Edible Delectables (3 page)

Jason couldn't help but smile.  He could see by her expression she wanted to use a higher number.  "Just a seven?” he questioned, eyebrows raised, before adding, “You don’t have to be brave here, we’re going to try and make you comfortable as soon as possible.”

"Okay, maybe an eight," Kara amended.  Jason just grinned in return, his dimples showing, and shook his head slightly.  He gently placed his hands back over the area and as tenderly as he could, pressed again, releasing quickly.  "Does it hurt more when I press in, or when I let go?"

"In, definitely IN!" she answered as tears sprung to her eyes and she tried to curl up away from his touch.  Kara closed her eyes and took shallow breaths, her nausea seeming to return full force. 

"Sorry about that,” Jason murmured a sincere apology.  He pulled the gown back down over Kara's exposed stomach and swept her hair off her shoulder tenderly, while leaning over her slightly, and continued, “Your blood work came back with a high white blood count and ketones in your urine.  Something is definitely going on in there.  It looks like a pretty clear case of appendicitis.  The direct pressure pain was more intense than rebound, so I think the odds are good that it hasn’t burst.  Now, we just have to rule a few other things out first, to be sure.  We'll want a CT scan and possibly an ultrasound, and a pelvic.” He explained everything clearly, watching for any sign she might be confused and saw none.  He turned to the nurse, “Melinda can you call in the CT and prep for the pelvic?"

Jason’s words seemed to finally register with Kara, "Wait, what?  A pelvic?  I'm sure I don't need a pelvic!"  Her face flushed bright red with embarrassment.

Jason shifted his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot for just a moment, but then cleared his throat, and taking a calm but authoritative tone, said, "It’s important to rule out everything, Ms. Baker.  Cysts, for example, can present as appendicitis; I won't go cutting you up unnecessarily.  You'll need a full exam to be certain everything is clear.”

His words, intended to inspire confidence in his abilities as a doctor, were wasted on Kara; she appeared far too distracted by his left shoulder.  He glanced down and noticed the words she'd been staring at embroidered on his left breast pocket.  Dr. Dietrich,
Pediatrics
.  "You're a pediatrician?!"

~*~

Kara watched as Dr. Dietrich tilted his head slightly and nodded, his eyes flashing with amusement.  "Yes, I'm a resident in the peds department, but I assure you, I'm fully qualified to treat adults, too.  The anatomy is all the same,” he added in a hushed tone, as if he were telling her a secret.  “You never know what specialty you're going to get in an ER rotation,” he continued, “this is a teaching hospital -- just be glad you didn't get stuck with an intern!" he teased in mock horror.  He grinned and gave a small chuckle, then turned to the nurse and instructed her to let him know when they were ready for him, before grabbing Kara’s chart and leaving the room.

Kara groaned and nodded her head, acquiescing.  Well, this was it, the epitome of her life, she was about to be spread eagle in front of Adonis himself.  Did she shave? She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that she had.  Good thing she lived by the golden rule: always have on clean underwear, and keep the downstairs tidy, just in case you're in an accident and sent to the hospital.  She hadn’t been in an accident, but she was definitely in the hospital.

The nurse was speaking and brought Kara back out of her thoughts.  "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"We're going to have to move you to another room with an exam table."  The nurse pulled the curtain to Kara's hospital bay and walked into the hall to retrieve a wheelchair then braced Kara's back and helped lift her off the bed and slowly down into the wheelchair.  They made their way quickly down the hall to another exam room where Melinda quickly set the equipment they would need for the pelvic on the metal tray.  Then she pulled out the stirrups.

“Okay, you know the drill, scoot down to the bottom of the table, and put your legs in the stirrups.”  Melinda patted the end of the table and Kara did as instructed, grunting with the movement.  Her insides felt as though they were being squished.  That feeling alone caused her nausea to kick back in and she had to take deep breaths to avoid vomiting on the floor.

The nurse tugged on Kara's gown, pulling it up above her pubic bone while securing the drape across her stomach for modesty.  Kara pushed the sheet a little further up her thighs, giving her a greater sense of coverage, even though she knew it really covered nothing.  Melinda smiled down at her and finished prepping the instruments preparing for Kara's pelvic.  Just as she was finishing up Doctor Dietrich entered the room and Kara let out an internal groan.  There would be no end to her humiliation today.

"We're ready."  Melinda looked up at Jason and stepped to the side of the exam table, patting Kara on the arm for support.  Jason sat down in the chair and talked his way through the exam.  Kara couldn’t help but wonder how often he did this. Being in pediatrics, he couldn’t possibly do many pelvic exams, but he seemed to know what he was doing.  "I'm going to put in the speculum, it'll be a little cold and you'll feel pressure."  Kara just nodded her head, her cheeks flaming red.  Doctor Dietrich took the samples he needed, set the specimens down on the tray and removed the speculum.

And now for the ultimate embarrassment: the feeling of the ovaries.

Jason stood up between Kara's legs and grabbed the lubricant.

He carefully squeezed a small amount from the tube and rubbed it on his fingers, then gingerly inserted two fingers while pressing down on Kara's abdomen as she stared at the ceiling and imagined she was anywhere else but where she was, or that it was an elderly doctor with gray hair and bottle top glasses between her legs.

"Left ovary...Right ovary..."  Jason pulled his hand out and peeled the gloves off, tossed them in the trash, then looked over at Kara.  He reached over and placed his hand on her arm.  "Everything looks fine, we're sending the samples off, but that is just procedure and I'm pretty sure this is a clear case of appendicitis.  We'll get you down to CT as soon as possible, and after we get those results back, we'll call surgery down for a consult."  He then turned to the nurse, "Go ahead and give her seventy-five ml Demerol for pain.” Looking at Kara he gave her a small, understanding smile, “We'll try to get you a little more comfortable."

"Thanks, Dr. Dietrich."  Kara gave a small smile in return as she slowly sat up on the table, preparing to get in the wheelchair for the ride back to her trauma bay room.

That's when it dawned on her who he was.  Dr. Jason Dietrich, MD specializing in pediatrics was Jason Dietrich from Lake High School.  Just when Kara thought she couldn't be more embarrassed, she realized that the light of her junior year had just minutes before had his hands all up in her business.  Those very  hands that she'd fantasized about while watching him write on an assignment or read a book in the library, the slow way his fingers would linger on a page before smoothly turning to the next driving her to distraction.

Kara had noticed Jason immediately upon arrival at her new school.  He was gorgeous, with his unruly hair and sharp features.  Time had not changed him much, that was for sure.  Kara remembered Jason didn't date in high school, everyone made sure to point that out immediately if his name was ever brought up.  Like it had mattered.  Kara knew if he did date, it would have never been with her anyway, why should she care if he turned all the desperate girls in their school down?

While she may have known she would never be with him, it didn't stop her fascination. Every now and then she would see him in the hallway walking to class and just as they would pass each other, he'd smile, showing a hint of dimples.  It was the highlight of her day when that happened.

Now here he was, back in her life in the most absurd way.  So why did she feel like maybe this was a new chance

~*~

"Dr. Dietrich?" Melinda called out walking up to him in the hallway.  "Ms. Baker's test results are back."

"Thank you."  Jason glanced up in acknowledgement and gave her a polite smile.  He retrieved the CT and ultrasound results and quickly looked them over.  After checking everything out he placed the call to surgery for a consult and returned to Kara's room to give her the news.

When he walked into her trauma bay Jason found Kara resting, the pain meds he had prescribed earlier having finally taken affect.  A tall woman was leaning on the shoulder of a blond man in the chairs against the wall; they too appeared to be asleep.  Jason softly cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Kara," Jason said quietly, gently shaking her arm to wake her.

She slowly opened her eyes but they remained droopy from the effects of the Demerol.

"Your tests are back, looks like it is appendicitis.  I've called surgery down for a consult; they should be here in the next thirty minutes.  After they take a quick look they'll probably take you on back."

Kara nodded her head slowly, a small smile forming, "Thank you, Jason."  Her eyes closed and she turned her head away, falling back asleep.

Jason.  Not Dr. Dietrich.  Did she remember him, too?

Chapter Three

Kara woke up to the rhythmic beating of the heart monitor and turned her head to look around.  She spotted Evalyn sitting in the visitors’ chair next to the bed flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," Kara croaked.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"  Eva put the magazine down and grabbed Kara's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I've been better," Kara answered, attempting a slight stretch of her cramped muscles and immediately flinching in pain.  Just then Eric walked through the door with a bag that looked and smelled like it might contain two coffees.

"You're awake!"  He handed off one of the cups to Eva and set the bag down on the bedside table.  Carefully he leaned in for an awkward one-armed half hug and kissed Kara's cheek.

"Aww, you brought me breakfast," Kara smiled and tried to reach for the other cup.

"Forget it Kara, it's not happening."  He laughed at her pout and swatted her hand away from his coffee.

"I believe water and juice are available to you, as well as ice cream, popsicles, and broth.  Maybe tea, I'm not really sure."  He looked over at the menu by her bedside, which proclaimed
liquid diet
in red pen. 
Coffee is liquid
, she thought.  Kara stuck her tongue out and immediately grimaced at the taste in her mouth.

"Ugh, somebody hand me a toothbrush.  Please."  Eva laughed as she grabbed the overnight bag she had sent Eric for the night before, as soon as they had confirmation Kara was being admitted.  Digging inside she found the toiletries bag, pulled it out and handed it to Kara, then got up and grabbed the small plastic wash basin.  She put a small amount of water in it and then held it up in front of her friend, as Kara eased the bed into a semi-upright position, wincing slightly at the movement.

Kara brushed her teeth, then considered brushing them again, but instead put the toothbrush away.

"Much better," she mumbled, leaning her head back, the small effort of brushing her teeth having exhausted her somewhat.  It was then a blond male nurse came into the room to take her vitals and explain the medication pump for pain.  He explained how to keep on top of it, not letting the pain get too intense before medicating, as that would prolong her suffering before the medication could kick in, then asked if she would like anything for breakfast.

"What are my options?" Kara asked carefully.

The nurse, whose name was Matt, chuckled, "You get to choose.  Green or red Jell-O?"

Kara grunted and made a face but relented. "Red," she answered

"I'll be right back," Matt winked and turned to leave the room to quickly track down the food cart.

"He's cute," Evalyn stated, her eyebrow raised; she was relentless with trying to
fix
Kara’s single status.  Kara just rolled her eyes while Eric laughed and shook his head, sympathy in his eyes.  He had seen enough of his wife’s ‘fixing’ to know a scheme when he saw one.  Matt returned with Kara’s Jell-O and a juice box, along with a reminder for her to keep ahead of the pain, then left the room.

Later that afternoon Kara's surgeon came by to check on her.  He informed her that as long as everything continued to look alright and she didn't develop an infection in her incision, she could go home in two days.  He gave strict orders for her to be up and moving to the bathroom as soon as possible, and he wanted her getting up and around the room by the following morning.  Kara nodded in understanding and thanked the doctor for taking care of her.

Soon after her surgeon left, Eva and Eric decided it was time to head out themselves and said their goodnights to Kara. They departed with reminders about what both Matt and her surgeon had said, ‘keep ahead of the pain, especially while getting up and around’.  They were hopeful they could break her out of this joint as soon as possible. Kara chuckled and agreed to do as she was told. 

As soon as they left, she felt the urge to use the restroom.
Of course as soon as Evalyn leaves,
Kara thought.  She lowered the bedrail and carefully eased her legs over the side.  Just this small amount of movement had her slightly light-headed and winded.  She was just working up the strength to stand when somebody walked into the room.

"Jas..Dr. Dietrich."  Kara noticed Jason's smile and hoped it wasn’t because he realized she was so flustered to see him.  He looked tired, and was wearing a set of scrubs instead of the lab coat and tie he’d been wearing the previous evening.

"You look about as bad as I'm guessing I do right now.  Long night?"  He grinned her favorite dimpled smile and softly agreed.

"We were pretty busy," he said and then motioned to his outfit, "I got puked on."

"Well that sounds,” Kara shook her head at the thought, “um, gross?"  She couldn't help but laugh, which only made her flinch at the movement.  Her legs were over the side of the bed, and she tried to scoot forward to rest them on the floor.  Jason immediately walked over to assist.