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“I actually need your help,” I say.
“What kind of help, Wayne?” She sets her pen down and looks at me again.
“Do you remember the patient I had you consult on last week? The bilateral
intraocular retinoblastoma?” I ask.
“Of course, I remember. That’s a rather fascinating case. Why? What’s up?”
“I need you to do the surgery on Cathi.”
“Cathi?” she asks raising an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t freak out, okay?”
“I won’t freak out. Just tell me if I need to up my malpractice insurance,” she says pushing her hair out of her face.
“You won’t need to do that, Mandy. It would just be unethical to operate on
my fiancée.” I say, getting it all out there.
“You asked her to marry you? After a week?” She is my oldest friend. She knows that I wouldn’t normally do something like this, so of course, she’s
looking at me like I’m insane. Fuck, I might be. Absolutely fucking insane for a gorgeous eighteen-year-old named Cathleen Mulligan.
“Well, not yet. It’s on my to-do list.” I say laughing.
“Of course, I’ll do it. When can I meet with her?”
“Do you have some time now? Her surgery is scheduled for Friday.” She
looks at her watch.
“Sure, I’ve got some time now. Lead the way,” she says getting up from the
desk and following me out. Back in my office, Cathi is sitting in the chair opposite my desk.
“Wayne?” she asks as soon I open the door.
“Yep. I’m back, puddin,” I say, reassuring her. Mandy raises her brow at me but wisely doesn’t say anything. “I have brought, Dr. Ryan, Amanda to meet with you. She has agreed to do the surgery.”
“Thank you, Dr. Ryan. I’m sure this is weird for you,” Cathi says standing carefully, then extending her hand. Mandy moves in front of me in order to shake it.
“Mandy is just fine. Can I call you Cathi?”
“Of course.”
“I went over your chart last week. We believe we can help you with this. I do the surgery a little bit different than Wayne. He favors a blade technique while I use a laser. I believe I will be able to break down and remove both tumors. For your tumors, located at the back of your eyes, I will use laser photocoagulation, basically heating up the tumors. Normally, I would do these three times, once every other month, however, due to your age we can’t risk the cancer advancing, so I will be trying to get it all at once. I’m not sure if anyone told you, but retinoblastomas usually affect children who are much, much younger. If that doesn’t work, we will the alternate plan. I am going to do everything in my power to prevent you from needing chemo. Do you have any questions?”
“Um, yeah. How did you come up with this so quickly?
“As I said before, Wayne and I discussed your case before you arrived. As hokey as this sounds, I knew I was meant to help you. I don’t know how I knew, but I thought it best to be prepared. Since it’s Wednesday, I’d say rest up for tomorrow and come back in at six Friday morning. The surgery should last anywhere from two to three hours. I assume her tests have been in the expected parameters?” she asks, turning to me.
“Of course,” I say walking over to my desk and grabbing her chart. I hand it to Mandy. “Here is everything for you to go over.”
“Excellent.”
“Thank you, Mandy,” Cathi says.
“You’re quite welcome,” she says stepping back from her. At the last second, she decides to give her a hug instead. I frown. I have never known her to hug a patient. Neither have I. Let’s just say we aren’t known for outstanding people skills. We are surgeons. This is why we have an excellent nursing staff. They are the backbone of our practice and we know it. We’d be lost without them.
“I’ll be out of the office tomorrow,” I say to Mandy. I just decided that since I have no patients tomorrow and my Friday surgery is being done by her, so there is no need for me to come in.
“All right. Make sure you guys are here by six,” she says laughing.
“Will do.” Mandy leaves and closed the door behind her.
“I called my mom; I am good to go.”
“Excellent. I’ll text her my address, so she doesn’t worry.”
“Thank you. She’ll appreciate that.”
“Are you ready to go?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says.
“You’re not forgetting something?” I ask.
“Nope. Can’t think of a thing,” she says. I walk over to her and take her hand.
“Nothing at all?”
“Nope. You can keep those panties as a souvenir,” she says laughing. I can’t help laughing too. Her lips are upturned, so I take them in a kiss that lets her know what I’m feeling.
“Wow,” she breathes after we pull away from each other.
“This is just the beginning,” I promise.
