Specific Hospital

A/N: Written in response to the prompt: write about doctors, medicine, or a patient.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor Hunter Morgan strode into the examining room, clip board and x-rays in hand.  The chief neurologist of Specific Hospital, he had an air of confidence around him, and his mouth was usually curved in a smirk that dared doctors of lower status to argue with his decisions.  Now, however, he wore a patented sympathetic frown, and his piercing green eyes were softened so that it would be impossible for the patient to be intimidated…hopefully

Running a hand through his short black hair, he made eye contact with the beautiful woman sitting on the examining table.  Her flowing chestnut brown hair fell around her shoulders, and her hazel eyes were clouded over with the look of someone who wasn’t quite all there.  She was clenching and unclenching one fist while she twirled a strand of hair around a finger of the other hand.  Her heels kicked against the bottom of her table, possibly trying to ward away the cold brought on by the flimsy hospital gown she wore.

He cleared his throat and straightened his tie, grateful for the suit and doctor’s coat he wore.  It was rather chilly.  “Ms. Irene Turner?”

“Yes,” she squeaked, shaking the hand he held out to her.  Looking into his eyes, she froze, her face filling with panic.  “It’s not good news, is it?”

Letting out a deep sigh, Hunter held the x-ray up to the light box.  “We’ve run some tests, and got the results back from the MRI.  I’m sorry to say…we found a tumor.  But it’s a small one, and I’m confident we can remove it before it does permanent damage.  Of course, we’ll have to discuss treatment options like chemo, radiation, or surgery.  It might be necessary to utilize all three, depending on how malignant it is.”

Irene stared at the x-ray, tears welling in her eyes.

“And cut!  Excellent job, you two,” the director of soap operaSpecific Hospital called.

Soap opera actor Derek Johansson smiled at his costar, helping her off the examining table.  “You were great, Audrey.”

“You too,” actress Audrey Phillips replied.  All traces of tears were gone, her shaky nerves vanished.  Her devastated frown was replaced with one of pure annoyance.  “I can’t believe they’re writing me out of the show.  Cancer – how horribly cliché.”

Chuckling, Derek understood how she was feeling.  His character had been lost in the Amazon rain forest the entire time the producers were working on renewing his contract.  “I wouldn’t worry about it.  They’re just busting your butt until you agree to do that partially nude scene.  If they were really set on offing you, you’d have six months to live.”

“True,” Audrey agreed, giving him a thankful smile.  “We’ll see how it goes.  I think one of the interns said my script for tomorrow was already in my dressing room.  See you later,” she said as she walked away.

Derek waved.  “See you.  Don’t worry about it.”  Satisfied with himself after what he thought was a good scene, he made his way over to the snack table.  They were shooting another scene with him and Audrey after the next one, so he didn’t want to go very far. 

With a groan he remembered his high blood pressure medication.  He was due for another dose, and it was all the way in his dressing room.  So much for not going far.

After a few minutes he emerged from his dressing room, the two capsules swallowed.  He’d shoved the medicine bottle in the pocket of his lab coat, just in case he didn’t get back in another five or six hours.

He smiled at two interns as he passed by them.  They must’ve been on break since they were standing around the snack table, talking. 

Suddenly he noticed one of the interns, a young man, choking.  Derek concluded that one of the peanuts he’d been eating got lodged in his throat, and started worrying when he realized that no one was running to help yet.  The other intern, a young woman, seemed to be having some sort of panic attack, trying to get someone’s attention.

After a split second of hesitation Derek ran toward them, putting his arms around the man’s stomach and pressing as hard as he could.  He’d never done the Heimlich before, at least not on someone who was actually choking.  But he remembered how to do it from the one time he’d needed to learn for a storyline of the show. 

Finally, the peanut shot out of the man’s mouth, landing under the table.  Gasping for air, he turned to Derek with admiration in his eyes.  “T-thanks, man,” he sputtered, shaking Derek’s hand with gusto.  “Y-you just saved my life!”

“I did, didn’t I?” Derek realized, gaping at the man.  The woman had wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.  Breathing a little heavy himself, he replied, “N-no problem.” 

Once the two walked away, the woman yelling at the man that he shouldn’t throw peanuts into his mouth, Derek collapsed into a nearby folding chair.  Saving someone’s life was…incredible, thrilling, and just a little exhausting.  He couldn’t believe what he’d just done.  Sure, he saved fictional lives on his show all the time, but this was completely different. 

“Derek, you ready?”

Derek nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw Audrey standing next to him.  “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Are you okay?” Audrey asked, helping him out of the folding chair.

Nodding weakly, Derek stumbled to his feet.  He then smoothed the wrinkles out of his lab coat and smiled, prepared to act his part with renewed passion.  “I’m fine.  Absolutely fine.”