2. The Mean One
THE MEAN ONE
“Do you know anything about the new doctor starting Thursday?” Kate asked Gabriela in the office four days later.
Five sixteen-hour shifts on, ten days off. It was worth the long days to have so many off in between. Even worth moving to the island for it.
She said she’d give it a shot. What did she have to lose? She’d already been doing it for two months and so far loved it.
Sunday had been her first of five days back. So two more after today.
“Not a thing,” she said. “I haven’t even gotten his name yet.”
Which seemed odd, but she expected that an email would be sent soon introducing them. Since the new doctor would come in after her five days, he’d be coming on her last one and shadowing her for a day.
“Is that normal?” Kate asked.
She shrugged. “You’ve been here longer than me. Do you think it’s normal?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said, laughing. “Most of the doctors since I’ve been here are coming from Boston and filling in or doing stints like you. And if that is the case, why not say that?”
Gabriela pursed her lips. “Good point.”
“You normally have some inside knowledge from someone. You can’t find out more?”
It was a general assumption that she could find out more, but not necessarily in her department. “Sorry. My father is the only person I could ask something of and he’s not going to know in pediatrics.”
Nor would she ask. She didn’t care enough.
She wouldn’t even cross paths with the new doctor that much. They would start their five days when hers ended.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see in a few more days. Since we’ve got time before the office opens, how did your mixer go last weekend?”
It was a small office. Only one doctor on Monday through Friday. On the weekends, she spent it in the hospital that her office was attached to.
There was one nurse practitioner who saw patients as well or fielded phone calls, and Kate, the nurse’s aide who saw her patients first.
“I’m not sure we have enough time for me to tell you how horrific it was.”
“Come on,” Kate said. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, it can be and it was,” she said, nodding her head. “You’re lucky. You’re married.”
“Going on twenty years,” Kate said. “And the thought of having to date at forty-two is scary. It’s a good thing I love my husband so much. But living here on the island, it’s kind of boring. This office was too before you started.”
She puffed her chest out some. “Why, thank you. I do like to make it fun.”
“I always felt it needed to be. Not just calm for the kids, but the laughter too. They should see the adults laughing and having a good time with each other.”
“I agree.”
“So tell me what was so bad,” Kate encouraged. “We can start our day with a laugh.”
“Might as well since I ended up in tears.”
“No,” Kate said, smiling. “Now you’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not. I swear I’m not. I even told myself I was going to make it to the end, but I couldn’t. After the nose picker, I had to get out of there. I didn’t think it could get worse and I sat across from him. I was too skived out after shaking his hand on top of it.”
Kate was roaring with laughter. “He picked his nose at the table?”
“No. Though if we had more than ten minutes to talk, maybe he would have.” She filled Kate in on that quick conversation and how she played it.
“That’s gross. I mean to even bring it up in that setting.”
“I guess I had it coming. I asked why he was there. Not that he had to share he’d lost a bet and what it was.”
Kate gave an involuntary shiver, then added a gag to it. “The others couldn’t have been that bad.”
She held her hand up. “One called me Gabby even though I told him it wasn’t my name.”
“Jerk. That’s just rude.”
“I thought so. Another has three kids from three different moms and wanted more. Oh, he lives with his aunt, but made it seem like he was doing her a favor rather than the other way around.”
“That’s off the table,” Kate said.
“Another had one really badly stained tooth. Right in the front. I couldn’t help it. My eyes kept going right at it and I don’t remember anything he said. It reminded me of Austin Powers and the mole.”
Kate shook her head and wiped at the tear in her eye, she was laughing so hard. “You’re making that up.”
“I wish. Trust me, I really wish, but you can’t make that crap up. I got home, showered because if I was that grossed out talking to the people, who the heck knows what they’ve touched.”
“Boogers,” Kate added. “Not like you don’t see your fair share of them. Especially this time of year.”
“Tell me about it. Yesterday I think I had six kids in here with snot dripping out of their noses the whole time.”
“Fall weather,” Kate said. They heard some more voices outside the break room they were in. “And I probably should go see what is lined up for the day.”
Gabriella moved over to fill up her water bottle, then set it on the tray that would hold the laptop she took with her as she moved room to room.
“I’m right behind you.”
She ducked into her office, sat at her desk, and loaded up the schedule for the day.
There were four open slots for her she was positive would be filled the minute the office lines were open.
There was no nurse practitioner on today.
If Kristine was off, they just did without because it was too hard to get someone to fill in unless they could borrow one from another department.
Didn’t look as if that was possible today.
She put her laptop on the tray next to her water bottle, slipped her lab coat on over her green sweater, put her stethoscope around her neck, and then left her office to head toward the first exam room, knowing that Kate was fast.
The first patient was here for routine shots anyway, so they would be prepped.
The minute her computer dinged with the update, she was good to go and it meant Kate had updated vitals.
She opened the door and saw the toddler sitting on his mother’s lap. “Hi, Levi. I’m Dr. Gabriela.”
The little boy buried his head into his mother’s shoulder. Going to be one of them, but it was not like she hadn’t dealt with it before.
“Hi, I’m Stacy. Levi’s mom.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I see Levi is here for his checkup and shot.”
“Yes. We normally see Kristine for that, but it’s nice to see the doctor.”
“They rearranged the schedule because Kristine is off today. Let’s go through some of Levi’s development skills.”
She ran through the questions: how big was his vocabulary, can he focus on more than one toy at a time, did he imitate others.
Everything was going well, just like she always wanted to hear.
“Levi,” Stacy said. “Can you show the doctor your nose?”
Levi turned to face her, but didn’t move from his mother’s lap. He pointed to his nose.
“Good job,” she said. “Where are your toes?”
They went through multiple body parts. She pulled a book off the shelf, and asked if he knew which one was the bird, then a dog.
“He’s really smart,” Stacy said.
“Yes, he is. How about his motor skills? Running, kicking, stacking blocks or toys?”
“He does it all. He’s very active.”
She was typing into the computer. “He seems shy. How about with other adults or children?”
Stacy’s head went back and forth. “He doesn’t really go to anyone other than me or my husband. Not even his grandparents much. He only sees them a few times a year.”
“That’s normal for this age. He’s not around any other children?” she asked.
“I stay home with him. I am looking to go to work and trying to find daycare first. I am concerned about that.”
“I think the best thing to do is introduce him slowly. Maybe find some other mothers and have a playdate? If you don’t know anyone, we’ve got group lists here that other parents have formed. Being on a small island, it’s something we’ve encouraged and seems to work out well.”
“I’d love that information,” Stacy said. “I really appreciate it.”
“Good. But now for the bad part of the visit. This is where I’m the mean one.”
Stacy cringed. “I didn’t tell him it was happening.”
She understood that. It usually went well for everyone involved if that was the case.
“Is he better if he doesn’t know beforehand and sees it after?”
Gabriela liked to let the child know what was happening. Scaring or surprising them was never a good thing, but she wouldn’t interfere if a parent wanted to do it otherwise.
“He’ll be fine as long as he’s on my lap,” Stacy said.
She walked over and pulled out the needle, and already Levi was squirming. “I will need you to keep him still.”
“I will,” Stacy said, pulling her son’s shirt sleeve up.
“Levi. Do you like stickers?” He wasn’t paying attention to her. Rather than push or fight, she pulled open another drawer and got the sheet of stickers. “Look. It’s animals. Just like you were pointing to in the book.”
Levi turned and pointed. “Dog.”
“That’s right. Dogs. I’ve got to give you this shot in your arm.” She pointed to his arm, but didn’t touch him. “And when I’m done, you can have the whole sheet.”
“Wow,” Stacy said. “Normally you only get one, Levi.”
The little boy looked excited over that. Hey, she’d give him more than a sheet if she could get out of her first appointment without causing tears.
“Can I give you your shot and you can get the stickers?”
Levi’s eyes were going back and forth, he shook his head.
Didn’t think so.
“How about Mommy lets you have a donut when you’re done?” Stacy asked.
“I’d do it for a donut,” she said, nodding her head. “What’s your favorite kind?”
“Do it,” Stacy mouthed.
She wiped Levi’s arm with the alcohol. He wasn’t crying yet. “Do you like chocolate or jelly? Chocolate is my favorite.”
“Jelly,” Levi said. She put the needle in quickly, he jerked, but his mother kept him in place and she finished before a shout was let out.
“Wow. You’re done. Oh my God,” she said, putting her hands to her cheeks and making Levi laugh. “My very best patient of the day.”
“Levi,” Stacy said. “Did you hear that?”
“Dog,” Levi said, pointing to the sheet of stickers she’d left in sight.
“You betcha,” she said, handing it over. “What a good boy you are. So strong.”
He lifted his arm to flex it as she put the Band-Aid on.
“He’s a little ham.” Which she could see.
Her heart melted.
“Yes, he is,” she said, lightly squeezing his bicep. “Next time I see you, you can show me how big you’ve gotten.”
“Thank you,” Stacy said, putting her son down to stand up and slide his jacket on him. “This was much easier than I thought it’d be. At least I won’t have to start my day with tears.”
“You and me both,” she said, laughing.