Screw Dr. Raymond and this fucked up health system.
He got another physician to sign off on the morphine to make Mabel comfortable while he put in her stitches and to approve her forty-eight-hour observation. If he’d gone to Dr. Raymond, he wouldn’t’ve approved any of that. Especially morphine for a drunk, homeless patient. Besides, her blood alcohol was only .08, wasn’t like she was on the verge of poisoning. It was easy for Dr. Raymond to turn his nose up at someone like Mabel when he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Had never known suffering or trials a day in his life. He didn’t know what this woman battled with every day out on those cold streets and what she had to do to get a moment of relief. People with food in their bellies and a bed to sleep in every night were so quick to judge why homeless people drank and used dope. Not realizing that for many of them, those devices were simply coping mechanisms. An escape from their harsh reality.
Sway finished her sutures just as a thickly-muscled orderly came down to take her upstairs. He double-checked the orders before he released her. “Okay, lovely. Your dinner should already be waiting. Oh, and you got one of the rooms with the bathtub. Those are really nice.” Sway helped the orderly maneuver Mabel onto the other bed. “You be sure to take you a nice, long, hot one when you get up there.”
“That tub will be as black as a crow’s feathers by the time I get finished in it.” She laughed for the first time since she’d been brought in five hours ago.
“Don’t you worry about that. We’ll get it clean again.” Sway winked. She stared at him fondly for a moment—the way his mom looked at him when he massaged a cramp out of her hand. She reached up with two thin hands, gripped Sway’s face and pulled him down to give him a long, damp kiss on his cheek. “You’re so sweet. Thank you for making tonight better.”
Sway smiled, clutching her hands in his, he kissed her dirty knuckles and whispered to her. “It was his loss.”
“It sure was.” She sighed as the orderly pushed her down the long hallway to the bank of elevators.
“Hey, we’re still on for breakfast, missy.” Sway told her.
“Same time, different venue!” She called back.
Sway laughed as he walked away, enjoying that warm fuzzy feeling he got from doing his job. Could he have gone on to medical school? Sure. More than likely. But, he’d have lost the part of medical care that he loved most. Taking care of patients.
Sway still had a few hours to go and his eyes were feeling heavy. He really needed to stop doing this to himself. Working long hours and then staying in the house every weekend. Why was he letting life pass him by? He sounded like his mom.
Sway pushed the break room door open, not surprised to find it empty at two-thirty in the morning. He didn’t even bother turning on the television, instead he made a beeline for the coffee makers and started a fresh pot.
“I thought you’d forgot about me.”
“Jesus!” Sway gasped, jumping so high the coffee grounds he’d been about to dump in the maker went all over the counter. He clutched his chest, spinning around to see Dr. Dominick standing very close with a half-eaten cup of Greek yogurt in his hand and a seductive smile. Where the hell did he come from?
Dr. Dominick helped him to clean up the scattered grounds. “I apologize, again.” His voice was so deep and full of something, Sway paused mid-wipe and stared up at the handsome doctor to make sure he wasn’t imagining anything. Maybe he was, because Dr. Dominick finished helping him clean the mess and simply threw away the napkins. Sway was the only one staring.
“I was hoping you’d come down and join me. I really wanted to talk to you about something.” Dr. Dominick washed his hands and went to sit back in front of his dinner and sudoku puzzle on his tablet. He had on a pair of dark slacks and an off-white shawl collar sweater under his lab coat. He always appeared so well put together, no matter the hour.
“Something?” Sway questioned, popping some money into one of the many vending machines in the lounge. He took his meatball sub to the microwave station and heated it up before joining the doctor. “What do you mean?”
“First, I have to say that I was really impressed with the glowing recommendation you got from Cayson. Dr. Chauncey doesn’t really go on like that too often. We’re doing so much in our department that we can hardly keep up with the demand. We need strong individuals on our team.”