Page 33 of Ashes

It was nearing the end of my shift and I was finishing up my notes when a nervous presence loomed over my shoulder. I glanced up to find Marissa, one of our fourth-year medical students, fidgeting next to me. She was one of our most promising students, so the nervous expression tightening her features made me weary.

“Yes?”

“So…” She hesitated a moment before rambling on, barely taking a breath. “I was just with a patient in Room 3 and they’ve requested an actual doctor for the assessment.” The pitch in her voice climbed with every word coming out of her mouth. “I did inform them that I was competent to do it despite being a medical student, but he insisted.”

Her notebook slipped through her fingers, fluttering to the floor. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

I tried to rein in my annoyance at whoever made her feel less confident and got up out of my seat, then bent to pick it up. I handed it back to her with a reassuring smile. “Marissa, there’s nothing to apologize for. It’s okay. I’ll go check on him,” I said, knowing the interaction probably overwhelmed her. “Why don’t you go check on your next patient and we can debrief after, okay?”

Clutching her journal to her chest, she nodded and made her way to the next room. Once she was inside, I quickly pulled the patient’s chart and looked over the nurse’s notes and his vitals.

He was a thirty-five-year-old male coming in for shortness of breath. His vitals were stable and he was also known to have asthma, making a straightforward case, so I was confused as to why he wouldn’t let Marissa examine him.

Brushing it off, I grabbed my stethoscope from the table, placed it around my neck, and walked over to Room 3.

I pushed the door open. “Hi, I’m Dr. Bruni. What brings you to the ER, Mr.…”

He looked me up and down and smirked. “Kane. Ryan Kane.”

“What brings you here today, Mr. Kane?”

“I’ve been feeling a little out of breath recently and thought I’d come get it checked,” he explained. “And you can call me Ryan, Dr. Bruni,” he added, his smirk growing wider.

Overly friendly patients weren’t always a bad thing, but the way he said my name felt like sludge was poured over me. I shook the feeling off and grabbed my stethoscope, walking over to him to examine him close.

“Can you take a deep breath for me,” I asked while listening to his breath sounds.

“You have to tell me, what’s a pretty thing like you doing here?” His tone was flirty and I could feel his gaze burning into my face.

I tried to rein in how uncomfortable I was and remained professional. “Take another, please.”

“Are you single or has a lucky man claimed you already?” The way he said claimed made my skin crawl.

After I was done listening or trying to at least, I stepped back a healthy distance and placed my stethoscope back around my neck.

He was almost spot-on in regards to how my wedding went, but he didn’t need to know that, so I gave him a tight smile and said, “I’m happily married.” The lie rolled off my tongue, but again, he didn’t need to know that. He raised a brow at my bare finger, but I ignored it. “Mr. Kane, I don’thear anything abnormal. Can you tell me when your shortness of breath started?”

I could tell my use of the formality and how I didn’t play into his flirtation irked him. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You should wear a ring if you’re thathappilymarried. It would help a guy out.”

Keeping my professionalism was becoming harder by the second. I swallowed the lump of unease that formed in my throat and continued my train of questioning. “In your chart, it mentioned that you have asthma. Is that correct?”

“Yeah…” He trailed off, unsure where I was going with my question.

“Have you been taking your inhaler whenever your shortness of breath occurs?”

His brows furrowed. “My inhaler?”

“Yes, the blue one?”

“Oh yeah.” He hesitated. “That one. I, um, I don’t think I have any left.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take a look at your previous prescription and write you a new one. Is there anything else you were concerned about?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied. His tone was polite but cold.

“Great, well, let me get that going for you and you should be good to go.” I gave him another tight smile. “The nurse will be back shortly,” I said, closing the door behind me and walking away.

I could feel his eyes still on me and a shiver ran down my spine, but I ignored it.