“I suggested it last night because it can help calm the acid in your stomach, even if you don’t have heartburn.” I leaned back slightly. “You’re supposed to listen to your doctor—not ignore them.”
“I’ll pick some up if I don’t feel well tomorrow.” A half-smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
That’s not the beautiful smile I was hoping for, but I guess it will have to do for now.
“Make sure you stay hydrated too.” I narrowed my eyes. “Lots of water.”
“I’ll try.” She nodded.
Still no smile…
Holly and I had been meeting for our almost-daily Skype conversations and occasional Skype-dates since I left Arizona. They were usually filled with friendly banter, long discussions about things that didn’t always matter, and occasionally they got a little dirty. It was the best thing we had due to the distance between us. I badly wanted to hold her in my arms, and if she was sick, I wanted to be there to take care of her. It definitely seemed like a stomach bug, although I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was bothering her. When her stomach was bothering her during our Skype-date, she was very uncomfortable and had to change positions multiple times to try and alleviate the symptoms. She wasn’t moving around or anything like that—she just looked very unhappy. The picture wasn’t the clearest, but it almost looked she had been crying—but she denied that and said it was just because she didn’t feel well.
“Alright, I don’t want to keep you up too late. If you’re not feeling well, you should try and get some rest.” I tilted the laptop and smiled.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She nodded. “I’m sorry that we haven’t been able to talk like we normally do this weekend.”
“It’s okay.” I tapped the screen. “You just need to take care of yourself right now.”
“I will.” She nodded again.
“Oh, by the way—only three weeks until Thanksgiving.” I could feel my face light up.
“Yep.” She barely cracked a smile. “I can’t wait.”
“Me either.” I leaned back and sighed.
We said our goodbyes and the conversation was over. I was a little more worried than I would have been if she just had a stomach bug. She just looked unhappy in general. Truthfully, I didn’t know what kind of patient she was when she was actually sick. Some people turned into completely different versions of themselves when they had a sneez
e or a cough. People in my profession always joked that the strongest man in the world would turn into a baby if he had a runny nose, and my experience didn’t have anything to offer in the way of a contradiction. I wasn’t the best patient myself when I came down with something, but I usually did my best to hide it when I was working—as long as I wasn’t contagious.
I don’t know if something else is bothering you or not, Holly, but I hope you know that you can tell me anything.
The next day
“Good morning!” Mr. Pierce was outside working in his yard when I walked out of the house to start my morning run.
“Morning neighbor.” I smiled and waved.
“Do you run every day?” He put down his hose and walked closer to my driveway.
“I try to.” I nodded and started stretching out my legs.
“Aren’t you on your feet all day?” He raised an eyebrow. “Running seems like a lot of extra work…”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “But, I enjoy it. It helps me clear my head before I go to work, or just get a good start on the day. You should join me sometime!”
“That’s gonna be a no from me, doc,” he chuckled. “These old knees ran their last mile a long time ago.”
“Maybe a brisk walk then?” I finished stretching and made sure my shoes were properly tied. “It would be good for you—if you got bad knees, it could build up the muscles around them—it’ll take some pressure off the joint.”
“Perhaps…” He picked up his hose and turned back towards the garden he was watering.
If Holly’s father was anything like most of my patients, he had no intention of actually following my advice. When I first started working at the hospital, it surprised me how many people would listen to what I had to say, promise they would do it, and then be back at the ER a few months later with the same problem—and they’d always admit they never got around to taking care of themselves like I recommended. All I could do was patch them up, give them the same treatment recommendations again and hope they followed through after another scare. Most of them still didn’t—and that kept the hospital in business. I hoped things would be a little different once I got my own practice. I could check up on people a whole lot more rather than writing them a prescription and hoping for the best once they left the hospital.
They may not follow my advice either, but they’ll have to lie to me a whole lot more.
Later that day