Clash Of Cultures

Bonus Chapter

(Mature themes ahead!)

Salman

"When there is backflow from the right side of the heart to the lungs, instead of forward flow from right to left side of the heart, the lungs get flooded with extra fluid. And that means oxygen absorption in the lungs decreases and babies born with this heart defect have difficulty maintaining adequate oxygen levels in their blood", Noor explained to the doe-eyed cardiology interns who had gathered around her in the resident room, dutifully hanging on to every word she said. 

I stood in the corner, watching her teach the interns, oblivious of my presence in that crowded room. As she reached up to draw the anatomy of the heart on the white board I could see the top of her scrubs tighten around her belly, outlining her 6 month baby bulge...our baby's bulge.

Sometimes, I still couldn't believe she was mine. This beautiful woman, with a heart of gold, had chosen me to be her life's partner. 

We had just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary last month when the residency program director had sent me an email with the subject titled 'Your Anniversary Gift'. I had opened the email fully expecting a gift card for a local restaurant or something similar. Instead Dr Andrew had emailed Noor and I telling us that due to a last minute schedule change, we would be rotating on the cardiology service together, Noor as the third year (senior) resident and I as the second year cardiology fellow. At the time we had both rolled our eyes and laughed at the absurdity of our profession where someone thinks that more work could be a gift. 

But over the last week or so since I had been on service with her, I had started to see why Dr Andrew had called it an anniversary gift. It was one thing to spend your time doing a job you loved, and having the privilege of taking care of some of the most vulnerable and medically complex children in the hospital. It was quite another to do it standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the love of your life, who also happened to be your best friend and the mother of your unborn child. Not to mention a brilliant physician who made you proud every time she spoke on rounds. If I was going to have to spend an entire month on a busy service, there was no one I would rather do it with, than my wife!

Residents and Subspecialty Fellows have different night call schedules. Yet Noor and I managed to get scheduled for the same night call in the hospital last week. We went to grab coffee that night which was surreal because the last time we were in the cafeteria together at 11 pm, I had opened up to her about my past, and she had finally realized that she was in love with me. There was no denying that we were attracted to each other back then as well, so now that we were married we may have also gone to a call room straight from the cafeteria to indulge in Grey's Anatomy inspired call room fantasies!

Of course, we didn't rip our clothes off and go at like bunnies! We were still professionals, unlike whoever they try to portray on that medical show. But Noor's lips devouring mine as her hands hungrily explored my torso under my shirt had been enough for me to lock the door and pull her on to my lap as we sat on the bed. I remembered the feeling of her soft, smooth skin as I slid my hand under her shirt and up her spine, and the thrill I felt when I sensed her shiver under my touch. I could never get enough of the way she had straddled me and her eyes peered deep in to my soul, as she whispered how much she loved me, challenging me to take from her as much as she took from me.

I knew I was physically attracted to her long before we got married. But nothing had prepared me for the way that attraction had blossomed in to a heated passion so full of desire and lust that sometimes it all felt like a dream. And it wasn't just because my wife was a gorgeous woman. The pregnancy glow and the way her body had changed had only made her more stunning.