Maya~
"I'm going to go to DC with the team and support," Christian tells me.
"You should."
"We were supposed to have home-field advantage but they bombed the last few games so now they're on the road."
"Do they know you're going?"
"I'm going to act like I'm going in for PT but actually get on the bus. Only Ryan knows. He convinced me to come out. Felt right."
"When's that?"
"Tuesday. We're flying out tomorrow night."
"And what happens if you lose?"
"I'll go home next week but I still have PT stuff with our staff for the next week."
A day I didn't want to come isn't that far away. All I can do is hope they win on Tuesday. I want a few more weeks with him before the season ends.
"Can we go to bed?"
"You're staying?" he asks.
"Yeah."
"You have work."
"Okay?"
"Where's your stuff?"
"In my car. I was planning on leaving at 5:40."
"I'm getting up with you."
"Why would you do that to yourself?"
He laughs, "Why not?"
"I could think of ten reasons why you shouldn't."
"What are you up to?" Bridget asks, coming up to me.
"About to go tell this kid and her mom that I can't do much for a toothache."
"Isn't a dentist available for that?"
"They sent them to us. Poor kid got her wisdom teeth out a couple of days ago and got infection. It's not uncommon but she hasn't been able to eat or drink much. She's in so much pain."
"All you can do is send them home with antibiotics."
"Yep."
I feel my watch buzz my wrist so I look at it.
Christian: Just landed in DC. Talk later?
I pull out my phone to text him back.
Me: Of course. Off in 3 hours
"Who's that?" she asks.
"Christian."
"I only ask because you're smiling at your phone. What's he doing?"
"He flew to DC with his team to watch them play tomorrow." I finish typing the prescription for the pharmacy. I write a few notes on the printed papers before stapling them together.
"Why?"
"Because he can support them and whatnot. It's an all or nothing game."
"Already?"
"Yes, unfortunately."
"What does that mean?"
"He'll go home."
"That's it?"
"I don't know what more you want from me."
She laughs, "We'll talk later."
I tap the papers on the counter before going back to my patient. I knock before entering and sit on the chair closest to her mom. "So I can't do much and I know you both want better news than what I'm about to give you. It's most likely an infection and so I've put in for a prescription. It's a liquid but she needs to eat with it. Her face is still pretty swollen so lots of ice and rest. Mashed potatoes, applesauce, and ice cream are going to be your best friend."
"Thank you."
"You can head out whenever. It's no rush. Feel better," I tell the girl before going back to the nurse's station.
"So what do you mean when you said he'll go home?"
"That he will go home to California within the next week if the team loses tomorrow."
"And you will do what?"
"Work, call him, sleep, and eat."
"So you're not going to see him for six months?"
"Don't remind me."
"Seriously?"
"We haven't talked about it. Holidays and birthdays and all that. We've been to into each other to worry about that stuff."
"Ew."
"Not like that."
"Does he have a shot at MYP?"
"We'll see. He thinks it'll be close."
"Are you going to go out there?"
"I don't know. Hard to think it would be easy."
"Why?"
"Well, getting days off from Sydney is already a job itself."
"True."
"And I'm pretty sure his mom does not like me."
"We're still on this?"
"I'm not holding breath because chances are she still doesn't."
"You didn't do anything to her so she has no real reason to be upset with you."
"That's one way to look at it."
"Has he said anything?"
"I don't think he knows."
"You should probably tell him."
"I should but we both know that I won't."
"How's DC?" I ask Christian as I chop up vegetables for the soup I'm making.
"Pretty great. Vibes and energy are high."
"How'd the guys react?"
"Well, it sounds like half of them knew. Ryan let it slip."
"Can't trust anybody, huh?"
"Yeah. What are you doing?"
"Making soup."
"It's October."
"And almost soup weather."
He smiles, "You look great."
"I look exhausted."
"Little bit."
I smile, "When do you get back?"
"Tomorrow night. It'll be late though."
"So?"
"You want me to come into your house at 2 am?"
I shrug, "I won't tell you to not come."
"We'll see what time I get in and get back to my car."
"My house is closer."
"You're being really convincing."
"So it's working?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
I put the leftover vegetables in the fridge. "How was work?"
"It was fine. We had a lot of elderly come in today."
"From what?"
"They fall a lot and break their hips or their knees and then it's likely they need surgery. Then they're pissed about that."
"I'm sensing that you don't enjoy it."
"They're just bossy."
"Oh, and I know how you feel about other people bossing you around."
I laugh, "They're so sweet and sometimes they think I'm their granddaughter. The one today was a former nurse and she's telling me that I'm doing my job wrong even though she's letting me help."
"They trust you."
"I think that's the greatest feeling."
"It should be."
It's the little things that make me love my job so much. It can be hard and daunting but patients that are sweet and kind and understanding are what makes going into work bearable each day.
"Where are you headed?" Bridget asks me as I get my stuff situated in my car.
"I'm going to go change and pack all of my things for the morning then I'm headed to Christian's."
"They're back? How did that go?"
"Not well. They lost. He was supposed to come over last night after they got back but he didn't. So I'm sure he went home and slept. I haven't heard from him all day."
"He's probably avoiding you because he has to leave."
"Sometimes I wish you weren't so honest."
"Only giving you a hard time."
"Because I desperately need that?"
"Everyone needs it."
"Christian?" I ask, entering his apartment.
I get no answer. I put my lunch box in his fridge. I see his stuff sitting near the couch. "Christian?"
I push open the guest bedroom door. It's empty. I go back to his room and hear the shower running. "Christian?" I ask for a third time, knocking on the bathroom door.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
I open the door, "You didn't come over last night."
"It was really late. I didn't want to wake you."
I sit on the counter, "I'm sorry about last night. I know you wanted a different outcome."
"Yeah..."
He doesn't say anything else. The water shuts off. "Wanna toss me that towel?" he asks.
I reach for the towel across the counter and toss it at him. "How are you?"
He shrugs, stepping out of the shower, "If I hadn't gotten hurt, we would've won. I feel like I let them down."
"Who?"
"The team. The fans. You. Everyone."
"You couldn't have predicted that."
He shrugs again, "Just would've been easier if I hadn't gotten hurt. We probably would've won the division so we wouldn't have had to play in the Wild Card. It's over just like that. No time to process. It's done."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Nothing that will flip the script."
I leave Christian as he still sleeps. I took off today since it's his last day in Milwaukee. I start making coffee and call Bridget since she's taking her exam today.
She picks up immediately, "I'm so nervous. I think everything is going to slip my mind. Everybody seems so ready and I don't."
"You are ready. It's just the nerves. You're going to do fine."
"Why does it seem like you're not at the hospital?"
"Because I'm not. It's Christian's last day in Milwaukee so I took today off."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm taking him to the airport at 6."
"Are you planning on visiting or vice versa?"
"I don't know. We haven't really talked about it."
"Still?"
"We're avoiding the conversation."
"You should probably have that conversation."
"No shit."
She laughs, "Well, I have to get going."
"Okay. You're going to do great, I promise. You know it. Text me when you're done."
"I will. Thank you."
I stay in the kitchen and sort through the food that's left in his apartment. I settle on French toast since he doesn't have much and this food needs to be eaten otherwise it will be trash.
I get a few plates out and set them on the table. I hear him get up and start walking around. He comes out to the kitchen as I continued to make breakfast.
He hugs me from behind, "You didn't need to cook."
"I don't mind."
He pulls me away from the stove to kiss me. I turn to hug him, "I'm going to miss these mornings," he tells me.
"I know."
He kisses me again, "What should we do today?"
"Whatever you want."
I dip below the water, smoothing out my hair before resurfacing. "Come here," Christian says as he stands in the corner of the pool.
I swim over to him, "Is this open all year?"
"All year except when it snows too much. The sauna is always open. But I don't know many people who would want to swim in a pool when it's cold out."
"I think you'd be surprised."
"Are you one of those people?"
"Oh no, I'm not crazy."
He laughs, "Because you hate being cold?"
"Exactly."
I hold my arms around him, "Should we maybe talk about the offseason?"
"Yeah. I've been avoiding that."
"Yeah, me too. I guess we're good at that."
He holds his hands on my back. "I don't want to not see you for six months," I admit.
"I know."
"What do we do?"
"Well, I know I'll be out here in January for Brewers On Deck. I can certainly stay for a week then."
"What about holidays, our birthdays, you know the stretch from January to April?"
"What's going to be easiest for you?"
"My family usually does a Thanksgiving lunch and then I come back to work that night and Black Friday. Christmas is really important to us. We go to church on Christmas Eve and do a Christmas dinner. I usually work New Year's Eve."
"If we're being honest, I would love if you were there for the MVP announcement. We know I'm in the running. Maybe we stay with our families for Thanksgiving. We don't do much for Christmas so maybe I can come out for that. For our birthdays, maybe you can come out for a few days?"
I have plenty of vacation days so that's not what I'm worried about. It's actually getting those days granted. "We're a lot," I tell him, "My family. We're a lot."
"You're just saying that."
I laugh, "I'm just preparing you two months in advanced."
"So does all of that work?"
"I'm not worried about my vacation time because I have plenty and Bridget and I decided that we weren't going to plan a trip for the winter. I'm more concerned that Sydney and HR won't approve my time."
He nods, "We'll figure it out, okay?"
"Okay."
Christian left four days ago and everything feels weird. It feels like something's missing. He's been home and I've been at work.
Sydney walks around the corner as I worked on some current charts, "Anything good come in?"
"Some sick kids and a busted lip."
She sighs, "So no?"
"Not really. Bridget is doing sutures right now and I'm waiting on lab results."
She nods, "Sounds good."
"Sydney, wait."
"Yeah?"
"This is a long shot but how far in advanced do you have the schedule set?"
"A month, why?"
There's a month until Christian's MVP announcement. "Any chance I can request some days off within that month?"
"I mean, you can, but after I submit the schedule, it's HRs problem. You'll have to go through them."
"Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Bridget comes back, "I just killed that suture. His scar will be so hidden he'll probably forget that this even happened."
"You're a little too excited about suturing a busted lip."
She laughs, "And you're not excited enough."
"Probably because I know what it feels like. I was just practice."
"You're right. You don't even a scar. I'm just that good."
I laugh as she sits next to me, "What do you want?"
"Do you have anything good?"
"I gave you all my good stuff. I got sick kids."
"Yeah, I don't want those."
"I'm aware."
I log into the computer and further into our timesheet system to see how many days I have to work with. "What are you looking at?"
"Seeing how many PTO and sick days I have to work with."
"Why?"
"Christian wants me to come out for his MVP announcement but it's in a month and Sydney already submitted her schedule. I'm trying to figure out a way to get out there even if it was for a couple of days."
"Well, I'll always cover for you. You've done it for me so I have no problem doing it for you."
"That's not the only dates I have."
"What else?"
"I want to go out for our birthdays."
"When's his birthday?"
"Day before mine."
"What a coincidence."
"Right?"
"So I take it you had that conversation?"
"Yeah. He's coming out during Christmas and then again in January."
"Wow, Christmas! With the fam?"
"He's a bit too excited for it."
"He should be."
"No, no, he shouldn't."
"Your mom already loves him. They know, right?"
I look over at her and stay silent. "Maya. They don't know you're dating Christian?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I haven't told them."
"I understand that. Why?"
"Because if I tell them I'm dating a current MVP who happened to have stumbled into my ER with a sliced eyebrow, I don't think they would believe me. Or they would and they would make a huge deal about it and want to post about god knows what."
"Well, they're going to have to find out somehow."
"What if I just show up to Christmas with him? Not like they could turn him away."
"No, that's a bad idea."
"This will sound dramatic, but I think I forgot what it's like to date."
"I don't think that's dramatic. I think you're relearning what you like as a person and as a unit."
"No, I think I'm just overthinking and dramatic."
"Maya, you're talking to thee drama queen."
"Okay, but I have my moments," I admit.
"We all do."
"I just don't want them to see MVP, baseball Christian. While he's great, I like not-baseball Christian even more. I don't want them to get caught up or distracted by the fame and athleticism when he's just as normal as us. He's more than just baseball to me. While I think my family would adjust, I know there will be a moment of shock and fan-girling."
"You should at least tell them that you're bringing someone. It's the least you could do."