At that moment Clayton opened the door and stepped in. Although he had appeared relaxed at the ER’s central desk when George had looked out at him, now he seemed anxious and rushed, as if whatever he had been discussing with Debbie had gotten him fired up.
“Can I have a quick word, George?”
Carlos immediately stood up. “Excuse me. I need a bathroom break anyway.” He quickly left the room.
George felt his pulse quicken. He had no idea what was coming but feared that Clayton might have learned of his near arrest. The administration did not take kindly to residents having run-ins with the law.
But Clayton just lowered his voice and asked, “Did you have time to chat up Kelley?” He took Carlos’s seat and leaned forward.
“No,” George said, bewildered. Why was that even remotely important enough to come in and interrupt a reading session?
“A little slow on the draw, are we?” Clayton teased, with eyebrows raised.
“I have to wait for the right moment, and with the crash and all it probably won’t happen today either. I actually haven’t even seen her. A lot of the routine ER visits are being seen over in the clinic building with the construction going on.” George would have liked to tell Clayton to ease up on his efforts to perk up George’s nonexistent social life, but he didn’t have the courage.
“If you don’t jump on this, you’ll be losing out possibly, I’ve heard, to a couple of hot-ticket first-year orthopedic residents from Harvard.” Clayton laughed as he gave George a light jab to the shoulder. The laugh sounded false, like it was forced.
George didn’t answer, restraining himself from asking Clayton what he had been doing in the morgue.
“Have you at least followed up with Debbie Waters? The more I’ve thought about it, you would really have some fun with her.”
“Debbie’s not interested in me. My sense is that she’s after bigger game than a resident.”
“Not true! She’s just being professional. She doesn’t want any more hospital gossip. She got her fill of that when we dated a few years back. I was just talking with her, and she confessed that she’d been eyeing you for months. She’s been hoping you would show a little interest.”
George laughed. “Yesterday I tried to get her attention, but she pretty much just ignored me.”
“That is not true. She thinks you’re quite handsome.”
George rolled his eyes.
“Hey, give it a shot,” Clayton persisted. “As a personal favor to me. I mean, after I talked you up and everything.”
“Does she know about Kasey?”
“Of course. She has a lot of respect for you being serious with someone with problematic medical issues.”
“Is that it? She feels sorry for me?”
“Hell no. It’s respect, not sympathy. Jesus, lighten up. She’d like to be your friend.”
“Are you bullshitting me? If you are, I have to tell you that I’m a bit vulnerable right now.”
“Swear to God. I’ll go out there right this minute and bring her back here to the radiology reading room so she can tell you herself.”
George was horrified. “No! I’ll figure out my own way to talk with her.”
“Okay. All right. I’m going to count on it, so don’t be shy. It’s not healthy to be isolated like you are. Even considering the, you know, the tragedy and all. Like I said, it’s not like you have to marry Debbie, for Chrissake. Just get out. Pretend you’re normal.”
“I appreciate the concern, but my ego has taken a few hits lately.”
“I wish I was back in my twenties.” Clayton got to his feet and opened the door to the ER. “No grass would be growing under my feet. I can tell you that.”
Carlos, who had been waiting outside, strolled back in, passing Clayton with a nod and suck-up smile. Clayton ignored him.
“What was that all about?” Carlos inquired, nodding toward the door that was settling into its jamb.
“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Let’s get these films read.”
Carlos revived the monitor. It had gone to sleep.
As the image of the X-ray came up, George found himself marveling over the absurdity of the head of the radiology resident program worrying about George’s social life. But be that as it may, he began to wonder how he might approach Debbie, having now essentially promised Clayton that he would.
“Do you remember this case?” Carlos asked.
“I think so. A seventy-eight-year-old woman who fell in the shower, injuring her right hip. So what do you see?”
“I see a fracture,” Carlos said.
“That’s a start,” George teased. “Give me a full description!”
A half hour later they were caught up. Done for the morning, Carlos was ready to grab lunch before the noon radiology conference. “I’m heading over to the cafeteria. Want to join me?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry,” George lied. He was hungry, but he had made a decision to speak to Debbie Waters. He felt some anxiety kicking in, but better now than never. Prepared as he was ever going to be, he stood up and wandered out into the ER proper.
It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the glare from the bright light in the ER with the L.A. midday sun streaming in through the windows, including the new ones that had just been installed. Debbie was at the main desk as usual. George could hear her snappy commands from where he was standing. He wandered over to the in-box and pretended to be leafing through the various cases. It was what he had instructed Carlos to do whenever there was some free time, in order to be familiar with the clinical status of the patients before looking at their films.
“Nothing to do?” Debbie demanded sharply. George panicked for a second, then realized she was lambasting a couple of LPNs. “Trauma Room Eight needs to be cleaned up,” Debbie barked.
“That’s not our job,” one of the LPNs objected.
Debbie was ready for them. “The fuck it isn’t. You’ll be out the door if you two don’t pull your weight. We’re swamped, in case you haven’t noticed.”
The LPN who initially objected opened her mouth again but then thought better of it and huffed off with her coworker. Debbie’s language, while crass, got the job done.
“Damn bitches,” Debbie cursed under her breath, but was loud enough for George to hear. He stole another glance in her direction. Her eyes strafed across his face before going back down to a bunch of ER charts in front of her. She glanced up a second later and recognized George. She even smiled.
“Can I help you?” she asked with a trace of solicitation in her voice.
“Uh. Maybe,” George said, screwing up his courage. “I was just speaking with Dr. Hanson…”
“Don’t tell me he went ahead and told you that I wanted to… Never mind. Now I’m embarrassed.” But she didn’t look it.
George cleared his throat. “There’s a… there’s no reason to be embarrassed. I’ve been admiring the way you’re able to run the department and keep order. Even with all of the unexpected…” George nodded toward the construction crew working on the LED display board.
She smiled at the compliment and leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced around. Serendipitously he seemed to have her attention without anyone else noticing. That is, if he didn’t count a young boy of about ten sitting a few feet away. The boy was holding an ice pack over a knot on his forehead while his mother was texting someone. The kid smiled knowingly. He might be young, but he was picking up the signals. George winked, then turned back to Debbie.
“I was wondering… if maybe you would like to meet for a drink one night. I mean, I know you are busy and all—”
“How about tonight?” she interrupted. “I get off at four, and I could meet you at six.”