Katie Ashley - The Pairing

“We’ll see.” When Aidan started to argue, Pesh shook his head. “Time to see about your head.”

“Whatever,” Aidan mumbled.

When Pesh opened the door for Aidan, Emma and Megan stared expectantly at them. “So what’s the verdict?” Megan asked.

“I think he’s going to be just fine, but to be on the safe side, I’ve ordered him a CT scan.”

Emma’s eyes widened in fear. “You think he has some brain injury from the fall?” she asked in a panicky voice.

Pesh smiled to try and put her at ease. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong besides a slight bump on the head, but I want to make sure there is nothing wrong with him.”

“Okay then,” Emma replied.

An orderly appeared with a wheelchair to escort Aidan to his scan. Before he sat down, Aidan leaned over to kiss Emma. “I’m fine, babe. Stop worrying. It isn’t good for you or the baby.”

She gave him a weak smile. “I’ll try hard not to.”

He winked at her before collapsing down in the wheelchair. “Nothing can keep me down—you should know that by now.”

Megan snorted. “At least we know the bump didn’t do anything to your ego.”

“Of course not,” Emma agreed.

Kristi poked her head out of one of the examining rooms. “Dr. Nadeen, I need you.”

He nodded before turning to Megan. “Why don’t you show Emma to one of the family waiting rooms?”

“Sure,” Megan replied.

Emma reached up to hug him. “Thanks for taking care of Aidan.”

“It was my pleasure.” He gave them a final wave before disappearing into the waiting patient’s room. But after talking to Aidan, he definitely had a little more determined bounce in his step.

Two days later when Megan came in for a later shift, she found the emergency room in a state of chaos. “Whoa, what happened?” she asked Kristi, after she’d clocked in and put away her things.

Kristi rolled her eyes. “Every month or so we seem to have a day where everything is madness from start to finish. You can never anticipate it—you kinda just have to go with the flow.” She grinned at Megan. “So get ready to be on your toes today.”

Megan laughed. “Okay, sounds good.”

As they started working their way through patients, things continued to escalate into overwhelming territory for Megan. Kristi seemed to be experiencing the same feeling since the tops of her cheeks had a shine of perspiration beads on them. The moment they finished with one patient and disinfected the room, another patient was waiting to enter it.

Megan followed behind Kristi as she went to poke her head in to the registration area. “Hey Janet, could you not call anyone else back? We’re getting swamped.”

Janet shook her head. “It’s just as crazy out in the waiting room. Like we’re almost overflowing.”

Kristi rolled her eyes. “Fabulous. It’s probably another full moon, which makes things absolutely insane.” She turned back to Megan. “Listen, since we’re so swamped, can you take the man in exam B?”

Megan couldn’t help her eyes from widening. “Really? On my own?”

Kristi smiled before patting Megan’s hand. “I’ve seen you in action the last week. I have faith in you.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.”

Megan couldn’t contain her smile. “Thank you.”

Taking her iPad, she flipped open the registration details on the patient awaiting her. When she pushed open the door, she eyed the man on the examining table. “Good evening Mr. Robertson, I’m Megan. What—” Before she could even get out the standard “What seems to be the problem?” question, the man started shaking his head furiously. “No, no. I won’t let you examine me. I want a doctor. A male doctor. You understand?”

“Sir, I understand, but I have to follow protocol, which is to ascertain your issues before the doctor comes in. I see on the chart that you’re experiencing some abdominal swelling?”

He refused to meet her eye. Instead, he gazed over at the wall before holding up one finger to her. “I meant what I said. I demand to see a male doctor.”

“Yes, but we’re very backed up this afternoon. I’m not sure how long it will be before you are able to see a doctor, least of all a male doctor.” When it appeared the man’s resolve was fading a little, Megan took a tentative step forward. “Please, if you would just let me take a look at your abdomen.”

“It isn’t my stomach,” he mumbled.

“Then what is it?” When he didn’t respond, she sighed with frustration. “Mr. Robertson, you cannot ignore abdominal swelling. It can stem from many issues and have many repercussions.”

He shifted uncomfortably on the table. Just when she thought she was making headway with him, he threw his head back and began screaming at the top of his lungs. “GET ME A MALE DOCTOR!”

Megan rolled her eyes. The first time she had the chance to see a patient on her own, and he had to be a stark raving lunatic. Refusing to give into him or accept defeat, she stalked over to him. She was going to exam his sexist ass if it was the last thing she did. “Keep screaming, and I’ll call security,” she warned before snatching the sheet off him.

His screams cut off to a shriek as he clawed for the sheet, but the damage was done. She had seen more than enough.

“Oh. My. God,” she murmured. She gazed wide-eyed and open-mouthed at what had to be the poster child picture to go along with the warning labels on Viagra and Cialis for four-hour erections. “That’s going to have to be aspirated.”

“Excuse me?” he demanded.

She cocked her head at him. “The excessive blood in your penis?” He nodded. “It’s not just going to go away on its own. It has to be aspirated, which means drained out.”

Mr. Robertson swallowed hard. “Like with a needle?”

“Yes, with a very large needle.” When he started to protest, she brought her hand up. “Lucky for you, I cannot do the procedure—it is to be handled strictly by a doctor.”

“A male?”

“If it came to your penis exploding from the pressure by waiting for a male doctor, would you seriously be that picky?” His blue eyes widened in horror. “Yeah, I thought so. I’ll be back.”

When she whirled out of the room, she ran right into the last person she wanted to have to deal with at the moment.

“I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” Pesh asked.

“I’m fine.”

He smiled down at her. “Doing some patient evaluations on your own? That’s wonderful.”

“Um, well, yes and no.”

His brows knitted in concern. “What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t imagine telling Pesh about Mr. Robertson’s condition. The last thing she was going to do was refer the case to him. Draining an engorged penis should be left to the interns, not an attending physician. “Oh, it’s nothing. He’s just a little demanding.”

At that moment, the door to the exam room flew open. Mr. Robertson stood hunched over, his legs an almost painful distance apart. He took one look at Pesh and his white coat, and he lunged at him. “Help me. Please!”

Although it was strictly against the nursing code, she would have loved nothing more than to have throttled Mr. Robertson right then and there. Pesh grasped Mr. Robertson’s hands on his coat and pulled them down. “Sir, you need to get back inside. As unsteady as you are, you certainly do not need to be on your feet.”

As Pesh led Mr. Robertson back to the examining table, Megan reluctantly followed them inside the room and closed the door.

“What seems to be the problem?”

Mr. Robertson glanced from Pesh to Megan and then back to Pesh. With a sheepish expression, he replied. “Um, I seem to be having some lower abdominal swelling.”

Megan had to fight from rolling her eyes. She stepped between Pesh and Mr. Robertson and looked Pesh full on in the eye. “While the patient refuses to acknowledge his condition, it appears after examination that he has an extreme priapism.”

At the word, color flooded into Pesh’s tan cheeks, and he broke eye contact to momentarily stare down at the floor. His reaction was exactly what Megan had feared she would experience in the moment. She had hardly imagined his level of professionalism would allow him to be embarrassed about a medical condition. But of course, their past interactions made anything of the sexual kind a little more mortifying than if she was dealing with one of the male interns.

It took Pesh only a few seconds to recover, and then he immediately turned his attention to Mr. Robertson. “Did you take any erectile dysfunction medication in the last four to six hours?” When Mr. Robertson started to look at Megan, Pesh shook his head. “My nurse will stay with me through the duration of your care. So I will repeat once again, did you take any medication?”

“Cialis.”

“How many milligrams?” When Mr. Robertson shrugged, Pesh demanded, “Are you being purposefully evasive, or do you not know?”

“I don’t know, okay? I got it off a buddy of mine.”

“Do you normally take medication that isn’t prescribed to you?”

“I just wanted to try it out.”

Pesh glanced over at Megan. “I’m going to ask for a full blood work-up. Who knows what else he might’ve taken.”

Megan nodded and punched in the code on the electronic chart to get a member of the Phlebotomy team up to draw the blood. After going over to the dispenser, Pesh slid a pair of rubber gloves on. “I’m going to have to examine you now.”

With a resigned huff, Mr. Robertson threw the sheet back. Megan bit down on her lip to keep from laughing at the expression on Pesh’s face. She was pretty sure he hadn’t had to deal with a lot of penises that resembled enormous eggplants in his career. Of course, her amusement quickly faded when she realized how awkward it was being in the room with him while he held another man’s penis in his hand.

She tried busying herself with the electronic chart in front of her. She wanted to do anything but look at the scene unfolding before her. Once Pesh finished that part of the exam, Mr. Robertson eased back down on the examining table, and Pesh once again eyed the eggplant-colored penis.

“Precisely how long have you had the erection?”

“Five and a half hours.”

“There doesn’t appear to be any artery rupture, so we won’t need to perform surgery. I think the quickest form of treatment, as well as the least invasive, would be to try an injection to narrow the veins and reduce the blood flow to your penis. That should reduce the swelling.”

Mr. Robertson’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And where do you have to give me the shot?”

“In the penis, of course.”

With a gulp, Mr. Robertson replied, “Fine. Do it.”

Pesh nodded. “Can you grab a syringe of alpha-agonist please?”

“Sure,” Megan replied. She gladly retreated from the room to head to the medicine closet. After checking the syringe dosage, she reluctantly returned to Mr. Robertson’s room.

“Thank you,” Pesh said, as he took the medication from her. She watched with mild disgust, as well as fascination, as he took Mr. Robertson’s penis in his hand. “Take a deep breath,” he instructed.

The moment the needle pricked the skin, Mr. Robertson howled uncontrollably. Megan couldn’t help rolling her eyes at what a complete pansy he was being about the pain. Once Pesh finished, he dropped the empty syringe in the biohazard container and then glanced back at Mr. Robertson. “If the swelling hasn’t begun to dissipate in the next ten to fifteen minutes, we’re going to have to take another course of action.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Robertson questioned, with a grimace.

“Aspirating the penis of the blood.”

Mr. Robertson paled considerably. “Oh God, she mentioned that.” He said the word she like Megan was a swarm of locust.

Pesh turned to smile at Megan. “Then she made a good call.” He then eyed his pager that was going off. “Keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in fifteen.”

“Okay, I will.”

Time ticked by agonizingly slow as she worked on charts and kept an eye on Mr. Robertson. Every few minutes, he was lifting up the sheet to eye his erection. Each time he grimaced, Megan imagined that the shot wasn’t working and the swelling hadn’t gone down. When Pesh entered the room again, he glanced from her to Mr. Robertson. “So how are we doing?”

She shook her head. “No change.”

“I see.” He went over to a drawer and searched through it before producing a very large syringe with a very thick needle. “I’m sorry, Mr. Robertson, but it looks like this is our only choice.”