Page 41 of Bless My Body

specialty, and it’s actually one that I’m leaning to for the future, so I got lucky that I got assigned here

for this part of my rotations.

I’m working with Dr. Parker, who is a pretty chill guy. He lets me really be hands-on with the

patients—with his supervision, of course—to see if I can figure out what’s going on before he jumps

in.

He’s also just a cool guy in general. He’s youngish, too. I’ve never asked him, but I would say late

thirties if I had to guess. He’s married with three kids and a great person to learn from. He’s kind of

like a mentor to me, I guess.

After seeing our third patient of the day, he pulls me aside to chat.

“You doing ok, kid?” he asks me.

I try to play it cool because I hate that I’m clearly letting my personal life interfere with my work

life. That’s not like me. I don’t want to be that person. I shrug. “Yeah, why?”

“You just seem a little off today.” His eyes try to read my reaction, and his arms are crossed over

his white coat, ready to listen to whatever I decide to throw at him. But my problems are not his. His

problems should involve his own family and his patients. Not me being butt-hurt because the girl I’ve

had a crush on for years might not want me back.

“Sorry about that. I’ll pull myself together,” I promise him.

“No need to be sorry. I want you to know you can talk to me.” I must look at him funny because he

continues, “Seriously. Tell me what’s going on. Maybe I can help?” I don’t think he can help, and it’s

embarrassing for me to even talk about it. But… he might be the only unbiased person I can talk to

about it.

I exhale. “So, there’s this girl.”

“Ah, yes. There always is.” He gives me a knowing smile.

“She’s perfect, and I want to be with her. I have for years. But I’ve apparently been friend-zoned.

I’ve got to figure out how to move on with my life. Which sucks because I don’t want to move on from

her.”

“Have you told her how you feel?” he asks.

I rub my hands down my face and smell the powder scent of the gloves I was just wearing in the

last exam room. “Yeah. I kissed her this weekend. And she kissed me back, so I thought maybe we

could be more. But she kind of freaked out, and now I’m worried I ruined our friendship.”