G. R. Hatayama, MD (drgillybert) wrote in neogenesisrpg, @ 2009-01-21 12:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | gil hatayama, nana kimigawa |
Who: Gil Hatayama, Nana Kimigawa
What: Clearing the air and letting go
When: Wednesday, Jan 21
Location: Seattle Medical Center, Maternity
Rating: G
Status: Complete
Nana was doing a little better since receiving notice of her impending marriage. A few long phone conversations with her mother had helped immensely, though she hadn't quite divulged the extent of her relationship with 'that tall doctor, what was his name?'. There was nothing she could do about it, and she'd resigned herself to it. It was her duty, and that... Well, that was that. She tried her best to focus on other things, and was deeply immersed in updating her patient logs. Everyone seemed to be doing just fine and there were few changes, but it was easier to focus on that than to let her mind drift to other things.
Gil stepped out of the elevator, dressed in scrubs and a his labcoat. He planned to visit his patients in the maternity wing, but he arrived earlier than planned. There were important things that he couldn't say over the phone and felt impersonal over the internet. He walked over to the nurses station and smiled. "Good morning, nurses. How are my patients doing today?"
Nana thought she was doing a very good job of not acting like there was anything special between the two of them. "Everyone seems to be doing well of my charges," she said, nodding. "And Mrs. Lynd wants to know when she can go home." She smiled a bit. She couldn't blame any patients that wanted to leave. Who wanted to be sitting in a bed here when they could be at home with their new baby?
He took the woman's chart and looked over her vitals as well as the baby's. "She could probably be discharged this evening." Handing the chart back to her, Gil glanced over to the head nurse. "I need to borrow Ms. Kimigawa for a moment."
Huh? Nana tried not to let any surprise register on her face, but she couldn't help but hope. She nodded, then followed him out. "What's up?"
"I wanted to see how you were holding up since I haven't had a chance to talk to you." he said, his eyes straight ahead and his hands tucked into the pockets of his labcoat. He wished that was all he had to talk to her about. Walking down the hallway, he stopped in front of the viewing window in front of the baby cribs.
Nana was quiet for a moment, then peered through the glass at the cribs all in neat little rows. Each tiny little person sleeping soundly... She could feel a lump building in her throat. "I-I'm fine," she said quietly. "I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him yet, but we'll have to do that soon. I've heard... I've heard that he's nice. We have to do what we have to do, and that's it.'
"That's good, that he's nice." he said with a wan smile, pressing his hand against the glass. "If you need anything or someone to talk to, I'll be around."
"Thank you," she said, nodding. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. It was silly - how could she have allowed herself to get so attached so quickly? Maybe it was the realization of something that had been there for longer than she knew, or maybe it was just how she was. She had spent a lot of time beating herself up for getting her hopes up.
It was better to look at anything other than her, there wouldn't be any worry about anyone passing by getting the wrong idea of their conversation, or for him to break in unwarranted emotion. His throat tightened as he started to speak of the real reason for what he needed to say couldn't wait.
"I wanted to let you know that Amy Chen's case has been referred over to Dr. Mackey. I would recommend that you recuse yourself so your friendship will not be a potential liability."
"...what?" Nana looked up at him. What was he talking about? Was it really that big of a deal if she was her friend's nurse? "I mean, of course, I will, if you think that's best, but... I mean, why? She's my friend, but I didn't think that was a problem."
"She's a friend and a confidant. It would be unethical for her to remain of patient of either of ours knowing what she knows about your private life. You should know that." He didn't mean to sound reproachful about it, but he was blindsided by the knowledge. Lowering his voice, he turned his head to face her.
"She has grounds to sue if she wanted to, if she believed that I had been in a relationship with you prior to treating her...or that I knew as such before taking on her case. Even if that isn't the case, it still has grounds in court with the right lawyer."
Nana took a second to realize what he was talking about, and suddenly she felt like throwing up and crying and kicking Amy in the shins all at once. She gasped, then covered her mouth. She was... She was supposed to be her friend! "What did she say...?" But she sort of already knew. A 'relationship'... She bit her lip in an attempt to keep the tears that were already welling up at bay. Damn it! Wasn't it enough that it was over already? She nodded, praying that she could keep from crying. Not in front of him. Please, God.
"She asked me if I planned to continue to see you know that you were to be married. If I thought it would be unethical." he sighed. "Did you tell anyone else?"
"N-no!" Her attempts to keep her tears at bay weren't really working now, and they began to pour down her cheeks. How could she say something like that...?! And it wasn't like she went around telling everyone.
He wanted to comfort her but instead took a tissue from his labcoat pocket and held it out for her to take. "I'm sorry, but I had to be sure for both of our careers."
"How could she..." She sniffled just a little, then took the tissue and tried her best to regain her composure. She really hadn't wanted to cry in front of him.
"In her shoes, I would understand why she would feel uncomfortable with that knowledge." Gil said pragmatically, putting his hands back into his coat pockets.
Nana wanted to say all sorts of things, that that was dumb, that Amy was just being unreasonable, that even if it bothered here that was just an awful thing to say... But she held her tongue and nodded. "I'm so sorry." She hadn't expected that. Amy was supposed to be her friendd.
"No, I'm sorry." Gil ran a hand through his hair. His beeper went off and he pulled it from where it was attached to his belt to see the level of importance. "I wish...I wish you the best of luck on your marriage."
Nana nodded again, but was silent this time. Just when she'd been starting to feel better about it all, this had to come up. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive Amy for such a breech of her confidence, and she wished that she had never gotten involved with Gil. It had caused too much trouble for the both of them, and now it hurt more than ever to think about having to marry someone else. Better to have loved and lost? Nonsense, and it was nonsense that could have conceivably ruined the both of them thanks to someone she thought she trusted. She cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "A-and you, G- ...doctor. Please take care."
"You too, Nana." he said, allowing himself enough to squeeze her shoulder before he pushed his way past her, trying his best to keep his head up and not hunch over in frustration.