Page 9 of Plentywood
“That bad, huh?”
“That bad, honey. How about we actually try to do better? Can you do that? For me, and for Mark?”
I took a deep breath and then exhaled, turning to face her. “I’ll try harder,” I agreed. “How about we go meet the new doctor?”
Jill pulled the visor down and dabbed at her eyes. “How do I look?”
“Like the type of woman any man would want to be with. You look amazing, sis.”
“I love you,” she spoke softly.
“Me too,” I replied.
CHAPTER SIX: Benedict
The waiting room was like a scene from a carny convention. I’d never seen so many old and strange people gathered in one space. If these were the people I’d be expected to treat in the coming year of hell, I was fucked. Pushing through the door to what I assumed was the back office with patient rooms, I stepped in, leaned against the wall, and caught my breath.
One of the exam rooms opened and an elderly woman in scrubs exited, a young girl, perhaps anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five, in tow. “Take that to Holman’s drugs and get it filled. I’ll call your grandmother later,” theassumednurse said. “And try keeping your knees together before you have another scare.” The young woman appeared horrified when she noticed me before she left the back rooms.
“Hello,” I said. The older woman crossed her arms and stared at me.
“Jesus!” she muttered. “I s’pose you’re the new doctor?”
“I am,” I began, about to introduce myself as I extended my hand.
“You fuckers get younger every year,” she stated. “How long is your sentence, kid?”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
She tossed a clipboard on one of the desks and headed for another exam room without responding. The door read #3, where another clipboard hung on a nail outside the room.
“I’ll handle room three,” she said. “Old Lady Howard is in room two, doc. How about you get to work?”
I turned to the door the young woman had just exited. “Did you write that patient a prescription?” I inquired, motioning to the reception area on the other side of the door.
“Sure did,” she replied. “Birth control. Why?”
“Then I assume you’re a physician as well?” She returned my stare, not answering my question. “A Nurse Practitioner?” I asked.
“Neither. I’m an RN with nearly forty-five years of on-the-job training. Sarah is humping one of the Gralvorson boys, so she needs birth control. No girl with any common sense should fuck one of them boys without birth control,” she explained. “I’m doing her future a favor.”
“And who approved the prescription? Did the examination?” I asked incredulously.
“You’re lookin’ at her.”
“You signed a prescription?”
“Well, not technically,” she began. “You did.”
To begin with, the ancient old woman in front of me was crass. She was stunningly unprofessional as well, and clearly violating the law. She was barely five feet tall, and if she weighed ninety pounds, I’d be surprised. She wore her gray hair in a long braid that touched her waist,braided. Generic blue scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck finished the look.
“You will refrain from doing that in the future,” I stated. “I will not allow my name to be forged on scripts. Understood?”
She laughed, waving a dismissive hand over her shoulder, and entered the exam room without acknowledging my correction. I stood staring at the closed door in disbelief before it suddenly reopened. She pointed across the hall. “Like I said, Mrs. Howard is in room two. She doesnothave Alzheimer’s. She’ll tell you she does, but she doesn’t,” she said. “Look in herears. Remind her to clean them regularly, and if she asks if that might be the cause of her memory loss, agree that it might.”
She closed the door once again, leaving me gob smacked in the hallway. From what I’d witnessed so far, there would be new regulations enforced in this clinic. Starting with managing a nurse who acted like she was a physician. Perhaps she’d run roughshod over the previous doctor, but that would not be happening under my watch, even if it would be a short tenure.
I knocked on the exam room door and paused. After several seconds, I knocked again. Still no answer, so I carefully cracked the door open and peered into the room. An elderly woman stood near a cabinet and was loading wooden tongue depressors into pockets in her smock. She turned and grinned.
