{"id":3188,"date":"2017-12-07T06:01:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T06:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2023-02-14T22:20:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T03:20:23","slug":"doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-fifty-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-fifty-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Confidencialidad m\u00e9dico-paciente: Cap\u00edtulo cincuenta y cinco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several minutes later and the barista continues to hover over Jamie, happily chatting away with him like I\u2019m not even there while she eagerly scribbles his order on her little note pad, leaning her hip into the table right next to his arm.<\/span><\/p>\n

She turns to me briefly, her expression immediately turning bored. \u201cAnd you?\u201d she says with one brow arched in clear annoyance, as if the mere sight of me is pestering her.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can only sigh internally. I can\u2019t even be mad. I brought this on myself, after all. Everyone practically worships the ground he walks on. I can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised that people would wonder what the hell I\u2019m <\/em>doing having coffee with someone who constantly gets treated like he poops gold. Heck, I\u2019m still wondering that myself<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA small vanilla hot chocolate, please,\u201d I say, trying to sound as polite as I can in spite of her less-than-stellar attitude toward me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I opted for the cheapest thing on the menu\u2014aside from the free water, anyway. The last thing I want to be spending my hard-earned\u2014and quite limited<\/em>\u2014money on is some crappy, overpriced coffee served by a rude barista.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once she leaves, I turn to Jamie, my eyes catching his staring at me.<\/span><\/p>\n

An inkling of a frown slightly contorts my face as I examine him for a moment, trying to gauge his expression, his body language, and his overall mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something doesn\u2019t feel right about this\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your angle?\u201d I ask abruptly, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop them, my frown becoming more prominent.<\/span><\/p>\n

He gives me a quizzical look. \u201cCome again?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I sigh. He\u2019s obviously playing stupid, so I\u2019m just going to have to come right out and say it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook, Jamie,\u201d I begin, \u201cI\u2019m not stupid, okay? I know how guys like you roll\u2014and it\u2019s not with girls like me. So I want to know what your angle is. Why did you ask me to have coffee with you? Is this some sort of bet you made with your buddies? A dare or\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My phone chooses that very moment to go off, vibrating loudly in my back pocket, cutting my words short, and making me jump in my seat. I\u2019m so startled that I almost knock the small decorative vase on the table over. I can only offer a tight smile for my clumsiness before answering the call.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRamona!\u201d Theodore\u2019s voice comes through, strained and breathless. I immediately frown at his frantic tone and rushed breathing. \u201cRamona, you need to get down here right now! It\u2019s your grandmother!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately, I feel my heart sink to my stomach. \u201cWhat? What\u2019s wrong with Gran?\u201d I say, panic lacing my words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI-I don\u2019t know what happened to her,\u201d Theodore stutters, showing his own obvious distress. \u201cI came in a few minutes ago and found her on her kitchen floor. The ambulance just took her to Saint Gabriel\u2019s. I\u2019m about to head there now but I needed to call you first. I\u2019m gonna call Danny and let him know\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Theodore keeps talking but I\u2019m having a hard time listening. My heart is beating hard in my chest and in my head, pulsing frantically as my brain registers all the words that are coming out of his mouth; words that I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I even know it, I\u2019m on my feet. I\u2019m trying not to panic so much but I\u2019m failing miserably, still gripping the phone to my ear with a shaky hand. I barely hear Jamie\u2019s voice over the sound of blood rushing and swishing in my head.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong,\u201d he says, a frown distending his forehead into a furrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

My mouth suddenly feels dry, and my breathing becomes shallow. \u201cI\u2026I have to go,\u201d is the only response I can manage to give him.<\/span><\/p>\n

On impulse, my shaky legs move as fast as they can to get out of the coffee shop. I frantically scurry around the cluster of tables, trying to maneuver my body between the poorly organized sitting area without knocking anything over. I feel the distinct taste of bile rising in my throat as my head continues to pound and my mind tries to grapple with the disturbing news I\u2019ve just received.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRamona, wait,\u201d Jamie calls out, quickly standing and coming after me. I vaguely hear myself apologize to him, but I don\u2019t look back or stop. I don\u2019t even realize I\u2019ve been running until I get to my car and find myself panting and trembling all over.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thought of Gran lying on her kitchen floor all by herself drains all the blood from my face and makes me feel physically weak.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Theodore hadn\u2019t been there\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

God, I don\u2019t even want to think about what might have happened.<\/span><\/p>\n

I quickly turn on the ignition, and as soon as I pull out of the parking lot, uncontrollable tears start streaming down my face.<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s the only one I have left in the world. I can\u2019t lose her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear God, please let her be okay<\/em>, I silently pray as the tears continue to fall. Please let her be okay.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several minutes later and the barista continues to hover over Jamie, happily chatting away with him like I\u2019m not even there while she eagerly scribbles his order on her little note pad, leaning her hip into the table right next to his arm. She turns to me briefly, her expression immediately turning bored. \u201cAnd you?\u201d she says with one brow arched in clear annoyance, as if the mere sight of me is pestering her. I can only sigh internally. I can\u2019t even be mad. I brought this on myself, after… Lee mas<\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"series":[99],"class_list":["post-3188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary-2","series-doctor-patient-confidentiality"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-300x100.jpg","large":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3188"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/es_es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}