“Sarah, I’d like you to meet Dr. David Wright. He’s starting his fellowship here with our cardiothoracic surgery group this week.”
Standing, Sarah held out her hand. As the new MD shook it she looked up into a striking pair of eyes that were an unusual blend of light green and gray, and an attack of déjà vu hit her as she took in the dark brown hair and the square chin that accompanied them. She was certain that she’d seen the face before, but where?
“Are you okay?” a warm, concerned voice asked. A voice she could swear she had heard before. Was it her imagination or had she met or seen this man before?
Sarah shook off the trace of an old memory that seemed just out of reach. Realizing she still held the new doctor’s hand, she loosened her grip and withdrew her hand, then looked back into questioning eyes. Could she have made any more of a bad impression? The man had to think she was crazy. And maybe she was.
“I’m sorry,” she said, as she tried to get her mind back on track, “I’m at least one cup of coffee behind my usual schedule this morning. It’s nice to meet you Dr. Wright.”
“Sarah’s one of our nurse practitioners. I swear we wouldn’t get anything done if we didn’t have her. If you have any questions or needs, she’ll be able to help you,” said Dr. Benton. The gray-haired man looked down to his watch. “I hate to leave you, David, but I’ve got a budget meeting to get to.”
With a heart that was beating way too fast, Sarah started for the door, anxious to excuse herself as well. Why was this man affecting her this way? Yes, he was a nice-looking man, but she met nice-looking men all the time and none of them had ever made her feel as if her heart was going to come out of her chest. No, it wasn’t his good looks that were upsetting her, but there was something about the man that was ringing all her warning bells.
“I’ve got a great idea,” Dr. Benton said, “how about you show Dr. Wright around for the rest of the morning, Sarah?”
Sarah stopped. She should have seen this coming as soon as Dr. Benton had begun giving his excuses. The chief of the department was good at volunteering her time and there was no way she could get out of this without appearing rude. Besides, if Dr. Benton followed his normal course when he had an intern or new fellowship participant, she would be helping with a lot of Dr. Wright’s day-to-day orientation. She pivoted and turned back toward the two men and forced a friendly smile on her face. Her working relationship with all the staff was important and if she was going to be spending a lot of time with the new doctor she didn’t want to mess this one up, no matter how he made her feel.
“Of course,” Sarah said. “I’m rounding right now, but I’d be glad to take you along with me.”
“That would be great,” the younger doctor said as his face lit up with a smile that was too bright for Sarah to comprehend at this time of the morning.
Sarah waited for him to catch up with her, and then started down the hallway toward the PCIC unit.
“Are you from Houston, Dr. Wright?” she asked as she gave him a sideways glance, looking for anything that would help her remember where she might have seen him before. Maybe she was wrong. But still, there was something inside her that recognized this man.
“Please, call me David,” he said. “No, I’m from Alabama, though I did my residency just east of here, in Beaumont.”
“What was your residency in?” she asked. Maybe she’d seen him at one of the many state conferences she had attended.
“It was in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, but they didn’t have a transplant program there so—” he held his arms up in the air, then shrugged “—here I am.”
“Our pediatric transplant center is one of the best in the country as I’m sure you know. It’s always nice to see new doctors interested in the specialty,” she said.
“Believe me, I’m very well aware of what a wonderful program you have here. I feel very lucky to have been given this opportunity with Dr. Benton. The residency in pediatric cardiac was great, but my main interest now is in transplantation. It’s where I think I can make a real difference,” he said. A shadow passed over his face, reminding her of a man from the past that she had never been able to forget. But then he blinked and the pain she had seen was gone.
She was being ridiculous continuing on this path. He couldn’t be the man from the waiting room that day so long ago. David was much younger than the man she remembered.
But still...for just a second those haunted eyes—the color of fresh green pastures shrouded in the thick gray mist of early morning—had reminded her of a time she didn’t want to remember. Not here. Not now.
“Well, we’re glad to have you,” Sarah said politely. She couldn’t keep playing this game of detective. If she had met David somewhere she would eventually remember where. Till then she needed to concentrate on her job of helping him get acquainted with everything.
She stopped at the closed doors to the unit and swiped her badge, then waited for the doors to open.
They entered the unit and she headed straight to the nurses’ station where only the unit coordinator was in attendance.
“Betsy, this is Dr. Wright. He’s starting a fellowship with Dr. Benton and I’m going to be showing him around the unit today.”
“Hello, Dr. Wright,” Betsy greeted David, quickly taking the time to explain to him where the charts and miscellaneous equipment was kept in the unit.
Sarah picked up the
