Pathway to Love by Radclyffe

Author:Radclyffe [Radclyffe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636791111
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-11-01T00:06:28+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Val was groggy from the pre-op medications when two of the trauma staff brought her up to the OR. Courtney met them at the door and helped transfer her to the OR table. As Claire got ready to administer the anesthesia, Courtney squeezed Val’s upper arm and leaned down. “Val, it’s Courtney. How are you doing?”

Val’s eyes flickered open, her pupils unfocused and glazed. After a few seconds her gaze cleared, and she fixed on Court’s face.

“Ready…to get…this over,” she said slowly but clearly.

Court smiled. That was just like Val. If there was a problem, she was all over it. She’d never seemed scared or unsure, even as a teenager. Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe having a father who stuck around made a difference. And maybe she was still wishing she’d had Val’s life. Which was just pathetic. “You’re in the amphitheater. You okay with observers?”

“Sure.” Val laughed. “Gotta…be good karma.”

Courtney nodded, her throat a little tight. Did she have to be so damn brave? “That’s what I think too.”

“Brody?”

“Ida is with her. She’ll keep her busy.”

Val closed her eyes. “Good. Have…fun.”

“You know it.” Court laughed to cover the catch in her voice. “You’ll be fine. Talk to you soon.”

She stepped back as Claire placed the mask over Val’s face to begin the induction. After waiting to be sure all went smoothly, Court joined Ben at the scrub sinks. Unlike in the new OR where the scrub area overlooked the OR room via a window, these were tucked into an alcove in the hallway.

Ben said, lathering her hands and forearms with the antiseptic scrub brush, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, she’s good.”

“I meant you.”

“I’m good,” Court said. Ben was asking about the case, of course—checking to see if she was ready for it—but a little part of her couldn’t help warming to the idea that Ben was asking about her personally. “I’m glad I’m here.”

“All right then,” Ben said after a pause, “why don’t you walk me through the case.”

Court took half a second to settle herself. This was the first real test Ben had presented her with. Even though she wouldn’t be in charge of any important decisions in the OR, or anything at all, really, one day she would be, and she had to act as if now was that day. Continuing to scrub, she described what they’d be doing, not letting herself second-guess what she was saying. She’d be right or she’d be wrong, but she’d be sure. The time for indecision ended at the door.

Ben turned off the water with the press of her knee and stepped back, the last drops dripping from her elbows as she held her hands up in front of her. “Good. What’s the long-term treatment?”

Courtney followed her in as Ben shouldered through the door. “Ah—internal fixation and bone grafting.”

“That’s the plan,” Ben said. “When?”

Court had had the basics of orthopedics, just like every other medical student, but nothing very detailed. And the morning had been way too busy to review the specifics of the case.

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