into Mary.

"I'm exhausted! And cold," Elise smiled, wrapping LJ's coat around her, "We forgot our coats."

LJ smiled, "I see. Well, let's get you two back inside and warm you up with some breakfast and hot cocoa. Sound good?"

"Wow! We never get that for breakfast except on weekends!" Rudy said.

Mary shook her head at LJ, "When they're hyper in school, I'm going to tell the teacher to call you."

"Oops," LJ smiled, "Forgot about kids and chocolate."

They headed inside, the girls excited for the change to their morning routines. They'd have a couple hours together with the puppies, Doctor Faith and Kyle, then they'd head off to school.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Talkeetna General Hospital

Lauren stood in the upper corner of the viewing theatre over her hospitals largest surgical center with six medical students. She was happy to finally have the chance to be in this room, impressed with how Stephen's vision for students' observations of surgeries had come together.

William spoke to the gallery of Orthopedic students, "Good Morning, Doctors. Today, we are performing a lateral collateral ligament repair in addition to an anterior cruciate ligament repair. The patient is a professional sled racer, so this repair as well as a smooth recovery is crucial in their return to competition…"

Lauren heard a whisper, "I knew I recognized her. That's Bo Dennis, the Iditarod Champion. Holy Shit!"

She folded her arms over her chest and shook her head as William pulled his vision from her to the student,

"Remember that you are receiving this information as a student in the medical program. Disclosing any information gained during this procedure whether in the gallery or on my surgical team would be cause for immediate dismissal from the program as well as potential legal action from the family and this hospital. Are we clear?"

Heads nodded before Doctor McFarland looked directly at the student, "Is that clear, Doctor Taft."

The students' back snapped straight, "Yes, Sir… Doctor… Sir."

As if to make an even stronger point, William looked at Lauren,

"In addition to sledding royalty, we have the owner, CEO and Co-Medical Chief of Talkeetna General, Dr. Lauren Dennis, in our viewing theatre today. She will be observing the procedure to keep me on my toes."

The doctors visibly relaxed as they shared a short laugh before William continued, "Doctor Dennis consulted on this case with me this morning when we noticed that the patient's knee had increased swelling and was hot to the touch. So, our additional concern?"

"Infection, Doctor McFarland."

"You are correct, Doctor Clark. And so, what would be our next steps?"

The young resident responded immediately,

"We will use arthroscopy to drain the knee to examine the fluid. If it is yellow and/or bloody, we have infection and/or potential arterial damage. If that is the case, we will put the patient on a six-week routine of antibiotics, then have them return for surgery. If there is no infection, we will proceed with the surgery."

"That is correct, Doctor Clark," William nodded, holding his hand out to his surgical assistant, "Let's begin. Scope."

Lauren sighed, hoping that she had been wrong. Bo would be beyond upset to wake up and find out they were unable to do the surgery. Lauren had asked William to speak with Bo alone after he'd given her the news about the complication. They'd argued because Lauren hadn't told her this morning, but when she finally got Bo to admit that she had stopped taking the antibiotics two weeks ago against Lauren's advice, she calmed down, knowing it was her fault.

Her wife had lived off grid without medical assistance for her entire life, using nature and its cures to solve her body's ills. Having Lauren around, allowed Bo the luxury of focusing less on those problems so as they argued, Bo finally admitted not doing what she would normally have done – paying closer attention to her body.

Lauren watched as William held up the fluid drained from the knee. She took a step closer to the screen on her side of the viewing theatre as he spoke,

"Students in the theatre, observations, please? Doctor Dennis, if you would be so kind to call on a volunteer?"

The students turned, as Lauren gave a nod, "Doctor Taft, a chance at redemption."

"Thank you, Doctor Lewis…"

"It's Dennis now, Doctor Taft," William corrected.

"Apologies, Doctor Dennis," he looked back to William, "Doctor McFarland, the fluid is bloody, but does not necessarily show signs of infection."

"Your theory?"

"Worst case, blood clot in the popliteal artery behind the knee due to the ACL tear, but since you mentioned the patient was a musher and I assume was in the recent Iditarod, I would conclude the injury was sustained during the race so it seems unlikely this artery was damaged that long ago. If it was, surgery would have been immediate."

William nodded, "So more likely?"

"Reinjury in the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours that coincides with the swelling. Maybe an impact injury or a torsion injury. Something as simple as the patients' foot getting caught in the sheets during sleep has been known to cause a twist in the knee while patient was asleep and unaware of the need to protect the joint – particularly if sleeping without a brace."

William nodded, turning to Lauren who nodded, indicating this was the more likely scenario. That gave her colleague a better idea of what he would be looking for when he went in,

"Thank you, Doctor Taft," William nodded, "Redemption earned, provided you keep your mouth shut when you go out in public. Students should remember that patient privacy is of the utmost importance to this hospital. HIPPA Laws and this hospital do not give doctors – any doctors - second chances."

"Understood," Doctor Taft replied, looking up at Lauren who turned back to William rather than offer a response of any kind. He was exactly the type to gossip in a bar about a patient when he got a little too much alcohol in him. She pulled out her phone and shot off a text to William that they should meet with this young man before she left the hospital with Bo.

William began, "Okay sports fans… and non-sports fans who want to work in orthopedics with a specialty in sports medicine… we're going to make three, possibly four incisions during this procedure. Locations?"

He looked up at the theatre, "Doctor Sharp."

"Thank you, Doctor McFarland. You'll make an incision on the lateral surface of the knee for the camera and fluid delivery for visibility, one, possibly two anterior incisions collaterally and superior to the patella for joint access and one tiny incision on the medial aspect of the knee near the tibia for attachment of the graft."

William nodded, "Gold star, Doctor Sharp. Incisions are made, camera please."

Lauren watched as William examined the knee for damage. She held her breath awaiting the news…"

"Okay, Doctors. As expected, from this morning's examination, we've upgraded the diagnosis from partial tear to a full tear of the ACL at the distal attachment. The surprise of the day is a torn meniscus as the likely culprit in bleeding which means Doctor Taft's theory about ankle-in-sheet-torsion is a good bet."

He maneuvered the camera as he continued, "It's always a good idea for patients with injuries to sleep with the limb above the typical body coverings, instead wrapping the limb in a blanket of its own for warmth."

Lauren saw William glance her way. She gave him a nod, acknowledging the suggestion as he continued,

"The LCL is torn but has decided to reattach itself to the femur. I guess it got bored while it was just… hanging out, huh?"

The doctors laughed, as William continued, "Motorized shaver, please."

The group watched as the long thin head was inserted into the knee. He cleaned up the remnants of the ACL attached to the head of the tibia, then detached the LCL, allowing it to float free. He used the shaver again to clean the lateral side of the femur where the LCL had temporarily inserted itself.

"Now, can someone in the peanut gallery tell me why the LCL attached itself to the femur instead of making things convenient for me and attaching itself back to its original location on the lateral side of the tibia?"

"Doctor Grant here, Doctor McFarland."

"Impress me with your wisdom, Doctor Grant."

The youngster laughed, "Well, our immune system will always try to fix what's broken, so with the help of calcium that floods the joint when an orthopedic injury occurs, it will act as a patch, linking any tendon or ligament to a bone in a time of crisis… until you throw on your cape and come to the rescue, Doctor McFarland."

William glanced up, shaking his head, "Point for your answer, negative point for your sarcasm, plus half point for making me a super hero. My kid will love that. I'll expect a drawing of me in my cape by the end of the day."

"I ask for mercy, Doctor McFarland, your prowess with a scalpel is unmatched and my prowess with crayons is… well, my art teacher suggested I focus on science, Sir."

"Mercy denied, kind Sir, for I bear neither a scalpel or sword for rescuing this patient. My superhero cape should have a brain on it, possibly gloves as my mind and hands are my weapons."

He smirked beneath his mask, "Besides, if you're looking for unmatched prowess with a scalpel, look to your left, Doctor. That is your goal for unmatched prowess. During a day off or even after shift, if you have a chance to observe the legend herself in surgery, Doctor Dennis has the finest hands in the business. One of these days, she'll accept my challenge to a suture race in the practice lab."

"You use the practice lab?" a student blurted out before lowering her head.

William smiled, "Doctor Kent, graduating and getting a medical license gives you even more reason to go into a practice lab. In fact, Doctor Dennis uses the practice lab as a cooldown exercise after surgeries. Care to address the group while I do the boring parts, Doctor Dennis?"

Lauren shook her head, smiling at William,

"In cardiothoracic and trauma surgeries, we use varying types of sutures throughout our numerous procedures. Since you never know what you might need and because a bleed can cause death in seconds in a cardiac surgery, having not just skill, but speed within that skill is crucial."

She turned to the students, "I liken my skills to those of any athlete. You won't win the race if your skills have gotten rusty. Doctor Stephen Archer, my partner in this hospital and mentor, taught me that from day one and it has served me well. You're never too good to go to the skills lab – especially before and after patient surgeries."

Doctor Taft raised his hand, "If I may ask, Doctor Dennis, do you always go to the lab before a surgery?"

Lauren nodded, "Planned surgeries, yes. I review the chart, determine the best procedure to treat the problem, I go through the surgery in my mind, then I sketch it out, then – since moving to Alaska – I practice the sutures by tying knots with my sled equipment or while fishing. The day before and the morning of the surgery, you'll find me in the lab going through the procedure step by step – more than once if I feel I can do better."

"But you have so much experience…"

She waved off the follow up, "Experience is a great teacher, but it is not a coach. The coach gets your ready for competition and in heart surgery, it is a competition between you and the clock. A patient can't be on bypass for an unlimited amount of time. Necrosis is your enemy."

Doctor McFarland spoke, "As my surgical team pushed fluid into my patients' knee so that I have a visible field, they keep the joint lubricated. In Doctor Dennis' surgeries, blood loss means lower blood pressure, means less oxygen to the cardiac tissue, means a weaker heart, means less chance of a positive outcome. I'll be the first to admit that the person most likely to inflict life-threatening harm on this patient right now is Doctor Robert Hartman, our Chief of Anesthesiology. Doctor Hartman?"

He gave a nod, "No matter which of these doctors I work with, monitoring vital signs and keeping the patient asleep is my job. Too far under and they may suffer brain damage or worse. Too close to awake and the patient feels everything. I don't know about you, but I have no desire to wake up and see Doctor Dennis' hands in my chest, especially when she's pulling my heart out of it. I don't care how good she is."

Again, laughter rushed through the room before William brought the attention back to the surgery at hand,

"Okay, the LCL is reattached, now we're ready to get to this ACL. Can someone tell me why I prioritized the LCL repair over the ACL repair?" He paused, "Doctor Merino, you've been very quiet all weekend. What say you, kind Sir?"

The student hesitated, "Because you saw it first? Maybe it was in the way?"

Making a raspberry noise, William shook his head, "Incorrect, but thank you for being awake. Do we have a correct answer in the peanut gallery?"

Lauren watched as Doctor Merino lowered his head. He looked exhausted and she noticed his nails were worn to the nub. His hands were shaking and he was sitting two seats from the rest of the students. She used to sit alone as well, but this was something else. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Anna,

"Available to observe a student in the Lewis-Archer gallery?"

She waited, her phone buzzing soon after. She flipped it open to see the reply,

"On my way."

Turning her attention back to the surgery, she noticed that William was now inspecting the joint for other areas of concern,

"Okay. We have a bit of arthritis built up in the superior aspect of the femoral condyle, so we'll clean that up. There's scar tissue here – a little extra calcium buildup where the body self-healed… and… we're good! Overall, for the patients' age and occupation, we have a nice, clean joint with only slight arthritic areas. Considering the pounding the knee of a musher takes, this one has plenty of wear left."

Dr. Sharp spoke, "Riding on a sled equals pounding on the knee?"

William grinned, "It is questions like that, Dr. Sharp that have me watching every sport known to mankind. I had no experience with dog sled racers… or mushers, as you Alaskans would prefer I call them… until this patients' ten year old sister took me for a little joy ride a few weeks back. I needed to know how the knee was used to understand the damage."

He pulled the camera back to his eye, inspecting his work as he spoke,

"That little girl terrorized me for a good fifteen minutes. I had no idea how fast a team of dogs could go let alone what happens to the sled they pull. Mushers must stick out their legs for balance which means preventing almost three hundred pounds of tipping over. That's three hundred pounds of force on the leg pushing against the snow."

He lifted his head, "This patient stuck this leg out to prevent the sled from tipping, hit ice, fishtailed into a wall of solid rock and short tree branches. The sled never tipped, the dogs were therefore uninjured, but unfortunately, something had to take the force of the impact."

He stood, looking at his surgical team, his smile reaching his eyes,

"However, nothing that couldn't be fixed! Okay, everything looks great. Let's get to this ACL, team."

Lauren sighed as the good news reached her ears. Now, it was just the ACL repair.

"Okay, so the ACL was torn almost completely in half, except for a thin fiber of tendon. I've cleaned out the remnants of the ligament and we're ready to move to accessing a graft for the new ACL. Best place for me to get the graft, Doctor Linam?"

The doctor sat up straight, clearing her throat,

"You'll use the retroflip cutter to drill a tunnel for the new ligament through the femur and into the knee joint. Then you'll flip the femoral end of the cutter, as its name suggests, to drill a secondary tunnel through the tibia into the knee joint."

She used her fingers to demonstrate, "These two tunnels will become the source of the anchor points for the ACL which will be graft harvested from the either the Achilles Tendon which would not be advised in a musher, the hamstring tendon or patellar tendon which again, wouldn't be my personal first choice for an athlete with a knee injury."

"Oh?" William asked.

She cocked her head, "Of course, there is also an allograft – an option that has been documented as increasingly improved in its safety profile, but there is still the chance of infection or rejection since it comes from another body."

She paused, considering her choices, "Given the need for a return to the sport, it would not be an option I would suggest. Autograft is the best option and since the patellar tendon is not the best choice in this athlete, I would go for the hamstring."

William nodded, "Expand, please."

Doctor Linam nodded, "It is the most commonly used graft for ACL reconstruction because of its strength and success rate as well as its relatively minor impact on strength loss to the hamstring. The hamstring muscle group, as we tend to say, will remain strong after physical therapy as it is able to regenerate itself."

"Expand," William coached again.

"The surgeon will harvest the semitendinosus tendon, with or without the gracilis tendon from the ipsilateral leg to be used as quadruple stranded grafts similarly to the native ACL."

"Exceptional. One hundred points to Gryffindor."

The room applauded, Lauren smiling at the enthusiasm William generated in his students.

"Odds that patient wakes to talk about Harry Potter, Doctor Wilkes?"

The student ran a thumb and forefinger over her chin, "I believe the sorting hat may have cast this patient as a Slytherin, but like Harry Potter, I believe she would choose Gryffindor. Therefore, I believe she will sing Harry's praises while waking from Doctor Hartman's magic potions."

William lifted the graft from Bo's hamstring, "Okay, folks. We have a graft… always more than enough rather than not enough. Let's get this done."

The students leaned in towards the viewing screens closest to them, some moving their gaze between the screen and live action. Lauren kept her eyes on William, having a clear view from where she stood watching as the graft was placed.

"Okay, preparing the graft and… pulling it through… the upper hole… now through the lower hole… comparable to the native ACL path… the grappling hook at the superior end of the graft is now… in… place."

He took a breath, "Perfect if I do say so myself," William stood, tilting his head left and right, "You may or may not know that this patient is also a climber, so adding a grappling hook to the body is only fitting, yes?"

The room laughed as William prepared for his next move,

"Okay, so pulling out my carpenter tools, we're anchoring the lower aspect of the ligament with a bioabsorbable screw. Again, fitting for this patient who is also a woodworker. I suppose I have more in common with this particular musher than I had thought."

Light laughter rushed through the room as William tightened the tiny white screw.

"Okay, so the benefit of a bioabsorbable screw in this case?"

"Doctor Fontana here, Doctor McFarland."

"Yes, Doctor Fontana! What wisdom do you offer?"

"A bioabsorbable screw will become part of the bone, thereby serving as an exceptional anchor for the tendon."

"Kudos, Doctor Fontana. Your are correct! Points for Hufflepuff for those who think I'm actually recording these points for future reference!"

He turned back to the scope, "Suction… and rinse… and suction…" William said, manipulating the camera to check his work, "Excellent. Second graft through our secondary channel… and grappling… screw… we're all set. Suction… rinse… suction… looks good. Now, peanut gallery, what have we accomplished here? Do we have a viable ACL?"

Two hands shot up, "Rock, paper, scissors for the honor of speaking, Doctors Harbor and Newsome. I'll be here closing while waiting for an answer…"

"Doctor McFarland, if I may, the ACL is not yet viable."

He looked up and smiled beneath his mask, "Doctor Newsome, winning at rock, paper, scissors seem to be your thing."

"There's a secret to that, Doctor McFarland."

"Oh? Are you willing to enlighten the class?"

She paused, "As it would help them to understand modalities of movement, I suppose it would be unprofessional of me to withhold the knowledge in light of Doctor Dennis' presence and her philosophy of education at her hospital."

Lauren turned, her arms still folded over her chest, "Oh?"

"Yes, Doctor Dennis. You believe that we are here to collaborate to progress our skills and knowledge, not to compete for who becomes the most famous. To quote you from our first day, I believe your exact words were, '… trust me, fame is overrated…' – I believe… it's what you said."

Lauren nodded, "It is what I said and it is why I believe we are all here – not just students, but the doctors who oversee you as well. I have some thoughts on surgical techniques for Doctor McFarland which I will share with him when we're finished. He can take them or leave them, but I will share my thoughts regardless. If he's truly on board with our philosophy, he will accept them in the spirit in which they are intended – a transference of what I use in my cardiac and trauma specialties that may have a place in his orthopedic space."

"Time is money?" Doctor Taft joked.

Lauren frowned, "Time is rest between surgeries, making doctors more focused and aware for their next patient. We don't get to say when people become ill or injured, Doctor Taft. We must be there – rested or not and self-care is part of our job. If you are attending your Healthcare as an Institution course, you will know that time is never money at Talkeetna General or any other Lewis-Archer hospital. Your comment is offensive to the work we do. Strike two, Doctor Taft."

She turned to Doctor Newsome, "I believe you have two answers to share with the class. First, how to win at rock, paper, scissors and second, how this is not a viable ACL ligament. Please, proceed, Doctor."

The room was silent other than Anna entering the room. Lauren leaned over and whispered to her. Anna nodded as she looked down at William, then up to the class, finally identifying the young man Lauren had expressed concern for. They both listened as the other young doctor spoke,

"When you count one, two, three, shoot – you watch the wrist after the word shoot because each motion comes from that joint. The wrist will rotate – very slightly… internally if they're throwing paper, externally if they're throwing scissors and remain stationary if they're throwing the rock."

"Ahhh," William smiled, "You had Professor Connie Yun at the University of Delaware for your undergraduate anatomy course."

The young woman's face lit up, "I did. How did you…"

"She was one of my students when I did a guest lecture there."

She smiled, "She learned it from you. She told us about you. I didn't make the connection before… that you had a great sense of humor and kept things fun yet serious at the same time."

He smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment… and a lesson to you all – never turn down an opportunity to serve as a guest lecturer. Universities need us to do so to keep their students interested and it will help you to bring quality doctors to your hospitals."

The young woman looked at Doctor McFarland, then to Lauren who smiled, "Your second answer, Doctor?"

She hesitated, still unsure of what had just happened before she looked at Doctor McFarland,

"Right. Um… the ACL you just installed is merely a sort of scaffolding with which the body can use its own cells to build a new and even stronger ACL. That's why recovering steps must be followed as directed."

She hesitated, looking at Lauren who nodded, "If I may, some patients – athletes in particular – become impatient with recovery and rush ahead of recommended steps, brainwashed by that no pain, no gain philosophy. But doing so, can hinder or even stop the body's ability to build the new ligament."

She again looked at Lauren who asked, "And your concern?"

"Begging your pardon and with sincere concern for your… our patient… the reputation of this particular musher does not seem conducive to… well, I believe they are likely to be that type of athlete who is impaction with recovery who will rush ahead of recommended steps."

Seeing no expression on Lauren's face, she turned to William, "Therapy must go at the body's pace, not the mind's. Of course, proper nutrition and plenty of sleep will help recovery to move along – possibly faster than expected. Until therapy is complete, this is not a viable ACL."

She kept her head down, raising only her eyes to Lauren, "Ma'am… I mean… Doctor… Lew… Dennis."

Doctor McFarland smiled, "That is a perfect answer, Doctor Newsome. Exactly the answer I wanted. You will conduct the post-op patient briefing when she is awake. Mushers are known for pushing through mental and physical pain, so this patient's mind is built for resiliency and pushing the very boundaries you said they must resist."

He returned to examination of Bo's knee, "Driving home that point will be your job. We will schedule that conversation for one o'clock in the patients' room. See you there, Doctor Newsome."

"Yes, Doctor McFarland. Thank you, Doctor McFarland," she grinned, looking up at Lauren who leaned down and whispered,

"Don't let her intimidate you. She is exactly the type you described."

She nodded, her smile growing bigger before she turned back to continue her observation of Doctor McFarland.

Lauren's eyes moved from the excited doctor to Doctor Taft who was shaking his head and laughing. She looked down at William, cocking her head towards the student seated at the top of the theatre, his arm over the back of another chair. She wiggled her phone in his direction, shooting off a text. He nodded, finishing up with Bo's incisions before addressing the room,

"Doctors, our patient has a clean knee, a repaired medial meniscus, a repaired lateral collateral ligament and a replaced and anchored anterior cruciate ligament. Counts, please…"

He listened while the nurses counted off the surgical tools, needles, the quantity of solutions used, and others while Lauren watched and listened. She addressed the room,

"Why is this count so crucial post-surgery?"

She turned, "Doctor Taft, care to try again?"

"Um… to be sure that you know how much we used. Supplies must be replenished."

"While that's true but not relative to patient safety. Anyone else?" Lauren asked, surveying the room, "Doctor Merino?"

"Uh… yes, Doctor Dennis… Lewis-Dennis, maybe?"

"Dennis is fine, Doctor. Proceed."

"Ah, yes… well, you have to be sure there are… I mean that there… that you didn't leave anything inside the patient. If the patient suddenly shows signs of anaphylaxis, knowing how much of any substance was inserted into the body is crucial. The physical therapist will want to know how much hamstring was taken for recovery… um… you have to make sure all of the syringes, drill bits, scopes and screws are accounted for. What you put in, minus what's left on the tray should equal what was started with. I think that's everything?"

Lauren nodded, "Excellent, Doctor Merino."

William nodded, "Agreed, Doctor Dennis. We're all finished here, gang. Let's have a snack, beverage, potty break if you need it and a quick walk around the halls to get the blood flowing. We'll meet in the lab in one hour where you will all repeat the exact same surgery I just did on your lab partner… and by lab partner, I mean the model this hospital purchased for your education, not your human friend. Doctor Dennis will dismiss the theatre group. I will dismiss the group down here. That's all."

With a final laugh, the group turned to Lauren, "Any questions?"

Doctor Newsome smiled, "So many, but none of them have to do with this surgery. Will you be doing any of our guest lectures?"

Lauren nodded, "I'm scheduled for one next week."

"The topic? I mean, if you don't mind us knowing?"

"Ethics in organ donation."

Another student smiled, "Wow. Great topic."

"Important topic," Lauren said, "Any other questions?"

Doctor Sharp smiled, "I think I speak for all of us when I say it's an honor to meet you. I mean – I don't think any of us thought we ever would since we're not in cardiology."

Lauren smiled, "A little known fact, my first specialty is actually Trauma Surgery."

Doctor Merino suddenly sat up straight, "From your time in the military, right?"

Lauren nodded, "As a matter of fact, that's true. You know about my military background?"

He smiled, "I think I know most everything about you."

He stood and saluted, "Lieutenant Ricky Merino, Commander Lewis."

Anna could see Lauren visibly freeze, her hands balling into fists, her jaw clenched. She gently placed a hand on her back, pulling her attention. Lauren looked at the room of physicians and then gave a casual salute to the young man,

"No need, Doctor Merino. If you would stay, please? We can get acquainted. I'd love to know more about how you came to be here with us."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Lauren nodded, "Again, it's Doctor, not ma'am, okay?"

"Yes Ma'am… I mean, Doctor Lewis."

Lauren smiled, "It's also Doctor Dennis. I've been recently married."

"Yes Ma'am… I mean Doctor Dennis."

Lauren turned to the student at the top of the stands, "Doctor Taft, if you would remain as well, I'd like a word."

He smirked, shaking his head, "Sure, Doc."

"That's Doctor and thank you."

She turned to the rest of the room, "I believe you all have your next assignments. It's been fun sitting in on this surgery with you all. I am truly impressed with your knowledge. May the magic of Hogwarts be with you."

They all laughed as Lauren dismissed them, "Best of luck in the lab, everyone. You're dismissed."

There were many handshakes and thank you's as students left the room before only the two remained,

"Doctor Merino, if you could give me a moment with Doctor Taft, I'll be right back. This is Doctor Ricci, a colleague of mine. We're doing a consultation after you and I are finished speaking, so you can chat with her until I get back, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am," He said, shaking his head, "Doctor Lewis-Dennis… I mean Dennis."

Lauren waved Doctor Taft from the room where William was waiting. He wasted no time in getting the conversation started,

"So, even in the presence of the boss of all bosses, the woman who brought this program to this hospital, the woman who hand-picked you and the other candidates for this program, you still choose to be unprepared and disrespectful?"

"Well, all due respect? I went into medicine to save lives, sure but I plan to make bucks. Big bucks. I plan to be better than the great doctor here and I plan to make money while doing it. If that makes me a bad person, so be it."

Lauren nodded, "If that's your plan, then you are at the wrong hospital for your internships. You will not learn about budgeting and hospital finances in mainstream medicine by continuing with us. Many qualified candidates were turned away from this program for you to have a place here."

She looked at William, "If you're agreed, at this time, I will seek a new, better suited intern to come to this hospital who plans to put their oath as a surgeon first, family, friends and personal health second and profits afterwards if time allows."

She turned back to Taft, "I'll draw up your request for transfer to another facility and transfer any funds you have paid to this program to the program that accepts you."

"Wait… you're… you're firing me?"

Lauren shrugged, "You just told me you don't agree with this hospital or its philosophy and you are refusing to make any attempt to get behind said philosophy. That said, we have nothing more we can teach you. Skills in medicine can be learned anywhere…"

"But I want to learn from the best! That's why I came here!"

"Well, the best do not believe you're up to our standards, Doctor Taft, so we will not be scheduling you, therefore, you cannot earn credit hours, therefore, your need a new teaching hospital who will teach you the way you wish to be taught."

"I said, I want to be taught by the best! Are you deaf?!"

Lauren turned, pulling her phone from her pocket, "Yes, Security? We have a student doctor who must be escorted from the hospital."

"Are you crazy?" he shouted, stepping into Lauren's personal space. William took a step to separate the two, but Lauren shook her head and held her stance,

"Doctor Taft, I am not deaf as was proven by my clear reception of the insults you tossed around in that gallery. I am not crazy as proven by my recent mental health assessment review – something mandatory for all physicians in this hospital including our medical students. Yours will be conducted next week with the rest of the students. Are you quite sure you can pass your assessment?"

Taft took another step towards Lauren, now standing almost toe to toe with her as William began to move closer but the gallery door opened,

"Doctor Dennis? Do you need assistance?"

Lauren turned, expecting to see security, but found Anna and the young doctor instead. She noted the clenched jaw and balled fists in the young surgeon and took a breath, smiling,

"No, Doctor Ricci. I believe Doctor Taft was about to take three steps backward."

The young doctor's shoulders relaxed as Doctor Taft slowly stepped back, "I don't want to leave."

Lauren looked at William who shook his head, "Your first priority is making money, young man. That doesn't mesh with what we are trying to do here."

"But…" Taft began, but Lauren cut him off,

"The fact that you make money your top priority is very informative for me. It tells me that given the opportunity in a for-profit hospital, you will cut before you treat, you will cut more than you need to so that you can charge more per surgery. Cutting first means more risks to the patients. More risk to patients means you don't care about outcomes and outcomes are what keep surgeons licensed and hospitals in business. We can't afford you."

William stepped towards the young intern, "His name was Zach. He was seven years old. He had an infection in his ankle. I wanted to cut for the right reasons – debridement of the wound, first and foremost, then implement an aggressive antibiotic protocol. The board said because his insurance wouldn't cover the surgery, I should do the antibiotics first. If that didn't work, then transfer him to another hospital for the surgery."

William's jaw clenched, "He became septic. Do you know what that means in a seven-year-old kid?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Doctor," William insisted, looking down at the young man.

"Yes, Doctor."

"He died clutching the Teddy Bear his grandmother had given him a year earlier. She died waiting for a heart transplant that never came. Why? Because it went to a wealthy man who donated to the hospital. He hijacked the donor process – something that Doctor Dennis will discuss in her ethics lecture next week."

William stepped back, shaking his head as Lauren stepped forward,

"Her name is Thea. She just turned fifteen. She's been on the transplant list for almost a decade now. She almost died four times before I got approval to do a valve transplant. How? A wealthy donor who knew her story came through with the money at the last minute. She got sick again when I was transferred here by my previous boss – a CEO and owner who put money and profits ahead of medicine. That child almost died twice under the watch of my former colleagues who were not willing to stand up to that CEO's power and profit ideals."

Lauren took a breath, trying and failing in her efforts not to compare him to Evony,

"So, her parents moved her here so I would oversee her care again. Here – Alaska – a young heart patient. This is the worst possible climate for her, but she survived a nightmare of an evening and four surgeries in thirty-six hours in this hospital that – at the time – was still under construction but had one approved surgical center and just enough staff and equipment to handle it. She's still alive and still on the transplant list."

Lauren shook her head, "Alive, but not living. When she should be going to school dances, playing sports and getting into trouble with boys, she's spending four hours a day after school in the hospital getting transfusions to keep her blood oxygen levels up."

She shook her head, "Do you want to know what makes the staff at this hospital different, Doctor Taft? Her treatments are being paid for by this hospital – by free time donated from her team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and the hospital board. No insurance necessary. We're simply not charging her for our time and everyone in town is chipping in to donate blood specifically for her each week. Our costs are only the medical supplies."

She stepped closer, "Now I ask you – would you have even considered taking those measures? Would you have tried over and over to open her up again and save her life? Would you have even taken the call to come in while having dinner with your family or out on the golf course with your wealthy friends? Would you have left her in the hands of your resident and taken your deserved share of the proverbial pie? Would you feel anything were she was lost at the hands of that resident despite the fact that she was your patient – your responsibility?"

She shook her head as she spat the words, "I've seen too many students like you in my time. I know exactly who you are. You're a legacy."

"A what?"

"A legacy. Your grandparents and parents are doctors, so you followed in their footsteps with their philosophy and their desire for power and profit. You live in a house where the flooring alone could feed a small country and you were raised with the belief that a doctor 'can't save them all'. Well, I agree – you can't save them all, but you damn well better try! It's your oath – your promise to humanity!"

She turned to William, "If you want to give him a second chance, that's on you. Personally, I'm certain he's a lost cause… at least to our cause. He'll be just like all of the others… he doesn't give two shits about whether a patient lives or dies. If he did, he would walk out of this hospital and let someone with integrity and a beating heart take his place."

She paused, throwing her hand down, "Better yet, he would drop out of medicine, go home to mommy and daddy, suck it up and tell them the truth – that he doesn't want to be a doctor. He wants to be internet famous or make six figures working in the stock market. He doesn't belong here. He doesn't care like we do."

She turned to Doctor Merino, "Come young man, Doctor Ricci?"

Anna nodded to Lauren, "I think the two of you should speak alone first? I'll give you about twenty, then meet you in your office?"

Lauren nodded, walking away with the young doctor. As they strolled the halls, they walked in silence for a moment until the young man spoke,

"Commander…"

"Doctor."

"Right. Doctor," he said, "Whenever you're ready to talk, you let me know. I'm sorry if we came out into the hall before you wanted us to. I insisted. Taft – he's a bit of a loose cannon. You know the type."

"I do?"

"From the military. A lot of talk, a lot of bravado. Talks money all the time. Picks up the tab when we go out. He told me he could bed all of the interns – they all want him. He makes me sick."

"Did you tell Doctor Ricci that?"

"It's why she let me step outside. I told her I was worried about you when I heard the raised voices. Pardon, Ma'am, but I didn't think you the type to back down, but I do see him as the sort who would take vengeance."

"Duly noted," Lauren said, when she was really thinking 'God help him if he tried because Bo Dennis would have a knife to his throat before he got within two feet of her'.

They walked to her office where Lauren took a seat on a chair with her back to the window, allowing the young doctor to face the scenery. It helped to calm her to look outside at the mountains. She hoped it did the same for him as they spoke.

"So, I haven't had the pleasure. I believe Doctor McFarland did your interview."

He nodded, "Yes and Doctor Archer walked in with about fifteen minutes left. He wanted to meet the young man who had a similar background to his star student – his words, not mine."

He had a shy smile, Lauren observed. He struck her as the sort with a protective, kind heart, but she had concerns, so she would need to push some buttons… and Anna knew it.

"So, what went wrong in the military?"

"Wrong, Ma'am?"

Lauren smiled, "Doctor, despite persistent reminders, you are still calling me Ma'am rather than Doctor. We are in a hospital, not a war zone. I am wearing scrubs and a lab coat, not a uniform. I am not wearing my bio, so why is it that you identify with me as a military superior rather than your boss and doctor?"

"Everything went wrong. I mean, we were front line where guys were coming to us in pieces. They didn't teach me that in med school."

Lauren nodded, "No, you're right. They didn't."

"That's how you ended up a trauma surgeon?"

"I started out in Cardiology, but when I came home, finished my trauma rotation since I already had the hours. Cardiology was… well, I found it difficult to focus… and follow standards for procedures. I was used to making do with what I had, so my brain just worked – well, more like an auto mechanic or carpenter than a surgeon."

He smiled, "I did a paper on you in high school. Well, not you but the heart. You did the first cellular 3-D print generated graft and, well to be honest, I had to do a paper for my computer engineering elective and my biology class."

Lauren grinned, "One paper, two stones."

"Yea. Sorry if that makes you think less of me."

"I call that working smart. Some people think the hard way means you're working harder. It just means you didn't think through your steps before you started to save time for other things in your day. I like it."

He grinned, "Thanks."

"So, you left cardiology? Why?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Boring – like you said, after being in the military, the same thing over and over again is boring. There were a lot of guys… and girls – who lost limbs. I just got to a point where I felt like all they did was send me the amputees. Then, my C.O. told me it was because the base hospital in Germany told them I was giving them enough to work with in comparison to other doctors."

He looked up at Lauren who seemed to be waiting for more information, "You know, a bigger stump that could fit a prosthetic. I left anything that was viable tissue behind and wrapped it with thick bandages soaked in antibiotic solution wrapped in cold packs that would get warmer so there was no risk of freezing before they got there, so no necrosis. The plastic bag kept it all sterile so when they went in, they could build a good recipient for the prosthesis,"

He shrugged, "It just seemed like common sense to me. Before I left there, I started using this new technique to restore skin from burns – fish skins… but that's a whole 'nother topic."

Lauren nodded, "More a mechanic and carpenter than a surgeon."

He smiled, "Yea, I guess we have that in common."

"So, what went wrong?" Lauren pushed.

He lowered his head, "Um… my unit… they sent this girl to my tent… wanted to pop my cherry?"

Lauren nodded, "Against your religion?"

He shrugged, "More like against my nature?"

"Oh."

He sighed, "I have no intention of outing myself. I won't embarrass you."

"Embarrass me?"

He shrugged, "I know, I mean, Alaska is ranked forty-third for LBGTQ travel safety, so I know to keep my head down, not to go out to bars and stuff."

Lauren nodded, deciding to wait for Anna for this conversation, "So I take it the soldiers in your unit…"

"Were not fans of the now former president tossing out the ban on gays in the military. Nothing has changed. My service straddled several presidents."

Lauren nodded, "That's surprising to me. I mean, you don't look a day over twenty-one."

He smiled, "You should have seen me when I was twenty-one! I looked about twelve."

The two shared a laugh, "So I take it you're about my age?"

"Like I said, I've been following you my whole life. You won the national spelling bee when you were ten?"

She grinned, "Wow. I forgot all about that."

"Do you remember the word you won on?" he asked.

"No, actually. I don't. It was a long time ago."

He smiled, "Well, I remember, because I was the eleven-year-old kid who missed it."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Are you serious?"

"Completely. It was hypothermia. I spelled hippothermia, unfortunately. Who knew I'd become a doctor?"

She smiled, "So you were a year ahead of me. Did we go to school together?"

He shook his head, "No, but I started looking for you on the internet after that. You were on one of those national geographic shows explaining how the heart worked and I was just mesmerized. If only I had won the bee…"

She laughed, "Hardly. I won that spot when I won the national science fair."

He nodded, "Then I saw that you turned down Harvard for Yale. Impressive."

"Actually, just sticking it to my parents. Rebellious teen that I was. Harvard would have paid my tuition, so I picked Yale. My parents rebelled back saying they wouldn't pay, so I went ROTC and really shut them up."

He smiled, "Yea, well my parents couldn't afford Harvard either, but I decided if it was good enough for you, I would got here too. I went ROTC to pay for Harvard thinking I'd be going head-to-head with you. When you weren't there, I looked you up. You surprised me again."

"So, I guess you stayed in the military longer than I did."

"I was eventually in a relationship. We didn't want to be apart… then… we were. Not by choice. Guy in a bomb vest. I put in for discharge at the end of my tour and thought I'd work with you in Boston, but again… surprise."

Lauren smiled, "Just call me the elusive Doctor Lauren once Lewis now Dennis."

He nodded, "My license was in cardio, all of my experience was in trauma, but after fixing legs, when I came back stateside, I worked in a prosthetic clinic for a while. I'd been so focused on adult soldiers that I didn't realize all of the little kids that were in the same situation. I started building prosthetics for little guys – adjustable or adaptable for age."

He shrugged, "It's expensive to put a child in a limb, so lots of parents don't, but if kids don't learn young, they never achieve what they could physically. Of course, the physical ties to the mental and the social when you're young so… well, you get the idea."

"So, you switched to ortho, but really want to specialize in limb reattachment and prosthetics?"

He smiled, "And building them. You know, the ties to the brain with neurology."

"Sounds interesting," Anna said, pulling a chair over to form a triangle with the two, "Sorry. You two were so engrossed in conversation, I didn't want to interrupt."

Lauren looked over at her friend, "I'm so sorry. I didn't hear you come in."

She smiled, "Door was open. I just closed it."

The two grinned, Lauren sitting back in her chair, "We were just talking about his goals after talking about how he ended up following my career. Apparently…"

"She beat me in the national spelling bee."

Lauren smiled, "Hypothermia. He spelled hippothermia. Apparently, medicine wasn't always in his future."

Anna laughed, "That's… unfortunate. I hope none of your professors learned who you were."

"Oh, the first day in my Lit 101 class at Harvard. Doctor Micayla Soddern, big fan of the bee, ya know. She saw me, and I quote, 'humiliate yourself on national TV'. She went on to give the class the play-by-play until I was able to say that our superstar here snubbed Harvard, but I came despite having been accepted at Yale as well."

Lauren grinned, "Did that help your case?"

"Not at all," the doctor replied, flatly.

Lauren turned to Anna, "We talked a bit about his military experience, but I did want to know," she turned to Doctor Merino, "How did you know my rank was Commander? I've always kept it as Lieutenant in my bio since I only served a few months after my promotion."

Anna interrupted, "Sorry, not-a-military-person-here, but I thought you were a captain?"

He nodded, "A Marine is part of the Navy, so in the Navy, she was a Lieutenant Commander, not just a Lieutenant after her last promotion – that's how an officer in the Navy is addressed when onboard a ship or on mission. As a Marine, she was a Major according to her last promotion, though she's saying she was only a Captain."

Lauren shook her head, "Still doesn't explain how you know my rank upon discharge?"

"That's how you were introduced to me by my commanding officer. He's the one that gave me the application for your hospital when he came to see me at the pediatric ortho unit I was transferred to in Germany. I was working with the kids who were sent there because of land mines – it was a special program that he got me into."

They watched as the young man lowered his eyes, shaking his head, "Always looked out for me. He was diagnosed with cancer last year, so he reached out to me one last time to tell me to find you… that you would help me find my way. I had PTSD and…well, I wasn't doing well. I've been better since I came here… to Alaska, I mean. It's like – all of a sudden, I can breathe. I have space, ya know?"

Lauren stared at him for a long moment, "Admiral James Grayson."

He smiled, "Your former C.O. in Afghanistan."

Lauren nodded, "When I was aboard ship."

"You ran with the SEALS as their medic. Pulled a guy out of a building just before it was hit. Saved his leg. He came to my table. We transferred him to Admiral Grayson's ship where he was sent to the base in Germany by helo."

Lauren shook her head, "Small world."

"Small world."

Lauren looked at Anna, "Small world. I'll be back."

He sat up, looking at Lauren as she left the room. Anna turned to him,

"It's okay. Please – stay here."

He nodded as she rushed after Lauren, finding her already in the nearest solarium, her head hanging out of the window,

"Lauren?"

The blonde shook her head, her hand on her forehead, "I don't… this is why… I don't talk about it. I don't go back there. It's too much."

"Lauren…"

"Small… can't breathe…"

"Lauren… five things… come on… five things…"

"Tree… truck… house… road… mountain."

"Your mountain, Lauren. Focus on your mountain."

"My mountain."

"Right. What are five things you feel when you look at your mountain?"

"Snow… I mean, cold… big… I mean, power… no, beauty… Bo… my Bo… peace. My mountain."

"Yes, Lauren. That's the mountain that you see when you look out across the river from the cottage. The cottage you and Bo are building together. The life you have now, not the one that you left behind. The one you left behind helped to give you the strength you have today, Lauren. The strength to help that young man find peace like you did – here, in Alaska. Remember him, Lauren? Remember him in the gallery today? Balled fists, clenched jaw…"

"Tremors… he had tremors in his hands, nails bitten down to the skin… PTSD. He's got PTSD, like me."

She turned to Anna, "But I'm past it."

Anna shook her head, "You've learned to live with the past, Lauren. You don't get past PTSD; you have to deal with it when the triggers come up. They'll keep coming up until you learn to follow those drills without having me or Bo here to help you. You've got to catch yourself in the moment when it hits, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "I know. I know. I was just surprised. He knew so much."

"The Admiral."

Lauren nodded, "He said that people always searched for a diamond in the rough, but he searched for doctors in the rough. He said the doctors at home always had money, fame and a steady flow of patients and the money they needed to save them – not to mention the fancy equipment. He said he was proud of me for doing the same job they did without the money, fame, or fancy equipment – that we would always have a steady flow of patients and no promise of money to save them. He was right."

"But why send you this guy?"

She shrugged, "I told him that when I joined the civilian doctors, he should look me up and send me his doctors in the rough – that I'd help them adjust. He's the first one."

Anna shook her head, "I didn't know…"

Lauren smiled, "I never told anyone. Wow. It's cold."

Anna laughed, closing the window, and locking her arm in Lauren's,

"Shall we go back to your doctor in the rough?"

"Ugh. I'm so embarrassed."

"No, you're so human. He'll understand. And he'll feel more dedicated to your cause because of it."

"I think he's gay – or at least family. It sounds like he had it rough at the hands of the phobes. His partner was killed by a guy in a bomb vest. He quit when his tour was up. Sounds like we lived a kind of parallel life but not sure he had the family money I had."

"Well, let's have a chat and see what kind of conclusions we can draw from this guy. If he needs my support, he'll have it."

Lauren nodded, "I have to text William and let him know he'll be late to lab."

They made quick time back to Lauren's office, closing the door. Lauren began quickly,

"Okay, so first, I've sent off a text to Doctor McFarland to let him know you'll be a few minutes late."

"I'll be on time."

Lauren shook her head, "Take a moment to pee. It's a long procedure and he'll likely do individual evaluations, a lecture and a Q&A at the end. Trust me, I've seen him work in a lab. Take a moment to get a snack and some water – so you don't crash in the middle of it. It's early morning and from the looks of it, you didn't sleep well which means you probably just hooked up an I.V. drip loaded with caffeine on your way here."

"Wow."

"Spot on, huh?" Lauren smiled.

"Pretty much, although I left the I.V. at home and brought a huge thermos of coffee."

"Not what I want to hear. Doctors who don't sleep make mistakes and when you make mistakes, we get sued. If we get sued, we lose a helluva lot of money which we can't afford since we live on the backs of these taxpayers and the doctors' sweat equity. Understood?"

He nodded.

"I'm serious, Doctor. So far, our vision is succeeding because our doctors are the best and they believe in what we're doing. That means, they take time off and when they do, it's on the promise that they'll give another doctor time off. When they take time off, the actually take time off – they vacation, they sleep, they have hobbies. They do self-care. Now, I am ordering you into self-care for all of those reasons. Understood?"

"Yes… um… Doctor Lewis-Dennis."

"Just Dennis is fine."

"Can I ask? You got married?"

Lauren smiled, "I did – to the woman of my dreams."

"Woman? You're…"

"Yes. You're safe here and to make you feel safer, this is Doctor Anna Ricci, our Chief of Psychiatry. She is the one who helped me through my PTSD recently. She is also the reason I am putting cardiology in my rearview to pursue my first love, trauma surgery and putting my duties as owner and co-Chief at the forefront of my professional life."

"Though currently, Doctor Dennis is on family care leave and will follow that up with her honeymoon."

He cocked his head, opening the folder in his hand, "Dennis… the patient this morning… she's…"

"My wife and I'd appreciate it if you would keep that in this room."

He shook his head, "Absolutely. The last thing you need is for Taft finding out."

Lauren smiled, "And if he did?"

"The whole damn town would know."

"So?"

"Well, it's Alaska."

Lauren smiled, "I think you'll find that in our version of Alaska – this small neck of the world – people are pretty much live and let live as long as you don't try to ram your life or beliefs down their throats. I actually don't care much for public displays of affection and neither does my wife… gay, straight or otherwise."

"Neither do me and my fiancé, Dr. Kate Myers."

"You too?" he asked, suddenly covering his mouth, "Oh, gosh. I said that as if it was a disease!"

Lauren laughed, "Well, apparently one that you have too, so we're in good company."

They all laughed as Lauren continued, "Listen… Brian, is it? May I call you Brian off floor?"

"Yes. Yes, it is and yes you may."

"Okay, well Brian, I want you to be comfortable with me and with Doctor Ricci. We're sharing this information with you personally so that you know you can tell us anything, knowing that we will not turn it into ammunition and send it back with you at the target."

"How very military of you, Doctor Dennis," Anna smirked.

"I'm from a military background that occasionally comes out when I'm with military peers, Doctor Ricci."

"Well, I feel left out."

"I'm so sorry," Lauren said, laughing with Anna before turning to her intern, "So, if you are willing to meet with Doctor Ricci weekly or bi-weekly, whatever you prefer, she will help you to get a handle on your PTSD which will help you to get more sleep which will…"

"Help me to be awake to study and to be present and focused on shift."

"Amen," Lauren said.

He waved his hands in the air, "And a great big hallelujah. Not that I'm the least bit religious. No church would take the gay guy."

Lauren was curious, "So may I ask - why are you an intern again? You clearly finished a residency in cardio or trauma through your ROTC program."

He shrugged, "As I said, I fell in love with Ortho, so started over again. I couldn't land a residency – you know how military are treated – so since I wanted to build prosthetics, I went back and did a biomedical engineering degree in two years. When came back Ortho loved my new background and when this program came up, Admiral told me to shake a leg, so here I am."

"Amazing," Lauren smiled, "And about that church thing – Anna may have a lead for you if you're interested."

Anna nodded, "Actually, my fiancé and I just found a church. We read up on a bunch of different religions and this one seemed to fit. We've only been there once, but if you want to tag along next Sunday, we'll be happy to have you."

Crap, Anna thought to herself. We won't be here.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you two chat a bit to set up your appointments while I go check on my wife and then head to my favorite thing in the world…" she stood, shoving her hands in her pockets, "…a Zoom meeting with my Chief of Staff in Boston."

"Enjoy and tell Herman we said hello!" Anna smiled.

"Stop calling him that! He hates it," Lauren said.

Anna smiled, "Fine. Tell Manny we said hello and we love him. Okay to use your office for a bit?"

Lauren nodded, grabbing her bag and stowing her laptop and charger inside, "Of course. Be sure to lock up?"

"I will."

"By the way, am I looking for a new med student?" Lauren asked.

Anna smirked, "You knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you?"

Lauren grinned, "As I told him, not my first time with his kind. So, did William give him two weeks to prove himself?"

"He did," Anna smiled, "You planned it."

"William talked to me about him this morning," she turned to Brian, "Two of the girls had already reported Doctor Taft for misconduct."

Anna nodded, "William showed him a request to press charges."

Brian's eyes went wide, "That would effectively end his career."

"It would," Lauren said, "Remember, this is a privileged conversation you're overhearing because you shared information about him that corroborates the notice received from other students. If it leaks, we know who leaked it and that would effectively end your career."

"Understood."

Lauren headed for the door, "You're stopping by Bo's room?"

Anna nodded, "I want to hear what this Doctor Newsome has to say to Bo. I'll fill in the gaps after she leaves."

"I think I'll stop by the General Store on the way home when she's discharged. See if they have a four-hundred-pound anchor that I can tie to her good leg."

With a wave, Lauren was gone, leaving the two sitting in her office.

"An anchor?"

"Have you heard of the Iditarod?"

He nodded, "I was there working triage on the ground in the Alaska Range. I'd love to learn how to live out there."

Anna smiled, "Then Doctor Dennis is just the person you want to know. If you manage to land a job here after you finish, her wife would be a good friend to have."

"Oh, shit! Her wife is Bo Dennis? The champion?"

Anna laughed, "A little slow there on the uptake, Doc."

He shook his head, "Really bad night last night. I'm running on zero sleep."

Anna sighed, "Okay, well you need to get to lab, so I'm going to send you with a note."

"A note to teacher, really?"

"An exemption note. I don't want him to score this and count it against you without talking to me first about your military background… and before you say that I can't, I'm going to tell you why I need you to give me permission and then remind me to tell you why we can't do church on Sunday…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

RECOVERY UNIT

"How's she doing, Sarah?" Lauren asked, walking quietly into the unit.

The nurse smiled, "She's well, Doctor… Dennis?"

Lauren smiled, "Yes, Lewis is no more."

"Honestly, we all had a pool going. I was with the hyphenated, no-ego, Lewis is gone group."

Lauren laughed, "Wow. I didn't know it was such a big deal."

"Personally, there's a lot of nurses who think this philosophy of yours is only until the money runs out. They thought you would want to keep your name to keep the money flowing through the doors."

"Is that so?"

"When you hired me, you said honesty was important to you. I'm going to tell you what I know – just the facts, no embellishments unless you want my opinion."

"Okay, so what's your opinion?"

She shrugged, "You're different than any other surgeon I've ever known. You're a put up or shut up type. You're on family leave, but you're still working today. You stood up for Shannie yesterday against a Doc who's touted as one of the best in the world. Of course, some say that's because she's a friend and that if it was anyone else, you would have sided with the doctor."

She crossed her arms,

"Personally, I think you sided with your mission statement. I've been on shift with that Doc when I covered for Sally a few days ago. Her daughter was having her baby and three of us were on-call for when her new grandchild arrived. I came in and… well, I'll just say I felt like a first grader in a new school. I've been in nursing on every floor there is – including oncology – and I've never been treated like a personal assistant in my life."

Lauren smiled, "I love how you tell it like it is, Sarah. I hope I can always count on you for that."

Sarah shrugged, "I'm not going to carry work crap home to my family, Doc. Work stuff has to stay here where it belongs."

"Amen," Lauren said, "I have to know – when she woke up, did she say anything?"

Sarah laughed, "She kept asking for Harry, but I didn't know who Harry was. Finally, Doctor McFarland came in and asked her who Harry was. She insisted it was Harry Potter that she wanted. It was important. She had to talk to him about the Iditarod and invite him to her wedding."

"Oh gawd."

"Yea, I don't think you want to know what she said after that. Doc swore me to secrecy with a fifty-dollar bill…" she pulled the folded bill from her pocket, rubbing the two ends together, "… a gift card to the General Store for a hundred bucks and an autograph of a busted sled board when she woke up."

Sarah looked up from the patient she was working on, "Can he really get me a busted sled board from her actual sled?"

Lauren nodded, "I have a feeling he'll be asking me for that so yes, it's yours as long as you don't gossip about whatever it was she said about me."

Sarah shook her head, "My lips are sealed. Don't care much for these youngsters who sit around second guessing the good people that you and Doctor Archer are. Complain, complain. Some of these kids, that's all they know to do. I'd just as soon they'd be grateful they have a job here where they're making use of their worth. They go a couple towns over, and they can work for the minimum and get treated like gum under a shoe like I used to till I found yours."

She popped over to Bo's bedside again, recording her vitals, "I don't know much about you outside of the professional, Doctor Dennis, but I do know that whoever you are to this town hero of ours, there's no one more important in the world. I've never heard anyone talk about someone like she talked about you. If it's true what they say about the truth coming out when you're high on drugs or booze, she spoke one helluva truth and you're a lucky woman to have someone love you like she does."

She sighed, walking to her next patient, "I can't say why people get so hung up about the gays and why they're so threatened about them loving someone with the same body parts. If you love someone like she loves you, I don't see any harm. It's a beautiful thing and people should mind their business. Hank and I are happy to support you two."

Lauren was still trying to stop her laughter at Sarah saying 'the gays', but she managed to restrain herself in front of the kind woman and reply,

"I know, Sarah and I thank both of you for all you've done for this hospital. And I just want to say again, that I hope Hank knows how sincere I was when he didn't check us off on all of the boxes on our first safety inspection. I wasn't expecting to pass and I certainly didn't want to open our doors unless this building and our equipment wasn't fit for the health of our patients."

"Oh, Doctor Dennis, I don't think he'll ever get over having to tell you he couldn't pass you that day. You and your staff had worked so hard and, well when he got wind you paid for some of that equipment with your own money, hoping to make the money back, he was just crushed he couldn't extend you a kindness."

Lauren shook her head, "Keeping this hospital safe is the only kindness I need from Hank. Every week when he comes in and inspects us, he finds something that needs fixing. This is a big place. I couldn't stay on top of problems if he wasn't so conscientious about his work. The day the two of you retire will be a sad day for me. I just hope you don't retire at the same time."

Sarah laughed, "Oh, we won't. He'll retire first so he can go fishing with the grandkids while they're still young enough to have an interest in hanging out with an old coot like him. I'll retire about five years later since I hate fishing with a wild passion. Never understood standing there waiting for a poor dumb creature to be dumb enough to bite down on a dead something or other attached to a string. Seems cruel. But, Hank can cook fresh fish on an open fire like nobody's business so I just can't resist. Besides, Jesus Christ himself gave people baskets of bread, fish and wine. I figure he meant for me to eat those things."

Lauren smiled, "So when do you think she'll be in a room?"

"She's all set to go to room 507. Just waiting for the orderly to move her."

William came into recovery, giving a nod to the Nurse, "Sarah. How's our patient?"

"Vitals are steady, Doctor McFarland. Looks like you did a good job."

"Well, thank you Sarah," he pointed at Sarah as he spoke to Lauren, "She's a tough one to please. I really have to be on my game. One loose stitch and I'll be back in surgery. She demands perfection every surgery from me."

Sarah shook her head, "Don't let him fool you. He expects it of himself. If I missed the loose stitch, he'd have my hide for not having his back."

McFarland smiled, "She's right about that. So, what did you find?"

She nodded, pointing to the lateral incision, "Stitch coulda been a little tighter there on the end. She's gonna have a little dimple. If it was medial, I'd say it doesn't matter, but on the lateral side with legs like those, that's the wear-a-dress-with-the-sexy-slit-up-the-side leg… but not if you have a dimpled scar."

William smiled at Lauren, "Well, when the patient wakes, I'll ask her if she would like me to fix it before it closes up. I can inject a little numbing agent and take care of that easily."

"Next of kin is right there. Why not ask her?"

William cocked his head and nodded, turning to Lauren, "Do you think I should fix that?"

Lauren nodded, "Possibly. I would defer to the patient since she is going to live," she turned to Sarah, "Right?"

Sarah smiled, "She'll live all right. And I'll keep my promise to the both of you, but no guarantees that I won't tell her what she said. I draw the line at embarrassing the patient when it's in front of me. I like to have a little laugh now and again. It's no fun working in a room with sleeping patients all day, day after day if you can't have a little fun."

Lauren laughed, "You won't get any complaints from me. Feel free to tell her all about what she said… really rub it in, okay?"

William looked at Sarah, "She's saying that because she knows her wife is going to feel a need to apologize for saying those things in front of the Co-Chief of Staff of the hospital."

"That just makes it even sweeter," Sarah smiled, "I'm sure glad there's a sense of humor around this hospital. Enough sadness in our lives when patients die – need the balance that laughter brings."

"I couldn't agree more," Lauren said as an orderly entered the room. She smiled, "Jonathan! How's your wife? I heard you have number four on the way?"

Jonathan sighed, nodding his head, "She's fine, thanks for asking. She said you talked at the Gala. Congratulations, by the way. I'm very happy for you and Bo."

"Thank you, Jonathan."

He smiled, checking the chart, "So it looks like I'm here to escort your new wife to the honeymoon suite! Some honeymoon, huh?"

"I'm actually on family care leave this week. The honeymoon starts the following week."

He looked at William who nodded, so he turned back to Lauren,

"Well, I'm glad you'll be able to get some time away. Coming in on your days off just proves you need to be at least two hours away from here for a proper honeymoon."

Lauren laughed, "Have you heard of mobile phones?"

"You need to leave that at home for a proper honeymoon. Not my business, but leave this place behind. We can handle it."

Lauren smiled, "Well, with this one along for the trip, we could end up back here a day or two later. Nothing can hold this woman down. Well, once we see how long this recovery takes, we'll be able to make a plan for our real getaway."

"Okay then, let's get your lady into her new room where she can get away from all of us jabbering away in her ear."

Lauren turned back to Sarah, "Thank you again, Sarah. You take such good care of our sleeping patients. I'm happy to hear you have no plans to retire for now, but I'll have to talk to Stephen and Carolyn about making sure you're in a position to be a role model for our younger nurses."

Sarah smiled, "That Carolyn is all you need, Doctor Dennis. She's one in a million. Really on top of things and knows how to handle her nursing staff."

"Well, I'll be sure she knows you feel that way. That's quite the compliment coming from a veteran such as yourself."

Lauren gave the nurse a final nod and followed William and Jonathan out of the room to the freight elevator. They headed up two floors and down the hall, finally landing in Bo's room. Lauren smiled seeing that it was directly across from the fifth-floor nurses' station. William leaned over,

"I made sure she was close to the nurses, just in case she tried to get up and walk around."

Lauren laughed, "You're definitely catching on to our Bo."

He smiled, "That's for certain, but so that you know, I also have a plan to keep her in bed."

"Oh?" Lauren asked.

William nodded, "Follow me."

They went around the nurses' station to wear there was a cooler packed with ice and aluminum foil packages,

"My wife cooked up her world-famous ribs for your wife. It's a thank you to Bo for sending some guys out to fix the side of our house."

"The side of your house?" Lauren asked.

He shrugged, "My teenage son and one of his new friends, from his new school, in his new town, in his new state, decided to hop on our new snow machine. They lost control and ran it full throttle into the side of our new house."

"Oh no! Are they okay?"

He shook his head, "My son's ears are pretty sore from all the shouting I did and I'm sure his friends' are the same, but no broken bones, thank goodness. They managed to bail before it hit the house."

"Anyone inside hurt?"

"Just the sink, the cabinets, the floor… that sort of thing. My wife and younger daughter were in another room playing Legos and my middle daughter was out with my older daughter shopping in town."

"Bo didn't mention it. I'm glad she could help."

William nodded, "I actually asked her not to mention it to anyone. My son's having a hard enough time adjusting to his new life. I didn't need parents thinking he was dangerous to hang around with."

"Yes, well Bo does know a little about that," Lauren nodded, looking down at her wife.

He chuckled, "Yes, we heard all about the dangerous stranger who came to town about a decade ago and stirred up all sorts of trouble with the man named Big Jim. Then I met her, of course and learned who I should and shouldn't listen to."

"Big Jim was her…"

He waved Lauren off, "I stopped by to see Tosh the first week he was admitted."

"Of course. You were in on the surgery."

He shook his head, "I just flew back to fuse a few vertebrae together. My job was a cakewalk compared to what Hannah Jane did. That woman's got the Midas touch, Lauren. Hang on to her."

"That's my plan, William," Lauren smiled, "So Tosh told you a bit about Bo's life?"

"More about his own which seems to intertwine with your Bo's. Quite the story, for her to meet two siblings she never knew she had after so long."

Lauren smiled, "It changed everything for her."

"For the better, it would seem."

"Definitely for the better."

They both turned back to Bo when they heard her groan, "Can you two shut up? I came here to sleep, not listen to the saga that is my life."

The doctors laughed, each moving to opposite sides of the bed as Bo asked, "What's the news on the knee?"

William smiled, "I'm happy to report that there was no infection. There was, however, two tears that were the source of bleeding which caused the swelling… one tear in each meniscus. It's the…"

She waved him off, "Don't get to complicated. I'm still fuzzy. I remember what they are from the model you showed me. So, I have those two tunnels drilled into my bones or did you only need one?"

"I drilled two. The ACL was completely shot and the LCL was pretty thin. I reattached the LCL and used your hamstring for the ACL."

"That's the one that will take longer to heal?"

William nodded, "Yes, but if you do this right, it will be stronger than it was before, and your hamstring will regenerate over the six month period."

"But I did that first set of exercises in the recovery room with Nurse Sarah. I keep doing those, right?"

"Yes, for today, you'll stay in the bed and do those exercises as directed. You will also be on crutches initially, but only for comfort. Because we are acutely aware of your extraordinary tolerance for pain, we will tell you when you can walk without them. Until then, you'll use them as you've been taught to support that leg. We will gradually increase you to full weight bearing. It should be seven to ten days in total until you are fully comfortable without a crutch."

"Okay. That's not so bad," Bo said, nodding her head.

"However…" William began, but Bo interrupted, rolling her eyes,

"Oh, here we go…"

William ignored her and continued, "However, because you had the additional meniscal repair and reconstruction of the LCL, it may take more time."

"How long?"

"Up to three weeks."

"And there's the sound of the other shoe dropping."

"None of this is news to you, Bo," Lauren said, "Now, I would appreciate it if you would allow William to explain the rest. He has other patients to attend to and you should be grateful that he found no fractures considering the incredible impact injury you sustained. This could be much worse, Bo. If there had been an infection as we discussed this morning…"

"I could have been hung up for a year or longer. Fine! I get it! I'm lucky, so I should feel lucky! I just hate fu… being in this hospital."

Lauren froze, shaking her head, "William, please continue."

She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Anna, then moved over to the large picture window not far from Bo's bed. She pulled the blinds all the way up, seeing nothing but sky. This wasn't going to work, but for now, it had to.

She walked back to Bo's bed and continued to listen to William explain her recovery,

"… consequently, there will be swelling. It's perfectly normal and it will interfere with your range of motion, but remember, we are most concerned about you regaining knee extension and less concerned about knee flexion. So, elevating and icing your leg regularly in combination with riding a stationary bike with a maximum height seat is where you begin."

"I don't know how to ride a bike," Bo said, her eyes down.

"You don't know how to ride a bike?" William asked.

"No! I've already been through this with my little sister, okay? I never learned! I lived on the tundra my entire life. There's nothing but ice there. By the time I moved here, I had a license to drive. Sled, tin dog or truck. Those are my modes of transportation. No need for a bike."

"Tin dog?" William asked.

"Yea. The thing that almost destroyed your house and your family? We call them tin dogs."

Lauren smiled, "Dog sled without the dogs, serves the same purpose but it's noisy, kills the environment and kills people. Her words, not mine but after what you told me, she might be right."

William nodded, "Point taken. So, where were we? Oh, right, so two weeks from now, my goal is for you to have full knee extension and an increase in quadricep muscle function."

"That's the leg exercises I was doing."

"Yes, in addition to your physical therapy sessions four times a week. Again, full extension is the goal. Knee flexion, I'll be happy if you're at ninety degrees by then, but if you're not, I'm not worried."

Bo tried to lift her foot, but found it impossible, "Wow. It doesn't straighten at all."

He nodded, "Remember, Bo. The ligament that used to perform that function is still there, but because I've rerouted muscles and ligaments, your body is confused about what works what in there. Give it time. You'll get it back… better than before."

"Okay, so when can I drive?"

William tossed his head from side to side, "Usually two to three weeks. I mean, you have to demonstrate the ability to move your foot from gas to break and back again as well as have the function to depress and release those pedals…"

"Um… I drive a sled most of the time?"

William shook his head, "Can you guarantee you won't fall off?"

"Well, I've got skills, Doc."

Lauren shook her head, "The answer is no. She cannot make that guarantee."

Bo looked up at Lauren, opening her mouth to speak, but Lauren slowly shook her head, "Just… don't."

Bo sighed, turning back to her doctor, "Fine. Truck it is."

"And no tin dog – just in case you thought that would be okay. And no trying to learn to ride a bike. This would be the wrong time for that."

"But how will I do my bike physical therapy?"

"Bo, I said a stationary bike."

"What's the difference?" Bo asked.

"You've never seen a stationary bike?" William asked.

Bo grinned, "I lived on ice in the middle of nowhere most of my life. You've seen igloos? They're real. I was raised in one before my former dad built us a house made of old boat wood. The house we live in originally had no electricity or lights or heat. I didn't need it to survive. I put it in when Lauren came to live with me because she needed internet."

Lauren smiled, "We cook on a wood stove, we heat our house with wood stoves, our bathroom doesn't have sewer or public sewage or water lines, we use tanks and water pumps. We have an ice box, not a refrigeration unit because most of the time, we have ice all around us. When the temperatures get to where they are now, we haul in dry ice to keep food cold or put it underground where the temperatures are cool enough because the room is surrounded by permafrost."

He shook his head, "That is amazing."

Lauren smiled, "It is. We live an amazing life and spend very little money because the land gives us what we need."

"This hospital runs in similar fashion. That's your goal?"

Lauren shrugged, "Someday it would be nice to power the hospital without tapping into the electrical grid, yes."

"Wow," He said, shaking out his thoughts, "Okay, so once we get through the first three weeks, everything becomes tied to the physical therapy. We've covered phase one – that's this week. Phase two is two to six weeks out and is all about range of motion and building quad strength. Phase three is six weeks to three months out where we will continue to build strength through the full range of motion and begin to work on jogging, eventually sprinting, change of direction, balance, coordination, agility, etc."

"Now that's something I can get behind. It's like my workouts."

William shook his head, "You're not going to wait for phase three to work out, Bo. Your whole body would go to mush. You've got to keep the rest of your body fit, but you'll have to adapt for what's going on with your knee. For example, Lauren tells me you do your abdominal workout while hanging upside down from the central beam in your house on a vaulted ceiling?"

Bo nodded, "No need to install a bar when I've already got a beam that I padded with a piece of carpeting."

"Right," William said, "That explains the abdominal eight-pack you have going. Well…" he moved to the knee, holding it above and below the joint at the base of the muscles, "…try to sit up."

Bo did as asked, stopping short and laying back, "What the hell?"

He smiled, "One thing that you're going to learn that can actually help you as a musher is what muscles in your body actually do what jobs. Those abdominals don't actually help you sit up on their own. That's why it's so important that you do strength training for your lower body as well. My guess is that hanging upside down from the beam is starting to put undo stress on your knee joint. It may have been the cause of this injury."

"Really?" Bo asked.

"Really. However, I can't know for sure because I can't take an MRI of your knee while you're doing that exercise, so this is best guess science. That said, we're going to set you up with a new way to do abdominals while adding quad, hamstring, gluteal and calf exercises that will hopefully prevent the same injury from happening to your left leg."

Bo nodded, "Okay, so after three months, I'm good to go?"

William shook his head, "Remember, there are four phases. Phase four is four to six months after surgery. If you have passed all the tests, we will clear you to ride on a straight trail for a set amount of time. Ideally, a course that would be a loop around your property where if you get into trouble, you're not far from help."

"I'm not very good at tests."

William smiled, "The Iditarod is a tremendous test and I believe you passed that one with flying colors. The test is that you have no soft tissue or range of motion problems, full strength, endurance, balance, speed, power and agility. If all looks good, I will clear you to resume full activities – possibly with some limitations or restrictions. At this stage, the focus will be on maintaining strength, endurance and proprioception."

"What's that?"

"An understanding of where your body is, like with balance, being able to step on and off your sled without looking down, being able to drop the brake and step on it without looking down, knowing when to put your leg out to balance your sled. Of course, we'll test those reactions in a safe environment with just a few of your dogs."

Bo nodded, "When can I go without the brace?"

William shook his head, "It may take up to two years, Bo. For some people, they never really feel confident enough to take it off again. It's fine as long as it doesn't limit performance. Really, the brace becomes more about your confidence in the knee than it is about the knee itself. I'm telling you, that knee will be stronger than it was before, but memories of this injury may not allow your mind to trust my work despite what I'm saying to you. It will be up to you when that brace comes off after stage four."

"Okay, but I'm wearing it through stage four."

William nodded, "Until I clear you, yes."

"Okay, so then we're done or is there a stage five?"

He smiled, "Stage five is full recovery. You've met all criteria to return, meaning your knee works just like it did before or better and there's no soft tissue or range of motion complaints if there were any before. All good to go, I clear you and from there, it's up to you provided you remember that inactivity will cause scar tissue build up, loss of range of motion… basically, you'll lose the gains you've made. Now, do you have questions?"

Bo nodded, "How often do I see you after this?"

Lauren and I have already set up the appointments for next week, two weeks, six weeks, three months and six months. If we need more appointments, we'll set them up as we go. You'll see the physical therapist more."

"What can go wrong?" Bo asked.

William shrugged, "I'm going to be checking for the same things I looked for at the race… pain and swelling, range of motion, laxity of the graft and the strength of the leg as well as knee function during routine daily activities. Can you take care of your dogs, can you build a door frame, can you build my Adirondack Chairs for me by my anniversary… that sort of thing."

Bo chuckled, nodding her head, "Pretty slick there, Slick."

"You like that?"

"Funny guy," she said, looking up at Lauren, "You hired a comedian. I guess a sense of humor is a good thing in a hospital. It must get pretty depressing around here with all the dying people tend to do."

Lauren cocked her head, remembering Sarah saying something similar when Bo was unconscious in recovery,

"Do you remember talking about Harry Potter?"

"Who?" Bo asked.

"Harry Potter. You know – the books that Elise is reading with Rudy right now?"

"Oh, the wizard kid. No. Why would I talk about him?"

Lauren smiled, nodding at William as he continued,

"Finally, Bo, I'll be checking on your knee function using a machine that measures strength and range of motion."

"A bike?" Bo asked.

"No, but about that bike. It's stationary. It doesn't go anywhere. You sit on the seat and pedal. That's it."

"Oh. So it can't tip over?"

"No tipping."

Bo nodded, "Good."

William finished, "Now, before the surgery, we talked about possible complications. Lauren is a doctor and she will keep an eye on the wounds and the knee, but remember that she cannot feel what's happening inside. It's important that you do. You have an artery…"

"I know. If it bleeds, that's a big problem," Bo replied, "If I don't do my PT, I could have permanent loss of motion and pain in the front of my knee is normal, so if the pain keeps me from moving the knee, see problem number two."

"Right. It's important to push through the pain, but pushing through within reason…"

"So as not to cause the bleeding."

"Correct."

The door opened, a doctor peeking her head inside, "Doctor McFarland, is this a good time?"

"Ah, perfect timing," he pointed to Bo, "Mrs. Ysabeau Dennis, meet Doctor Gabrielle Newsome, intern here at Talkeetna General."

The doctor nervously reached out to shake Bo's hand, the brunette obliging her,

"You can call me Bo. It's nice to meet you, Doctor… Newsome, was it?"

"Yes," she said, straightening her coat so her embroidered name was visible, "Doctor McFarland asked me here to explain a bit about your recovery, if you would indulge me?"

Bo looked at the two doctors who gave her a subtle nod, "Yes, of course."

"One moment, please," the doctor stepped out of the room, to everyone's surprise.

"Um… where she's going? She looks twelve!"

Lauren smiled, "She's a student, Bo. This is a big deal. William asked her in here because during your surgery, she answered some really tough questions very well. She's probably nervous as hell. Not only is her the Chief of her internship program here, but he's also the man who would become her Chief of Residents if she gets into our program. In addition, I'm here with all of my titles and you – the friggin' Iditarod champion whose name is all over the papers. Even kids who never lived here know who you are now,"

She leaned down and whispered to her wife, "So be nice or I swear you will have NO sex for the next six months!"

Lauren smiled, "Understood?"

"Yes. Loud and clear," Bo said with a sigh, "So she's going to repeat everything William just told me?"

Lauren nodded, "He's legally and morally obligated to do so. She's a student who is learning to talk to patients."

William smirked, "But feel free to toss her a tough question or be a general pain in the ass patient if the spirit moves you. I wouldn't mind seeing if her prowess with a patient is as strong as her prowess with a textbook."

Bo shook her head, "You're evil."

He rubbed his hands together, a wicked grin on his face as the door opened and the student fumbled in, dragging a cart along with her. She turned the screen so that Bo could see it and then moved to the other side of the bed, checking her pockets. She hurried past William again and grabbed the remote from the cart, then ran back over to Bo's side again,

"Okay. Sorry about that. I guess that could have been smoother. So, embarrassing."

Bo chuckled, "You're doing great. Don't let these two stuffed shirt big wigs, mess with your groove. Lay it on me, Doctor."

She smiled, looking up at the screen before pressing the remote,

"Okay, now these are graphic images that I've created to help you to understand what we just did to your knee. So, this first slide, you can see that we created four small incisions that you'll see the next time the nurse changes your bandages. I went down to recovery and the nurse informed me that there may be a small bulge at the end of one incision that you may want corrected before it closes. The doctor could fix that quite easily with a numbing agent and sutures."

"A bulge?" Bo asked, looking at William.

He nodded, "As the swelling goes down and the skin sags back into place…"

"My skin does not sag, William!" Bo defended.

"Well, Bo, actually due to the swelling, it was stretched out, so while it's not normally saggy, it currently… well, is… stretched, not saggy."

"So, you can fix this goose egg, so I don't have an ugly scar?"

"Absolutely. Nurse Sarah thought you might not like it if you were wearing a dress with a slit up the thigh, so… as I told Lauren, I could redo those sutures right here at your bedside."

"Cool," Bo said, with a nod before bursting into laughter. William shook his head, as Bo nodded, "Gotcha!"

"I hate you more than ever."

"You love me, William and you know it. You just think you want patients who aren't a pain in your ass," Bo smiled, turning to the younger doctor, "Sorry, kiddo. He had that coming for more than a week. You were saying?"

The doctor continued, "Now, the doctor used his tools to drill holes into the knee. In this graphic with the skin now removed for visibility, you can see the full internal knee. He drilled here through to here and here through to here. Then he cleaned up the pieces of torn tendon here and here, repaired your menisci here and here, detached your LCL which had found its way to here… way wrong place… returning it to here."

She looked at Bo, "Following so far?"

"Like an architectural drawing. Continue," Bo smiled.

"Finally, he took this section of your hamstring, then created two sizeable grafts to replace your ACL, threading from top to bottom through tunnel A, pictured here and tunnel B, pictured here. As you can see, there's a grappling hook at the superior or top entrance that will hold the tendon in place when you move your quad similar to an anchor in rock climbing?"

Bo nodded, "Good analogy, I get it."

"And then two screws down here that actually get absorbed into the bone."

"Absorbed, not dissolved?"

"Correct."

"So, they make the bone more dense?" Bo asked.

She nodded, "Yes."

Bo smiled, "Wow. That's pretty cool. I'd love to have those to work with wood."

"Now, here's the important part. This ligament is currently only this thick. A normal ACL is twice as thick. If you do your therapy as directed – no more, no less - it will be three times as thick or three times as strong when you're finished. The reason is because this new ligament is going to act like a scaffolding… you're familiar with that term?"

"Yea. We use it to get from floor to ceiling on a job."

The doctor smiled, "Exactly, only instead of the supports being the same size every time you build the scaffolding you use in houses, our scaffolding is made from your bodies' own cells. So, as you use your knee, the body will learn that it needs to be stronger. It will send calcium and other nutrients as well as various cells to the ligament and gradually make it bigger. Did you ever make rock candy in class when you were a kid?"

Bo smiled, "Actually, my little sister just did that experiment before the race," she looked up at Lauren, "Remember that?"

Lauren nodded, "I do."

"Okay, so all of those little crystals attached themselves to that string until your sister had a big thick string filled with a hard candy treat, right?"

"Right and she loved it."

"I'll bet," the doctor smiled, "Your ligament is going to do the same thing, only with cells building a ligament that will be very difficult to tear a second time in your life."

Bo smiled, "Wow. That's pretty cool."

"Now, a word of caution. If you don't do your PT properly or, worse yet, you rush your PT by trying to be like those stupid big muscle head guys… you know the ones, right?" she imitated the stereotype, flexing her muscles to make a point, "Me, big and strong dude. I feel no pain. I am indestructible," she said, speaking like a robot.

Bo laughed, "That's good. You have a future as a comedian if this whole doctor thing doesn't work out."

"Well, hopefully it does, because I'm actually not that funny. Anyway, if you push too hard… before the crystals have all built up on the string?"

"The string will break."

She nodded, "And Bo Dennis will be right back here in this bed with the recovery clock reset to zero hour as she awaits her second surgery to repair her ACL. That means no Iditarod next year, no time with your favorite dog Harper leading your sled, no races with your little sister when the next snow falls."

She stood, turning off the presentation, "So, Bo behave, Bo be sensible or Bo be at day one again. That can happen today, tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now or three months from now. Do something you're not supposed to do even once before Doctor McFarland clears you and you could be here, listening to this speech from me again… and I won't be pleasant about it a second time."

They all watched as Bo stared at the young doctor until she looked up at William, "You should have led with the kid here."

William nodded, "I agree. Very impressive, Doctor Newsome."

Lauren smiled, expressing her agreement, "Excellent bedside manner, excellent patient care, excellent explanation, and very cool graphics. You really just put those together between the surgery's end and now?"

She nodded, "I did a working lunch and Doctor McFarland was kind enough to let me go right after I did my ACL repair in the lab since I had this presentation to prepare."

"Oh? And how was the ACL repair?" Lauren asked.

William smiled, proudly, "Perfect technique, incredible sutures."

Bo laughed, "Maybe she should fix mine?"

William grinned, but Lauren shrugged, "Why not?"

"Lauren?" William questioned.

Lauren turned to Bo, the brunette shrugging, "If you supervise, sure, why not?"

"Um… I've never done this on a live patient. I mean… are you sure?"

William looked at Lauren, "Are you sure?"

"Were her sutures incredible or not?"

"They were. I mean, really tight and close."

"No gaps and no bulge at the bottom?" Lauren asked.

"None," he said.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"The scar. What Sarah said about…" the young doctor began.

Bo laughed, "William, I wore a tux to my wedding. I wouldn't be caught dead in a dress."

"Oh," he said, "Really?"

Bo smiled, "I live in Mukluks, sneakers and boots on my feet. I wear tight, jeans or carpenter's pants on my legs. I have never worn a pair of heels in my life. I've never owned a dress."

"Really?" William asked.

"I'm gay, William. Really, really gay. I border on butch. I just happen to like long hair and make-up – dark eyeliner, specifically. I love black and, well, Rudy does my nails because she likes it."

"Okay then," William said, "I'll go get a suture tray set up. Doctor Newsome, you come with me and show me what we'll need. We'll head back to the lab and do a quick review. Actually…"

He pulled off one end of Bo's adhesive bandage and snapped a picture, then another. He brought over the portable magnifier, switched on the light and looked again,

"Doctor Newsome? See the problem?"

"Yes, Doctor McFarland. There's a gap there and the stitch overlapped here."

William stood, "Recommendation, Doctor Lewis?"

Lauren walked around the bed and had a look, "Doctor Newsome?"

The younger woman shrugged, "I say restart. There's no way to remove just the problem stitches. I mean, you could start from the gap, but that would mean removing the excess skin. I would vote for realigning the incision and the suturing from there."

"To do that, you'll need a sterile field," Lauren explained.

The doctor nodded, "There's a clean room down the hall."

"Good idea. Call an orderly for pick up and we'll meet you there."

William leaned into Lauren, "Are you sure about this?"

Lauren nodded, leading him over to the window, "Doctor Newsome, he'll meet you in the lab."

The young woman nodded, heading out of the room while Lauren turned back to William,

"We cannot keep following the old school protocols of keeping students in line for small surgical experience until they're residents, William. Now, you've had this class in the lab daily for three months. You're burning through lab supplies for drills that serve only to provide practice on rubber tissue. Give her a chance to feel the difference, then allow her to explain what she felt to the class. If they see that you gave her this opportunity, they will all want the opportunity. They'll work harder to get the chance you've given her."

She paused before adding, "Just remember – be sure they keep a healthy attitude as a group. Everyone cheers on the underdog. No one is the superstar."

"Yea? Tell that to Taft."

"Well, I have a feeling she's going to leave Taft in her dust. Same with that Doctor Brian Merino."

He nodded, "Got your note, talked to Anna."

"Great. I think he's brilliant, William. But we have to get him around this PTSD."

"Lauren, not everyone is cut out to be a surgeon."

"William, I have PTSD from my military background."

"What?"

"Why do you seem to be asking me to repeat myself a lot today?"

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I had no idea you were in the military."

"Navy and Marines… most tours in Marine units on land, several on board ships."

He shook his head, "There's so much that people don't know about you."

Lauren nodded, "And I'd like to keep it that way, William," she smiled, "It keeps the mystery alive."

"Ha. Ha. So, you're saying you've been where this kid is."

"He's not a kid. He's my age. He did extra tours until his partner was killed by a suicide bomber. Went for a biomed degree so he could build prosthetics which is how he ended up starting over again for a career in ortho."

"Oh, shit."

Lauren nodded, "He has experienced trauma. His specialty became amputation because the doctors at the base in Germany requested, he do them. He was leaving them plenty of extra tissue to work with to create a viable recipient limb to a prosthetic. He also worked with a non-profit for children's prosthetics. Kids who lost limbs to land mines. William, he wants to work with Neuro to build prosthetics. He has the background and the desire. Your prosthetics lab could become a reality. All of the people you've seen with frostbite could have replacement limbs… or at least some."

"We still need to educate the pilots about preservation of tissue. That's key."

Lauren nodded, "And we'll have time to do that, but I want you to talk to the university about his progress. He left medicine for the service as a licensed doctor – cardiology. He considered trauma, but – well, it's not for everyone on the front lines. That's how he ended up doing ortho with a specialty built right in because he was good at something he loved. He was sending guys home with a chance."

William nodded, "I'll get on it. Probably not until tomorrow, but I'll talk to him and his professors."

"Thank you. See you in the clean room."

"See you there."

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