"I know and normally I'd agree with you, but this is different. It's important you know —"
"No," Kim said firmly, cutting her off. "You don't know any of it for a fact, do you?"
Brenda started to protest. The look on Kim's face dissuaded her. "No," she finally admitted.
"Right. It's just gossip. I'm not interested."
"I don't want to see you get hurt," Brenda said. Her eyes glistened with suppressed emotion. "I care about you."
You know she's not being malicious. She acts like a mother hen with all the staff. Kim had told Brenda early on that she was a lesbian, and Brenda had kept it to herself. She was not normally a gossip. Allowing her expression to soften, Kim offered a slight smile. She gave Brenda's forearm a quick squeeze. "I appreciate your concern. But there's nothing to worry about. Dr. McKenna and I are colleagues, nothing more." And even if we were more than that I still wouldn't want to hear it. Jess will eventually tell me anything I need to know. "I enjoyed working with her just like the rest of the ER staff."
Brenda eyed Kim, looking for any signs that she was being less than truthful.
Kim met Brenda's stare and carefully kept her expression neutral. It's the truth. No matter how much you wish it wasn't.
With a resigned sigh, Brenda gave in. "Okay. My group this month is all young adults dealing with situational depression," Brenda said.
Kim forced her thoughts away from Jess and to the business at hand as Brenda continued to fill her in on the individual patients in her group.
CHAPTER 10
JESS GLANCED AT her watch. She was surprised to see Terrell still at the nurses' station waiting for Dr. Kapoor. He had been paged over an hour ago. Although not as prompt as she would have liked, he still usually appeared more quickly than some of the other psychiatrists. Unbidden the thought popped into her head, Kim would have already been here.
"Page Dr. Kapoor again," Jess said as she approached the waiting resident. She sighed to herself. Over the past week dealing with Dr. Kapoor, she had come to realize how quickly she had grown to depend on Kim's ready presence in the ER. Dr. Kapoor never stayed in the department any longer than he had to, which on busy days led to repeatedly having to page him.
"He's in the room with the patient," Terrell said, a dissatisfied look on his face.
Dr. Kapoor was good at treating patients, but he had shown no interest in teaching the residents. Although she suspected the answer, Jess asked anyway, "Why didn't you go with him?"
"He wouldn't let me. Told me I would be too distracting to the patient." Terrell scowled. "Dr. Donovan let me observe and even help with patient evals," he muttered just loud enough for Jess to hear.
Jess understood the resident's frustration. Now that they all knew how much better things could be with Kim covering the ER, the problems with psych seemed worse than ever. She had heard people complaining all week.
"Well, hopefully Dr. Donovan will be back in a few weeks," Jess said. A strange, but not unpleasant sensation skittered across the back of Jess's neck.
Terrell's attention was drawn to something behind Jess's back. A bright smile lit his face. "Hey, Dr. Donovan. When will you be covering the ER again?"
"Haven't seen next month's schedule yet. So I can't say exactly."
Jess willed away the automatic brilliant smile that wanted to grace her own face at the sound of Kim's voice. While she admittedly respected Kim professionally, Jess had been unprepared for the fact that she had missed her on a more personal level this past week. She turned to face her. "Dr. Donovan," she said, offering a brief nod and a subdued smile.
Jess had not expected Kim to continue her lecture series until she returned for her next rotation. As was becoming par for the course, Kim surprised her. Jess had arrived Monday morning prepared to give a replacement lecture to the residents. When she reached the conference room, Kim was already there talking to several of the residents. Kim had made it clear then that she planned to continue with the lectures she had promised even while not assigned to the ER.
"Good afternoon, Dr. McKenna. Could I talk to you for a few minutes?" Kim asked.
Now's your chance. Ask her! Sam had called several times to find out if she had asked Kim to go jogging or see a movie. Jess had struggled with this decision all week. Her brain insisted on presenting all the things that could go wrong, but one thing Sam said had stayed with her. Everyone, no matter how self-sufficient could use a friend. Jess was tired of being lonely. It was time to take a chance.
"Sure. Let's go to my office." Jess motioned for Kim to follow her. This was her opportunity to talk to her privately.
The words had barely left Jess's mouth when the ambulance bay doors swung open and a man staggered in. His chest and arms were covered in blood.
Jess yelled for a gurney and a gown. After a quick apologetic glance at Kim, she sprinted for the patient.
* * *
Kim nodded in greeting to several staff members as she made her way to Jess's office. She had finished her lecture and hoped to have the conversation with Jess that had been interrupted earlier. Remembering Jess's discomfort the last time she had come to her office made her hesitate. This is different. It's business. She knocked on Jess's door.
After a few moments Kim heard Jess's distinctive voice call out. "Come in."
She opened the office door to find Jess at her desk talking on the phone.
"Oh, sorry. I was just wondering if you had a few minutes, but I see you're busy."
"No problem. Have a seat," Jess said, gesturing toward the small couch against the back wall. "I'll be right with you," she said before turning her attention back to her caller.
Kim sat down on the couch. The room was very small. She couldn't help overhearing the conversation.
"Sorry for the interruption," Jess said. "Anyway, I won't be able to pick him up tonight. If you could give him his dinner and settle him for the night that would be great. I'll pick him up first thing in the morning..." A loving smile spread across Jess's face. "Okay... Give my boy a big hug for me... Thanks. Bye."
Her boy? Jess has a son! The revelation was stunning. It brought home to Kim the fact that she knew next to nothing about Jess personally.
As Kim had seen Jess and interacted with her, she had begun to wonder if Jess might not be lonely too. Loneliness was new to her and something she thought they shared. Guess you let your own emotions cloud your judgment. Although she had gotten to know quite a few people at LA Metro casually in the six weeks she had been here, Kim had not let anyone into her personal life.
Normally she made friends easily at a new hospital, but not this time. Her experience at Memorial was still affecting her.
"Kim?"
Kim shook herself out of her morose thoughts. "Sorry. Was thinking about a case from earlier," she lied.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm working a double shift, so I needed to let the daycare know I wouldn't be able to pick up Thor until tomorrow."
"Thor?" Kim blurted out before she could stop herself. What kind of name is that for a kid? Jess didn't strike her as the type to stick an offbeat name on a child. Maybe her partner named the boy? Kim glanced up at Jess to find her looking very uncomfortable. Nice going, stupid. She shares something personal, and you question her kid's name.
"Yeah... He goes to doggie daycare three days a week. Whenever I work extra shifts, they keep him overnight."
Thor is her dog!
Jess shifted in her chair and looked down at her desk. "I know most people probably think it's weird to send your dog to daycare, but I work long hours and it's not fair to him to be cooped up in the house alone all that time."