Chapter 5
Blair
“Blair, it’s good to finally meet you,” the hospital boss Tabitha says.
After meeting with the one-person human resources department and getting the quickest onboarding I’ve had in my entire career, I was directed to the top floor to meet the woman Uncle George vouched for me to.
“Nice to put a face to the name,” I reply, shaking her hand and following her into her office.
“Your uncle speaks very highly of you.”
I smile. “I think just as highly of him. He was somewhat of an inspiration when I decided to pursue medicine.”
Tabitha’s warm gaze meets mine as she rounds her desk and takes a seat, waving her hand out for me to do the same opposite her. “George is a good man.”
I nod, a little curious about the soft way she said my uncle’s name.
“Well, I won’t keep you long, I just wanted to meet you face to face and check in to make sure you had everythin’ you need for your first week.”
“To be honest, it’s a bit early to tell until I get started,” I reply.
She sends me a look of approval. “Good answer. I can already see why George recommended you for this role.”
“To be fair, I only know what he’s told me, which is that you want me to identify what you think what services the hospital should be providing but don’t at present. Then, come up with a plan as to how to implement them.”
“That’s right. I’m more than aware that we’re not caterin’ for all of the community’s needs right now. And I’ve secured the commitment of the powers at be to receive the funds to at least go some way toward fixin’ the shortfall,” she explains.
“Find the most important services needed and suggest ways to provide them, that’s what Uncle George said.”
A proud smile curves her lips. “That’s right. Ultimately, we want to reduce the need for so many of our patients to travel hundreds of miles when we could treat them here. The other side of the coin is to improve communication between services to stop patients bein’ missed.”
My brain is already racing with ideas. “Stop people falling through the cracks so they don’t need specialist care in the city. That I can do.”
“I have no doubt you can, Blair. That’s why you’re here. Not just to allow George to take his well overdue long service leave,” she adds.
“And the timeframe for me to report my findings and recommendations is still six months?”
She nods. “I’m thinkin’ we’ll meet at the halfway mark so you can share your preliminary findings with me, but please know that my door will always be open for you. My hope is that after three months, you should have a pretty clear idea of the direction we need to go.”
“I think that could work,” I reply with a smile.
“Good. Now, tell me. George said you were stayin’ up at Cooper Ranch. Are you all settled in?”
“I am, thank you. The Cooper family has been very welcoming. I even met the town’s mayor yesterday at lunch,” I tell her.
“Yes, Pete. He’s a good man and he’s been a very loyal servant to this town. He’s also glad that you’re here to work on this project,” she says. “Without his help, we wouldn’t have the support of the state’s health department to push this along.”
My lips tip up on the side. “It’s always good to have the local politicians in your corner.”
“That it is.”
“OK, well I think I’ve got a clear understanding of what it is you want me to do. Now I think I better get down to the ER to start my shift. Wouldn’t want to be late on my first day,” I say, rising to my feet.
Tabitha winks at me and stands as well, reaching over to shake my hand again. “I think your boss will be lenient, just this once. I’m lookin’ forward to workin’ with you, Blair.”
“I can’t wait to get started.” And I find that after I’ve said the words, I actually mean them.
I honestly had no idea what to expect working in the ER of a small Alaskan hospital, but now that my first week is done and dusted, I’m not regretting my decision to come here one bit.
It’s so different from what I have been doing, but in many ways, I think it’s exactly what I needed. It’s grassroots primary care, something I haven’t done for years.
My first patient was a lovely old lady who’d pricked herself with a nasty rose bush and needed a wound clean up along with a couple of stitches, a tetanus shot, and a listening ear so she could complain about her neighbor’s cat doing her business in her garden.
My last one today was a farmer who’d got his foot stomped on by a pregnant cow and lived to tell the tale.
He even promised to name her calf after me when it was born.
What I liked most was that the work was steady, the pace a lot like the emergency rotation I completed years ago when I was an intern. It’s been interesting and refreshing. No case has been the same, yet it all required the knowledge and skills I’d learned and perfected over the past fifteen years.
Just as I reach the front doors of the hospital to leave, I hear my name called from behind me.
I stop and turn, surprised to see Sutton jogging to catch up with me.
“Hey. You’re here late,” I say.
“Had a session run long and figured I’d catch up on paperwork.” We make our way toward the parking lot. “How was your day?”
“Good. I was just thinking how much I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
His brows jump. “You sayin’ you’ve enjoyed workin’ five shifts straight in the ER?” He reaches up and touches the back of his fingers to my forehead, a wave of heat washing over me as he pulls his hand back. “Nope. You’re not runnin’ a fever. That must mean you’re delirious.”
“Ha ha,” I reply sarcastically. “I just mean it's different.”
“Yeah,” he nods. “I can see that, actually. For me, it’s not that the work is different but the perspective of my patients.”
“What do you mean?”
“The worries and problems in the city aren’t the same as in Timber Falls. The conditions are the same, but the effect they have on the patients can be very different.”
“Bet there aren’t as many cow parsnip reactions in the city as there are here,” I quip.
“Cow parsnip? Is that like poison ivy?”
I shake my head. “It can cause burns that take weeks—sometimes months—to heal. You also shouldn’t expose it to sunlight for at least forty-eight hours after contact. I had to look that one up this morning.”
His eyes widen. “That’s a thing?”
“I thought you were a doctor too, Sutton Cooper?”
“Haven’t had to do much general medicine since I’ve been here.”
I remember last Sunday when he shut down when I asked him about college. Although I’m curious, I let it slide.
“I guess it’s all about adaptin’ to the environment and the community you’re serving,” he continues. “That’s what I like about workin’ here. It’s a challenge but rewardin’ in its own way.”
I nod in agreement. “That’s one of the things I enjoy about medicine. The ability to adapt and connect with different people and their unique situations.”
“I like the fact I’m able to offer the town a service they haven’t had access to until now.”
“They didn’t offer counseling?”
“There was a general physician with psychiatric experience, but any patients with long-term needs were referred to the city,” he explains.
“Hmm.” I make a mental note to add the information to my notes. Since this has been my first week at the hospital, I’ve been focused on settling in and observing from a clinical perspective.
The plan is to take the next month to experience everything I can at the hospital before I start collating my thoughts and analyses into a document for Tabitha. I figure it’s better to start early than leave it until the end of my stay here.
“Got any plans for tonight?” he says, breaking the silence as we reach my car.
A laugh escapes me. “If you count me stopping by the diner for takeout, grabbing a bottle of wine from the grocery store, and getting acquainted with my couch for the night in front of whatever mindlessly trashy and thoroughly entertaining TV show I can find, then yes.”
Sutton’s lips twitch. “It sounds like you’ve thought this through.”
“Yep. Between the infected big toe at three p.m. and the asthma attack at four.”
“That’s very... specific.”
“Unfortunately, it’s true,” I reply. “It’s been an exciting day in the Timber Falls ER today.”
“If you want a recommendation for the diner, order Mack’s lasagna and some of his Strawberry, Ginger, and Honey pie. You won’t regret it.”
My mouth waters just hearing about it. “OK,” I say with a small smile. “I might just do that.”
“Good. Well, don’t let me keep you. I guess I’ll see you around the ranch over the weekend.” He starts moving away and for some inexplicable reason, I feel a weird tugging in my chest at the thought of him leaving. Something similar happened the other day at the pizza lunch at the ranch.
“My plans are flexible enough to include eating in at the diner,” I call out.
Sutton looks over his shoulder with a wry grin. “Does this newfound flexibility include me joinin’ you? We can call it a celebration dinner for survivin’ your first week in town. My treat.”
I feel a rush of excitement at his idea. That’ll be why my heart is beating just a little bit faster as I rub my chin and draw out my answer. Just as his expression starts to fall, I shoot him a grin. “Thought you’d never ask.”
Stepping into the Icebox diner, I’m immediately hit with the smell of good, stomach-sticking home-cooked food and the sound of friendly chatter filling the air.
The atmosphere is relaxed and cozy, and it wraps around me like a warm blanket.
That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the curious stares of the townsfolk as Sutton leads me to a booth along the long front window.
“Hope you don’t mind bein’ the new attraction in town. It happens to the best of us,” he quips, waiting for me to sit down before he slides into the seat opposite. “Don’t worry. You’re just the shiny new person. They’ll move on to their next victim–I mean, person–soon enough.”
I snicker as he grabs two menus off the table and hands one over to me, both of us going quiet as we scan the meal options, even though I already know what I’m going to order.