We're Not Broken, Just Bent

I almost jumped for joy and then started crying as I read over the test results outside of Mark’s room. Doctor Daley intercepted me as I was heading back from my office. I tried my best to act professional but I knew he saw the tears in my eyes as I looked up at the ceiling and sighed heavily.

“We can schedule him for a procedure to have it removed, I’ll have to look at my schedule and check back.” I nodded and brought my attention back to the man in front of me.

“Yeah, just let me know.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“He’s going to be okay.” I nodded and smiled at the good news I was about to tell Mark.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” I knew it was a very odd thing to thank someone for good news when technically they had nothing to do with it.

“I’ll come back with a day.” He let go of my shoulder and smiled at me. I felt like I could finally breathe since Mark showed up on my doorstep yesterday. We won the first battle and the second didn’t seem so bad now. I opened the door as Daley walked away in the direction of his office.

“It’s not cancerous.” He perked up in his bed instantly as I entered and a smile swept across him face.

“It’s not?” I shook my head and placed his results in his chart and put it down on the table.

“It’s benign. I mean we are still going in and taking it out because it can still alter your hearing and whatnot, but it’s benign.” His smile faltered for a moment at the news he already knew.

“Thank god.” He leaned back in the bed and closed his eyes with a smile.

“So, get dressed and we can get you checked out and then you call everyone back and let them know the good news.” I clapped my hands together as I said those words; really feeling like the hard part was over.

“Sure, I’ll meet you outside when I’m ready?” I nodded as I picked his chart back up and put it underneath my arm.

“They’ll have to grab you a wheelchair from downstairs, but that shouldn’t take too long.” I looked down at my watch and saw it was noon, and my appetite was finally making a comeback.

“A wheelchair?” He laughed as he pulled his blankets back and swung his legs around to the side of the bed.
“It’s protocol.” I shrugged my shoulders as he continued to smile. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Just try not to push me into any walls.” I rolled my eyes in his direction.

“I’ll go get your discharge papers.” He grabbed his bag from the chair and pulled out the t-shirt and jeans I had given him. It was odd to see how close in size they were. It was my favorite shirt of Luke’s, a black and blue flannel and a pair of worn in jeans I just couldn’t seem to get rid of. He saw me staring at the clothes and cleared his throat.

“I’ll meet you out there.” I pointed to the door and made my way outside to the nurse’s station to get his paperwork sorted out. Daley would call me with an appointment time later today and all that was left to sort out was his wheelchair.

“I’m good to go.” I turned at the sound of Mark’s voice just as I finished signing his papers that allowed him to leave under medical consent.

“Great, and ah here it is.” I smiled as one of the nurse’s brought a wheelchair up to him. She locked the wheels and Mark sat down.

“I’ll take him down, Janet.” I handed Mark’s file to her and grabbed my bag off of the counter to swing it onto my shoulder.

“Okay, we’ll see you soon.” She smiled and waved her hand at us as I nodded and unlocked the wheels.

“And I will have you know I have had no patient accidents since I got my MD.” I said sarcastically at Mark, I saw his ears move slightly as he smiled.

“Well try not to make me your first, Whelan.” We got to the elevator and I pressed the down button.

“Yeah, I’ll try real hard.” He laughed at that as the doors opened and I wheeled him in backwards.

“Hold the doors!” Mark reached forward quickly and pressed the button to keep the doors open.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, hey Bailey.” I smiled at my colleague.

“Hey Nate.” He looked briefly down at Mark who was looking up at him. Nate was a friend of mine; we got along when we were both hired within the same week. He worked in the cardio department. He was tall with blonde hair and bright, blue eyes. He caught the eye of a lot of the female doctors and nurses in the hospital; he was good looking but also had the charismatic attitude to match.

“You not working today?” He asked noticing I was in jeans and a button up.

“Nope, taking the next couple of days off.” The elevator stopped to allow more people on, so we were pushed towards the back.

“Really? Very unlike you.” He teased as I smiled.

“Yeah, just looking after my friend here.” I patted Mark on the shoulder as he turned his head to look up at Nate.

“Hello, I’m Nate.” They shook hands as Nate shot him a smile.

“Mark, nice to meet you.”

“Well Mark, you are in the most capable hands this hospital has to offer. She’s amazing, that one.” I felt myself blush at his compliment.

“Yeah, she is. I am very lucky.” The elevator stopped as we got to the ground floor. People filed out in front of us and then we finally stepped out to the main lobby.

“Well I am headed off to a seminar, but I’ll see you when you get back. I think I still owe you lunch.” Nate was walking backwards, away from us as he pointed at me.

“Yeah, I’ll seek you out.”

“You better. Bye Bailey, nice to meet you Mark.” He waved a final time and turned around to head in the opposite direction. I wheeled Mark to the front desk before he said he could walk from there (scout’s honor).

“He seemed nice.” He spoke up as we got outside. I pulled my keys out of my bag as I nodded.

“He is.”

“And he likes you.” I shook my head at that sentence as we came upon the staff parking.

“No, he’s just really friendly.” Mark laughed a little in my direction as I stopped walking to look at him. It took him a moment before he realized I had stopped.

“What?” He was still smiling at me.

“Just same old Bailey.” I blew a raspberry in his direction as I passed him to get to my car.

“Glad to see that MD really makes you act mature.” He joked as I unlocked the doors and we both got into my car.

“Hey I’m smart, I never said anything about maturity.” I answered as I put my key in the ignition and turned it to start.

“Good, because you would fail on that account.” I hit him in the shoulder as I put my car in reverse.

“You are an ass Mark Alan.” I muttered as I backed out of my parking space. He was laughing at me and for a moment it felt just like old times.

“Did I tell you how cool it is that you have your own parking space? It’s legit Doctor Whelan.” I smiled as I began driving back to my house.

“That’s the only reason I became a doctor, oh and the pens. I love the pens.” He leaned his head back as he laughed at the roof of my car.

“You are such a nerd.” I shot him a look as if to say ‘really? Pot calling the kettle black, sir’.

“I know.” He groaned as he looked out the passenger window.

“Are you hungry?” I asked noticing my stomach was rumbling after skipping breakfast due to anxiety.

“I could go for something sweet.” He looked back over at me as we stopped at a red light. I smiled remembering Mark and I had a huge sweet tooth in common.

“How does Wendy’s sound?” He nodded at me.

“Sounds great, chocolate frosty here I come.” He rubbed his hands together as the light turned green.

“I have whipped cream and cherries at home.” We always like to add a little extra to frostys when we used to hang out.

“Oh Bailey, how I have missed you."