Chapter 66 Not As Shameful
Eden’s Point of View
The walk of shame… I have seen a lot about it on online forums (most people say it jokingly, others do it referentially), people have discussed it in different genres and forms, but I haven’t really settled down to think about what it truly means.
For me, I thought it was walking down the street after a very embarrassing event (usually sexually), and people pointing at you and laughing at you.
But right now, I realized it isn’t even that… that shame in question wasn’t about other people staring or judging them, it was about the embarrassment and the self-consciousness that comes with whatever the situation is.
I stumbled out of Theron’s office, cold embracing me wickedly, mind you, there wasn’t his very cold A.C. in here anymore, it was just me. And even though other nurses and doctors passed me without even glancing at me, some of them discussing and laughing between themselves, I couldn’t help but think maybe they could see it somehow.
Maybe his hands left a stain, maybe my scrubs were wet, and they could somehow see my arousal… somehow feel it… smell it…
Eden…calm down, you didn’t even have sex for God’s sake, but perhaps a person or two passed by his office and heard me screaming like a wild animal.
And that is exactly what terrifies me!
Naturally, I knew I didn’t have sex with him, but at the same time, the people who might have passed might have the wrong idea.
“Dr. Eden…” I felt my heart race and my cheeks flushed pink when Doctor Felicia rushed towards me. I looked away from her almost immediately to hide my embarrassment. I soon noticed a little frown forming on her face, and it made me wonder what was wrong.
I hope nothing had happened to my patient while I was away.
“Is the patient alright?” I asked in concern.
“Yes, she is. It’s just her daughter is in the reception, I think I forgot to add that she came in with the paramedics.” She answered, and my ears perked up. “She can’t give us the necessary information that we need because she is deaf and speech impaired—communication is a bit too difficult.”
“What?” My bones straightened out. “Don’t we have someone who can sign to her?”
Forgetting about the shame that thoroughly consumed me when I walked out of Theron’s office and the stinging pain in my ass, I followed Felicia to the reception, where the admission nurses, Benedicta and Kim, stood in confusion. The moment they saw me, their eyes lit up a little bit.
“Does she speak?” I asked.
“No,” Felicia replied. “And the hospital’s sign language interpreter is not on duty; the space is usually vacant as some of the cases are not rampant.”
“What do we do now?” I wondered, reaching towards the girl, eight years old or so they said, she wasn’t quite tall, but her expressive blue eyes were filled with tears, fear, and sadness. I knelt, reaching her level, placing my hands on both her shoulders.
She probably doesn’t know it yet that her mother is alright now, explained why she still has such a terrified look on her face.
I want to comfort her, but I don’t know how to; she is deaf, but then an idea suddenly came into my head.
“Please, someone, get me a pen and paper.” She might be deaf, but I don’t believe her mother would make her so vulnerable that she would be unable to read.
Nurse Kim ran off, searching through the other side of the counter, pulling out a journal. Felicia met her mid-way as she collected both the journal and the pen for me; I quickly scribbled on it.
“Can you read?” I held the book to my chest, allowing the little girl to see it. Her eyes scanned the paper, and with an unsure movement, she nodded—a smile of relief washed through my face, as I scribbled more.
“Don’t worry too much… your mother is fine now.” I showed her again; she nodded and then burst into tears—uncontrollable and hot.
I was frozen. I just told her her mother was fine. I was expecting her to be relieved and not cry, but then, while I was stuck with my own confusion, I realized that she was only a child, and she was probably just scared of losing her mother.
Those tears were probably tears of relief, and not of unhappiness.
I pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, as she cried into my shoulders, tears leaking down, and once more I could proudly say that I don’t regret turning down Theron.
In fact, I was now proud of myself; he could humiliate me all he wanted, but nothing beats the joy that I feel right now.
“Do you have any other person we can call? A family member?” I asked curiously, and then I handed her the book. She gripped it tightly with both hands and then collected the pen from me.
“It’s just me, mommy, Kara, and Klien.” She wrote back, her handwriting smudgy and stuff, but I could understand it a little. I believe Kara and Klien to be her little siblings, as the report says the woman is a mother of three.
So, nobody to call…
I guess we just have to wait for the patient to wake up. My eyes darted to see the little girl still scribbling on the paper.
“My brother and sister are alone at home.”
“Goodness…” Dr. Felicia muttered calmly; she had been reading the texts too. “What are we going to do?”
She nudged me, and I didn’t know what to do either, but I think in cases like this, we would have to reach out to a social worker or child services. I collected the book from her again.
“How old are your siblings?”
“Klein- 4 Kara-2.”
Shit, this is bad. I got up immediately, handing over the girl to Felicia, as I moved to the nurses at the reception, and almost immediately, Lola came to join me.
“What’s going on?” She asked, slipping her hands into her coat pocket.
“I need to get in touch with Child Protective Services,” I confessed. “There are two minors who might have been left alone in the house of my patient; they are alone and helpless.”
The nurse worked quickly, as she searched through her computer and then scribbled down the hotline on the sticky notes and passed it to me on the counter.
“Hello…” I heard the lazy voice belonging to a man mutter from the other end of the phone, and I sucked in a deep breath. “Hello, I am Doctor Eden Mon—Alder.” Correcting myself before I could finish, I wonder why I keep forgetting that I am now married.
“What?” He mused in confusion.
“I am Doctor Eden Adler; I am calling you from Adler’s Medical Foundation, and we have a situation.”