Jake was feeling a lot better by the time he needed to go back to work. He did his morning rounds and made himself finish going through the files on his desk. He only needed fifty people and there were a hundred and fifty files on his desk. He hated the admit it, but there were a few patients that weren’t going to be going through the trial. By lunch, he had twenty- five patients receiving the surgery and twenty- five that weren’t but thought they were.
After eating his lunch, his trusty childhood favorite- tomato soup and grilled cheese (with turkey) - he returned the files that weren’t going to be in the trial and started visiting with the patients that were. He started with the patients that he was unfamiliar with, namely the Gunny. When he walked into the Gunny’s room, he was greeted with a smile. “Hello, you… you’re not… my doctor”, the Gunny said.
“I am now, Gunny. I’m Dr. Draiman. Everyone usually calls me Dr. D. Remember those questions your regular doctor asked you a few days ago?”
“Y…Y… Yeah. I remember.”
“Well, those questions qualified you for a trial procedure to could fix what’s caused all of your problems. Because I’m heading up the research, I’m overseeing the trials, so I’m taking over your case. I’m hoping that this will get you ready to go home and lead a normal life. How does that sound, Gunny?”
He smiled wider. “You… You… You’re great, Dr. D.”
“Everyone tells me that”, he said, then turned his face into the crook of his elbow and coughed into his lab coat.
“You… don’t… sound so… great there, Dr. D.”
“I’m getting over a cold. My wonderful mother and sister gave me herbal remedies rather than shoving drugs down my throat.”
“Good…f… f… for….them”, the Gunny said.
Jake sat down on the stool in the room and chatted with the Gunny, then did an examination to get a general idea of what the problem was. “I know you’ve had these tests run a million times, but I need them as a base line before we start the trial. SO, I’m going to order yet ANOTHER MRI, CT and PET scan so that I can see for myself what’s going on. Sound good?”
“Sure, Doc.”
“Sure, you get THAT one without stuttering”, Jake teased.
“HEY, I… I… can’t… help… it”, the Gunny laughed.
“And hopefully, we can fix that. I’ll catch you later, Gunny.”
“BYE… Dr… Dr.D.”
Jake walked to the nurses’ station and put in the orders for the tests he needed done. He did what more he could that afternoon, but fifty patients were too many for half a day. He organized the charts for the next day’s rounds and hoped that he could start doing what needed to be done the day after. With that determination in mind, he went home to play with his little girl and continue fighting the cold he’d come down with.
---------------
On his drive home, he thought back to high school and to his old friend Shawn. He recalled the trouble that he had finishing school because everyone was used to him being one of the shaper tacks in the box. Jake helped him where he could but of course, Jake had to focus on his own grades. If he’d brought home anything less than an A, he was going to disappoint his parents, or that’s what he’d thought. He knew better now.
Shawn would really benefit from this, he thought as he turned into the long winding driveway that led up to his parents’ house. He loved living in the middle of nowhere. It meant that everything was quiet.
He parked and grabbed his things so that he could go inside. He cleared his thoughts of everything that wasn’t about home as he opened the door. He smiled when he saw his little angel on her own two feet facing the doorway. He squatted down and set his briefcase on the floor after shutting the door behind himself. “Come see Daddy, baby girl”, he said with a smile. She held her little arms out to her Daddy, showing him that she wanted him to pick her up. “Nope, if you want Daddy, you have to come see me. Come on, Miri. Come to Daddy.” She started toward him, taking shaky steps and made it half way between the coffee table where she’d been supporting herself and the door as she stood to catch her balance and continued toward her Daddy. When got to her father, there was a roar of applause from everyone in the living room. Jake picked up his baby girl and tossed her in the air. “That’s my girl!” he said after he caught her. “You’re so awesome baby girl!” He kissed her cheeks and picked up his things to go to the couch.
“Clear across the ROOM!” David said. “THAT’S Grampa’s GIRL!” he laughed.
Jake sat on the couch and put his baby on his knee. “My ass, Dad. She’s Daddy’s girl.”
Miri spotted her Gramma and reached out to her. “Correction, both of you”, Brie laughed. “She’s Gramma’s girl.” She took the little girl from her Daddy.
“Miri, you traitor!” Jake laughed.
“She knows on which side her bread’s buttered and who makes her yummy latkes for breakfast.”
“She had latkes for breakfast?”
“She does have a mouthful of teeth, Jacob. She can eat latkes.”
“She’s eating my favorite Hanukkah treat and I’m not here to see it? God, I hate my job.”
“You’re a doctor, Jacob Micah. You’re bound to miss things, but we DID get her first latke experience on video so that you could watch it”, David laughed as he took a sip of his tea.
Jake smiled. “Great. I’ll watch that later. I want to get a shower and some dinner in me.”
“I’m making Goulash”, Delilah laughed.
“What is your obsession with learning to make Jewish food, Delilah?” Jake asked his wife.
“It’s something different that I’ve never had before. And I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook kosher.”
“You do realize that we really don’t PRACTICE Judaism, right?”
“But you DO celebrate Hanukkah and Dad DOES sing the prayers as head of household.”
David laughed. “You’ve been researching all things Jewish, haven’t you?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
David, Brie, and Jacob couldn’t help themselves. They just laughed.
---------------
“Dinner was wonderful, Delilah, but I’m going to take the cooking over again”, Brie said as the quads cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.
“But, MOM!” Delilah pouted.
“I need to start resuming my normal activities. I know you’re having fun learning about eating kosher and all that good stuff, but I need to get back into my normal routine minus massage and my hard core work outs your father in law and I do.”
“Can I still cook upon occasion?”
“I don’t see why not. Why don’t you make us something you grew up eating? Something from your childhood that your grandparents told you your ancestors used to eat.”
“Well, my family hails from Texas and I have relatives that went on cattle drives.”
“Then make us some chili one night”, David added.
She smiled. “I do make a mean three alarm chili.”
“Yummy, spicy but not TOO spicy”, Maddie added from doorway.
“Baby, you’re an amazing cook. I’m sure that your family chili recipe will be amazing too”, Jake said, kissing his wife on the cheek. She glanced over at the high chair. Miri had fallen asleep. “Now, I think we need to get little miss here out to her bed for the night.”
“She needs a bath after dinner.”
“Let her sleep. I’ll clean her face with a wash cloth when we get out to the house.”
She smiled. “Ok. Let’s go put our daughter to bed for the night.” They told the family good night and went out to their little house out back.
Jake carefully cleaned her face and laid her in her crib for the night. He kissed her cheek. “Good night my sweet girl. I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.”
---------------
When Jake got up for work the next morning, he was still a little high from his daughter walking across the room to him at the door. He got up a little earlier than he usually would so that he could bathe his daughter after he took his shower. He knew his wife needed the break. After he finished his research, they were going to get the honeymoon they never took. He knew that his parents would gladly take Miri for them so that they could actually spend time away from the country together as a couple. He knew that his wife wanted to go to Europe. She was fascinated by the Jewish culture for reason. Not that he minded. There were things about his family- both sides- that he didn’t know and would love to find out. He was going to ask his parents about familial places of interest to visit. That would have to wait though. His research was almost complete.
When Miri woke for the morning, he was standing there to pick her up. “Good morning, pretty girl”, he said as he picked his daughter up out of her crib. “Daddy’s gonna give you a bath this morning before we head inside to see Gramma and Grampa. How does that sound?” She giggles and acted excited. “That’s what I thought.” He carried her to the bathroom and got her undressed as the water ran. “I know that Mommy usually gives you shower when she gets one, but I’m not going to do that.” He checked to see if the water was warm enough and deep enough before setting her in the tub and pouring water over her. When he had put her in the water she was standing; when he poured the water over her head she plopped down on her bottom with a splash. “You’re funny, baby girl”, he laughed. He grabbed a wash cloth and her wash and cleaned her up. She started splashing and getting excited as Daddy washed her up. He leaned back and guarded his face from the water that flew. “Miri, come on! Daddy has to go to work you know”, he laughed. He poured more water over her to rinse her off and let the water out after grabbing a towel for his angel. When he saw her start shivering he pulled her out of the tub and took her to get dressed. His wife got up as he gently brushed out her hair. “There we go, angel. Look at those curls! I’m going to be running the boys off with a big baseball bat when you get older. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure Grampa will let me borrow one of his rifles.”
Delilah laughed. “You’re so cute with her, Jacob”, she said from the doorway of their bedroom.
He looked up at her with a smile. “She’s my baby girl. If I can’t be cute with her and you, then who can I be cute with?”
“At least you’re not like your father who says he hasn’t been cute since he was Eli’s age.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed.
No comments:
Post a Comment