"Ok, but we keep our masks on in the car. I don't want us infecting each other."
"Deal," his voice perked up, and I sighed thinking of the adorable way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. How I wished too that we could simply ride together to work - from our home.
*******
"Madi, do you have the presentation ready?" Dr Patel asked me as soon as he walked into the conference room.
"Yes, sir. I worked with Melissa to get all our remote consult data as well as the reasons why our specialists were being consulted," I told him of the joint effort between me and the administrator for our department.
"Excellent. The reps from Cyber Gateway should be here any minute," he replied. Then added with gratitude, "Thanks so much for doing this. I know you are busy with so many other things but the CEO of the company himself asked for the chief resident to be involved. The current one will be leaving soon so I thought I'd ask you."
He did? I wondered why.
"No worries," I smiled under my mask, "improving access to healthcare has always been a personal passion of mine. This just sounds like a great project to be a part of..."
'So glad we'll be exploring your passion together," a familiar deep voice interrupted me. I swung around to face the man who had just walked in through the door. He wore a mask like the rest of us, but the perfectly gelled hair, those dark-rimmed glasses, that designer suit were a dead giveaway.
"Faraz?"
He walked over to large rectangular table I sat at, and took a seat opposite me, flanked by a handful of other members of his team.
"Hello Dr Madiha, aka Madi." The mirthful look in his eyes as he held my surprised gaze was unsettling. I blinked, quickly.
"Do you know each other?" Dr Patel interjected.
"We're family," Faraz replied before I could.
No we're not, I wanted to say. My sister's brother-in-law hardly counted as family, but Faraz had already started introducing his team of software developers, then moved on to the topic at hand. So, I too shook off the weird feeling and dove right in.
For the rest of that hour, I presented our experience of sub-specialists providing far flung physicians with advice on the phone or Skype when needed. He asked questions intermittently, always respectfully. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He was just the CEO of a tech company trying to make a difference by providing a technological solution through which we could securely send patient data and talk to providers around the world in real-time.
"We'll have a beta version of the teleconsulting program ready for you in a couple of weeks. How about we meet then and demonstrate it for you?" he asked Dr Patel.
"I should be able to make time. We'll pull in some of our IT folks as well," my program director replied, and turned towards me, "what about you, Madi?"
"I'll have to look at my schedule."
Faraz spoke without being spoken too. "Well Dr Madiha, thank you so much for your insight today. I hope to see you again soon." He nodded, the rest of his team said goodbye and was gone before I could blink.
"Nice guy," Dr Patel remarked.
"Weird guy," I muttered under my breath, and took my phone out to send a text.
Me: You'll never believe who showed up at the hospital today.
Omar
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