Edible Delectables

  "I've been better," Kara answered, attempting a slight stretch of her cramped muscles and immediately flinching in pain. Just then Eric walked through the door with a bag that looked and smelled like it might contain two coffees.

  "You're awake!" He handed off one of the cups to Eva and set the bag down on the bedside table. Carefully he leaned in for an awkward one-armed half hug and kissed Kara's cheek.

  "Aww, you brought me breakfast," Kara smiled and tried to reach for the other cup.

  "Forget it Kara, it's not happening." He laughed at her pout and swatted her hand away from his coffee.

  "I believe water and juice are available to you, as well as ice cream, popsicles, and broth. Maybe tea, I'm not really sure." He looked over at the menu by her bedside, which proclaimed liquid diet in red pen. Coffee is liquid, she thought. Kara stuck her tongue out and immediately grimaced at the taste in her mouth.

  "Ugh, somebody hand me a toothbrush. Please." Eva laughed as she grabbed the overnight bag she had sent Eric for the night before, as soon as they had confirmation Kara was being admitted. Digging inside she found the toiletries bag, pulled it out and handed it to Kara, then got up and grabbed the small plastic wash basin. She put a small amount of water in it and then held it up in front of her friend, as Kara eased the bed into a semi-upright position, wincing slightly at the movement.

  Kara brushed her teeth, then considered brushing them again, but instead put the toothbrush away.

  "Much better," she mumbled, leaning her head back, the small effort of brushing her teeth having exhausted her somewhat. It was then a blond male nurse came into the room to take her vitals and explain the medication pump for pain. He explained how to keep on top of it, not letting the pain get too intense before medicating, as that would prolong her suffering before the medication could kick in, then asked if she would like anything for breakfast.

  "What are my options?" Kara asked carefully.

  The nurse, whose name was Matt, chuckled, "You get to choose. Green or red Jell-O?"

  Kara grunted and made a face but relented. "Red," she answered

  "I'll be right back," Matt winked and turned to leave the room to quickly track down the food cart.

  "He's cute," Evalyn stated, her eyebrow raised; she was relentless with trying to fix Kara’s single status. Kara just rolled her eyes while Eric laughed and shook his head, sympathy in his eyes. He had seen enough of his wife’s ‘fixing’ to know a scheme when he saw one. Matt returned with Kara’s Jell-O and a juice box, along with a reminder for her to keep ahead of the pain, then left the room.

  Later that afternoon Kara's surgeon came by to check on her. He informed her that as long as everything continued to look alright and she didn't develop an infection in her incision, she could go home in two days. He gave strict orders for her to be up and moving to the bathroom as soon as possible, and he wanted her getting up and around the room by the following morning. Kara nodded in understanding and thanked the doctor for taking care of her.

  Soon after her surgeon left, Eva and Eric decided it was time to head out themselves and said their goodnights to Kara. They departed with reminders about what both Matt and her surgeon had said, ‘keep ahead of the pain, especially while getting up and around’. They were hopeful they could break her out of this joint as soon as possible. Kara chuckled and agreed to do as she was told.

  As soon as they left, she felt the urge to use the restroom. Of course as soon as Evalyn leaves, Kara thought. She lowered the bedrail and carefully eased her legs over the side. Just this small amount of movement had her slightly light-headed and winded. She was just working up the strength to stand when somebody walked into the room.

  "Jas..Dr. Dietrich." Kara noticed Jason's smile and hoped it wasn’t because he realized she was so flustered to see him. He looked tired, and was wearing a set of scrubs instead of the lab coat and tie he’d been wearing the previous evening.

  "You look about as bad as I'm guessing I do right now. Long night?" He grinned her favorite dimpled smile and softly agreed.

  "We were pretty busy," he said and then motioned to his outfit, "I got puked on."

  "Well that sounds,” Kara shook her head at the thought, “um, gross?" She couldn't help but laugh, which only made her flinch at the movement. Her legs were over the side of the bed, and she tried to scoot forward to rest them on the floor. Jason immediately walked over to assist.

  "Thanks," Kara glanced at him shyly then looked at the floor.

  "What are you trying to do?" Jason kept his hand securely on her elbow.

  "I'm supposed to get up and move around, and, you know, use the restroom," she trailed off the last part quietly while motioning toward the bathroom.

  "Here, let me help." Together they walked very slowly to the bathroom. Kara grabbed the rail on the wall beside the toilet for support and turned to stop him when Jason began to enter the bathroom with her.

  "I can take it from here." Jason flushed, obviously embarrassed at his mistake, and let go of her arm.

  "I'll just wait right here, outside,” he said, motioning to the ground where he stood outside the bathroom. They both gave a small laugh and Kara nodded her head in agreement, and shut the door behind her. After washing her hands, she opened the door to find Jason waiting, as promised, resuming his position at her elbow as they made their way back to the hospital bed.

  "Thanks," Kara said as she began easing herself back into bed. Jason reached out and helped slide her back under the covers and then pulled them up to just above her lap. She felt as if she was being tucked in, and to be honest, it didn't feel entirely weird. There was something about Jason's beside manner. Or maybe was just something about Jason?

  "What brings you by? I thought after I was declared a surgical patient I'd be out of your hair." Kara smiled to show she was teasing him. Jason gave a small quick nod and looked away, then turned back, the most breathtaking dimpled smile gracing his face.

  Kara briefly wondered if licking Dr. Dietrich's face would be in line with her liquid only diet restrictions. As soon as the thought occurred to her, she internally rolled her eyes at herself.

  "It's true, you’re no longer an ER patient, but you were by far my most enjoyable patient of the night, with the no puking on me and no sharing of viral germs. I want to thank you for that by the way.” Jason grinned again. “I have to admit, I was sad to move on to the next patient once they took you away."

  "Aww, you say such sweet things."

  Were they flirting? Was she really flirting with Jason Dietrich? Jason Dietrich from high school? The Jason Dietrich who happened to have performed a very personal exam on her lower extremities just twelve hours earlier?

  With that thought Kara was jolted back to reality. He was a doctor, she was a patient. He was obviously a very good doctor and was just checking up on her.

  "Well I'm glad I could help ease some of your suffering. The Demerol you prescribed me did wonders for mine." They both laughed briefly, but it was short lived.

  Jason glanced at his watch, running his hands through his hair, "Well I should probably let you get some rest; I just wanted to make sure everything went okay."

  "Thanks, my prognosis is good; I think I'll live." An awkward silence hung in the air, neither of them really knowing what else to say.

  "Okay, well, I'm heading out," he paused before explaining, "my shift is over."

  Kara nodded her head, "Well, thanks again. I mean, for stopping by."

  It was Jason's turn to nod.

  "Do you want this light on?" he asked as he picked up the string connected to the light over her bed.

  "Actually, I was thinking I'd probably get some sleep, so you can turn it off." Kara looked up at him through her lashes and smiled. Jason did as she asked and placed his hand softly on her shoulder.

  "Goodnight, Kara." Not really having anything else to say, Kara watched as he turned and left the room, shutting the door gently behind him.

  After he was gone, Kara hit the but
ton for her IV pain meds and as she drifted off, her last thought was that Jason had called her Kara. Did he remember her, too?

  ~*~

  "Do you remember Kara Baker?" Jason stopped chopping the onion and turned to his twin sister, Jaime. They were making their traditional Thursday night enchiladas, something that was important to both of them. The only time they missed it was when Jason was called into work.

  "No, should I?" Jaime continued rolling the tortillas and motioned for Jason to get back to chopping.

  "She went to Lake," Jason explained. Both he and Jaime had been a grade ahead of Kara, and the school was fairly large in size. Odds were, his sister wouldn’t remember her, but Jason’s curiosity got the best of him.

  Jaime reached over and grabbed the green enchilada sauce she made from Anaheim peppers and prepared to pour it over the wrapped tortillas. "What did she look like?"

  "Petite, auburn hair, brown eyes..." Jason gave a quick description.

  "Nope, not ringing a bell; that's pretty vague, J." Jaime laughed. His sister had been pretty active in high school, and considering that most of the times Jason saw Kara had been in the library, it wasn't a complete surprise Jaime didn't remember her. "Why do you ask?"

  "She was a patient in the ER last night. Appendicitis," he replied.

  "Oh. You remembered her?" Jaime stopped what she was doing and turned toward Jason to give him her full attention.

  Jason immediately knew where Jaime was going with this. She had been well aware of the agreement between Jason and Kate to not date anyone else during their senior year. Considering Jason had never mentioned any girls from school before, he knew she couldn't help but be intrigued by their current conversation.

  "She studied in the library a lot," Jason answered offhandedly.

  "With you?" Jaime could be persistent, like a shark smelling blood.

  "No, not with me. I just saw her in there a lot." Jason finished with the onions and sprinkled them out over the enchiladas.

  "Oh." Jaime smirked and grabbed the shredded cheese and began pouring it over the top of the onions.

  "What?" Jason grabbed the casserole dish from his sister and put it in the oven.

  "Nothing. You've just never mentioned her before. You've never mentioned any girls from your year of chastity before." Jaime giggled.

  "Shut it, Jaime." Jason gave her a sideways glance and set the timer on the oven.

  "I didn't say anything bad!" Jaime countered.

  "Oh please, you were getting in a dig about Kate." Jason shook his head and sat down on a bar stool at the counter.

  "Well, she was a whore." Jaime loved to remind Jason about Kate's indiscretions while they were apart.

  At first they didn't talk about what had happened with Kate. Jaime, being Jason's twin, knew when he was sensitive. It had taken about a year before she could start getting snarky about the situation without him getting pissed and storming off.

  To say Jaime was against Jason's plan to return to Seattle for college, and Kate, was an understatement. Jaime had never really liked Kate, and that had been the first and last time Jason would disregard her intuitions toward a girl he was dating.

  He hadn't learned about Kate until after he had moved back to Seattle. When he found out, he had been crushed.

  Jason had spent their year apart constantly fighting his teenage urges, and the girls in school had not made it easy on him. Then, to find out Kate had pretty much said yes to anybody who asked, and then said yes to anything they asked her to do - well, it pretty much destroyed his faith in women for a couple of years.

  The two years that followed the discovery of Kate’s deception were called "Jason's making up for lost time" years. He readily admitted they were not his best, and he was ashamed of the way he handled things. Those years were followed by the "Jason stops dating, or rather, messing around, and gets serious about school" years. Aka his “Are you sure you’re not gay” years, when everyone in his family – everyone but Jaime – questioned his sexuality. No matter how many times he said he liked chicks but just didn’t have time to deal with a relationship, the doubt always lingered in the minds of the rest of his family. To be precise, this stage lasted almost two years.

  As he entered med school, Jason began to date again, and even had a somewhat lengthy relationship with another med student in his class, Michelle. Michelle and he were perfect on paper; both were aggressive in their studies, both aimed to be in pediatrics, and both realized that school came before their relationship - for now. Romance could come after graduation. Dating Michelle had been easy, but in the end they agreed they were better off as friends. Six months after they broke up, Michelle was engaged to one of their professors from the previous year.

  Jason shook himself out of his nostalgia over Kate and agreed with his sister’s opinion of his ex being a whore, "Yeah, she was," Jaime snickered.

  "So what brought Kara Baker up?" Jaime was back on the scent.

  "I told you, she was a patient in the ER," Jason replied. He got up from his chair and pulled a bottle opener from the drawer by the sink. Jaime handed him the bottle of red wine he had brought with him for dinner and he popped the cork.

  "Yes, but you said you remembered her from high school," Jaime persisted, handing him two wine glasses.

  "I did," he agreed.

  "Jason." Jaime took a sip of her wine. She hated it when he was evasive.

  "Jaime." Jason was beginning to regret bringing Kara up. He wasn't even sure why he had done it. It was like dangling a bone in front of a dog then holding it just out of reach.

  "Tell me about Kara," Jaime said pointedly. Jason sighed, definitely regretting bringing the topic up.

  "There's nothing to tell. I was just wondering if you remembered her or not. She went to high school with us and happened to be a patient of mine last night." Jason gulped down his glass of wine and poured another. However, his attempt at evasion didn’t work.

  "Jason." Jaime stared at him until he looked her in the eyes. Her face brightened, and her jaw dropped at what she saw in his expression. "You like her!" she screeched.

  "Wha..?" Jason looked stunned, his head shaking in immediate denial.

  "Don't deny it, you know I can tell when you're lying. Did you like her in school? Oh my God, did you pass up an opportunity with her while being faithful to The Whore of Seattle?" Jaime was practically screaming the last part. Yes, he was definitely regretting this topic.

  "Jaime!" Jason snapped, rolling his eyes.

  "Tell me about her, Jason!" she demanded. Just then the oven timer signaled dinner was ready. Saved by the bell...

  "I'll get that, you start talking." Or not. It's like she could read his mind.

  "There's nothing to tell," Jason started, but the look on Jaime’s face clearly showed she wasn't having it. "I didn't know her in high school. I knew her name; we studied in the library at the same time. Sometimes we smiled at each other in the hallway. I thought she was...interesting. Pretty," he finished.

  "You thought she was pretty?" Jaime's eyes softened and her voice went all girly.

  "Yes." Jason couldn't help but laugh at his sister’s expression. You would have thought he had told her he proposed to somebody.

  "So what happened?" Jaime began dishing out their enchiladas and they took a seat at the table to eat.

  "I kept my promise to Kate." They were both quiet for a moment, his dejection still hanging in the air.

  "So...appendicitis? That sounds miserable. Did everything go okay?" Jaime asked, knowing her brother would have followed up on Kara's surgery.

  "She's fine. I stopped by her room on my way out after my shift." He reddened.

  "Good," was all she said as she winked at him. “Did you get the email mom sent? I swear if she gives me one more ‘forward this email’ I’m signing her up to every porn site on the net and losing the password.” Jason busted out a laugh and almost choked on his enchilada. The subject was officially changed and they finished their dinner, but no matter
how hard he tried, he couldn’t get Kara Baker out of his head.

  Chapter Four

  Kara woke up around seven the following morning. Her pain was more intense, but she knew the only way she would be discharged the following day would be if she were up and walking around. Taking a deep, calming breath, she hit the button on her pain meds, then set her bed in an upright position and prepared for her journey to the bathroom.

  Her progress was slow, but Kara made it to and from the bathroom without incident. Sitting back in bed she flipped on the TV and surfed through the basic cable channels, settling on Mythbusters. She was slightly startled when the door opened and the aide from the cafeteria brought in breakfast; Kara had been upgraded from liquids to soft foods, and there on her tray she found some scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs that tasted not unlike cardboard. Eva returned around mid-morning and helped Kara get in the shower.

  "Evalyn?" Kara called from the bathroom.

  "Yeah?" came her muffled reply.

  "Um, I need our help." Kara's voice was hesitant.

  Evalyn opened the door and peeked her head inside, seeing Kara's head just around the shower curtain, "What do ya need?"

  "I, uh, can't reach."

  "Reach what...?" Evalyn asked skeptically.

  "Look, let’s just get this out there. This is as awkward for me as it is for you; probably more so for me as it's my body,” Kara blurted out quickly. Then taking a deep breath she continued, “I'm having trouble cleaning my...feet. And other stuff. My butt, I need help cleaning my butt, it hurts when I try to twist, even just a little.” Kara closed her eyes in humiliation.

  "Whoa, your feet? Okay. Your ass? No way. That's what you have a nurse for." Evalyn laughed, pointing toward Kara’s closed room door and the nurse’s station beyond it.

  "I'm not calling the nurse, Eva. It's Matt again. I can't ask him to help me in the shower, it's uncomfortable. Come on, I'd do it for you!" Kara pleaded. She saw Evalyn’s eyes light up at the mention of her nurse Matt. “No,” Kara reiterated.