Caught in the Middle

Chapter 38

So won't you press me, press me, press me harder
I can hardly breathe, but I love to feel the heat
When you press me, press me, press me harder
I can hardly speak, but I love the way it feels under your pressure
Pressure – Ivy Adara
(https://open.spotify.com/track/4qmTthuSSGU7YDTKnIcC4C?si=5cb2485c0d9f4e00)

"Va Bene, Susan. Take one tablet in the mornings for a week and come back for a follow-up. If your symptoms don't approve, please call my office for a consultation. Don't spend weeks in pain again before seeking help." My patient looks over my shoulder innocently, taking the small paper bag with her medication from me. I listen to her talk while writing down which medication I prescribed and tests I ran on her to justify it. "Have a lovely afternoon, Susan. Say hi to your sister for me, please." I hand her chart off to the nurse at the reception desk at Bailey's clinic, before taking the new file from her.

"Examination room four, Dr. Deluca." I say goodbye to Susan one more time as she makes her way to the door while I start walking in the direction of the examination rooms. My phone pings in my white coat with a notification of a text from Jo. I knock on the door of Dr. Bailey's office, waiting for a signal before going in. "Caio, Dr. Bailey. I need to head back to the hospital after this patient, if you're ready to take over?" She raises her brow at me, tapping her pen against her pile of paperwork. "You said you could man the floor until two, Deluca."

I look behind me when one of our volunteers rushes down the hall. "Ehm, it's almost three. I have consultations with Wilson's patients who she couldn't postpone, while she's taking the attending's exam. And then I need to do both our rounds before going home to finally see my wife for the first time in days." At hearing the time, Bailey gets up from her desk, unhooking her white coat from behind the door before slipping it on. "Tell me about it. If I didn't love the boys so much, I might be jealous of all the time they get to spend with Ben. As if their job isn't hard enough, now it's making us see them even less."

I keep the door open for her to pass me, catching the files she stuffs into my arms while looking for something specific. "I know, right? I'm jealous of a seventeen- and four-year-old. Wilson can be extremely grateful that I'm so invested in her career, or I would have put her in that shuttle without quizzing her once." At least Maya has been equally busy, quizzing her own protégée at her SATs while running around Seattle with her. Come to think of it, I've seen more of Maddi than I have my own wife this week, since we only found the perfect shoes for her stunning prom dress yesterday after school.

"You would think she'd be more prepared seeing how she was a general attending for a few months before joining you on the dark side." I laugh with her, reminding her that her name is on the sign outside for a reproductive healthcare clinic. "According to her latest update, she only threw up once after the examiners called for lunch. So, I think that's progress." Bailey finally finds the file she's looking for, before stacking another pile of papers on top of the ones already in my arms. "She's going to be fine. Wilson is a good egg." I shake my head at how disorganized the former chief of surgery is.

"Dr. Deluca. Can you take one more patient in consultation room one? She's one of your regulars, who's only here for a quick follow-up." The nurse looks expectedly at me, holding the file under her chin. Bailey rolls her eyes, grabbing the file out of the nurse's hands before dumping the stack of paperwork into her arms and handing the single file to me. "Chop, chop, Deluca. You're already running late, remember?" She doesn't give me a chance to worm myself out of it, because the feisty woman turns around on her heels and disappears.

Lucky for me, the consult was just to get her birth control prescription renewed and my other patient just lost her virginity and wanted to make sure her boyfriend didn't tear anything. I was back on track with my in-hospital patients within the same hour I got back to my office. Now I'm just running between two delivery rooms, a consultancy bed and my office where the dietician should be finishing up her consultation with one of my patients. "Carina? Carina!?" The familiar voice forces me to drop my hand from the doorknob to check on my patient who has been in labor since this morning and have hardly dilated more since. "Molly? Is everything okay?"