Invisible String

Chapter 2: The Very First Page

"Wow, I didn't know that." She tried to read into his words. He didn't seem to be mocking her.

"Well," Elizabeth blinked at him. "Now you know." She smiled as she watched him reach for his pager that was beeping loudly in his pocket. He looked at her.

"I have to go see a patient, but it was nice to meet you," he paused "Doctor Halstead."

"Oh, sure. I have a ton of charts to update, too. It was great meeting you, doctor Rhodes."

She sat down at the station so she could concentrate on the tasks that her resident gave her, and eventually Dr. Montgomery came back. Elizabeth noticed she wasn't smiling like she usually was, but didn't want to pry into the woman's business.

"Are we going to consult on Mr. Beckett now?" Elizabeth asked, trying to go around the woman's obvious displeasement and whatever had made her that way.

Dr. Montgomery looked at her, then blinked, like she had just now noticed Elizabeth was there and talking to her. "Sure, sure. You got the lead on this one."

Nodding, she stood up from her chair and stuffed her things into the pockets of her scrubs. They made their way to the patient's room.

"Good morning, Mr. Beckett. We're from the dentistry department. I'm Dr. Halstead and that is my chief resident, Dr. Montgomery."

The patient, a man that looked to be in his mid-50s, was nice and receptive. Like with all patients they had seen that day, Elizabeth had sat down at his bedside and explained to him what their work was, what they were going to do, how he would benefit from their attention.

"So, Mr. Beckett, I am going to examine you now, okay?" she asked, putting on gloves.

"Go ahead, darling." the patient said. She resisted the will to chuckle; male patients often had the habit to be a little over friendly with female health workers.

"No facial asymmetry, lymph nodes look normal." She spoke out loud, with Dr. Montgomery writing everything down on the patient's charts. "Severe decay on the left upper molars, presence of abscess."

"And what do you recommend?"

"Draining the abscess. Removing the infection points. Antibiotics." She listed, trying to get everything right and in order.

"Great. Set up for drain the abscess. We can do some x-rays and prepare to do the extractions tomorrow."

"What are you draining?" Mr. Beckett asked, confused.

Elizabeth glanced at his monitors. She knew he was admitted for cardiac surgery to replace a defective valve.

"His BP looks a little elevated for me. I think it would be better if we have cardiology evaluating him before we perform any procedure."

Her resident stopped typing into the tablet and looked at her, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Mr. Beckett, we'll be back shortly to explain every detail for you." She announced, and then shot Elizabeth a look. Outside. Now.

They stepped out of the patient's room, with Elizabeth feeling more and more anxious at each step. Maybe she was going to get scolded for not respecting her resident's decision. On her first day, not even halfway through her shift. Great.

"I don't think that's necessary, Dr. Halstead. He's already admitted in the cardiology wing and has been evaluated multiple times a day."

"Okay, so one more time wouldn't hurt." She pressed again. "He has a history of uncontrolled hypertension."

Dr. Montgomery sighed, looking at their patient's charts once more.

"Fine, Dr. Halstead. It's your call. Tell the nurses to page his surgeon." The woman put the tablet into her hands and walked away.