Page 3 of Rounds (Love In Scrubs)

“ S on, you’re going to . . . wear yourself out, working so much.”

He was winded. Seeing him decline right before my eyes was taking a toll on me. I wanted him to stop talking, but at the same time, I wanted to soak up as much of his voice as I could.

“You’re thirty-eight years old. It’s past time . . . to find a nice woman . . . to settle down with. You’re not getting . . . any younger.”

He smiled at me as I rolled my eyes playfully.

“First of all, old man, I’m still in the baby-making age range.

That range is wide as hell for men. Secondly, I saw a woman at work yesterday that nearly stole my breath.

I bumped right into her, nearly knocking her to the floor, then she went into one of my patient rooms to take blood.

She’s a phlebotomist. Thirdly, she fine as hell.

She’s been plaguing my thoughts. It wasn’t just her physical.

The way she cared for the patients, taking her time to soothe their worries, caught my attention and my heart. ”

His eyebrows lifted. “I’ve never heard you . . . speak of a woman that . . . way.”

I nodded reflectively. “I know. Her name is Delaney. She plagued my dreams last night. I could barely sleep, even with as tired as I was. Thankfully, my first appointment canceled today so I could catch up on sleep.”

He smiled and closed his eyes. We were both quiet for a moment. I watched him struggle somewhat, and I had to come to the painful realization that his time was winding up quicker than I expected. “How long have you been struggling to breathe like this?”

“Just today.”

“You could have an infection. I’m gonna call a nurse and have them call an ambulance to take you to the hospital. You could also have pneumonia.”

I stood from my seat, and he grabbed my arm. When I turned to him, his eyes were still closed. “I’m tired, son. I’m longing for my Katy. I’ve been . . . seeing her in my dreams . . . like you’ve been . . . seeing that young lady.”

My brows furrowed. There was no way I could continue listening to him wheeze and struggle to breathe without getting medical assistance for him.

As his son and doctor, it was my duty. I closed my eyes for a moment, then said, “I understand, Dad, but I still need to get you medical attention. When God is ready for you, there won’t be a thing we can do to keep you here. Okay?”

He nodded and released my arm. I quickly made my way to the nurse’s station and had a nurse call for an ambulance to take him to St. Ambrose.

At least I would be able to check on him while I was at work if he was there.

I slid my hand over my face as she placed the call.

Most times, they did whatever I asked them to do since I was a doctor.

Technically, I was my father’s PCP. So, they had to do what I told them to do.

Making my way back to his room, I thought about what my life would look like without him.

He was the only constant in my life. That was why he wanted me to settle down.

He knew his time was winding up, and he didn’t want me to be all alone in this world.

After taking a deep breath, I entered his room, and his eyes immediately met mine.

“The ambulance is on the way.”

“Okay.”

I sat back in the chair I previously occupied and stared at him. “She shot me down for lunch yesterday. I could tell by the way she stared at me that she got the note I put on her desk. She’s going to be more work than I’m used to.”

He chuckled then coughed. “She’s probably the one then.”

That rattle in his chest wasn’t a good sign. I had better start preparing my heart for his departure. Instead of focusing on that, I said, “Probably. She don’t know it yet, but I can be persistent. She ain’t getting off that easy.”

“Don’t get on that woman’s . . . nerves. Be persistent but a gentleman.”

He started coughing again. I stood and went to his bedside. “Enough talking for today. Soak up this oxygen.”

I took the mask from his bed and turned on the oxygen.

He’d had pneumonia before but was able to make it through.

I wasn’t so sure this time. His will to live was gone.

Whether God was ready for him or not, He wouldn’t override Dad’s will.

He wanted to die. He wanted to be reunited with his Katy .

. . my mama. They were only in their mid-fifties when that accident took her away from us, and now the lasting effects of it was taking him too.

When the paramedics came into the room, I stepped away from his bedside and placed a call to the E.R.

at St. Ambrose to prepare them for my father’s arrival.

They were well-acquainted with who he was.

After the accident, he was in the hospital for months.

Once he was released, he’d made two more trips back, once for pneumonia and the other visit was for a bowel obstruction.

In my medical opinion, I felt like this would be his last visit.

I felt that shit in my heart too. I could only pray that God would prove me wrong.

As they got him situated and were about to push him out to the ambulance, he smiled at me.

It took everything in me to smile back at him.

This was hard. I followed them out the doors and watched them load him in the back of the ambulance then went to my car to follow them back to St. Ambrose.

I would be better off selling the house and moving into the hospital at this point. I was always at that muthafucka.

I rested my head on the headrest. I had a headache from hell, but I had to see to my father.

It would most likely be another all-nighter for me.

Lifting my head, I pulled out of my parking spot and followed the ambulance to St. Ambrose.

I parked in my designated area, then hurriedly made my way inside.

When I got to the room they’d brought him to, he seemed to be calm.

I went to his side to hear that he no longer had that rattle.

I used to hear people say that it was the death rattle.

I’d had patients to die, but I had never witnessed that rattle until today.

They’d probably given him antibiotics and cough medicine on the way here.

I was more than sure this was bacteria pneumonia.

He’d just started the coughing, so he was in the first forty-eight hours.

It was important to get treatment before it worsened.

“They are going to take good care of you, Dad. I need to go to the nurse’s station real quick to see what’s been given and to get started on your treatment. I love you.”

He removed the mask and said, “I love you too, son.”

I helped him put it back on then gave his hand a squeeze.

I closed my eyes and leaned over and kissed his forehead.

When I left the room, I could feel the lump in my throat.

I swallowed hard as I just stood in the hallway.

It was like I was in wet cement for a moment.

I took a deep breath and headed to the nurses’ station to put in orders.

Since today was Friday, I knew I would be sleeping here all weekend.

When I left the station, I walked out of the doors to search for a vending machine.

Here I was again, looking for something to eat, extremely late, for the second time this week.

I found one and got a bag of chips from it, along with a Snickers.

I could get water from the lounge. I bought a case of water every week to contribute to what was in the fridge.

Damn near power walking, I got to the lounge to see Delaney grabbing her purse from the countertop. Her eyes were red as hell.

I frowned slightly, confused as to why she was even still here. It was almost eight o’clock. The lab typically closed at five. “Hi, Delaney,” I said as I got a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

She sniffed and wiped her face, then turned to me. “Hello, Doctor Israel.”

“You can call me Glover. You okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks for asking. What are you doing back?”

“My dad is here in the E.R. I have to admit him.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.”

I nodded at her then said, “Have a good night.”

She nodded in response, and I hurriedly made my way back to my dad. When I walked into the room, a nurse was in there, checking his blood pressure. She glanced at me and gave me a soft smile. “Hello, Doctor Israel. We are going to take excellent care of your father.”

I nodded. “I know you will. You don’t have a choice.”

She frowned slightly. I was sure she was trying to figure out if she heard me correctly. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“You don’t have a choice. It’s what I demand, and it’s your job to do so.”

My dad had a smirk on his lips. I could see that shit through his oxygen mask.

She only nodded and cleared her throat. I could see that I’d made her nervous and uncomfortable.

When the blood pressure machine stopped, she jotted down the numbers, then looked at my dad and asked, “Are you in any pain, Mister Israel? Your blood pressure is slightly elevated.”

My gaze went back to my dad as he said, “A little.”

“Okay.” Turning her gaze to me, she asked, “Did you want to give him anything for pain?”

“How long before he’s moved into a regular room?”

“Let me go check.”

I didn’t want to give him anything for pain until he was in a room unbothered.

He wouldn’t be able to rest properly if they were constantly moving him, poking and prodding.

When she left out, my dad turned to me and pulled his mask down.

“You didn’t have to do that lil girl like that. You . . . made her nervous.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Before I could respond, I looked up to see Delaney standing on the other side of the curtain. When she walked in, I quickly stood from my seat, my eyebrows slightly lifted. What is she doing here?

“I just wanted to see if you needed anything. You pulled an all-nighter the other night, and most likely, you will be doing the same thing tonight. Did you eat?”

My eyebrows lifted more. No one, besides my parents, had ever seen after me.

I cleared my throat as I glanced at my dad.

He had that smirk on his face again. I turned back to Delaney.

“Umm . . . Thank you, Delaney. I haven’t eaten, but I have a snack.

I’m sure you need to get home. It’s getting late.

Surely you have someone to see after already. ”

I was fishing, trying to see if she had a man.

That had to be it. I could feel her attraction to me.

The only reason she wouldn’t act on it was because she had a man already.

I knew I had a reputation for fucking around, but that shit never stopped a thing.

If anything, it made women more curious about me.

They needed to see for themselves if the rumors were true.

I didn’t have a problem showing them just how true they were.

I was known to stick and move. There were only a couple of others, besides Charleigh, that I had dipped back to.

“I’m not worried about him right now. What do you like? Burgers, sub sandwiches, hot dogs? The options are endless.”

I smiled slightly then turned to my dad. “You want something? Are you hungry?”

“Yes. I want a cheeseburger.”

I slowly shook my head. He knew better. Turning back to Delaney, I asked, “If I call something in, would you be willing to pick it up?”

“Yeah, sure. Where from?”

“Franks Italian Grill.”

That was only across the street. I looked up their number and ordered chicken soup for my dad and a grilled chicken fettuccini alfredo for myself. Once I ended the call, I looked at her and said, “They said it would be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay. By the time I get to my car and get over there, it should be close to being ready.”

“Thank you so much, Delaney.”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce you to my dad. This is Gideon Israel.”

“Hello, Mister Israel. I’m Delaney Boutté.”

“Boutté, huh? What part of the country are you from?”

She giggled. “My family is originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, but I was born right here in Silverrun.”

“I was born in . . . Houston, so I’m familiar.”

“Well, it was nice meting you.”

“Nice meeting you too.”

When she turned to walk out, he wriggled his eyebrows at me. I slowly shook my head and followed her out while taking my wallet from my pocket. I gave her forty dollars. “I really appreciate this, Delaney,” I said as I grabbed her hand. “Your man must have really messed up.”

She pulled her hand from mine and said, “It’s no problem. We all need someone from time to time,” she said, completely ignoring my last statement. “I’ll be right back.”

I nodded as she walked away. I couldn’t help but watch her ass sway in the scrubs she wore.

Damn. She was so fucking fine. It took serious will power to keep my dick from rising to the occasion.

Just the way she stared at me was turning me on.

That woman was going to be mine, and I couldn’t wait for her to kick her nigga to the curb so she could act on her desires.

Her body language told me she was ready for the Hebrew dialect Dr. Israel would have her speaking.

Conversions to my way of doing things was my specialty, but I was feeling like she would be the one converting me.