“Good morning Karen. You look like you got some much-needed rest. Dr. Ramsey left this message for you. He should be out of surgery in twenty minutes or so,” Katie told her handing her the paper.
“Thanks Katie, I’ll go check on Sydney now,” Karen said reading the message.
Karen, No change with Sydney, she’s still being difficult. Maybe you can get through to her. Oh, and by the way, the strike’s over… Chris
Karen had to think about the last part for a minute, not understanding what he meant. Then, she remembered her proposal. She had basically asked him out! She had figured that he had probably forgotten about it, but apparently he hadn’t. She put the thought out of her head as she entered Sydney’s room.
“So, can I go home now?” Sydney asked sitting up.
“Well good morning to you too! I need to check you over before I can make that call. How are you feeling?”
“Like I want to get out of here.”
“Do you even have a place to go? I can give you the names of some shelters…”
“I’m all set,” Sydney cut her off.
“Why are you so against accepting help? You can turn your life around if you’d just let me help you.”
“You know nothing about me, or my life. Why do you care?”
“I know more then you think, Sydney. You remind me of someone whom when they finally admitted they needed help, they were able to almost completely gain their life back,” Karen explained, failing to mention that it was herself that she was referring to.
Sydney’s eyes lowered as she thought about what Karen was saying to her. She didn’t want to admit it, but for some reason, she felt really comfortable with Karen. She wanted to be able to ask her for help, but she was afraid to because then she’d be admitting that she was an addict. Finally she looked up at Karen with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t know what to do. I have no where to live and I don’t have any real friends left. My family thinks I’m a screw-up and wants nothing to do with me. I…I’ve never felt so alone,” Sydney confessed as she began sobbing.
Karen was momentarily stunned by her sudden confession, but she quickly snapped out of it and wrapped her arms around her. Sydney held her tightly as though she was afraid that she’d lose Karen if she let go.
“It’s okay, you’re not alone. I’m right here,” Karen told her stroking her hair while she held her.
“I’m sorry about losing it like that,” Sydney sniffled as she pulled away, “I think all this medication is just getting to me.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. If you want to talk, I’m willing to listen or get Gail if you’d rather talk to her.”
“No offense to your grandmother, but I really don’t want to talk to a psychiatrist. Not yet anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it. She’ll be there when you’re ready. I’m going to consult with Dr. Ramsey and I’ll come back and let you know when you can leave. You should get some rest.”
“I am starting to get tired. Um…Dr. Wexler?”
“Please call me Karen.
“Okay, Karen, thanks for putting up with me. I know I sounded like an unappreciative, obnoxious little twit and I’m sorry. I’m not used to having people so concerned about me. Not like that’s an excuse…”
“Sydney, it’s fine, really. You don’t have to explain I get it. Believe me, I get it. I’ll be back,” Karen said touching her hand reassuringly before leaving the room.
The entire walk down to find Chris, Karen couldn’t help but think about Sydney having no one and no where to go. She knew that she needed to find a way to help her. Before she could figure anything out, she reached the door to the on-call room.
“Ah, Karen, I see you got my note,” Chris said confidently from the couch.
“Actually…yes,” Karen held up Sydney’s cart avoiding the obvious, “I wanted to release Ms. Evans and I thought you could review this and tell me what you think.”
“Sure, I’ll take a look at it,” Chris took the folder from her and examined it.
The room was awkwardly silent until Chris decided to finally bring up the subject.
“So, how about the Recovery Room, tonight?”
“Huh?”
“Did you forget? You asked me out, Dr. Wexler. I just thought I’d take it upon myself to pick a place and day.”
“Oh, right…I don’t know, I might have to stay late tonight…”
“Sounds to me like you’re backing out. What? Are you afraid to be seen with me in public?”
“No…that’s not it, I just…”
“If you don’t want to, just say so, Karen. I’m a big boy, I can handle rejection.”
Karen was quiet for a minute. For some strange reason, she actually did want to go out with Chris. Seeing the disappointment in his face helped her to make her decision.
“Tonight works for me. Pick me up at seven?”
“I’ll be there,” Chris smiled.
“So…tomorrow for Sydney?”
“I think so. She ready to ask for help yet?”
“She’s getting there. She opened up to me a bit earlier, but that’s better then nothing. I’m going to go give her the news.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at seven.”
Karen smiled at him before leaving. Her smile grew as she stepped out of the room. Why was she making such a big deal out of this? This is Chris Ramsey town snake… Maybe they were all wrong about him? Maybe there was a side of Chris that he just chose not to show everyone and that as what was attracting her to him?
Feeling a headache coming on, she popped a pill onto her tongue and swallowed it before entering Sydney’s room.
“Hey Dr…I mean Karen, did you find Dr. Ramsey?” Sydney asked anxiously.
“I did and we decided that it’d be better if you stay one more night, but you can leave tomorrow.”
“I guess I can live with that,” Sydney replied, half-smiling.
“Wow, is that a smile I see?” Karen joked, causing them both to laugh, “So, any idea where you’re going to stay?”
“I can always crash at the place I was staying at before. There are so many people in and out of there, no one will notice me.”
“Karen watched the young girl and seeing the despondent look on her face made her heart to sink. She knew what she had to do.
“You can’t go back there, Sydney. How would you like to…well, I mean…why don’t you just come stay with me?”