Flipping a Coin for Dr. Coyne (Part 3)

During the rest of the shift I can barely contain my excitement.   When I finally get off duty I literally run back to the 158 West 12^th Street dorms looking to share my news with MM, Kathy and Gerri.  I give them a blow by blow description of what transpired in that hospital hallway earlier that day.   But, even as I relate the details, I still don’t dare to dream that this unbelievable event might actually come to pass.  Now, the ball is in his court and there is nothing I can do but wait.  In my head I imagine his voice over the phone when he says “I’m so sorry, Mary Beth, but I checked my schedule and it appears that I have to work that night.”  I’m sure he’ll be ever so gentle as he lets me down easy.   I’ll be disappointed for sure, but I also imagine that I’ll be thinking that maybe it is better that way. Honestly, how could I actually handle a fancy date with a 26 year old physician!

Then one evening, a few days later, as I am sitting around with my friends, I hear “Mary Beth Fries, phone call. “  I go to the one phone in the center of on our dormitory floor and I am handed the receiver.  It is him!   Holy Cow, he has the night off and he is able to take me to the Junior Dance.    I can’t recall any other words that were spoken, I’m experiencing mild shock.  I imagine he said he’d call again to make further arrangements, etc.    He is aware that a couple of the other young doctors are going to the dance with a couple of nursing student friends from my class, Mary Ann (Madie) and Barbara B.  

A week or two later, a senior student, someone who I didn’t even know, approaches me and reprimands me for asking JJ Coyne to the Junior Dance.  She tells me that when she asked him to the Senior Dance, he couldn’t get the night off.   She blames me.   And, she felt as a senior, she should have had priority.    I later learned she really didn’t know JJ any better than I knew him (which as you may recall was not at all – I only admired him from afar) and she had asked him to the Senior Dance over the phone, sight unseen.  I often thought that he said “yes” to me partly because I had one hell of a nerve, walking directly up to him, looking him in straight the eye and asking him face to face. I guess I did have one hell of a nerve, but I was never so scared in my life.   Now, I have to prepare and brace myself for the big night….