Leave the Pieces (Strawberry Inn Book #5)

Chapter 10

GLENN

“Thanks for everything, Tina. We’ll let you know if there are any questions. You’re the fucking best.” I hang up the phone and breath a sigh of relief. I’ve never been on this side of any surgical procedure before, but I do know that it sucks and I would prefer to never have to do it again. I can’t imagine how Emory is feeling right now. She’s been through every moment with Callum, I just came end at the endpoint. When I walk back to the room, she stands with her mom, both anxiously awaiting what I have to say. “He’s in recovery, everything went as expected.”

“Oh, thank god!” I wasn’t expecting Emory to throw her arms around my neck when I delivered the good news, but once I recovered from the shock, I wrapped my arms around her and enjoyed the closeness. Callum still had a long road to go, but this was the first mountain he needed to conquer and he did just that. “So what now? How long until we can see him?”

“He needs to be eased off the anesthesia carefully because of his age. That takes a little more time than with an adult. You can’t go down there with him right now, I’m sorry, Emory.”

“But you can, right?” She looks up at me with hopeful eyes. “You’re a doctor here, you’d be allowed down there.”

“You’re not wrong, but I have to keep my space to abide by hospital policies.”

“Please, Glenn,” she grabs onto my white coat, begging me to break the rules for her. “I understand that you can’t do much, but if you could just take a look, and see him with your own eyes, that’ll help me feel better.”

“Come with me,” I put my hand out and she takes it without question. I can’t take her all the way to the recovery room, but she can walk with me most of the way and then wait outside the doors. I press the elevator button to go down and we step onto the first one that opens, thankfully we’re alone. “If I get fired, this is all your fault.”

“Could you really get fired?” She gasps.

“No,” I chuckle. “I’m not going to get fired. I can’t take you in there with me, but what if we video chat and you can see him that way?”

“Yeah, I would really like that.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” When we stop in front of the swinging door that says “Employees Only,” I dial Emory’s number. Her face pops up on the screen, just as nervous and anxious as the woman standing in front of me. With her still on the line, I put a clean gown over my clothes and a surgical cap over my hair. “How do I look?” I model my new headgear over the phone.

“It looks very professional of you, Dr. Barnes.” I much prefer when she calls me Glenn, but Dr. Barnes didn’t sound horrible coming off her lips. That probably makes me a sick motherfucker. I can’t deny that Emory does something to me. There is a reason she caught my attention a year ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about her sense. 

I sanitize my hands and place a blue surgical mask over my mouth before walking into the recovery room. I won’t be touching Callum or any other patients while I’m in here, but the safer the better. There are two other kids in the recovery area, each of them assigned a nurse. The difference is they look to be closer to ten years old, not the small infant in the last bay. “Dr. Banks,” I greet our resident, surprised to see him sitting next to my son. “Is everything okay?”

“Hi, Dr. Barnes. I wanted to monitor him for myself. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No,” I shake my head, “not at all.” I hold the phone up to face the young doctor, “This is Callum’s mom. I know I’m stretching the rules a bit, but she wanted to see him for herself.”