Даниэла Стил - Turning Point

Tom went back to the trauma unit with a grin. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, and he spun one of the older nurses around while she laughed in amazement, and kissed her firmly on the cheek.

“What happened to you?” she asked as he let her go.

“Six weeks from now, I’ll be spinning you around and speaking to you in French,” he said, looking delighted.

“That sounds dangerous,” she said, laughing at him.

“Definitely, for the French women I meet. Paris, here I come!” he said cryptically, as he grabbed a chart and headed for an exam room while the nurse laughed and went back to work. He was a menace, but an endearing one, and a damn good doctor, she thought as she wondered what he’d meant.

—

At San Francisco General, Bill Browning had just heard the same speech from the head of the hospital, and Bill too was grinning from ear to ear. The intended mission sounded fascinating and like a great opportunity to share techniques and information, but all he could think of was that four weeks in Paris would give him four weekends to spend with his girls. He could visit them in London, or have Athena send them to Paris. Being able to spend time with them every week for a month was the best gift anyone could have given him, and he could hardly wait!

—

At Stanford, Wendy looked shocked for a minute, and mildly panicked. Four weeks was a long time, and she hadn’t gone away for more than a few days in the last six years. She never wanted to miss a Wednesday night with Jeff. It made her uneasy to think of leaving him for that long. What if he forgot about her, or discovered that their Wednesday nights together weren’t worth the trouble, or he fell in love with his wife again or, worse, somebody else? All Wendy could think about was “out of sight, out of mind,” and she wasn’t sure she wanted to go, or should. She was flattered to be invited, but her situation with Jeff was precarious, and being gone for four weeks sounded dangerous to her, in terms of their relationship. She almost turned it down, but then decided to wait and discuss it with him on Wednesday night, and see what he said. If he objected to her going to Paris, she would gracefully decline. She said she would give them an answer on Thursday, and the head of the Stanford Medical Center did all he could to encourage her to go. He said she would be a valuable member of the team, and a wonderful representative for Stanford.

There was going to be a reception hosted by the mayor at City Hall, when the French team came to town. It all sounded very appealing, and even exciting to Wendy, but not if she lost Jeff because of being away for four weeks. She realized, as she thought about it when she went back to her office in the trauma unit, that no matter how depressing the situation was at times, or how inadequate the arrangement, she wasn’t ready to let him go. In fact, she was holding on to him for dear life.

—

The situation for Stephanie at UCSF was complicated too. She was stunned when they asked her to represent UCSF, and very flattered, and by the time they finished describing the assignment to her, she was ready to run home and pack her bags. Before she could stop herself, she said yes. But as she walked back to the trauma unit, she felt panic wash over her. What was she going to say to Andy? How could she justify leaving him and their two small sons for four weeks? Andy was going to have a fit, but this was another step toward her goal of becoming head of the unit one day. Being on the mayor’s commission was an honor she didn’t want to turn down, and she had already agreed. She had blurted out her positive answer before she had thought it through, but as reality hit her, she knew there was going to be trouble at home. What if he wouldn’t let her go? She didn’t want to miss it, but she didn’t want to push Andy over the edge either.

She knew all of his complaints about her job, and he seemed to be getting more strident about it recently. Now she would have to tell him she was going to Paris for a month. She didn’t know what to say, how to couch it in a palatable way. All she knew as she sat down at her desk in the trauma unit, staring into space, was that she wanted to go. More than anything in the world. It was a fabulous opportunity and she just couldn’t pass it up. All she had to do was convince Andy of it too. That would be the hardest part.

Chapter Four

Stephanie waited until she had a night off, wasn’t on call, and didn’t have to work late. She brought it up to Andy, as casually as possible, over a glass of wine, sitting by the fire, after they put the boys to bed. She had set the stage as carefully as she could, hoping for the optimum result.

“I got an amazing opportunity this week,” she said as they sipped their wine. Andy was in a good mood. A California magazine had recently bought an article of his about conservation in Marin. He hadn’t sold anything in a while. And he hadn’t done one on the urban crisis in months. He was too busy with the boys to be diligent about his writing, which was frustrating for him. He wanted to advance his career too.

“What kind of opportunity?” He eyed her with suspicion. Announcements like that usually meant some extremely demanding project that would eat into her time with him and the kids. He knew her well.

“Apparently, the Department of Emergency Management is sponsoring an exchange through the mayor’s office, with Paris as our sister city, to pool information and protocols about terrorist attacks. They’re sending four doctors from San Francisco to Paris to work with their emergency services there, and then four French doctors will come here to learn what they can from us. It’s a terrific idea.”

“For how long?” Andy asked, frowning. He sensed immediately that there was more.

“A few weeks,” she said vaguely, and then decided she’d better level with him. “A month,” she added in a small voice.

“And you want to go?” He looked shocked.

“Actually, UCSF asked me to go as their representative. It’s all trauma docs from the Bay Area. UCSF was invited to send the doctor of their choice, and I’m it. It’s a big honor,” she added, trying to convince him, and she could see it didn’t.

“Jesus, Steph. You want to go away for a month?” He looked at her in astonishment. “What about your kids…and me? What are we supposed to do for a month?”

“You could come with me,” she said, throwing it out there to pacify him. He looked upset.

“With two small kids, while you work all day and night with a bunch of French doctors and we never see you? That makes no sense, and the boys would go nuts in a hotel. They’re better off here in school. But that’s a long time for you to leave them. I’m beginning to feel like we’re getting in your way. It didn’t used to be like this. You balanced work and our family, but now, little by little your job is becoming your priority, and sometimes I feel like you forget about us entirely. I think you have some choices to make, Steph.” He sounded harsh and angry, and her heart sank.

“What is that supposed to mean? Give up my family or my job? My father never did. He was a busy obstetrician, and sometimes he delivered babies almost every night for weeks. We hardly ever saw him, and nobody asked him to choose between his work and us. My mother made it work, for all of us.”

“I’m trying to make it work too, but maybe the world isn’t quite as fair as you think. I’m your husband, not an au pair. I want to work on my career too. This whole family is not just about supporting you. And now you want to go to Paris for a month. Where does that leave us, Steph? What am I supposed to think? What’s your priority here? Work or us?” He couldn’t see her giving up a month in Paris to stay home with them. And if she did, he knew she would feel cheated, and in some ways she wasn’t wrong. It was a fabulous invitation for her. But it was going to come out of his hide whether she went or she didn’t. The balance of responsibilities, and the way they’d agreed to divide them up, was beginning to weigh heavily on him. The deal they’d made to support her career came at a high price for him. And she never said it, but she thought medicine and saving lives were more important than writing, no matter how talented he was.