RP Log with halfway2heaven | Doctor-Patient Confidentiality

[1twntyovreighty]

Bella entered Rick's hospital room with three medical students in toe. She had on her lab coat over her skirt suit with her long, curly hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. She turned to the next file in her arms, and couldn't help but note with a tiny flicker of a smirk at the corners of her lips that Rick was sitting on the side of the bed in nothing but a pair of cute black boxers, obviously not expecting the rounds this soon. It was a good day, though, and Bella was relieved that most of her inpatients were doing well that morning, so things had progressed quite quickly. "This is Mr Rick Deleo. Thirty one years old with stage two renal cell carcinoma. Rick underwent an unsuccessful experimental internal surgical debridement of the tumour on his left kidney following his diagnosis. It was minor laparoscopic day surgery, but the RCC proved to be too aggressive at that point to be halted by a minor debridement. He returned to our care after contracting a post-op infection and was treated with broad spectrum IV antibiotics. Further CT scans revealed a spread in the tumour in the lining of the proximal convoluted tubule, but as of the date of his admission, no evident spreading to the second kidney. A laparoscopic nephrectomy was planned, but we escalated to an open procedure when close examination revealed the tumour had spread to the exterior of the organ and enclosing cavity. All tumours were removed, and the spread contained. He will be starting chemotherapy with our outpatients unit this time next week assuming his post-operative progress continues so well, and he is about set for discharge." She turned to her students with a smile. "Now if you could please excuse us, I have to proceed with a physical examination. Dr King is expecting you in OR3 in half an hour, so take a break before making your way there."


She waited until all the students filed out and then pulled the curtain around Rick's bed, placing her documents on the end of the mattress. "There I was expecting Superman knickers. I think I'm sorely disappointed," she joked and picked up his obs charts to make sure everything was still going well. "You, my favourite pilot, are about ready to love us and leave us. For now, at least. I was projecting for tomorrow morning, but you're eating, drinking, voiding all really well, pain levels are good. No need to stick around another night."

Rick had watched with some interest as Bella gave her little spiel to the students and then dismissed them so she could give him a physical. Now he just grinned, the boxers probably not going to be able to hide anything if he kept staring at the curve of her neck, or those lips of hers. "Sure you don't need your little ducklings to stay as an audience just in case I decide to get frisky? I am still entitled to my final lay after all. Keep wearing skirts like that and I'm just going to get all kinds of ideas, Doc."

The truth was he was actually relieved to be getting out of the hospital. He was sick of the bed, sick of the same beige walls, sick of TV with nothing on it, and hospital food he wouldn't feed to a dog. There was still a part of him that was hesitant to be handed over to Chris for his little brother to take care of him, but at least right now he was still mostly independent. "If you want me to turn my head and cough, just say the magic word."

Bella smirked at him and grabbed some gloves from the dispenser on the wall, pulling them on with a small snap. "Not too far off the mark, love. A whole lot of interesting glands and nodes going on in that general direction of the body. It makes you wonder why us oncologists aren't lesbians we know the inner workings so well. I need you to lie down for me. And for the records, I don't need ducklings to fight my battles for me. I have killer knee action when I need it," she joked with a wink and pulled her trolley a little closer so it was in easy reach. "How have you been feeling? No dramatic changes? I noticed you didn't eat your breakfast, but I'm thinking that more has to do with the fact your brother was by simultaneously to the breakfast run. Was it waffles or a bacon roll?" she asked in amusement.

Rick lay back as directed and folded his arms under his head so he could stretch out in all his near naked glory for her. He couldn't help himself. He was a born flirt, and she was just what he needed. He smiled wryly. "It might have been waffles and some bacon, but that would be telling. Are you going to have to punish me now for ignoring fruit salad and yoghurt?" Rick arched his eyebrow at her. "So why aren't you a lesbian?"

"Not at all," Bella returned with a smile. "But you might actually regret that decision later, and Chris will have some interesting fun dealing with that. Oh, you are forward with the questions aren't you? Why aren't you gay?" she threw back in amusement. She checked his temperature quickly, more than relieved it was normal after seeing it practically off the scales when he first came in. She put her steth into her ears and started to listen to his heart and then raised her eyebrows a little. "You're a little tachy... you're heart's beating faster than it usually does. Any dizziness or lightheadedness?" she asked.

Rick smirked at her. "Because I've got my own equipment to play with, I don't want someone else's toy that's the same as mine. I'd rather play with something new, and curvy. So the waffle's going to cost me? Well, shit. At least it tasted good." He sucked in a breath as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Nope, none. Maybe I'm just excited at the prospect of seeing you again?"

"Oh yeah? And how's the hunt going for Miss New and Curvy for your pre-chemo romp in the sack, hm?" Bella asked him as she started to gently feel his throat for any strange swelling or lumps. To look closely when she let herself, he was actually really cute, and the eyes were something else. He and his brother definitely had the same eyes. Gorgeous blue with that cheeky glint that could have any chick weak at the knees when it came attached to one of their trademark smirks. "Me? Sure it wasn't my young blonde student? She seemed to be extremely interested in your history."

"I didn't even notice your little blonde duckling," Rick admitted as he small raise of his eyebrows. It seemed like a shame that her hair was tied back, but he really did enjoy looking at her neck and throat. He also caught the scent of her perfume under all the layers of hospital smells. "In case you haven't noticed, I've only got eyes for you, Bella. And you tell me how the hunt's going, Miss New and Curvy. For a doctor you really can be just a little bit clueless sometimes."

The penny really didn't drop with Bella straight away. It wasn't so much that she clueless, but just her professionalism tended to act as a buffer just about all the time. She had a rapport with Rick, though, and they had talked extensively over the course of his hospital stay. The penny only dropped heavily and alerted her to the dangerous ground she may have just stepped out onto when she went to feel his abdomen and noticed that tight black boxers really did not hide anything, even if a good little black dress for women had the ability to hide a multitude of sins. Not so much with the same rules for guys, it seemed. She stood up, her hand hovering near his belly as she connected all the dots in her mind and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She couldn't help a covert glance in the direction the room door was, even if they were concealed by the curtain. "Rick..." she murmured quietly.

He glanced down at his not-so-concealed erection, and sighed. Of course he'd reacted. How could he not? She was beautiful, she was touching him, and he ached to feel her body against his. He hadn't lied when he'd said it had been a while. It had. He reached out for her hand before she had a chance to make a run for the door and raised it to his lips to kiss the back of it. "Bella..." Rick was never going to be completely noble. As much as he knew this was risky for her, he just couldn't deny the growing attraction that he was feeling for her. And if he really was going to have one last lay before he started chemo, then it was going to be her.

"Oh hell... oh shit..." The soft curses fell from her lips before she could stop them. She wasn't really panicking, because she had been in this position in the past. Usually she was able to put a tight lid on it before any trouble came about, but it was different with Rick. She knew she cared about him. She cared about all her patients, but this was different. Somewhere in hearing about the whole mess with his brother and hearing that he wanted to change his life, she had just felt some sort of connection there. She just knew that in the whole process, it had been him giving her piles and piles of information and secrets, yet she had revealed very little about herself in return. She watched him kiss her hand, trying to figure out what her next move should be. "This is not a good thing. I'm your doctor, and you need one of those you can trust and listen to." At the same time, though, she knew exactly what it was like to be facing big losses. It just had to be a bad thing for it to be her he did this with. Right? Despite having helped many, many patients in her relatively short career, this was the first time a patient had laid this at her feet, or even had any sort of serious feelings towards her. It was usually just flirting. This was different.

"I do trust and listen to you," Rick said quietly as he turned her hand over and kissed the inside of her wrist. His other hand reached out to toy with the hem of her skirt before he pushed his fingers up under it and stroked them against her leg. He kissed at her palm and then back to her wrist, his blue eyes watching her face intently. He'd be lying if the slight element of taboo wasn't turning him on even more right now, but she was the only one to get a rise out of him so far. He'd had a few dirty magazines to look at that one of the other patients had slipped him, but they did nothing for him. What were double Ds next to a personality he could admire. Maybe he had been the one inadvertently revealing all his secrets, but he did still want to know hers.

Bella's heart was thumping in her chest. There was a voice in her head telling her to pull her hand away and read him the patient-doctor riot act, but it wasn't a loud voice. There was another one in there that seemed to have the stronger opinion, and it was that making her watch him just kiss her hand. The doctor in her was relieved and pleased he was feeling better to actually have the ability to get an erection. She would never be able to shake the doctor voice in her head. Just a few days ago, he had hardly been able to move or stay awake more than ten minutes to talk to her, so this was a positive thing. It just took a whole lot to fathom that she was the reason for it. "You're more like your brother than you realise, you know that? Some risks just aren't a good thing."

Rick noticed she hadn't pulled away, or stopped his hand from inching up the side of her skirt. He was still walking his fingers slowly up her thigh as he got a feel for her smooth skin. He gave a shake of his head as he smiled up at her. "No, see, I know this is one thing I'd do that he wouldn't. He'd never fuck on hospital property. I told you I wasn't a good guy, Bella. But don't let that deter you. I want you... I want you badly enough that I will risk this."

This time Bella did pull her hand back, only so she could hold it up. "No, no... I am not having sex at the hospital. I'm not, Rick. I couldn't care if you were Brad Pitt, even if he doesn't appeal to me at all, but I would still not sleep with him at work. I won't disrespect my superiors or my patients like that. They expect a level of professionalism of me that they will always get unconditionally. If this is just some sort of joke to you, a way to use your illness to get in my knickers as some sort of passing play toy, then I do not appreciate it at all."

Rick dragged himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed as he pulled her between his legs and rest his hands lightly on her waist. "This isn't a joke, Bella. I'm sorry if I'm giving you that impression, but trust me I'm not laughing about this. I'm also not sure if I can guarantee getting some privacy at Chris'. If he thinks I'm coming home, then he's going to want to be there. So I don't know what to say. Other than if you're not willing to let it happen here, then please just let me see you somewhere else. Let me have you alone outside of this place." He leaned forward, slowly closing the gap between their mouths before he kissed her. He was surprised she did actually let him in that close, but he wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

"I haven't finished with you, you know. I still need to examine you to make sure you aren't going to walk out of here and spontaneously combust on me," Bella told him with a huffy edge to her tone as she could feel slivers of her professional self control slipping away in Rick's presence. But then he was going and saying something like wanting her alone away from the place, and then there was kissing. Kissing she wasn't pulling away from. Kissing that she was actually reciprocating before she could stop herself, her gloved hand coming to rest on his jaw just from the intensity of the kiss. It lingered, she didn't want it to stop, but she had to soon pull out of it, touching her lips with her fingers as her brown eyes searched over his face. "I should tell you to go fuck yourself for that," she told him in a low murmur, her lips still barely inches from his.

"Don't worry, I have every intention of doing that after you stop examining me," Rick replied without missing a beat and without smirking. It was true. He was more than going to take himself in hand the second she walked out of the room. But then he pulled her into another kiss with even more intensity and hunger behind it. He just couldn't help it. He'd let the flood gates open, and now there was very little willpower holding him back.

The thought that jumped into Bella's head then was that it was going to be more difficult to feel the glands in his groin if he had an erection. The doctor was still trying to fight her on this, but the hot-blooded woman in her was struggling in the shadow of the kiss. It had been a long time since she had been kissed like this, any relationships usually falling by the wayside in favour of her career. Most guys she met and tried anything with turned out to be jerks that she didn't want to have time for anyway. And here was a self-professed jerk with his tongue in her mouth and she was doing absolutely nothing to push him away. In fact... "Once, so you can go into the chemo with a positive mind. At my place. And that's it," she found coming out of her mouth in the wake of the second kiss.

Rick smiled as he rest his forehead against hers, trying to keep the cheekiness out of his gaze and failing. "Yes, ma'am," he answered as his hand slipped down to give her ass a fond squeeze. It was just too much temptation not to. She had tasted delicious, and he already had an idea that she'd feel just as delicious once she let him get his hands all over her body. He brushed his lips against her jaw before he pulled away to give her some space and sucked on his lip as he watched her. "Still gonna finish that physical?"

"Yes, I am, so lie down," Bella replied, her voice a little on the strained side in the wake of the kiss. She cleared her throat and tugged on her steth around her neck to pull it back into place where it had slipped further down her shoulder during the kiss. Just a few days ago, he hadn't been even able to get out of bed and post-operatively she wouldn't be recommending people not have sex, but just that they take it easy if they wanted to. Now here she was inviting a patient to her bed and it was a little unsteadying for her to fathom. She didn't take it back, though. He still kept smiling at her like that with those eyes. She was still intrigued by him. She knew if this went awry, though, she would have to transfer his care to another doctor. That might even need to happen if it didn't go awry... "Try and think about frozen smashed badgers or something. I need to be able to feel your groin for anything strange going on."

Rick couldn't help breaking out into a chuckle as he looked at her. "Darling, there is nothing strange about what you'd feel down there. Not right now. And it's all natural. No sock stuffing. Also... frozen badgers? Really?" He was still chuckling as he turned his gaze to the ceiling and did actually try and work on thinking about something to kill his erection. In the end it was easy as soon as he considered the possibility that he really could be able to have his last sexual experience ever. He might even die. The laughter died abruptly on his lips and he cleared his throat as he lay still.

Rick's arousal actually faltered so quickly, Bella actually found herself staring less-than-professionally. She blinked and looked up at his face, finding the serious small frown settled there again. She rubbed her fingers against his arm softly, trying to reassure him she would make it as okay for him as she could. "At least you know my hands aren't cold," she murmured. She tucked his boxers down to just beyond his hips and slipped her hands inside them to examine down in his groin. It was so, so wrong the thoughts she was thinking right now, and she forced her brain to stay well away from them as much as they could. Bottom line was, though, he was big, and she could feel him against her fingers. She had no idea what the hell she was getting herself into right now. "Well, you didn't shout at me and tell me to piss off, so no pain or discomfort. It all... seems positive," she added, catching herself before she said 'feels good'.

"Yeah, great..." Rick muttered before he looked at her apologetically. "At least one part of me's 'positive', right? Sorry, just... you know. The magic's gone for the moment. Thanks for having warm hands." Rick pushed up onto his elbows as he looked down at his feet for a moment before he lifted his gaze to meet hers again. "If it really is gonna be my last time... I can't actually imagine anyone else I wanna be with. I just need you to know that."

"You can't keep thinking of things as your last or you'll go crazy," Bella advised him quietly. She pushed him back down onto his pillow so she could go back to feeling his stomach, which is what she was doing before she realised he had an erection. "Even when you think you're dying, nothing should ever be your last. I don't believe in the Bucket List bullshit. Keep living until you stop, because it might not turn out how you expect."

Rick gave her a small smile before he reached out to cover her hand with his again. "I know you didn't exactly turn out how I expected."

Bella laughed a little and pulled her gloves off. She unclipped prescriptions from the front of her file. "I'll try and not take that as an insult as to how you did expect me to turn out," she replied and handed him the scripts. "Chris is going to get these filled at the hospital pharmacy for you. I know it's going to seem like you're suddenly taking a shit load of pills, and you are, but they're important and I need you to remember to take them. Most of these are given prior to chemo in an effort to combat side effects. By the time we hit you with the chemo, these will be working well in your system and it won't be like an overload of drugs. There is also a cortisone there, which is a steroid. It should stop any possible allergic reaction you might have to the chemo and I also want you to take a multivitamin to boost your immune system a little. Which is another thing. I know it might feel like you have a week of freedom ahead of you. That's not true. You need to spend the time resting and building your strength up. I don't want you going out anywhere unless it's vital, because your immune system is compromised and germs and bugs will jump on you like you're a giant magnet. If Chris gets ill at any point, try and steer clear as much as you can, but he'll know that side of things. Lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of water. Spend some time sitting out in the sun if you can. If you start to feel sick or in pain anymore than you are right now between now and your first chemo appointment, you need to contact me straight away. I have to page him to let him know when you're ready to head home, and he's going to borrow someone's car." She paused and sighed a little when she still couldn't believe the next words coming out of her mouth. "You can give me a call the next time Chris heads into an on-call shift. It means he'll be at work at least twenty-four hours straight, and knowing MT1 that usually means up to and beyond a good thirty-six hours. I'll come pick you up and we'll go to my place."

"I really do appreciate everything you've done for me. I know I probably can be a little... closed." Rick shrugged before he flashed her a wry smile. "Hey, hey... I didn't mean it as an insult. I was expecting you to be good. Just not great. It's still a positive. I promise to take the pills, I'll even think of you any time I try and get out of it. Besides, not sure Chris will let me flake on that particular responsibility. You can be sure I'll be a good boy." Rick pulled himself back up into a sitting position and gripped the edge of the bed as he looked down at her. His eyes slipped to her mouth again, but he made no move to kiss her. "You're hot when you're devious, you know that? And thanks... again. I mean it."

Bella just laughed and shook her head. "I can be sure, can I? I'm not sure you Deleo brothers know the meaning of being a good boy, but I might just hold you to that." She rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Just you do as you're told and we'll call it even, yeah? And make sure you tell your brother if those waffles come back to haunt you. He's good, but I doubt he's a mindreader to automatically know when to help you... and let him help you when you need it," she added pointedly as she moved to the door. "Rest. I'll see you soon." She gave him a small wave and then slipped from the hospital room, only to stop a few paces away from his door and really wonder what the hell she was playing at.