FE 2024 Prompt Table 2 Fill #33 - Sunday

[innitmarvelous_og]

A shrill beeping startled Morgan out of a dreamless sleep. He groaned as he cracked open one eye as he looked over at the clock and saw 5:32am glaring back on the nightstand clock. He picked up his pager, and found what he expected to find: the number for the oncology ward.

"So much for sleeping in today," he muttered, as he threw off the covers. Jiya did not stir while he slipped out of bed quietly, and then out of their apartment to head to the hospital.

Morgan was by his patient's bedside by 6:15am. Mrs. Delgado's chemo had caused a fever that had spiked overnight, and had become so serious that it required prompt care. While he adjusted her IV meds, Morgan ran threw her treatment history again — her difficult surgery, the long radiation sessions she had endured, and her astounding perseverance through it all. He knew he owed her only his very best efforts.

Then three admissions and a complicated case review panel later, Morgan was finally able to escape the hospital at around 4pm. Although he was utterly drained, he still made a stop for groceries on his way home. He knew Jiya would be starving after her own 12-hour shift came to an end.

Once he got home, Morgan headed straight for the kitchen. The first thing he did, he fired up the old, battered rice cooker, then he mechanically chopped vegetables with efficiency. The flavors of coconut milk and the smell of spices soon wafted through the small apartment. Making his wife' recipe for Morgan was his culinary love language.

He had just transferred the finished curry to a waiting bowl when the door opened. Jiya dropped her tote, and then immediately melted into Morgan's arms as he held her close.

"Long day?" he murmured into her hair.  

Jiya nodded against his chest with a weary sigh, "Yes, far too long. We had three different patients to crash today, and one of them we couldn't..."

As they settled on the couch together, Morgan massaged his wife's tired feet as she ate the lovingly prepared curry and decompressed from her day by telling him about it. For a few blessed hours, the world was shut out in their tiny oasis of comfort.

At 9pm while they were half dozing, half watching a movie together, their peace was shattered once more as Morgan's pager sounded out signaling that a patient was crashing. He sighed, gave Jiya a lingering kiss, and then he rushed out the door to head to the hospital again.

Yet another resident Sunday survived. Not restful, but fulfilling in its own way.

Part 2 | Part 3