Chapter 10: Call me Daddy

It's midnight and I am just now climbing into bed. Work had been nightmarish, for June it was freakishly hot today and I think that everyone in the city had fallen off their rockers and decided today was the day that they were going to beat whatever they could get their hands on up.

There had been fist fight injuries, stabbings, and more than one youngster with a roller-blade injury. I had splinted arms, put casts on legs, wrists, wrapped knees, sutured cuts, and been puked on several times by various people who had had too much sun. After a hot shower and another shift at 7 am all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and close my eyes to get some sleep. Max was still at work, he had the 7 pm to 7 am one tonight. Lucky him, there wasn't much left over by the time that I had gotten done to help them get caught up from the overflow that had come in during the late afternoon hours.

The sharp loud horrible sound of my phone ringing tells me that I am not going to get to go to sleep anytime soon. "This had better be good." I say as I pick it up, thinking that it's work calling me back in again, or some resident needing something that one of the other attending doctors just couldn't provide.

"Well hello to you to."

"Doug?" I glance at the clock, only Doug would call at midnight and be that chipper on the phone considering he was three hours behind in time zones.

"How ya doing Anns?"

"I'm tired Doug." I say into the phone. "How are you doing?"

"I'm great," he says back to me, "Carol and the girls are here and finally settled in. They are so beautiful; I wish you could see them."

"Doug what time is it?" I say, here we go again, this wasn't the first time he had called, last time he called after a shift and it was 2 am.

"Nine." He replies back to me.

"Nine really huh," I say glancing over at my clock, I really have to fight this time however not to be over sarcastic with him, "you know I just got off work I went in at 7 this morning and rather than work the 12 that I was supposed to I ended up working an extra 4 and a half hours tonight."

There's silence now on the phone as I think that he's doing the math to that one, not that it's complicated or nothing but still.

"Oh man I am sorry Anns." I finally hear him say I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I hadn't gotten to sleep yet. I've only been home maybe a half hour and I so needed a shower tonight it wasn't even funny."

"Bad day?"

"Not so much a bad day as it has been a very long hot day." I say rolling over onto my bad, "it was a 103 here today for some dumb reason, short tempers and kids out of school, that's never a good combination."

"No it's not." He says to me.

"Yeah so, what's going on, any particular reason for calling me in the middle of the night."

"It's not the middle of the night… well not here."

"That's it Doug, swear to god the next time that I move I'm moving to a spot where the time zone difference works in my favor not in yours."

"You wouldn't do that to me."

"Ha," I half laugh back, "right now, just try me."

"Dr. Grumpy." He says back to me as we joke back and forth with each other for a few minutes.

Doug tells me all about how the girls are doing, how great it's been since Carol came up to Seattle. He tells me about how they found her a nice job and that it's got a great day care on site for the girls. I can tell by talking to him for even just a few minutes how much better things have gotten for him having his family there in Seattle with him.

"Ah Doug it sounds really nice." I say after listening to him for awhile, "I can't say that I am green with envy though, I like being able to sleep through the night. Okay well I guess tonight you were just busting to share the joy of not sleeping all night and being sleep deprived with me."

"Hey I already said I was sorry for that."

"I know I should tattoo Anna is three hours later than me on some part of your body so that you won't forget, although I'm surprised that Carol didn't remind you."

"She's upstairs laying down with Kate."

"Well then that explains my late hour phone call from you. Sneaking in behind her back to call me so that she can't keep you from doing it." I say, "oh well but I really should get to bed, it's late and I have a 7 am shift in the morning."

"Yeah I should let you go, I think I hear Tess stirring and I don't want her to wake Carol and Kate up if they have fallen asleep."

"Guess that I should call you daddy now." I laugh softly rolling over onto my side so that I can hang the phone up in a few minutes.

"A proud one at that." I can tell by his voice that he's smiling.

"You're going to be a great one too, I know it." I say, "give them kisses from me and tell Carol I say hello. I'll talk to you later."

"Night Anna."

"Night Doug." I say leaning over to hang up the phone. My head hits the pillow again and with in a few minutes I am out like a light. Dreaming my happy thoughts happy for him and Carol finally getting their acts together.