Andy sighed as he entered Three Rivers for the night shift. He was supposed to have gone back home for some sleep although that hadn't happened. And even if Rena hadn't stopped by, the hotel wasn't really his home. His home was with Rena, even though she claimed Three Rivers was his home. He stopped by the nurse's station where Pam came up behind him, "Hey," she smiled.
Andy turned around to face the younger woman, "Hey," he smiled back.
"Dr. Jordan wanted you to consult her and examine one of her patients, Jason Benson," said Pam handing Andy Jason's medical chart.
"Okay," said Andy, scanning the chart and walking away from her.
"And another thing," said Pam hesitantly and Andy turned around to face her again, "I have two more tickets to the Pirates/Indians game on Saturday, you interested?"
Andy bit his lip pondering on how to answer his colleague and friend, "Hold onto the tickets. I'll see if Rena is willing to go."
Andy arrived in Jason's room and scanned the chart once more before he spoke, "Mr. Benson?"
Jason looked up and said, "Yes doctor? And please, call me Jason."
"I'm Dr. Yablonski, I'm one of the attending surgeons here at Three Rivers. I understand that you've been having some chest pain and shortness of breath?"
"That's correct," Jason confirmed.
Andy took a deep breath and said, "Well the results from your MRI came back. And it isn't good news. The results show that your heart has enlarged, it's called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy."
Jason took a deep breath as he absorbed the information, "Is there something I did to cause this doctor?"
"No, your condition seems to be genetic," said Andy, "But now that the diagnosis has been confirmed, we have to start talking treatment."
"And what kind of treatment are we looking at?" asked Jason.
"Jason, you need a new heart," informed Andy.
Jason lied there shocked for a few moments before he said, "You mean? You mean like a heart transplant?"
"Yes," Andy confirmed.
"Wow," said Jason, "So what happens now?"
"We get you listed with UNOS, keep you as stable as possible, wait for a good heart to come in," said Andy.
"And that's it?" asked Jason.
"Well, after a surgery and a prescription of anti-rejection meds," said Andy.
"Well do what you've got to do doctor," said Jason.
"Okay, let's get this staff meeting started," said Sophia walking into the conference room and taking a seat at the head of the table, "First up, Dr. Lee."
David stood and opened up his patient's file on the screen, "Patient's name is Jack Hanson, 22 year old male, end stage liver failure from acute hepatitis. Liver enzymes are elevated and his liver has shut down completely. We will be looking for living donors but I'd also like to list him in case we can't find any. Any objections?" The staff stayed silent and David said, "Okay, next up Andy," he said gesturing towards Andy.
Andy stood and pulled up Jason's medical chart, "Patient's name is Jason Benson, 46 year old male, diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Dr. Jordan can confirm he meets all the criteria for transplant, any objections?" The staff nodded in agreement with Andy.
Miranda looked at herself in the mirror one final time. Honestly, she didn't know why she cared how she looked she never gave a crap growing up or anytime before now, "Oh Miranda, it's just dinner between friends. You both are going dutch," she whispered to herself. She heard a knock at the door and went to answer it to make sure David didn't wait too long, "Hey David," she said.
"Hi," he said looking around a little awkwardly.
"Oh please, come in," said Miranda stepping aside to let him into the house.
"So um, what were you thinking for dinner tonight? Wings, Indian, pizza, burgers?" listed David.
"I've always been a sucker for Chinese food," admitted Miranda.
David nodded and asked, "Chinese then?"
"That sounds good," said Miranda looking to make sure she had enough cash for her meal, "Crap, David we have to run to the bank before dinner. I forgot to get cash on the way home from work."
"If you don't have the money, I can pay," said David hesitantly.
"David that wasn't the deal. We said we'd pay for our own meals…"
"And we will," he said putting his hands on her shoulders, "You can go to the bank and pay me back Monday."
Miranda sighed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle, "Okay if you insist."
Rena and Phil had just left the interrogation room after questioning their latest suspect when Rena's cell phone began to ring, "Yablonski," she answered not bothering to look at the caller ID.
"Hey honey, er, Rena," said Andy, "Listen, Pam told me she has two extra tickets to the Pirates/Indians game tomorrow and she wanted to know if we wanted to go."
Rena stopped suddenly. Phil turned around to face his partner and Rena said, "I'll be there soon. I have to take this." Phil nodded and went back to the main station, "Are you sure Andy. I mean we are separated," she said bitterly.
"I know," pleaded Andy, "Listen, this doesn't have to be a date. Even if we're separated we can still be friends right?" Rena sighed holding back her pain and hurt. She didn't know if she could be friends with a man who betrayed her. And that same man she still had deep feelings for and still loved, "We can pay for our own beer and food. We can even have Pam sit in between us. We can be three friends hanging out together, just like old times."
Rena took a deep breath, "Okay on one condition. After the game, we come back home and talk, and by talk I mean talk and not, you know…"
"Engage in an act of love…"
"Andy!" Rena shouted frustrated, "No, nothing like what we did the other day. I want to talk about what you did and the next step in our marriage. Or the ending of it."
Rena heard silence on the other end before Andy said, "Okay deal." Rena hung up the phone, but not before she heard her estranged husband tell her the four words she loved yet hated to hear from him, "I love you Rena." Rena wiped away the few tears from her cheeks before she reported back to the main conference room.