“I have to go over a week before I can see you again?” she blurts, and I can tell she immediately feels bad. “It’s fine. I’ll send you naughty pictures. We can FaceTime, and I found a website that does the casting to make your penis into a sparkly dildo.”
“Well, now I know what to get you for your birthday.”
“My birthday is too far away. I want your sparkly peen now. Oh shit. I just walked past a neighbor in the hall and she totally heard me,” Quinn adds quietly. I start laughing, imagining her pretty face and the blush coming over her cheeks. “That lady is an uptight bitch too and has this nasty little Pomeranian that tries to bite anyone walking by. The thing is so old. I don’t know how it’s still alive.”
“Living in an apartment is fun, isn’t it?” I joke. “Though I can’t really complain. No one here is too bad. Sam is probably the one they can’t stand.”
“I heard that!” Sam calls from the kitchen and I laugh.
“I lose service in the elevator,” Quinn says. “Call me later?”
“Yeah. I will around lunchtime. I have back-to-back procedures until then.”
“Save lives, Dr. Jones.”
“Bye, babe. Have a good day.” I love you.
My brother is two floors down from me, and I have no desire to see him. I should have brought him to a different hospital. Fuck, I’m a terrible person, aren’t I? My parents are here as well, and we’re meeting for lunch. Before I go to the hospital cafeteria, which has decent food, I go outside in a staff-only courtyard and call Quinn. She doesn’t answer, and I’m leaving her a message when she calls back.
“Hey, Arch,” she says and my heart lurches at the sound of her voice. “Sorry. I had my music up too loud to hear my phone ring.”
“Aren’t you at work?”
“Yeah. I listen to music in my office and sometimes play it through the speakers so everyone else has to suffer and listen to it.”
“What are you listening to today?”
“The Descendants Two soundtrack. It’s a made-for-TV Disney movie that I’m a little obsessed with. And I’ll just say it’s because of Jackson if anyone asks.”
“He doesn’t like it, does he?”
“He hasn’t even seen it,” she laughs. “How’s everything going today? Did you save any lives?”
“If it turns you on, then yes. Though everything I’ve done today was prescheduled, so no one was in danger. And Bobby…he’s back to his old self. Bugging nurses and begging for pain pills. What about you? Did you finish the Batmobile yet?”
“You can’t rush art. But I did find a flaw in the system for another part of the project that has to pair with what I’m working on, and I’ll just say the people we’re making this for were really impressed. It was their guys who messed up.”
“That’s amazing,” I tell her, wishing she was at liberty to discuss her project. She hinted it was for the government and that she had to sign NDAs in order to work on it. Though even if she did explain it, I doubt I’d understand.
“You know how you like to tell everyone you’re a doctor?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, in my line of work, women are still in the minority for holding positions like I do, and I love when I get to show off how smart I am to a room full of arrogant men who think I’m not as good as them just because I have a vagina.”
“I didn’t realize you face adversity.”
“Oh yeah, we women still do. It’s getting better, and it could be worse. Women of color have an even harder time, and it’s such bullshit.”
Quinn’s always been one to stand up for equal rights, and I think having four older brothers just proved to her how she can do anything they can do, and most of the time do it better.
“Anyway, the head of that team is taking me out to dinner tomorrow and wants to introduce me to a professor friend. I kind of feel like Harry Potter going to a Slug Club dinner party, but I’m also at prime laziness right now and am already dreading being out past my bedtime.”
I didn’t think it was possible to be any more attracted to Quinn than I already am, but she wins me over more and more every time we talk. “If you’re trying to get a memory from this guy so you can defeat a dark wizard, don’t be so obvious.”
“I’ll do my best. Oh, tell your parents I said hi. My mom is even more excited knowing your mom is excited and wants to know if it’s okay if I pass along her number.”
“Yeah, my mom would love that actually. I’ll text you her contact info. They can plan parties to their hearts’ content.”
“My mom sent me at least a dozen pictures today. It’s kind of annoying, but I’m kind of having fun too.”
“You should have fun. Don’t feel like you can’t enjoy this or shouldn’t celebrate because of the way things came about.”
“I do feel that way,” she says, and I can hear relief in her voice. “I didn’t even want to admit it to myself, but I do.”
“I could tell. This wasn’t planned, but I know for sure we’re going to have an awesome kid.”
“Yeah. I think so too.” I can tell she’s smiling as she talks. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I’m going in for that blood work next Friday, and we should get the results back within a week. And my insurance covers it completely.”
“That’s great. The time is going to go by slow now,” I say, not realizing just how anxious I am to find out what we’re having.
“I know. It is. But I did narrow down my names. Can I run them by you?”
“Of course.”
“Emma and Aiden.”
I consider each one, mentally pairing it with my last name. Emma Jones sounds nice, but I’m not a fan of Aiden. I open my mouth to tell Quinn that only to snap my jaw shut. We haven’t talked about last names. I want the baby to have mine, and I hope and pray one day Quinn does too.
But I’m not proposing now, and suggesting that I think we might someday maybe get married isn’t a strong enough argument. Besides, Quinn wants to take things slow and I know she’s worried about dating just because we’re having a baby.
“I like Emma,” I finally say. “Aiden…I don’t dislike it, but I don’t like it.”
“Do you have any names picked out yet?”
“Not yet. I’ll narrow it down. Or if you want to keep giving me names, I’ll veto until we come to an agreement,” I
joke. Though that’s not a bad idea. Naming a kid is a lot of pressure.
“Dammit. I have to go. A client just called.”
“Okay, take care, babe.”
“You too. I’ll call you later.” I hang up, wishing I didn’t have to work this weekend. It’s going to be a long week without Quinn. Turning my face up to the sun, I close my eyes and sit still for a moment. I don’t get outside as much as I should. I’m also most likely dehydrated from standing in the hot OR most of the day, overtired, and I don’t eat as healthy as I should. For someone who makes a living taking care of others, I take shitty care of myself.
“Dr. Jones?” someone calls, and I open my eyes to see Elena coming out of the hospital with her lunch in hand.
“Hey, Elena.”
“How’s your girlfriend doing?” she asks and takes her food and sits at the opposite side of the picnic table than me.
“She’s good.”
Elena pulls out her salad. “That’s good. Congrats again, and sorry if I seemed surprised. It doesn’t seem like that long ago you were telling me you didn’t want anything serious.”
I didn’t want anything serious with her. I didn’t want anything serious with anyone I dated prior to Quinn. But I can’t tell her that. “Things changed.”
Elena nods. “Yeah, they do. She’s really pretty. Your girlfriend, I mean.”
“Thanks. And she is.” I want to soak up another few seconds of sun but sitting here with Elena is awkward. Now I get why dating people from work is frowned upon.
“Congrats again.”
I nod and get up. “Thanks, and thanks for taking good care of Quinn.” Faking a smile, I go back inside. I can hear Sam’s voice in my head telling me it’s my fault for shitting where I eat. For once I think he’s right.
I’m stopped again, but this time it’s by Dr. Miller, one of the attending surgeons I worked under.
“Fancy seeing you here.” She raises her eyebrows and smiles.
“It’s a shock, right?”
She laughs. “I’ve been meaning to find you all week. I went to a conference over the weekend. Dr. Crawford was there, and he asked about you.”