Their Miracle Baby

He crossed the room and silently got himself a cup of coffee then leaned against the counter, not wanting to risk waking her if he sat down at the table. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he realized that it was Dr. Bradford sleeping on the couch. He shouldn’t have been surprised; with the flu epidemic in full swing, all able-bodied doctors with ties to the hospital had been put on emergency duty.

It had been a week since the emergency call had gone out, and he was sure she’d been there every day since then. As he stood watching her sleep, he began to feel uncomfortable, it probably wasn’t right that he was standing here when she was so vulnerable, but he had to admit that he had a bit of a crush on her.

He’d been trying for weeks to introduce himself to her with little success. If his interest had only been professional, it would have been simple, but his interest was anything but professional so he had to tread carefully. As one of the members of the committee charged with choosing the winner of the Community Health Center Award, he’d become aware of Dr. Bradford when her clinic had been nominated.

Initially, his interest had been purely professional, but the more he learned about her the more interested he’d become in this strong driven woman. Once he’d seen her picture, all professionalism had gone out the door as the blood had rushed to his lower regions. It had been embarrassing to have such a physical reaction to her picture, and he was glad no one was in the room with him.

That had been almost two months ago and the attraction was still just as strong. As he drank his coffee, he thought about making enough noise to wake her, but that wasn’t the way he wanted to meet her. Besides, he wasn’t at his best right now either, eighteen hours of surgery didn’t leave one looking their best.

He finished his coffee and quietly put the cup in the sink then slipped out of the room. There would be other opportunities to meet Dr. Bradford, she was at the hospital every day since the clinic was in the basement. He’d just have to catch her another time.

Venetia awoke a few hours later, feeling much better thanks to the food and sleep. Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky, which was full of clouds and the promise of more snow and cold that day. It was both a blessing and a curse; the cold only made those who were sick worse, but it also kept people home reducing the spread of the virus.

She stretched, hoping that there was enough coffee left for at least one cup. She had a vague memory of someone coming into the breakroom when she’d been sleeping, but she’d long ago learned to ignore noise when she was sleeping. Relieved to find enough coffee for her first cup left in the pot, she poured it into her cup, started another pot, and headed for the doctor’s locker room and a much needed shower.

Showered and ready to face another long day, she made her rounds, checking on her patients who had been admitted last night before taking the elevator down to the basement and her pride and joy. It was still early so no one was in yet. She knew Bernice would be right behind her, but she always loved those few minutes when all was quiet and she had the place to herself.

Unlocking the door and turning on the lights, she took a second to look at the waiting room. One of her first accomplishments had been the refurbishing of the room; what had once been a sad and depressing place was now a soothing area of comfort. Patients first entering the room often stood speechless before gingerly finding a place to sit on the comfortable furniture spread around the room.

It had been important to Venetia that patients were comfortable while they were waiting, often for an hour or more, before being seen by the doctor or nurse. She could remember all too well spending hours in one depressing waiting room after another when her brother had been sick and had promised herself that her waiting room would be the complete opposite.

She’d worked on the exam rooms as well, designing functional but soothing rooms which seemed to relax patients and made it easier to treat them. It would be another long day, appointments in the morning and early afternoon, then another shift in the emergency room, hopefully her last for a few days.

By the time she reported for her emergency shift, she was feeling upbeat. For the first time in days, most of her appointments weren’t patients suffering from the flu, but the usual mix of complaints. The emergency room staff reported the same experience, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t long before her bubble was rudely burst when in the relative quiet of the early morning hours one of her patients from the clinic came in complaining of headaches and dizziness.

Within hours, she’d diagnosed him with an aneurism that needed immediate surgery or he might die. As the sun began to rise, she watched as the patient was wheeled into surgery, one of the best neurosurgeons in the city already scrubbing in. This had been her lucky day, Dr. Zeihr had been at the hospital covering for another doctor which meant that her patient would have a real chance of survival.

The surgery was a success, and the patient was back in his room by the time she’d seen her morning appointments. She’d gone without much sleep last night, but since this was her half day, she only had to make it through the morning, make a few quick visits upstairs, then she’d be free for two days. She’d finally have time to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Saving the man who’d had surgery early that morning for last, she checked on her patients, pleased that they had all shown improvement overnight and most would be released that day. When she got to the room to check on the aneurism patient, she was informed that he had been taken down to have a scan done.