tiana's perspective.
"Hey, look at me. It's going to be super quick, you'll only feel a little poke and then it's all over. I promise!"
"But I'm still scared." One of my patients says, giving me puppy dog eyes. She's only 4 and terribly afraid of needles, so I reassure her the best I can.
"How about I hold your hand? You can squeeze my hand as tight as you want if it hurts you, okay?" She nods her head yes and grabs a hold of my hand. The doctor that I'm shadowing prepares the needle for her. I try to distract the patient as she does so. "Did you go to school today? I know mommy said you're in Pre-K."
"Yes." She shyly responds, trying to keep her eyes on the needle.
"Tell me what you did today. Did you color or do arts and crafts? What did you eat?"
She starts telling me about her day, slowly focusing more on me and the conversation at hand and before she knows it, she feels the little poke from the needle and it's all over. She jumps a little, but doesn't shed a tear.
"See? That was so fast!"
I help the doctor clean up and watch as she talks to the patient's parents before they leave. I then go and gather my belongings so I could leave and pull an all-nighter tonight to make sure I pass this test tomorrow. Before I leave though, the doctor stops me.
"You know, you should really consider becoming a pediatrician. You work so well with the kids. I know you got some other rounds to do but you are great working with the kids. If you ever need a letter of recommendation or some help or guidance, I'm always here for you." She says.
"Thank you." I smile and give her a hug then leave the hospital for the night. My apartment is a 15 minute walk from the hospital, so to save myself some money, I walk to and from there whenever I can. Plus, it's exercise for me so I don't have to do an hour of cardio everyday.
I put my headphones in and listen to some music for most of my walk, but Harlem calls me before I get home. "Hey boo." I answer the phone.
"Tiana I'm going crazy."
"What happened?" I ask.
"So you know I went home to see my brother and to get him situated with your mom, right?"
"Mhm."
"I ended up running into Kyree and honestly, I think I may have feelings for him again. Like I know I sound crazy but it's like at home I have responsibilities and shit and when I was spending time with him I was taken back to that time we spent the summer together. I was young, carefree and happy. I mean I'm happy now but it's so different. It's like two completely different versions of me." She rambles.
"Did you cheat?"
"No! I could never do that to Christian. I love him way too much for that but I almost kissed him."
"Wow, Harlem. Like you haven't spoken to this man in years and all of a sudden he comes back and fucks shit up."
"I know! Help me Ti, what do I do?" She whines.
"I think you need to work out your feelings for both. Spend more quality time with your husband and see if the spark is still there, but build a relationship with Kyree and see if you want to be more than friends or if it was just a little fling because you haven't seen him in a while. But don't be sneaky, go talk to Christian and tell him what's going on."
I get home, finally, and get my mail out of my mailbox before going inside. Harlem keeps talking but a piece of mail catches my eye and I zone her out. I got a letter in the mail from Josiah. "I got a letter in the mail from Josiah!" I exclaim.
