Jon rubbed his tired eyes, his phone alarm going off against his nightstand. He’d gotten maybe two hours of sleep, his mind too wired to shut off for much longer than twenty minutes at a time.
He slapped his hand over his phone, squinting against the brightness as he read a text from Dr. O’Neal. One of his patients was in labor.
A groan rumbled his throat as he pushed on his knees. He gave his back a good crack before heading to his open top drawer for some scrubs. His costume still lay crumpled on the floor from when he’d gotten home last night.
A sick taste of acid dropped into the pit of his stomach, and he tore his gaze away from the black fabric and found the brightest color of scrubs in his wardrobe. He had a pale blue that was spattered with orange paint from when he’d painted his bedroom wall. He threw those on and found his white coat, avoiding all things black or red or Halloween.
His phone buzzed again. His patient was getting the epidural block; she was five centimeters and ninety percent effaced. He shoved his phone in his pocket and rushed out the door. Breakfast would have to wait till after the baby got here. It was four in the morning, anyway.
Once in his mother’s car, which he still had, the scent of pizza hit his nose, and he rolled the window down, even though it was below forty outside and sprinkling. He didn’t want any reminder, didn’t want to go over and over on a loop, wondering if Cassidy bolted as soon as she realized who he was. A long apology was already in his mind for the deception, along with questions for Cassidy if and when she’d like to talk to him. He thought for sure he’d found the “one.” Last night had felt that real to him, been that big of a deal. And that kiss… good lord, he’d never been so enamored.
If it weren’t for her bizarre exit, he would’ve chalked last night up as the one he’d recite to his grandkids—the moment he’d fallen in love with their grandmother… and she hadn’t even known it was him.
That had to have been it. She’d finally caught a glance of him—his mask had been dangling from his face when she’d leapt away. Did she realize she was making out with her boss?
His heart sunk as he came to a stop light, and he slammed his head on the steering wheel. There was no way he could let this go, but he was terrified of the conversation.
A horn rang through the early morning, and he sent up an apology wave to the guy behind him and accelerated through the green light. The hospital was just a block away. He needed to get into the doctor mindset, do his job, and then deal with his jumbled thoughts of Cassidy later.
***
Jon tucked his fingers in the edge of the bloody latex glove at his wrist and pulled, dropping it into the bio garbage. He put on a reassuring smile, facing his patients.
“They’ll take good care of him,” he told the brand-new mothers. It’d been a rough delivery; third degree tears in the delivering mother, and the baby had swallowed so many fluids that he was taken immediately to the NICU. Neither mother had held him yet, and he knew both were clinging onto each other to compensate for the emptiness in their arms.
“Let’s get you into your room, and the nurse will update you as soon as you can see little Jeremy.”
“Thank you, Dr. Bateman,” Vi said, rubbing her wife’s sweaty hair back. Tears rolled down Bethany’s cheeks, her face red, her eyes baggy with exhaustion from pushing. Jon’s lip twitched, and he patted their joined hands resting on Bethany’s now deflated stomach.
“I’ll come check on you in a bit, too,” he assured them. “I know it’s tough, but try to get some rest. Jeremy’s stable and healthy. Little guy just needs some oxygen.”
They nodded, and he gave their hands a squeeze before leaving the delivery room. The hallways were buzzing, nurses coming in to take over for the night shift, doctors doing their rounds before heading to their offices. Jon found a traffic-less hallway, all decorated with playful skeletons and spiders for the kids, and rested against the wall, taking a breather.
That’d been a rough one. Three hours of touch and go, the baby’s heart rate going down and down and then up and up; he’d contemplated emergency c-section more than once, but ended up deciding to move forward with the vaginal delivery. It was done with now, but he grasped his hair and pulled, fighting the thoughts of if he should’ve done the cesarean. Bethany wouldn’t have torn so badly, and he could’ve saved Jeremy from swallowing so much fluid on his way out. They could be holding the little guy right now instead of wondering, worrying… They’d see so many tubes in him when they finally held him in a few hours.
He shook his head, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out on the count of ten. They were all alive, they would all be okay, and that was better than some of the deliveries he’d witnessed, and he would remind himself of that when this delivery started plaguing him, as it inevitably would when he was alone with his thoughts.
He pushed from the wall and made his way to the cafeteria. If he didn’t take the chance to eat now, he probably wouldn’t eat at all.
The hospital food was actually pretty good, and his doctor title got him first in line and free grub. When he started officially as a doctor, he was hesitant on the handouts, but after one week of nothing but cafeteria food at seven bucks a cinnamon roll, he got over that hang up real quick.
“Joe B!” Tyler, the kitchen manager said from the back when he spotted Jon taking a breakfast burrito—or two. Jon wrinkled his nose at the nickname, which the kitchen staff prided themselves on coming up with. Joe B… OB… for some reason, it made sense to them. Jon didn’t know if they knew his real name.
Tyler wiped his hands on a rag and came around to the counter, leaning his beefy, tattooed arms on the stainless steel. “You’ll want to try the salsa with that. Gabi did her secret salsa trick she refuses to share with the rest of us.”
“You’ll post it like you did with the sesame sauce!” Gabi called, waving a red-covered spoon. “See if I trust you again, even with those puppy eyes.”
Jon smirked. If those two weren’t hooking up, he’d be shocked. “Can’t wait to try it, Gabs!” he called back to her. She smiled and waved her spoon again, then disappeared behind a rack of bagels.
Tyler jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll get it out of her.”
“Good luck with that.” Jon snagged an orange juice and a plastic fork, then nodded a goodbye.
“Enjoy,” Tyler said to his back before chatting up the next person in line.
Jon took a spot near the wall of glass windows that looked out to the hospital’s garden and fountains. The morning crew was out there, clipping the trees and leaf blowing. The bottoms of their pants were soaked, wet grass clinging to the fabric. The concrete sidewalk had puddle spots every few steps.
Jon took a bite of his burrito—the salsa was to die for—hoping Cassidy had found a way home last night. He’d waited for a good hour in case she came back out and needed a ride. She was blind, after all. But after dozing off a few times, he figured he’d better get home before he fell asleep at the wheel.
He poked at his burrito, suppressing a grin at the reminder of her propped up on the bathroom counter, hand over her eye, teasing him about asking doctor questions. Was she okay with a doctor, but not specifically him? That had to be it. She recognized him and took off.
“Jon?”
He looked up, searching the cafeteria for a familiar face. His lips spread into a wide smile when he spotted Raelynn, his cousin’s lifelong friend, just a few tables away.
“Hey!” His heart lifted, and he pushed from his seat and joined her. The universe must’ve known he needed a distraction.
Raelynn stood, her short red hair half pulled back in a messy bun, her body draped in a gray, shapeless suit with a tail sticking out the back. She gave him a big bear hug, which she was the best at, and then plopped down into her chair. “Tommy told me you delivered here, but I didn’t expect to run into you.”
She boldly cut some of his burrito and took a bite, her eyes brightening at the taste. He batted her hand away and kept his plate close. “Just finished one. Baby boy. In the NICU.”
She frowned, her round cheek full of his breakfast. “Preemie?”
He shook his head. “Some complications at delivery, but he’ll be all right. He’ll be the biggest guy in the newborn ward.”
Her shoulders shook with a small laugh. “I so relate, little dude.”
Jon’s smile faltered, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Rae had always referred to herself as Thomas’s fat friend, insisting that fat was not a dirty word. She loved being fat and being fat didn’t mean she was unhealthy. When Jon got his doctorate she lectured him on not recommending diets to her just because she had a butt that filled an entire couch cushion.
“So, that’s a fun outfit,” he said, taking a bite from his burrito and nodding to her clothing.
“Isn’t it?” She dragged a hand down her torso and let it land on her hip. “I went as an elephant this year. Left the head and gloves in the car.”
If she was still in costume, he imagined it was because of his stupid cousin. Jon let out a sigh. “What’d he do this time?”
“Snapped his wrist.” She shook her head, taking a generous bite of her gooey cinnamon roll. Jon reached for some with his fork, and she growled at him playfully before offering the tiniest taste. “Tommy decided he was a crowd surfer last night.”
“Naturally.”
“The pit of zombies was not exactly prepared.”
Jon chuckled. Thomas was an obnoxious fool, and Rae was a bad influence. It was probably why they spent almost every waking hour together.
“Great… another cool story for him to tell at Thanksgiving.”
“Right?” She wiped her lips with a napkin and nodded toward him. “Reminds me… you bringing a date this year?”
He groaned, tossing his head back. “Not you, too? I get plenty of dating lectures from dear ol’ Mom.”
“I have money on this,” Rae said, pushing her empty plate to the side. “I’m only hedging my bets.”
“There’s a pool for if I come alone or not?”
“Yep. Odds are ten to one.”
“My family is so loving.”
“There’s also a bet on if Tommy’s date will back out and he’ll use me as his classic backup. So, it ain’t just you.”
He tried to laugh, but when he thought about it, that whole situation was sad. Rae never indicated that she had feelings for Thomas—and after knowing him for as long as she had, really… why would she?—but if by the small chance she did, being a backup probably wasn’t the best place to be in.
He crumpled his napkin and tucked his plate underneath hers. “I didn’t plan on a date.”
She frowned. “Well, you have a month and a half. Maybe get on that.”
He thought of Cassidy, how much fun she’d be around his family. They’d tease him mercilessly, probably tell her all about how he claimed Reservoir Dogs was his favorite movie but it was really Wreck-It Ralph. They’d tell her about how he could stick his belly out and look pregnant, how he used to do it for entertainment at family shindigs—in his twenties. He’d be forced into showing her his Disney sidekick tattoo collection on his back, but she already knew about Flounder.
A small laugh fell from his lips. He wouldn’t mind if she knew all of that, to be honest. That was who he was. Maybe it was worth a shot to at least ask her out.
“Yeah… maybe.” He spun his orange juice around before snatching it up as he stood. “All right, which room is my stupid cousin in?”