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Ellie is a bright and bubbly, yet dedicated new nurse in the Emergency Department at Chicago Medical Institute. Dr. Harry Styles, meticulous, hardworking, and driven, is the head of the department. Ellie's little q...
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Back on the job, Harry and I fell into a covert rhythm of relating to each other, occasionally sneaking the speedy kiss in his office or a quick hug when we were absolutely alone. I had a feeling that he pulled some strings because now our schedules coincided perfectly, which was great for obvious reasons; if we worked the same shifts, we also had the same time off. Even with our schedules coinciding, his ever-increasing list of responsibilities for the pediatric ER still meant we had to be creative about spending time together.
For some reason, tonight's shift seemed miserable. It must have been the weather. With heat indexes well over 100 and humidity so high that no amount of air conditioning could get rid of it, everyone was a tad on the cranky side. To top it off, Mrs. Clark was back in the ER, the one who had given me hell for suggesting that her "heart attack" was actually anxiety. The charge nurse for the night asked if I would please take her since everyone else was afraid of her.
"Why me?" I asked with a mild whine in my voice.
"Because you put her in her place last time she was here. Maybe she'll show you some proper respect," Elaine reasoned.
"That's a big maybe," I laughed as I went to find Mrs. Clark's chart before looking in on her. I logged on to my computer and I was surprised that she was having a few new symptoms, loss of appetite, resulting in weight loss and abdominal pain. I finally entered her room, and I was shocked by her appearance. She couldn't have been here more than a month ago, but this time she was pale and emaciated. She gave me a weak frown and said, "What took you so long?" As if she absolutely had to keep up the appearance of being mean and nasty when in reality, her feeble voice couldn't have scared away a mouse. I could tell the weight loss had already taken a toll on her energy level. How had this come upon her so quickly? My gut immediately said cancer, having seen far too many cancer patients during my oncology rotations, but of course, I had no hard evidence, and I wasn't allowed to make a diagnosis, no matter how strong my gut instinct. Obviously.
I pushed my own fears for her into the back of my mind. "Well, now, Mrs. Clark, I couldn't very well be on time, now could I? If I did everything perfectly, you'd have no reason to complain." I made sure to smile so she'd know I was teasing.
It came as a surprise when she smiled back. "Oh, Ellie, you can't let it get out that I'm starting to like you."
"It's be our secret," I quipped. "So why don't you tell me exactly what's been going on?"
She began by saying that the abdominal pain had begun a few weeks earlier, and she'd hardly had a bite to eat since then. I flattened the examination bed and had her show me exactly where the pain was. Carefully pressing into her abdomen where she'd indicated, I felt something unusual. I palpated the area surrounding the pain, and I didn't like what I was feeling. Trained not to let my emotions show while caring for a patient, I simply smiled and told her that Dr. Styles would be in shortly. I took her vitals and sped to my next patient, but not before tracking Harry down instead of calling him; one, because I just wanted to see his face after a three-hour dry spell, and two, because I was genuinely worried about Mrs. Clark.
