Who: Amy Chen & Gil Hatayama What: Examinations and conversations. When: Tuesday, 20 Jan Where: Seattle Medical Rating: G Status: Complete
"I'll see you next week." Gil said as he escorted a very pregnant woman to the appointment scheduling desk. He patted her shoulder and made his way back to the main operations desk, picking up the next chart waiting in the queue. There had been days when back to back and overlapping appointments seemed too daunting for even him, but for this week they were a welcome distraction.
He knocked gently on the closed door, hoping that the patient had enough time to change. "Ms. Chen?"
Amy was in the process of checking her PDA and scheduling her boss's last meetings of the day so they didn't overlap and she didn't have to endure a screaming match by the time she made it to the office. She made a show of closing it, but actually put it on stand-by, calling out a soft "come in" and trying, decidedly, not to think of seeing the man who'd fucked her friend in Dr Hatayama's shoes.
"How are you feeling today? Have there been any complications since the last time we spoke?" he asked once he stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. The nurse would come in later for the examination, for now he just wanted to consult. He sat down at his stool and set her chart on his lap.
Amy shrugged. "No complications, but the back pain is still there. And I'm having trouble sleeping without the pills." Which wasn't so good, objectively, but not something that really bothered her. She hadn't been a heavy sleeper in the past, either. "Do you need me on the table or...?"
"Not yet, I just wanted to go over a few things to make sure to pay extra attention to them during the examination." Gil started to write additional notes of her back pain. "Is the back pain the same or has it gotten worse since the last time we spoke?"
"More or less the same," Amy replied, gesturing with her PDA. "It's a little better if I don't move around so much, but I can't afford to take more days off." She wondered if Nana was going to assist or if the other woman was away making wedding plans. She hadn't called and Amy hadn't tried to reach her.
"It's most likely from the procedure itself, your body will need some time to recover." he said reassuringly. "The best advice is to limit your movement and see if the pain doesn't abate within the next week or so. If not, we will go from there. I can write you a prescription that works a little stronger than the over the counter medicine but doesn't contain anything that will leave you too impaired. I would take it easy, at any rate."
He made a reminder to write the prescription later and glanced up from his chart. "Have you had any other troubling symptoms?"
Besides an addiction to sleeping pills, she thought. "No. Everything's been fine. And I successfully missed the lottery. Again. So I won't have to worry about the serum and all that yet." She managed not to sound too upset about it, or at least she felt she did. "But if I am... can I continue with the sleeping aids and take the serum at the same time or would that be a problem?" It was, potentially, the one way she could quit them cold turkey.
"It shouldn't be a problem, but they would be ill-advised once time to start conception. One would hope you would no longer need them before then." The lottery. One of the last things he wanted to ruminate over. "In the event you are picked before you are completely healed, we will give you a waiver to delay the serum process. You will still have to marry, however."
She thought of Nana and all the other girls she'd gone to college with and whose names she had seen come up in the lottery. Never her own. "Oh don't worry," she replied, somewhat less genial. "I'm more than ready to marry. And I wouldn't want a waiver. I want to have a child. That's why I opted for the surgery, after all."
"You will have no worry when the time comes," he said, smiling. "I am unsure how much you remember me telling you at the hospital, but the removal went through with no complications. Your remaining uterus is in excellent condition."
"Memory is a little hazy," Amy admitted. "I know I spoke to Nana when I woke up at one point, but that's about it. Next thing I know, I was being released. And then I was home."
"General anesthesia will do that to you." he said, flipping through her chart instead of reacting to the name. "Your pregnancies will still be considered high risk as a precautionary measure, but your chances of carry a child to term when the time comes is high."
Something inside Amy's chest flared hot and angry and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep it quiet. "So... in the event that I do get married and I do end up pregnant. Will I have to spend most of the nine... the three months in here?3
"No, it would be recommended that you make weekly visits between the first two months, the number increasing the closer you would be to term. There wouldn't be any hospitalizations unless there were complications that need close monitoring." Gil closed the chart and set it aside. He didn't want to rush a follow-up, but he was aware that there were two waiting rooms being filled as he spoke. "Do you have any other questions?"
"Yes." And she was going to say it, she was going to spill the beans and she wasn't sure she was doing it for Nana's sake or for her own, but she needed to get it out and to scream at someone because it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair and sometimes she wished could die from wanting so much. Wanting all the time. Her teeth closed around her bottom lip before releasing it with a wet plop. "Are you planning to continue a relationship with Nana now that's she married or does that seem unethical to you?" She had no right. She had no right.
Gil felt every muscle freeze at her words, the impact hitting him in the chest like a full blow. He was aware that Nana was friendly with all of her patients, but not that Amy was her friend. And she was aware of their relationship. He could blow off the questions but the words were out of his lips before he could stifle them. "No, I don't."
Amy couldn't explain the slight curving of her lips or the way she felt lighter at the sound of the words. She shouldn't have been pleased but she was. "Good," she replied. It wouldn't have been right, after all. A married woman and an unmarried man. Who worked together. Who very probably liked each other. It wouldn't have been right.
"I did not know that you and Nana were friends." he said, turning so that he could look the woman in the eye. "For that, I apologize. I can assure you that our conduct at work remains as professional irregardless. However, I think it would be better for all involved if I refer your case to Dr. Mackey."
She didn't resist the opportunity to be away from him and from her friend. It ate away at her, a little, that she'd gone and loarded news that had been delivered to her in strict confidence - that she had used it against him. But she was in the right, she was sure of it. "I don't think I remember her, but if you think that would be best, it's fine by me."
"She is one of the best we have at the center, you will be in excellent hands." he reassured her, standing. Even in shock and anger, he could only focus on what was best for his patients. "I will see if she has time for your examination. Again, my sincerest apologies. I wish you the best, Amy."
She nodded absently, dwarfed by his height and his labcoat and the knowledge that what she'd said was not just, however she tried to spin it. "Thank you... doctor." Without words to make any of it better, she hugged her sides through the paper gown and thought, very seriously, about just going home. Examination be damned. If she stuck around, it was only because she wanted to be sure she could have a child when the time came. Her one shot.