Medically Speaking

Chapter 31

The hospital was just coming to life, like a person waking up and getting ready for their day. Shift change and morning rounds were soon, so nurses and doctors were straggling into the building, steam from their coffee cups mingling with the muggy air. Metallic wrappers around breakfast tacos from the food truck that camps out around the corner glint in the sun. It was too early for visiting hours, but I could see a few family members taking advantage of the early rays of sun to take a breather.

Despite getting a phone call just after 6 AM that they needed me for a few hours this morning, I had a smile on my face as I greeted the security guard by the door and the other personnel that joined me on the elevator. My ward was a little livelier than the main part of the hospital—there was a patient getting transferred down for pre-op and nurses were moving around, getting ready for shift change as grumpy tweens and teens whined about being woken up.

Leah was coming out of a patient's room and narrowed her eyes at me as I made my way to the break room. "You're... perky," she commented with mild disgust, following behind me. When I stopped to put my stuff away, I could see her appraising everything from my shoes, to my scrubs, to my ponytail that was smooth instead of a sleepily thrown together mess. "You're on call and you got called in. At seven in the morning. Why are you in a good mood?"

"Would you prefer it if I was grouchy?" I countered and it only made her more suspicious.

"Did you get body swapped? Kidnapped? What drugs did they give you and can I have some?"

I rolled my eyes and opened my bag to pull out an extra breakfast taco that I'd grabbed when I'd stopped at the food truck. Leah pounced on it, snagging it from my hands and cradling it like it was the One Ring and she was Gollum. Shaking my head, I said, "Sometimes people just wake up in a good mood. Sometimes people wake up and they're bright, cheerful, and well rested."

Leah broke out laughing. "Yeah, some people. You're not some people. You're Joey, who never gets enough sleep and normally comes in here looking like a bear coming out of hibernation when you're on call. You're only well rested after you've—" Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh my god. You got laid, didn't you?"

I threw a pen at her head. "No, lizard brain. It's just a regular, run of the mill, good mood." I slept about the same as I always do, I'm just not the walking dead, today.

Undeterred, she went on. "Is it because you started dating? Is my sweet little Joey-girl in love?!" I glared at her and she squealed. "You have hot boyfriends and you're in love! I'm so proud of you."

A dented box of kleenex was the next item from my locker that was thrown directly at her and she dodged it. "I'm not in love. It's been like two days and we're not even actually dating yet."

Leah nodded sagely. "Yep. You're in love. You're normally not one to get all sappy and shit after you start dating somebody. Should we start planning the wedding? I have a really cute dress in mind for the bridesmaids—"

This time I threw one of my spare shoes at her and she didn't turn fast enough, groaning as it collided with her stomach because she was too busy protecting her breakfast taco. "Don't start that crap with me, I know you're just trying to pawn off your second choice of bridesmaid dresses on me." She'd been lamenting over having to choose for months now and hinting that the decision would be easier if she knew of another wedding she'd be in where the one she didn't pick could be worn. "Try with April, at least she's been dating Devin for a year now."

"Face it, cutie pie. You're just like us now. A kept woman."

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide how uncomfortable she was making me. Did they make me happy? Yes. But it felt like way too soon to be putting any weight on it at all. "I'm as committed to them as I was to Miranda, and you saw how that turned out."