Dani slouched in the corner of the lumpy, mustard-colored sofa pushed up against the wall in the OR lounge and propped her feet on the edge of the coffee table. She cradled the phone against her shoulder and dialed the dictation extension.
“This is Dr. Dani Chan, dictating an op note on Marsha D’Angelo, date of birth four, four, 1947, hospital number 100-3729. Attending surgeon, Ronald Chu MD, assistants, Dani Chan MD and Lawrence Chatell DO.” She closed her eyes and continued dictating, working her way through the case from the time they brought the patient into the room, prepped and draped, made the incision, exposed the vital organs, isolated the blood supply, resected the tumor, and repaired the large bowel. She felt someone sit down beside her as she finished up.
“Once the anastomosis had been completed, the abdomen was irrigated with two liters of sterile saline, a suction drain was placed in the left lower quadrant, brought out to separate stab incision, and the abdomen was closed in layers using Monocryl on the peritoneum, two-oh running Prolene on the fascia, and a running subcuticular three-oh Prolene on the skin. The drain was secured in place with a figure of eight, two-oh Prolene and attached to suction. After the application of sterile dressings, the patient was extubated uneventfully and transported to the recovery room. Thank you very much, Dani Chan, MD dictating.” She set the phone down and glanced to her neighbor. Zoey munched a Mr. Goodbar, her pea-green clogs on the floor beside her and her feet tucked beneath her.
“I didn’t even know they made those anymore,” Dani said.
“They’re in the vending machine,” Zoey said. “They must make them somewhere.”
“They probably ran out of everything else and found those in the back of some warehouse. Give me a bite.”
Zoey held out her hand with the half-unwrapped candy bar, and Dani leaned over and took a bite. It was good.
“Thanks,” she said, after she swallowed.
“I thought you had plans tonight,” Zoey said.
Dani grimaced. “Yeah, me too, but I haven’t heard from Ren.”
Her GI case had run pretty late, but she’d been hanging around killing time, and it was after six. She’d texted Ren but hadn’t gotten an answer. She hadn’t even been able to reach Raven to get a game going to occupy herself.
“She can’t be in the OR,” Dani said, “because I’ve looked and I didn’t see any cases running.”
“No, we finished all the cases about four—in fact I was just about to hunt her down myself so we can make sign-out rounds. I’ve got a date.”
“What, you and Dec are still at the dating stage?” Dani snorted. “You’re practically living together.”
“So what, we can’t have dates? That’s part of the reason we don’t live together. I told you, every night is date night with us.”
“Please,” Dani said, “spare me.”
“Well, you did ask.”
“I didn’t ask—I made a comment. That’s a statement not requiring a response.”
“Well, if you mock me, then there will be a response.” Zoey stretched out a leg and poked her with her toe. “You’re just in a bad mood because you were counting on getting some tonight.”
“I most certainly was not.”
Zoey cocked her head. “You sound serious.”
“I am serious. Dinner, I told you that.”
“Well, that’s the beginning of the evening,” Zoey said as if Dani was a little bit slow. “But then there’s after dinner, and after-after dinner.”
Dani shook her head. “No, it’s not like that.”
“Yeah, that’s what you told me. I’m wondering what it is like since you can’t find her.”
“Hey, be nice, I’m suffering.” Her phone vibrated beside her, and she grabbed it.
So sorry. I got stuck in the ER. Clear now. Still need to do sign outs. So sorry!
Dani let out a breath. No big deal. It’s still early. Seven?
Yes!
Zoey’s phone beeped, and she looked at it.
“Well, Ren’s appeared.”
“She was in the ER,” Dani said flatly.
“That’s not surprising,” Zoey said. “She literally lives there.”
“I noticed. I’m kinda glad I didn’t have to compete with her every single year of our residency,” Dani muttered.
“You can say that again. Doesn’t she ever get tired? Doesn’t she ever sleep?”
“I don’t know. I’m usually sleeping.”
Zoey laughed. “Or staying up half the night playing World of Warcraft.”
“I’m not playing Warcraft,” Dani said and grinned.
“Whatever.”
“Besides, that’s different. That’s relaxation, not work.” Dani frowned. “I haven’t even been able do that all that much lately. Super busy.”
“How’s your project coming?”
“Slow.” Dani grinned. “I’ll get there, though.”
“I know you will.” Zoey stood and stretched. “I should go, so we can finish sign-outs, and Ren can put you out of your misery.”
“I don’t think that’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Zoey laughed. “I hope you have fun.”
“Yeah,” Dani said, half to herself. “Me too.”
She’d been looking forward to it all week. In between everything else she had to do on the floor and in the ER and working on her research project, she’d think about Ren and imagine spending more time with her. She hadn’t been as anxious to do anything like that in longer than she could remember. The only thing that really gave her any kind of thrill was doing a challenging case in the OR and knowing it had gone well and that she’d done a good job. That never got old, but sometimes it felt like there ought to be more.
This week she had the feeling maybe there was.
She still had a good forty-five minutes to kill and texted Raven again, hoping to fill the time with something more than the impatient jangling of her entire nervous system.
Hey, you around for a quick game?
After a minute or two, she figured she wasn’t going to get an answer. That happened. Online connections were hit or miss, and she wondered why she’d never made any move to find out more about Raven. Raven was a constant in her life, someone she communicated with almost as much as she did with Zoey, and yet other than her texts, she had no place to put her. No face, no image of her at work or play, no sense of who she was in the world. Except the last couple of times, when she sensed Raven’s excitement. That something had changed for her. Raven’d even said as much when she’d mentioned meeting someone. That probably explained why she wasn’t around as much. Dani laughed. What an idiot. Of course that’s why Raven had disappeared. She was probably in the middle of some hot love affair.
The twinge of jealousy came out of nowhere, and she shook her head. Boy, was that dumb. She certainly had no hold on Raven, but she missed her. That was real. And they were friends, in the way that the internet allowed for friendship, and she would miss her if she lost her. But that’s what happened. You connected and got really tight, you maybe shared some things, and then life went on, and the internet didn’t create enough of a fabric to hold things together. You drifted apart, and the cycle started again. She’d had it happen a few times, but Raven had always seemed different. More real. And that’s why she missed her.
Her phone vibrated. Raven replying.
Still at work, pretty busy. Can’t now but later on tonight or tomorrow
Dani grinned. Sounds good have fun tonight
?
Hey, Friday night. Got plans?
:-) Maybe
I’ll take that as yes
:-)
I mean it, Dani texted, and she did. Have fun and I’ll catch you soon
for sure
Dani slid her phone in her pocket and went to change. Ren would be ready soon, and the surge of excitement, along with the nerves, came back.
* * *
“Okay,” Ren said, “we’re done. Laila, I’ll meet you at six tomorrow for rounds?”
The intern nodded vehemently. No sign that she was upset that her chief wanted to make rounds an hour ahead of everyone else’s.
“Great. I’ll have my beeper if there’s a problem. Call me before anyone else, okay?”
“Yes, I understand,” Laila said, apparently trying not to sound like she’d heard it every night at sign-out rounds.
Ren caught the inflection in her voice and grinned. “Okay, I know, you’ve heard it before.”
Laila colored. “I…um…”
Ren laughed. “It’s fine.”
Zoey slid her tablet into her backpack. “Well, I’m outta here. You walking out, Laila?”
“I have to check a couple of post-op X-rays,” Laila said. “You go ahead.”
“I’m done,” Steve, one of the juniors, said. “You want a ride, Zoey?”
“Sure, thanks.” She shot Ren a grin as she stood. “Have fun tonight.”
Ren blushed. She didn’t have time to stop it. She’d instantly thought of Dani, and the flood of anticipation that came over her every time she did caught her before she could tamp down her response. “Oh, right. Thanks.”
Zoey quirked a brow, gave her a little wave, and left with Steve.
Ren checked the time. Almost seven. She gathered her tablet and her empty water bottle and hurried through the cafeteria, dropping the empty container in the recycling bin as she passed. She rushed through the halls, up the stairs, and into the OR locker room. Five minutes. She could do it in five minutes. She slammed open her locker, grabbed the bag with her change of clothes, and scurried into the shower room. Two minutes to shower, a minute to dry off, a quick zap of the dryer to her hair, thirty seconds for a splash of lip gloss, and another minute to jump into capris, sandals, and a short-sleeved linen shirt. She stuffed everything back into her bag and stopped abruptly. Where was she supposed to meet Dani? Wonderful. She could remember every single page of every one of her textbooks, but she couldn’t figure out how to manage something as simple as a date.
Which of course was because it wasn’t simple at all. Especially not when it was all about doing something she had no experience with. No textbook, no mentor, no besties to tell her the step-by-step procedure. Beyond wanting to look at least clean and in something other than scrubs, she wasn’t sure what came next. But she was pretty sure finding out where Dani was waiting was probably a good idea.
Hi, where should I meet you?
Downstairs by the main entrance. Be there in a minute
me too
That crisis averted, she hurried downstairs, made her way through the lobby, and stopped when she didn’t see Dani. Of course, she’d been looking for someone in scrubs, and Dani was in tight black jeans, lace-up black boots, and a charcoal T-shirt that should’ve looked super-casual but looked anything but, clinging to Dani’s sharply defined shoulders and chest. Simple, and totally…wow.
Dani grinned. “Hey, Ren.”
“Oh. Hey,” Ren said, hurrying to join her. How long had she been standing there gawking? Even though Dani was way gawkable.
“You look nice,” Dani said softly.
“You look…amazing?”
Dani’s grin widened, and she laughed. “I think that was a question?”
“No, it absolutely wasn’t. It was a statement. Most definitely a statement.”
“Well then, thank you.” Dani motioned toward the door, pushed it open, and held it as Ren walked through.
“Hungry?”
“Yes,” Ren said, although what she was feeling was anything but. Her stomach was a mass of swirling sensations that she now understood to be butterflies. She’d never actually thought that statement could be true, but it clearly was. Dani even smelled good. Something citrusy and darkly fragrant, like oranges and oak, maybe. She’d had Scotch the one time in her life she’d tried going to a dorm party. She’d liked the smoky taste, but not much else about it. Dani had a hint of that smoky flavor about her.
“Whatever you’re wearing, it smells great,” Ren said.
Dani step hitched a beat, as if she was surprised. “Thanks. Again.”
“Sorry,” Ren said.
“For what?”
“I don’t actually know how to do this.”
“This?” Dani asked softly.
“Date?”
“There’s not a rule book.”
Ren was grateful that Dani wasn’t laughing. “There isn’t?”
“Nope.” Dani reached down and took her hand. “For example, there’s no rule that says you can’t tell me that you like the way I look or the way I smell. Anytime. I like it.”
“Well, you do and you do, and so do I.”
“You know, it’s weird,” Dani murmured, linking her fingers with Ren’s, “but I got all that.”
Ren took a breath and tried to think past the amazing sensation of Dani’s soft, warm hand entwined with hers. She’d touched hundreds of patients. She knew what skin felt like. But Dani’s—Dani’s skin tingled against hers. “I’m glad there’s no rule that says we can’t hold hands, either.”
Dani glanced at her, and her eyes glimmered. “Definitely not that one.”
“I bet there are some, though,” Ren said thoughtfully. “And if there are, I don’t know them.”
“So how about we just make up our own,” Dani said.
“That should make for interesting dinner conversation.”
“Ren,” Dani murmured, “every conversation with you is interesting.”
Ren knew there must be an appropriate response to that, but between the heat rising in her throat and the swirl of butterfly wings in her middle, all she could do was whisper, “I’m glad.”