"Got some good news for me today?"
Christina had been in the hospital for four days and although most of her time was spent walking it's halls as employee she found that as a patient, she was more then ready to leave it's walls.
"Well let's take a look at you and then I'll let you know whether or not the news is good or not."
Dr. Tanner stepped over to Christina and had her pull up her gown so he could take a look at the sutures he put in. He gentle touched the area which was still a little tender. Christina tried to hide her wince but neither Dr. Tanner or Tom who had only been standing a few feet away missed it.
"Still sore huh?" Dr. Tanner asked.
"A little."
"That's to be expected. The site is healing quite nicely though, and that's what I like to see. The rest of the chart tells me that you're recovering well Christina. You've got one more obstacle before I can make my final determination. That's your temperature. It's been a little high and I want to make sure it's running normal before I let you go."
Candi stepped forward with the thermometer when Dr. Tanner motioned for her to come over. She popped the thermometer into Christina's waiting mouth.
"Keep your fingers crossed." Candi said.
Christina sat on the bed with her fingers and toes crossed.
It seemed like forever before the thermometer beeped. Christina tried to read Candi's face as she looked at the temperature but it was blank. It didn't take a genius to figure out that if Candi wasn't smiling and jumping for joy that her temp wasn't where it should be.
Candi took the thermometer out of Christina's mouth and popped the plastic cover off it into the garbage.
"It's high isn't it?" Christina asked.
"101.4. That concerns me. I'm going to start you on a around of IV antibiotics and have some blood work done just to rule out an infection. I don't think there is anything going on inside there but I would rather air on the side of caution."
Dr. Tanner grabbed Christina's chart and wrote down the antibiotics he wanted her to start on then handed the chart to Candi.
"I'll be right back with this." Candi said then quickly headed out the door.
Dr. Tanner saw the sad look on Christina's face and he felt bad for having to keep her but it really was for the best.
"Christina, I'm really sorry. I know you wanted to go home today."
Christina sighed. "It's ok. I understand."
Candi came back in with a IV bag and a small bag of the antibiotic Dr. Tanner prescribed. She removed Christina's old IV bag and replaced it with the new one along with the antibiotic bag. Once they were all connected she started the drip on both.
"Alright, let's see how this works and I'll be in to check on you in the morning. In the meantime, I'll leave you in capable hands of Nurse Sullivan. And I'll leave this for Tom."
Christina watched as Dr. Tanner pulled his note pad out and wrote something on it for Tom. He pulled off the note and handed it to Tom.
Tom looked at it then laughed.
"You make sure to follow that to the letter." Dr. Tanner said with a wink.
"I will."
"And on that note, I'm outta here. You take care Christina and I'll see you both tomorrow."
"Bye Dr. Tanner and thank you."
"Christina, I'll be back to get that blood drawn." Candi said then walked out with Dr. Tanner.
"Ok."
Christina looked over to Tom who quickly shoved the note into his pocket.
"What did he write?"
Tom walked over to Christina's bed and started to bend down towards her head.
"That's for me to know and you to find out." Tom said then gave her a kiss on the forehead.
Christina was about to ask what that was supposed to mean when Tom's beeper went off.
"I thought you were off?"
"I am. Or at least I was supposed to be."
Tom looked at the number on his beeper then picked up the phone that was right by him on Christina's night stand.
"This is Dr. Wakefield you paged?"
Christina saw the look on Tom's face and knew that what every the person on the other line was saying to him that it wasn't good.
"Alright, I'll be right there. Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll be there."
Tom hung up the phone and sighed heavily.
"What's going on?"
"That was Dr. Peterson. Dr. Meyers was supposed to scrub in with him today for a surgery but he is in surgery himself and can't make it."
"Meyers is in surgery?" Christina asked confused. "Why is he doing a surgery when he's scheduled for this one?"
"No, he's not doing surgery, he's having surgery done on him. His appendix burst so he's in emergency surgery right now."
"Oh. So, why did Peterson tap you?"
"I owe him and the patient he is operating on used to be mine."
"Who is it?"
"Mr. Hernandez. You remember, he was here a few weeks ago on four west."
"Awww. I remember him. He was such a nice old man."
"Nice? More like dirty old man. He keep trying to pinch your butt."
Christina smiled wickedly.
"Jealous?"
"There is only one person who should be trying to pinch your butt."
"Really? And who would that be?"
"You're looking at him."
"I think I have another part of me that requires you're touch."
Christina reached up and grabbed Tom's shirt and started to pull him down for a kiss when there was knock on the door. They both groaned.
"I think that's my cue to leave ." Tom said.
"I know. I'll see you later right?"
"Yup."
"Thank you Tom. I know this is not exactly where you want to spend your nights."
"Hmmm let's see. Spend my nights alone or next to one of the most beautiful women on the planet? I think I made the made the right choice."
Christina blushed at Tom's words.
Another knock on the door broke the moment they were sharing.
Christina sighed. "Come in."
Candi walked in and the romantic in her felt bad for breaking up the mood that Tom and Christina were just in.
"Sorry guys. It's blood work time."
"It's ok. I have to go anyway." Tom said then turned back to Christina who was looking sad when Tom said he had to go. He lifted her chin with his finger. " I'll see you later."
"I'll be here." she said with a smile.
Tom not wanting to be unprofessional around Candi gave Christina a kiss on the side of her head then left.
Candi was so into the mushy scene going on in front of her she almost forgot the reason why she was there.
"Do they make anymore like him?" Candi asked.
"Nope. He's one of a kind."
Tom was walking down the hall when he saw Kelly and Camille coming off the elevator. They both waived at him and started heading his way.
"Hey Tom!" Camille said.
"Hi Dr. Wakefield." Kelly in her usual bubbly manner.
"Well hello to you both. You're here early Kelly."
"You know me. Early bird. And,I was hoping to spend some time with Christina before my shift starts.
"Speaking of my mom...how is she?"
"She's getting better. Dr. Tanner has her on an antibiotic because she has a little bit of temp."
"Is that a bad thing?" Camille asked.
Kelly could see the worried look on Camille's face and she jumped in before Tom had a chance to answer.
"Antibiotics are a good thing. If anythings wrong with your mom they will be sure to knock it out."
"Kelly's right Camille. Dr. Tanner is taking every precaution to make sure your mom's gonna be alright. That's why he's doing blood work and giving her the antibiotics. Have faith ok."
"Ok. Is she awake?"
"Yeah, and not happy that her temp is making her stay longer."
"I wish there was something we could do to make her happier." Kelly said.
"Me too. She was really looking forward to coming home."
"Funny you two should say that."
Tom pulled the note Dr. Tanner gave him out of his pocket and let Camille and Kelly take a look at it.
"I have to be in surgery now but I need help with this. I wanna make this special for Christina. You two think you can help me out?"
"Oh yeah."Camille said.
"Oooo. A project. I love projects like this." Kelly said clapping her hands together.
"Great. I knew I could count on you two. My only request is that whatever you do has to fit with theme of the song I picked for Christina."
"Gotcha." Camille said.
"Don't worry Dr. Wakefield it will be great."Kelly said.
"Thank you ladies. I really gotta go now."
"I'll text you when we're done." Camille said.
"Ok. See you in a few."
Kelly waited until Tom was on the elevator then turned to Camille.
"What song are you guys talking about?" Kelly asked.
Camille laughed.
"I'll explain the whole thing to you but first, do we have some place to make this happened?"
Kelly thought for a moment then started jumping up and down in excitement when she realized the perfect place.
"I know just the spot."
Kelly saw the look on Camille's face and knew the wheels were spinning in that brain of hers.
"Good, show me."
Kelly and Camille turned back around and headed towards the elevator. Kelly pressed the up button and a moment later the doors to the elevator opened. Just before they closed Camille turned to Kelly.
"Do you know anyone who can make stars?"
You know you're a cute little love maker.
Foxy.
You know you're a sweet little love maker.
Foxy.
Sounds of Jimmy Hendrix's Foxy Lady filled the operating room. Hendrix's voice and the wail of his guitar sent everyone into a relaxed mood, which was a good thing considering that they were performing a triple bypass. Thankfully, the surgery had been going well. Couldn't be more text book.
"Ok, I think we are just about ready to close. I'm going to do one more check to make sure we got everything we were looking for."
While Dr. Peterson did his final inspection of Mr. Hernandez Tom felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was the third time in twenty minutes that it went off. He wished that he could look at it but his hands were full of Mr. Hernandez's organs.
Dr. Peterson smiled underneath his mask. He heard Tom's phone the first two times and had ignored it. Hearing it for the third time however, was an opening for some friendly ribbing.
"Three times Tom?"
Tom slightly looked up from what he was doing to Dr. Peterson.
"What three times?"
"Your phone going off."
"You could hear it? I'm surprised you can hear anything with how loud you play your Hendrix in here."
"It's not that loud."
"Oh yeah, then way did Dr. Nakumura ask his nurse to come in and tell you turn it down."
"Because he's an old fuddy duddy and can't appreciate the genius that is Hendrix. Why would anyone want to listen to sleepy old Bach when you can jam to Jimi? Besides, my team and I like it and that's all that counts to me. What do you listen to when you're in here?"
"Nothing. I usually wait to listen to music when I'm done or when I need to relax and think."
"You should try playing it while operating. You'd be surprised at how well things go when you have your favorite music on. But, we are getting away from the original topic."
"And that is?"
"Why is your phone vibrating? You gotta hot date tonight?" Dr. Peterson asked wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"As a matter of fact I do." Tom said.
"Really? Anyone I know?"
"Yes. Christina." Tom said smiling underneath his mask.
"Christina Hawthorne?" Dr. Peterson whistled. "Wow! She is hot!"
Dr. Peterson got serious for a second and looked up at Tom. "I was as sorry to hear she got shot. I've worked with her before and to say she is passionate about her patients is an understatement. You're a lucky man."
"I know. Christina is truly one in a million. And yes, she is hot."
Dr. Peterson chuckled.
"Well then, sounds like we need to get you out of here. I've checked all the T's and dotted the I's for Mr. Hernandez so why don't we close up."
"Sounds good to me."
"And in honor of you and your lovely lady we will close to"May this be love". A softer side of Jimi. Nurse Abbott if you please."
"Yes, doctor."
Waterfall
Nothing can harm me at all
My worries seem so very small
With my water fall