Chapter 2
Reagan closed the door to his office and got to work.
He was going to get his paperwork filed if he had to stay all night to do it.
He’d had such a good time with his grandda yesterday that he’d put off working until today.
They’d eaten dinner together and then had gone down to the football fields to watch the players practice.
It had been a hoot for them both to be able to root for their team while there.
He got one file finished and was starting on the second one when his dad reached out to him. Smiling, thinking that the two of them were getting together this weekend for the last of the season baseball games, he asked him what he wanted.
“The school nurse quit today. I’m not sure what happened, but she just packed up her things and left.
Would you have time to put them on your list for call-ins if they need you?
Just at the elementary school. I can take the high school and middle school ones.
” He asked him how much work needed to be done.
“Just when a kid gets sick or falls, you need to be there for that. Mostly, it’s to determine if they have to go home or not.
I usually go with the side of sending them home if it’s more than a bump on the knee.
But if you take that until the end of the year, I’ll take the bigger kids. ”
“All right.” He thanked him for being dependable. “I’m always up for more work, you know that.” The two of them laughed.
“Are we still on for dinner tonight? Your mother is making your favorites. I didn’t realize until today that your favorites are about the same as Darius’s.
He likes seafood as well.” He said that he could eat it all the time.
“I’ve seen Darius eating it. He might have you beat in liking it so much.
I’ve never seen a man eat it like it’s his last meal before. ”
They talked about different things, and Dad said that he’d get back with him if the school needed him today.
Otherwise, they’d call him if they needed him for anything.
Just as they were about to hang up, Dad reminded him of the paperwork that needed to be filed so that he could be at the elementary school part-time.
“You also remember that Harri goes there too, so be prepared to see her on occasion too. I’ve never had to see her as yet, but I know that you did.” She’d fallen down the stairs at home and had a concussion. He remembered that well. “I’ll talk to you later, son. Have fun.”
More determined to get his paperwork finished up, he put his phone on the service and set to work.
He had a dozen files to get finished up, and that wasn’t counting the things that he had to get finished in his office cubby hole.
There were three files in there that had patients at the hospital that he was seeing.
By six, he was finished with the ones that were old and still had the three that he was seeing in the hospital.
After getting those squared away, it was nearly eight o’clock, and he was out the door.
It did him a lot of good to get them finished up before he had to deal with them tomorrow.
Eating a bowl of cereal at the sink, he still needed to go to the grocery store, yet he thought about all the things he’d been able to get accomplished this week.
In addition to the files, he’d gotten all the bedrooms set up as well as his living room.
It had been the hardest, but since he found that relaxing on the couches had been a plus, he took a nap on them nightly.
They were more comfortable than they’d felt like in the store.
He was putting in a load of shirts when the service called him.
“I’ve a message from a woman by the name of Robin Winters.
She isn’t a patient but is looking for a new doctor for herself.
” He asked what information she had. “She said that she suffers from depression. Made it sound like she’s been suffering for a while and said that she takes the strongest medication there is for it. ”
That sounded like something her doctor might have told her when he prescribed them.
He told the nurse on duty that he wasn’t a psychiatrist and wasn’t taking any new patients right now.
She said that she’d tell her, but to know that she’d called twenty-three times since nine this morning.
He wondered about her but didn’t have time to ask.
He was headed to the ball games with his dad so that they could be there in the event something happened on the fields.
The games were good ones, and they were only called to the field one time. A boy had tripped over his shoe lace and had come down hard on his chin. That happened sometimes when there were little leaguers on the field. But he really enjoyed watching them play.
By ten thirty, they were headed home. It had been a good day in that no one had been seriously hurt, and he’d gotten to hang out with his dad.
Tomorrow, the clinic was closed, but he and his mom were going to go to the auction that was out of town and enjoy the afternoon.
It was something that the two of them did when they could, as no one else seemed to enjoy them as much as they did.
And he wasn’t on call, which was the best thing.
Waking up at dawn, the usual time for him, he was dressed and ready to go when he went to pick up his mom.
He’d bought the truck he was driving now so that they could buy things if they wanted, and Mom thought that was funny.
She only liked to bid on the little boxes of things, and he just went to have fun.
If there was something that he wanted, he’d bid on it, but wasn’t a sore loser when he didn’t get it. He also enjoyed the people.
Watching them get bids was the best part for him, and he loved to watch the interaction between the people who worked the auction and those who were there for a good time, as he was.
He could tell when someone thought they got a good deal on something, and those who seemed to want to complain about losing a great deal.
He was just watching the workers line up some Christmas items when he noticed a woman who looked very much out of place.
She was dressed in a very lovely dress and high heels.
She wasn’t happy about her heels getting stuck in the mud, but she seemed to him like the complaining type.
She wore her handbag like a shield and would use it if anyone got in her way.
He almost wanted to bid against her just to see her reaction.
Then another woman came to stand beside her.
“I told you this wasn’t going to be a tea party, Robin.
Why you insisted on coming is beyond me.
” She was huffed at, and he had to stifle a laugh.
“When he told you to get out more, he didn’t mean for you to listen to every line your doorman told you so that you could get out and about more. I wanted to have a good time.”
“I’m depressed enough, Blake. Just let me get out and meet people, then we’ll go home. I’ll even take you out to dinner.” She said she wasn’t leaving until everything was sold. “We’ll see about that.”
The well-dressed lady stumbled around quite a bit but seemed determined to blame it on her depression.
He had a memory of someone telling him about a Robin Winters and wondered if this was her.
He watched the two of them interacting, mostly the younger woman apologizing for the other when she’d nearly knock someone around.
He was sure it was the other woman he’d heard about from his service when she spoke about how she was on the biggest dose of medication there was for depression.
“Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do about getting your medication anymore. Not only did your doctor drop you out of nowhere, according to you, but he stopped all your medication until you can find another doctor. He said for you to get to the hospital if you needed any refills.”
“Why are you so mean to me? I thought that we could have fun today after I worked all day yesterday to get myself a doctor. No one is taking new patients. I even tried some of the doctors that don’t seem to have enough letters after their name.”
“You mean their credentials? You can’t just pick a doctor out of the phone book and assume he’s a therapist. They specialize in their kind of work, and not everyone can deal with your kind of depression.
” No doubt he thought and followed them around the bidding area, listening to the two of them.
“Robin, if you hit one more person with your purse, I’m going to call the police on you myself.
I came here to have a good time, and you’re sucking it all out of me.
Just behave yourself, or go home. I have had enough to deal with you today. ”
“You just don’t understand that kind of depression that I have. It’s debilitating.” That made the younger one stop and drop her shoulders.
“This wasn’t a good place for you to come if you’re going to dislike people touching you. It gets crowded, and people get close to each other. I swear I told you this.”
“I know you did, but I thought they’d know not to bother me because I’m so depressed looking all the time.
Why even that man who gave you his number thought I looked terrible.
” She looked at her and then at the number on the sheet of cardboard.
“What sort of number is that anyway? You can’t be calling him for a date, Blake.
I just won’t have you having a good time when I’m suffering. ”
“It’s my bidding number, not his phone number.
And he did not say that you looked depressed, he said you looked like you needed to cheer up.
Big difference. He thought you were being a sour puss, and you made it out to be something about your illness.
Please stop talking about how depressed you are. No one here cares.”