Annie

Chapter one

October 2018

'I don't understand why they gift a geared motorcycle but not a helmet to a teenage boy.'

'Yes sir, most teenagers have bikes nowadays and they drive like they're in a movie as their parents pamper them instead of telling what is good or bad.'

I hung my coat over the back of my chair.

'They don't do what they have to and blame doctors like me.' Visiting cards of pharmacy companies, a few drugs samples and souvenirs from medical representatives are scattered on my desk. It's tiresome to get rid of these with my tardiness.

'But it's the boy's fault, sir. If he realized that his life is worth more than a few seconds of rash driving, his parents wouldn't suffer.'

'Not everyone understands the value of life.' Roses I received this morning from a patient are withered. I thought I could take them home but these too will end up drying on my desk. 'I issued the death certificate and submitted my case report. My job here is done even if they curse that I'll die like their son.' I piled the visiting cards and stacked them in a drawer; this is a mini-sized dump yard.

'I should have cleared your room but today was busy.'

'No it's fine, I can understand. Put all of these in the cupboard below the bookshelf will you?'

She nodded

The perks of having an elderly nurse as your assistant: she's better at organizing your office than you, is more responsible and has no nonsense attitude; but the worst part is when she calls me sir. It's not her fault that I'm not accustomed to being called that by an woman of my mother's age. So, I made peace with the issue and refused to call her nurse, which she wouldn't say, but appreciates.

'Sir, Dr Reddy's case came by this evening.'

'Hmm.'

'He wants to know if you can reschedule his surgery.'

'Why so?'

'He says the surgery is coming in way of his thesis.'

This time I faced her. 'Is he out of his mind? He'll die if he waits to submit his PhD report. He has a tumour for god's sake!'

'I told him the same but he's persistent.'

A few patients can be intolerable; some want to reschedule irrespective of my convenience just because they are busy, and a few as their astrologer believes that the date or time of the surgery is not auspicious. If they are of the impression that the position of stars and planets can cure their case, they don't need me. Their astrologer can perform the surgery just fine if he can decide when to conduct a surgery to increase the chances of a patient's survival.

'Tell him if he delays any further surgery can't save him as well, then his PhD will have no value other than to have a doctor in front of his name on his obituary.'

'I'll let him know.'

That old man forwards these sort of cases to torment me. He had a great time bullying me during my residency, and now he does so like this. There's this one instance when I yawned while he was examining a CT scan. He took a long lecture in front of a patient on how and why I got this far when I have no manners. Even when he complimented once that I have a lot of patience, he burst my bubble by telling that I'm a softie and my attitude doesn't work with the profession I choose.

'And sir, the staff meeting—'

'Ignore it.'

'Head of the department wants you to come this time without fail.'