“Yes, doctor,” said James, professional and polite before making his leave.

On the way back to the elevator, James looked over Elizabeth Charles' file, seeing the notes from various physicians and nurses and read on as her condition from the car accident grew worse and worse. She had never fully regained consciousness after the crash, and was now brain-dead, lying there and waiting for her organs to be harvested. It seemed like a little much for his first day, and James had expected to be doing clinic duty, looking after sick kids, or telling people whether or not that strange rash was or wasn't herpes. Instead, he was going to be pushing along paper work and trying to deal with a grieving husband in a business-like, but compassionate way. James considered himself to be a good person, but he was fairly emotional, which wouldn't make for a good combination.

The sterile smell of the hospital returned once the elevator doors opened to reveal the third floor. Elizabeth's room was at the end of the wing, and James made no stops as he walked, mentally preparing himself to push these papers on the woman's poor husband and then leave to schedule the surgery. He had to remind himself that even if Elizabeth Charles' youth was wasted, she would be helping countless people in death, and that was something that he could appreciate. 

Knocking briefly on the doorjamb, James stepped into the room. One look at Robert Charles was enough to make James forget the pep talk that he had given himself on the way over. The man was broken, distraught and likely to never fully recover from such a loss. In that moment, James wanted to walk away, give the man more time with his wife, but he knew that Gabriel and the OR wouldn't wait for anything like that. “I'm very sorry for your loss,” James said, coming to stand at the side of Elizabeth's bed. He looked from the battered young woman and back to her husband. “There's some paper work to finish up, and then we can schedule the surgery for--”

“Already?” Robert asked, looking shocked.

James paused, although he didn't falter. “Unfortunately, yes. The paper work needs to be processed, and then we'll schedule, so you'll have a few more hours with her.” He hoped that would suffice.

“Her parents are coming from out of state. What if they don't make it in time?” 

This was like a scene from a bad movie, and James would have done anything to press rewind. “Like I said, it's going to take some time.” James reached out and awkwardly set his hand on the man's shoulder, and Robert's head sank into his hands, his body racked with sobs. “I'm not ready to lose her yet,” Robert whispered.

“I'm incredibly sorry,” James apologized again, but he knew that words from a stranger, especially one who was there to get authorization for harvesting organs, wouldn't mean anything to this grief-stricken husband.

“You married?” Robert asked, and James shook his head. “You have kids?” Again, he didn't. “You don't know what it's like. Don't pretend to care,” Robert wiped at his eyes, shaking James' hand from his shoulder. “Give me the damn papers.” 

The young doctor knew that Robert had every right to be angry, but he was already overwhelmed. It had been silly of him to think that this wouldn't be emotionally taxing, and suddenly, he wished he had paid more attention to the psychology aspect of his classes in school. He opened the file and took out the papers, explaining the process to Robert before obtaining his signature on multiple forms. For as long as Elizabeth was kept alive with those machines, her organs would be viable and James would do what he could to schedule a late surgery. He felt like he owed that to the family, at least to let Elizabeth's parents say their goodbye's to their daughter.

Breathing a heavy sigh after exiting the room, James ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. He hoped this would get easier, or else those years in school and all that money was about to go to waste. Often, the blonde man considered himself to be a strong person, but when faced with loss, he was a mess. It could have had something to do with the fact that he was distanced from his own family, but the Hudson's had never been very close-knit. He didn't want to face facts and acknowledge that this was just [i]hard[/i].

After returning to the surgery floor, James turned in the papers and talked with the staff. As with any major hospital, the schedule board was busy and hectic with little openings. There were only two spaces available at that moment; an available OR at noon and another one at eleven PM. The papers needed time to be faxed, seen and approved, so James erred on the side of caution and took the late night surgery. Obviously, it was going to be a long night.

“I got everything cleared up with the Charles',” James announced, once again managing to find doctor Morris. “You're scheduled with her at eleven tonight. There wasn't much available.” James assumed that Gabriel knew that, as his name had appeared more than once on the large, dry erase board that day, but he felt the need to make excuses for himself. It didn't feel right to come out and say that he was trying to make everyone happy and still do his job.