Disclaimer: All
characters belong to NBC and the verses from 1 Cor. 13
If I Have Not Love
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It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record
of wrongs.
***********************************
“John!” Jing Mei called from the admin desk.
He had just been heading to the staff lounge. John had noticed her, but didn’t know if
after last night, she’d want to see him.
“Yeah?”
Jing Mei put away a chart before walking over from
the admin desk. “I just wanted to, um,”
she paused, looking at the staring nurses.
“Uh, can we go into the lounge for a minute.”
John nodded.
“Sure.” He’d hoped she’d calmed
down from last night. John hated
leaving it the way they did, but there wasn’t really much he could do, short of
climbing the oak tree that stood in front of her apartment.
Jing Mei stood in front of him with her hands in her
lab coat. “John, I just want to
apologize for last night. I shouldn’t
have snapped at you like that.”
John unwrapped the scarf that hung around his neck
and slipped off his wool jacket. “It’s
all right Deb. I mean, I shouldn’t have
said what I did.”
She shook her head adamantly. “No you were right. I haven’t been myself lately. I second guess myself.”
John watched her sink into the couch that rested
against the wall. “Deb, look, you’ve
been through a lot these couple of months.
I mean, I don’t expect you to jump back on your feet right away.”
Jing Mei looked up at him, “It’s just…it’s just I don’t
want to make another mistake John. I can’t
make another mistake.”
“Look Deb, you made them. You faced them and now you’re going to move on. You are a great doctor. This is a start of a new day. You can’t help the things you cannot change,
and you change the things you can.
That’s something I learned in AA.”
Jing Mei got up and gave him a peck on the
cheek. “When did you get so smart?”
He smiled.
“The day I met you,” he chuckled.
She winked at him and walked out of the staff room.
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Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
***********************************
Jing Mei walked out of the lounge light-hearted. John’s comments from the night before had
stuck to her. It wouldn’t allow her a
good night’s sleep. Finally she
admitted to herself that she was weak.
That she was scared of making another mistake.
She made herself promise to apologize to Carter, and
with that promise, Jing Mei finally fell asleep.
“Jing Mei!” Keri yelled. “What are you ordering another battery of tests for?”
Jing Mei rolled her eyes. “The other set wasn’t conclusive enough. So I sent up another batch of blood to be
worked up.”
“What do you think we’re made of Chen? Money?
You work with the set of labs you get.
They aren’t going to be any different,” Keri barked.
Jing Mei couldn’t say anything and walked away. Had she opened her mouth, Jing Mei knew that
she would regret what would come out of it.
She, instead, headed to exam 2.
10-yr old boy, chest pains, inability to breathe.
As she opened the curtain, Jing Mei gazed upon a
chestnut brown-haired boy. He was
already in a gown and was lying fitfully on the bed. Beside him was a young mother, no more than 27. She had bags under her eyes and she sat
beside her son with his coat on her lap.
“Excuse me,” Jing Mei interrupted the quiet scene. “I’m Dr. Chen.”
The mother arose from her seat and greeted the
doctor. “Hi, I’m Jean,” the mother
introduced herself.
Jing Mei went to the bed and checked the boy’s pupils
and ears. She looked at the chart once
more and shook the boy once.
“Ryan? Ryan, I’m Dr. Chen,” she
said softly to the sleepy-eyed boy.
“Can you open your mouth for me so I can check your throat for you?”
Ryan nodded.
After examining the boy, Jing Mei explained to the
mother that it was probably bronchitis and handed her a prescription for some
anti-inflammatories. “I hope you feel
better Ryan.”
Jing Mei smiled at the boy who slowly climbed out of
the bed to get dressed. She closed the
curtains around the boy and mother, for privacy.
“Deb,” John called, as he fell in step with Jing Mei
walking down the hallway. “I heard
Weaver reamed you out?”
She rolled her eyes at the memory. “Yeah,” Jing Mei nodded. “Tell me why you like her again?”
John shrugged.
“Did you want to catch a late supper again tonight?”
Jing Mei paused in the hallway to look at
Carter. “Why? What did I do to deserve such special treatment?”
“I thought we’d celebrate a new day for the both of
us.” He winked as he walked away. “And I’m taking you to a nice
restaurant this time!” he yelled from down the corridor.
Jing Mei smiled and walked to her next patient.
Please R&R! I hope you guys like it. Is it going to slow?