Heartbeat

3: First Patient

Along the way I said to him, "You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to navigate this hospital all alone."

"Well I'm glad to hear that cause you're gonna be stuck with me for the rest of the week," he said, "Kellan West by the way, internal medicine, you can call me Kellan or Dr. West, whichever floats your boat."

He offered his hand and I took it then said, "Alexandria Huang, internal medicine as well, I usually go by Alex but since we are at work, you can call me Dr. Huang."

"Oh your named after a city named by Alexander the Great, fascinating," he said and I grinned then said, "I see that you have a knack for history."

He just smiled and said, "I guess I do, anyways, we shouldn't keep our patient waiting."

I nodded as we both entered the room. I was expecting some old guy but instead I was met with a girl who looked like she was in college.

She looked nervous but as soon as she saw us, she became a little more relaxed.
She smiled and said, "Thank god, I thought I was going to be visited by some old doctor."

I smiled and looked at the chart to see what her name was.

Delilah Langdon

"Ok Delilah, this is Dr. West," as I pointed at Kellan making her smile and say, "Well isn't he a sight for sore eyes."

I laughed and said, "And I'm Dr. Huang and we will be your doctors for today."

"So it says here that you've been having abdominal pain and you've been experiencing weight loss, is that correct?," I asked.

She nodded and said, "I have and it's been happening for a while, at first I was eating well and yet I still lost weight but afterwards I also started losing my appetite."

"Did you notice anything about your stool when you go to the bathroom?," Kellan asked and she said, "Well I've also been experiencing diarrhoea and it kinda has blood in it."

"I see, have you been vomiting lately?," I asked and she nodded. I decided to take her temperature and said, "Seems like you also have a slight fever."

I approached Kellan and spoke softly so that Delilah wouldn't hear, "I have a feeling this might be Crohn's disease."

He nodded and said, "We should do some blood tests and schedule her for a CT scan."

"I'm just going to extract a blood sample from you Delilah, okay?," I said and she nodded as I got her blood sample.

I nodded and turned to Delilah and said, "We're just going to run some tests to see what's wrong and we'll tell you the results as soon as they're ready."

She nodded and said, "Thanks Doctor Huang and thank you Dr. West."
She shoots a wink at Kellan who resorts to awkwardly looking at me and mouthing, "Help me."

I chuckle and say, "I'll make sure Dr. West will check on you from time to time."

We both leave the room as I shoot a wink at Delilah who smiles from ear to ear. Kellan playfully punches me in the shoulder as soon as we left the room and says, "Why'd you have to do that?."

"Hey, I just want to see the patient smile and besides, all she has is a harmless crush on you," I said and he just grins as I say, "I'm going to the nurse's station to get this blood tested and schedule her CT scan, keep an eye on her for me."

He nodded and goes back in the room as I make my way to the nurse's station.

Oh my gosh, I don't know where that is.

I sigh and decided to look at the signs and thankfully a sign showed me where it was. I immediately made my way to the nurse's station only to see the same angry ginger that I encountered a while ago talking up a storm to a male nurse.

I decided to stop in my tracks and wait till the woman left and then I walked up to the nurse who looked devastated. He had big square glasses and a thin physique. He had pale skin and brown hair that was styled into a side fringe.

"Hey, you okay there? Seems like that woman was giving you hell there. He adjusts his glasses and gives a weak smile as he tries to wipe away a tear and says, "Its my first day and it's just really overwhelming."

I decided to go around the desk and I asked, "Can I come in?"

He nods and I approach him and give him a hug as I pat his back. I let him go and said, "Ok, breathe, tell me what happened."

"S-she was asking me for the results of her blood test but I forgot to get the blood sample tested and she called me incompetent and unfit," he said as he tried to wipe away his tears again.

"Hey, it's your first day, mistakes are fine, they only teach us to become better," I said, "I should probably go back out there before anyone thinks we're doing something weird."

He nods then laughs as I make my way back to the front of the desk. I then say, "Who was she anyways?"

"Oh that was Dr. Kaelyn Miles, she's well, umm, intimidating and sounds like she isn't even an intern," the male nurse said and I then said, "I'm Alexandria Huang by the way, you can call me Alex or Dr. Huang."

He shyly smiled and then said, "I'm Lucas Cohen, you can call me Lucas."

I smile and say, "Anyways Lucas, I came here to give this blood sample of Delilah Langdon and have it tested."

He takes the blood sample and says, "You have your pager on you?"

I nodded and said, "Page me when it's done."

He smiles and says, "Oh and Alex, you're literally the first person here who was actually nice to me, thank you."

"Don't mention it," I said, "Oh and Lucas?"

"Yes?," he said then I smiled and said, "How about you join me for lunch at the cafeteria later."

"I would love that," he said as he retreated to the labs and disappeared from my sight.

Hours passed as I went around checking on patients with Dr. West and eventually it was time for lunch.

"Hey Kellan," I said as I looked at my watch, "Looks like it's our time to eat."

I then heard his stomach rumble as he said, "Oh thank god, I thought you'd want to go and check on all our patients again."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," I said, "Besides, we won't last another hour if we don't intake some calories."

He chuckled and said, "Amen to that."