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“Excuse me, doctors, but I need this bed for our patient,” Nina’s voice said with humor.
Drake was struck with how odd it was for his colleague to be in his dream too. Before he could consider it, Margo pushed herself away from him and wiped at tears he hadn’t noticed on her cheeks. He sat straight up. They were, in fact, at work.
“I’m sorry. I thought we were somewhere else,” he mumbled.
“Well, wake up,” Nina said, “because we’re still at work and I need your consultation on this case.”
A nurse pushed a young girl in a wheelchair holding an ice pack and a mound of gauze on her left cheek right before Margo’s sister Izzy appeared. The little girl eyed him, and it was clear the wound was still bleeding. That was all he needed to wake him up fully.
“Drake, this is my niece Sophie,” Margo said.
“Hello, Miss Sophie. I’m Dr. Drake. Can you tell me what happened?” He squatted down so he was at eye level with the pretty girl with big brown eyes and lots of brown curls. It was 7:00 a.m., and his shift was ending soon, but there was no way he was leaving now.
“Well, I was getting ready for school, and I went outside to get my Hula-Hoop because it’s show-and-tell today. Mr. Myers was letting out his dog Rufus, and I guess Rufus thought he needed the waffle in my mouth more than me, and when he lunged for it, he bit me instead.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, and then Mama freaked out, yelled at Rufus and Mr. Meyers, then called Auntie Gogo, and here we are.” She smiled while holding the wound still.
“Drake, it was bleeding a lot,” Izzy said.
Margo cleared her throat. “She’ll definitely need stitches, and I’d appreciate it if you’d handle it.”
“Of course, Sophie, let’s get you up here, where I can get a better look. I’m going to tell you everything I do before I do it. I’ll have to clean the wound and put a little medicine on it before I can close it up. There will be a little pinch, but if you can be tough, you’ll get a teddy bear and a balloon.”
Her big brown eyes opened wider, but she nodded her head up and down. “Deal, I’m super tough, right, Mama?”
“Yes, baby.”
Drake wasn’t accustomed to having such a young patient or an audience, but it was clear Margo and Kelly weren’t leaving. Then several of the residents filed in near the curtain, wanting to watch a skilled plastic surgeon work.
“Sophie, these doctors are all still in training and would like to watch, but I’ll only allow it if it’s okay with you.”
“Does that mean you’re, like, the best? Auntie said you are, but I thought she was just trying to calm Mama down.” Sophie dropped her voice. “Mama’s worried I’ll look like Scarface, but I don’t know who that is.”
Drake laughed as he cleaned the wound and applied a numbing cream around the punctures and one long gash that was likely the cause of all the blood.
“Your auntie is usually right, but don’t tell her I said that,” he said, and they both laughed.
“Okay, I’m going to numb you, and this is the only part that’s going to hurt a little bit. Then I’m going to talk through my steps so the residents can learn. Are you ready?” Drake asked.
Sophie took a deep breath, and Izzy held one hand while Margo stood on the other side to hold the other. He could see the worry in Margo’s eyes.
“Everything will be fine,” he said, more for Margo and Izzy’s sake.
“I’m going to buy you a big treat after this too, baby,” Izzy said to the little girl as the nurse passed him the syringe below Sophie’s line of sight so she wouldn’t get scared.
“Okay, small pinch, but hold still no matter what.”
Sophie nodded, closing her eyes tight while she held perfectly still. She grit her teeth, but once the numbing took effect, he could see her petite shoulder relax. Drake worked swiftly to install two layers of stitching where the dog bite had gone deeper. Once he did the final stitch, he put another layer of soothing salve over it.
“All done, super Sophie, not only are you tough, but you’re the best patient I’ve ever had,” Drake said.
The little girl’s eyes twinkled, but she was careful not to smile too big.
“It’ll feel a little numb for the next hour, and then it’s probably going to ache a little. I’ll give your mom a prescription for that. It’ll need to stay covered and protected while you’re at school, and you’re probably going to need a scoop of ice cream once a day,” Drake said.
Sophie gave him another side smile with the opposite side of her mouth.
