His Memories of Her

32nd

Catherine stopped from whatever it is she is doing and look at Henry who is watching her and said “Can you just not move it? Even just half hour will be enough.”

Henry looks at Catherine who is looking at him those kinds of eyes that he often sees, he sees them whenever he goes to jog in the park where a lot of owners are also doing the same thing, the dogs that are being walked out while their owner jogs. That is right. The famous so called puppy eyes which made him feel like something just stab him in his heart, like dosage of saline was injected to him by the effect it gave him in his heart, a warm feeling. And another ten dosages when he traces down Catherine’s face and see her lips, moving forwards, forming something out of it. She pouted as hard as she could which is giving the expected effect to him as he suddenly feels weak to his knees and could not feel his toes. Gladly that he is already sitting in his seat that it did not interest of how his lower body is feeling right now.

“We are ready Dr….. Altman.” His intern came bursting in from his door without even knocking. He looks at him both with surprised and fear as he is looking at him with killing intent and followed Henry’s sudden eye movement and sees the smiling Catherine at the corner of Henry’s room.

“I am so sorry Dr. Altman. And good morning to you Dr. Stevens.” His intern said. “And I should go and comeback later.” His intern added moving towards the door where he just came in.

“No. It is ok. We should be going now or we will be late. So, with that Dr. Stevens. I am sorry to tell you but I guess your business needs to wait until lunch break.” Henry said standing up from his seat and out on his white lab coat as it seems he could not afford to change into his uniform, their uniform which is a dark blue scrub.

Catherine looks at him shock for a moment before her expression change into disappointment which made her pouts more as she stomps out of Henry’s office like a child making Henry in daze with amusement while watching her stomping like a kid which he has never seen before, in the past, in those past three years.

“I guess one of her changes.” Henry said tilting his head a little into the thought that she found something new to a person he used to know, or so he thought until this sudden new happening.

“I am really sorry.” The intern said.

Henry looked at him, stare at him then sighs and said “You will do rectal exams for a week and you go to Dr. Bailey and say that I said that so I could have a new intern why you are in rectal services and if he asks you why you just simply tell him that you f*****g forgot to knock on your attending’s door which is closed for a reason!” Henry said frustrated and frustratedly walked out of his own office banging the door as hard as he could.

“Well, I could talk to Dr. Bailey and just tell him that I need you for something personal.” A very familiar voice came as soon as he came out of office door.

“Why are you still here?” Henry said surprised a little to find Catherine beside his door wearing such a mischievous smile.

“Well, I was just waiting for you.” Catherine said with a playful smile and a teasing tone.

“For you to change your mind. You know.” Catherine added at the very right moment, just right after Henry’s earlobes started to have a shade of pink and just right before they become darker until to the shade of red.

“Oh, well then I am so sorry to tell you that it might not change and I will be going right now so I guess I am seeing you tonight.” Henry said and started walking away from her.

“Tonight? Just a few minutes ago it is lunch why did it become dinner?” Catherine said while following him to wherever he is going right now.

“Well, you staying like this, talking to me made me lose my perfectly planned schedule which gave you my lunch time free and now that I am late, I would not be having that time with you and let alone to eat.” Henry said while he keeps waking and without looking back to her.

“So, you are saying I am an annoyance you and somehow a blockage to your schedule?” Catherine exclaimed that made Henry finally turn his head towards her and sees her disappointed and pained look.

“Oh great! What did you just do?” Henry exclaimed into his mind realizing that he has talked bad things towards the wrong person without him knowing it completely. It was just his nerves, as he keeps feeling embarrassed towards her and the fact that he could clearly feel that she is having a good time making him feel embarrassed.

“Look, Irene. I did not mean it like that, but it is true that I have to make adjustments for my schedule but that did not mean you are a blockage if that is the way you want to call it. But, I promise, I will make some time for you, so for now can you just let me go without making me feel bad?” Henry said in pleasing tone and apologetically.

Catherine looks at him, stare at him for a good amount of time, enough time to see his apologetic look turn into impatient that she could not take it anymore so she burst out giggling and said “I am so sorry, it is the way I want to call it because it definitely felt like that, like am I some cloth in your veins and causing blockage to your blood supply and I ma so sorry about that. I just hope you get my feeling, you know the feeling of founding someone who could share some other stories of my past that I have forgotten which is not only about my brother being overly protective of me but the funs that I had while I was not with him and I guess I am pretty impatient to know all of that, to know that I did not fail of being a teen age girl who seemed to be living only through house and school and enough.” In between her giggles.

Henry smiled looking at the giggling Catherine and found what she is saying is pretty humorous so he said “I am excited to tell you stories as well, and to see how you would make faces hearing your old unknown self to do some things that the you now do not seem would do. And because of that, I will go now to my rounds so I could get it done in time and operate on a kid’s brain and so I could go out with you at lunch and to tell you all of the things I knew at that time.”

“Ok, I will be patient now since it is also now time for my rounds.” Catherine said smirking before she runs away from him leaving him speechless again.

“What?” Henry said looking at the woman who went away happily while skipping her way away from him.

“Good morning Dr. Altman.” Dr. Bailey said as he comes from Henry’s behind.

“Good morning Dr. Bailey.” Henry said as he walks beside him.

“Are you ok?” Dr. Bailey said.

“I am, I guess I am.”  Henry said a little flustered.

Dr. Bailey looked at him, stare at him for a moment before he said “You do not seem to be one. Tell me if it I something I could help you to, just speak out.” Dr. Bailey insisted.

Henry stopped from his track and said “I am not sure, but I hope you do could help me.”

Dr. Bailey just looks at him and wait for him to continue and so he said “I want to take two days off.”

“Oh, I was just about to tell you. Your father has called me already and said OK to them, asking if you could go off so you could come home on the day of your birthday.” Dr. Bailey said.

Henry looks at him confused for a moment and then realized what he is talking about. “Oh, no! I will take just one day and another day for tomorrow.” He said.

“Oh, is that so? Then there is no problem as long as I could page you once I really need you.” Dr. Bailey said. “Plus, it is your first time asking for an off in your five years here so I am not greedy at all for a first time.” Dr. Bailey even added.

“Really? Thank you! Well then, with the extent of your generosity, I guess I do not have to hold back to ask you to leave you head of cardio off as well tomorrow.” Henry said with full of happiness on his face.

Dr. Bailey looks at him with surprise and said “Why?”

“Are you aware of what happened with Dr. Stevens ten years ago?” Henry said looking at the man, reading his expression which is in thinking and turn into shock.

“Is that man you? The one with her in that accident?” Dr. Bailey said full of shock.

“No, it was not me but I was the cause.” Henry said with pained tone.

“Oh, the proposal, it was proposal night, right?” Dr. Bailey said.

 “Proposal? No, it was not a proposal night. But if you knew about it, then it should make it easier for you to say yes. You see before you came Dr. Stevens just left after bugging me for almost two hours for something we made a deal of doing which is not now but lunch. She is pretty impatient about it.” Henry said.

“And now you are desperate because she ruined you pretty tight schedule today?” Dr. Bailey said with a teasing smile.

Henry looked at him with disbelief before he said “Seriously?”

Dr. Bailey chuckle and said “Come on! You waited what? Ten years? And now she is her, and without even you knowing it, she piqued your interest on the very first day she came here. So, is it not great to just please her and see if there is something would progress from there? If I would go back in time into yours, I would have let my crush ruin my schedule as long as I could get her to date me.” Giving his shoulder a few pats before he walked away from him also giving him time to self-reflect on something.

“Do I even like her now? Or is it only because I saw their similarities when the truth is that they are now different people, or might also be not.” Henry said just loud enough to make Cr. Bailey hear him few steps away from him.

“Oh, so you are confused if it is something that is just continue or something new.” Dr. Bailey said as he walks back towards Henry keeping his sight on him while Henry’s on him too but the look on his eyes just changes.

“But I do think that you are thinking the wrong one here. You see, the continuation or the present it does not matter because they are all just one person, instead of dwelling over it, you should be happy because it is just one person who is also within your reach, she is reachable that you did not think of what you should do when she got away or go away or even slipped out from you reach. And that reach could also be change into beside, you could make her someone just beside you by doing something to make the distance that you could reach to be shorter removing one letter from the word reach just to know that you are close to her and close enough to removed that reach word.” Dr. Bailey added.

Henry looks at him blankly and did not say any word about it and that made him somehow irritable. “Oh, for god’s sake! Did I say that too vague for you not to understand?” Dr. Bailey exclaimed.

“I am telling you to stop dwelling whether it is a continuation or a new start! Just celebrate that it is the same person, and you know her more than enough to woo her and make it into something you want it to be.” Dr. Bailey added, exclaiming before he completely walks out and just yelling the rest “And you both do not have to come to work tomorrow and just can go off early tonight. Because if you two did not end up together, I will be facing the two of the most powerful family in this continent!” continuing to walk away while yelling making everyone he passes by look at him in confused and even with the contents of his walk out speech.

Henry watches him walk away, repeating everything Dr. Bailey said in his mind while he finally gets to work towards his floor to do his rounds focused while the words of Dr. Bailey keeps going on and on in his mind like it is some poem that he is memorizing while checking on his patients lab results both post op and pre op patients specially the ones that are scheduled today for surgery, whether they would happen or not depends on their lab result.

“I need to go to the E.R.” he said when he picks up his phone and see a page from the emergency room but luckily just in time, after he exited the last patient on his rounds list.

“Be attentive on her labs, do it every two hours and update me so we could figure it out, whether she is going to get her surgery today or not.” He said talking to his intern for the week who just nodded to him before he went to the emergency room where he was being called.