Love Knows No Yamato: Chapter Four
"June! Wake up! Wake up!"
"My baby! My baby!"
"June! Snap out of it! Wake up! Open your eyes!"
June fluttered opened her tear soaked eyes, which met with a pair of worried dark brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. "Wha-where…"
"To say that you were talking in your sleep is an understatement." Joe said, flipping on the lamp by the bedside table. "You were screaming, and when I came in you were tossing and kicking and punching the bed like crazy."
"Oh, Joe! It was terrible." June sobbed, grabbing a hold of him. "I was in the delivery room, and everything was going wrong…I was in so much pain…the baby…"
"Died?" Joe finished as June cried into his shoulder. "June, there is nothing to be scared about. You and your baby are fine! Hold on a sec." He said, climbing off the bed and padding back to the living room.
June wiped her tears on her nightshirt and took a sip of water sitting by the lamp, her hand trembling so badly that the majority wound up in the bed rather than her mouth.
A few seconds later, Joe padded back in holding what looked like a small TV with a small flat screen and a lot of buttons underneath it.
"Dr. McKnight turned a blind eye to letting me borrow the Sono-Site for tonight. It's a portable ultrasound that runs off batteries." Joe explained, detaching a small paddle from the side of the machine.
"You mean, I can see my baby?" June sniffled, as she pulled up her shirt. "I can see him or her?"
"See and hear!" Joe said, squirting the clear gel on the top of her stomach. "This unit comes with sound." He explained as he powered up the machine and set the paddle in the goo. "So, although Dr. McKnight turned a blind eye to me borrowing it, you can be darn sure he's not going to turn a blind eye to me NOT returning it."
Despite her nervousness, June giggled as Joe studied the screen. "Don't worry. If it gets lost, just tell Dr. McKnight I lost it. I know your salary won't be able to cover it--"
"Oop! There we go!" Joe said grinning as he flipped the screen so June can see. "There's Junior! Happy and healthy I might add."
June stared in awe at the black and white form on the screen, moving and floating. She smiled and set her hand on her stomach, wiggling her fingers through the clear gel.
"And if you think that's something, let's switch to stereo." Joe said, pressing a button under the display screen.
"Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump…"
June's eyes lit up when she heard the gallop of her baby's heart in her body and saw it move and squirm inside her, and actually feel the movements as she watched them.
"Fetal heart tones are 180. That's perfect for a child this age. Especially after you having such and intense dream." Joe explained, doing one quick pass over her stomach with the paddle. "He or she is in a good position to be delivered. No complications as far as I can see with delivery."
June breathed a sigh of relief as Joe turned the machine off and wiped the gel away from June's stomach. "I feel so much better. I mean, after that dream and…"
"June, you're all right. The baby is all right. It was just a stupid dream. Now, let's try and get some sleep. You need the rest, and I have a shift tomorrow in OB/GYN."
"Thank you so much Joe. I'm sorry to wake you up so late." June said, finishing up the water in the glass. "
"June, I'm an OB in training." Joe said, waving it off. "I love the nightlife."
"Can I ask you one small favor?" June said, her cheeks flushed.
"Anything."
"Can you sleep here with me for a while? Just until I go to sleep?" June said, looking at her blanket with embarrassment. "I know that sounds weird, and you don't have to do it if you want—"
"Scoot over a little. I'm thin, but I'm not that thin."
June spun around behind her and saw Joe pulling back the covers and climbing into bed next to her. "What are you—"
"And, please try not to hog all the cover." Joe continued, fluffing up the pillows. "I don't want to catch my death of cold."
June looked at him in amazement. "You really don't—"
"You're my patient, and I have to keep you under close observation," The blue haired intern said, snuggling under the sheets. "Besides, it gets lonely out there on the couch."
June giggled. "Thank you Joe. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Good night!" Joe said, removing his glasses and setting them under his pillow.
"Nighty-night… my knight in shining armor." June sighed, as she turned off the bedside lamp.
"Joe, forgive me for saying this, but man, you look like crap." Dr. McKnight said, looking up at the intern from where he stood behind his desk. "What happened?"
"June had a uber-bad dream really late last night and I stayed up with her—" Joe explained, before a yawn cut him off. The metallic charts in his hands clattered loudly. "Did a quick ultrasound and I spent the night in there with her."
"Must have been a really bad dream," Dr. McKnight said, sitting at the corner of the desk. "For you to get up late and do a prenatal. Have a seat." He said, gesturing to the small couch along the wall.
"Thank you, sir." Joe sighed, slumping to the couch and collapsing down on it. "Oh, this feels so good." He sighed, contently, stretching his arms and legs.
"I should imagine it does." The doctor chuckled, shaking his head. "Now, what was the dream about?"
"The baby's head was too big to pass through the birth canal." Joe said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Prolapsed cord, big shoulders. Baby died in the womb."
"Hence the midnight in house call." Dr. McKnight said, nodding.
"Actually, I did it just to put June's mind at ease…as well as mine own." Joe admitted.
"And that's perfectly understandable. I would have done the exact same thing just to be on the safe side." Dr. McKnight said, patting Joe on the shoulder. "Making and standing by Judgement calls is part of the game we play."
"I understand, sir." Joe mumbled, curling up on the couch."Let me give you an example." Dr. McKnight said, walking back behind his desk. "Joe Kido, due to your present state of exhaustion, you are ordered to take the rest of the day off to recuperate. Sign out your patients and clock out."
"But what about—"
"That was an order, Mr. Kido." The doctor said, his voice deepening. "The other interns and residents will cover for you. You just go home and get some rest. A debilitated intern is no good to me or to the patients. Emphasis on the latter."
"Yes sir." Joe sighed, slumping up from the couch and walked out the door. "Thank you sir."
"Don't mention it." Dr. McKnight said, walking him out the door and down the hall, taking the medical charts he was carrying out his hands. "Give June my love."
"Sure will." Joe said, waking to the front desk.
"Hello, Dr. McKnight!" a voice called behind the African-American's back, causing him to jump.
"Gah! He shouted, spinning around on his heels to face a pair of amber colored eyes and brown hair with sparkly pink highlights.
"Oh, Kitai. It's you. Don't scare me like that!" He panted, holding his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Hey, where's Joe going?" Kitai asked, pointing at Joe as he stepped wearily in the elevator. "He looks beat."
"Going to get some rest. He's been hustling lately with a special project me and Dr. Miles assigned him."
"Oh yeah. I remember him mentioning something about that." She said, nodding. "Must have him staying up late many a night."
"You don't know the half of it. Can you do me a favor?" he asked, walking up to the front desk.
"Sure."
Dr. McKnight looked up at the patient sign-in board and did a little addition in his head. "Do you have a patient right now?"
"Nope. I just finished an exam in three and just signed her out." Kitai said, dropping the chart in the "Out" bin and erasing her name and patient off the board."
"Well, I got about three others for you." The doctor said, handing her three charts. "I need you to cover for Joe and see these guys before you head out for the day."
"But I—"
"I would be tempted to turn a blind eye to your obvious breech of hospital dress code for the remainder of your rotation here." Dr. McKnight said, eyeing at her peach colored scrubs. "Blue is the requirement in OB, not peach. You want to be a nurse or an OB resident?"
"Oh all right." Kitai sighed, taking the three charts in her hand. "I'll do it."
"Thank you very much, Miss Shinsei." Dr. McKnight said, bowing his head slightly. "Don't worry. Exam four is a simple pregnancy test, two is a quick 20-week check-up, and seven is an everyday post-natal exam. You should be finished with all that within an hour."
"Yeah right." She sighed, looking through the charts.
"It should take about an hour if you know what you're doing." Dr. McKnight said, as he spun on his heels and stepped back to his office. "Call if you need any help!"
"June, I'm home early." Joe called out into the apartment while he dropped his bag and pulled off his shoes.
"Hey, dude! What's going on!" A male voice called out.
Joe spun around and saw a spiked brunette head sticking out from the top of the couch, grinning broadly. "Long time no see, Mr. Big-Doctor-Man!"
"Davis! What are you doing here?" Joe exclaimed, padding towards the couch, looking at him in shocked amazement. "I thought--"
"If anybody asks, I'm at soccer camp, and I dropped my cell phone into the river." Davis said with a wink.
"Davis, you know how dangerous this is, right?" June said, starring him in the eyes. "If mom and dad find out that you're here with me—"
"You've been worrying about that the whole time I've been here!" Davis said, laughing, setting a hand on her round stomach. "What's mom and dad going to do? Chuck me out just for visiting my own sister and nephew-in-training? See? Junior agrees with me!"
"Nephew in training?" June snickered, shaking her head. "That's a new one. All right. You can stay, but if mom and dad find out, you're on your own…literally."
"Don't worry! You're dealing with the invincible soccer dragon!" Davis said, jumping up off the couch and assuming a Kung-Fu stance. "Armed with soccer skills that know no equal!" He said, sliding along the floor and diving behind the couch. "I leave no trace! I glide like a summers breeze through the ni—whoa!" he cried as he slipped on the wooden floor, falling on his behind with a loud thud.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dingbat." Joe sighed, shaking his head.
June fell over on the couch, screaming with laughter. "I glide like a summers breeze through the night!" she quoted, pounding on the couch. "I leave no trace! I leave no—ha, ha, ha!"
Davis stood up, laughing; now totally embarrassed. "Heh, heh, heh. Guess I'm not as graceful on a floor than I am on the soccer field." He said, scratching behind his head.
"Maybe if you pulled up your socks, you would be more graceful and flow better." Joe offered.
"Hey! Chicks dig floppy socks!" Davis said, grinning. "Now, when do we eat? I'm starving! I'm so hungry, I would treat everybody!"
"Yeah, you would treat everybody all right." June said, rolling her eyes. "Treat everybody to an egg roll and a cup of water, ya cheapskate."
TO BE CONTINUED…