Carlisle's Diary

Strange Vision

        As I was finishing that last thought, Alice decided that she'd taken up enough of my time and skipped back out of the room, satisfied that I now knew everything she had seen. Jasper followed her. They were going to go hunting. Now the house was really empty, save for Esme and I.

        I don't know if it's even been this empty before. At least not since we've acquired all of our new family members. It felt sort of strange. I think Esme felt the same way. Then remembering something, I picked up the phone in my office and dialed the number to the hospital. I asked the receptionist to patch me through to the Head Director on staff, who picked up on the second ring:

"William Connolly speaking," he said in his most professional voice.

"Bill, it's Carlisle, how are you?" I greeted.

"Oh hey Carlisle. I'm up to my ears in residents but other than that I'm alright, and yourself?"

        Residents were sometimes the equivalent to giant high school kids maturity wise; in other words, they were royal pains in the ass who thought they knew everything without knowing squat!

"I'm doing all right. I'm just happy to have a few days of peace and quiet on my days off. Most of my family went away on vacation so I'm just here with the missus."

"Oh that sounds like heaven on earth! Next time, can you tell your family to take ours with them?"

Again, I laughed. "I will let them know when they return. We actually got a last minute wedding invitation from our cousins in Alaska for this Saturday so they are all going to fly there from wherever they are. At least that should be interesting," I explained.

"Wow! That is really last minute. But who knows with kids these days? They change their minds 70 times a day. Good luck with that. Now I know you called to not just tell me about how much better your living arrangements are at this moment in time compared to mine. So what's up?" He got to the point.

"Yes, so I was just wondering—I know we've been hiring people left, right, and center lately. What's the news with the nurse hires? Am I getting an upgrade? I love Betsy but even she admits that she feels overwhelmed at times. Any help at all would be amazing at this point."

        I was pretty perfect at lying by now. Though that technically wasn't a lie but I was more concerned about Alice's vision.

"Yes! We have hired 5 new nurses. You will get a chance to work with all of them. Once you and Betsy figure out which ones you work best with, then you can have them permanently on your rotation. I think you'll get two. I know that they are a little short-handed in the NIC.U, so I think 3 will end up working there," he said.

"That sounds perfect! Two extra people will be just what we need. Especially when I'm in the ER. What are they like? I mean credentials and such," I inquired.

"I know 2 worked together in Columbia Presbyterian in New York City. They got tired of the insanity of the big city and have both moved up here. Ironically, without knowing the other was doing the same. They are sweet women that come highly recommended by their supervisors. Both are a couple years younger than Betsy. We have one from Vancouver, who married a man from NH and they decided to move here to have a family. She was considered to be smarter than a lot of the doctors in the clinic that she worked, so I think she'll add wonderful points to our hospital; plus she's great with kids so I'm thinking she may join NIC.U. That leaves two more. Let's see now, hang on second . . ."

        I heard the rustling of papers as Bill looked for what I presumed were their resumes. I smiled to myself as I remembered what Bill's desk looked like. I was surprised he could find himself in that mess let alone anything else. It looked like a tornado had gone through his desk or a hurricane. But he was impeccable when it came to notes and remembering things. The man was a walking encyclopedia with a wonderful sense of humor and a terrific work ethic. He was also a huge prankster. You never knew when you'd find a whoopee-cushion or silly string in your locker or in your scrubs. Or he could ambush you in the hallway. It's never dull at Hanover Medical Center! Finally, I heard him find what he was looking for and come back to the phone.

"OK, sorry about that—found them. One is from Texas and had just come out of medical school. She had graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She was tired of the heat and had been looking for a small town in the north. She also had a job offer in North Dakota but we offered her a larger salary and help with relocating. So she'll be starting next week. Well actually, they all are. And our last hire is from Los Angeles. She's tired of the earthquakes. She was working for a private practitioner but always wanted to be in a hospital setting, her boss had nothing but the best things to say about her. So I think we have a very diverse group from different places and with different things to contribute to our little hospital. In the order as I had described them to you, their names are: Carol and Shandy from NYC, Melanie from Vancouver, Charlotte from Dallas, and Ashley from LA. So that's our nurse lineup for now. We'll see how they do and if we need more, we'll keep looking."

"Thank you, Bill. That helps a lot. Listen, I've already taken up way too much of your time. You have to get back to your favorite residents." There was a grumble on the other end that ended in a curse. I chuckled and continued. "So I'm going to let you go and I will see you next week. The wife is calling. Have a wonderful weekend and try to get some rest, will you?"

"Thanks Carlisle. Glad I could answer your questions. You enjoy your peace and quiet for both of us!"

        After we both hung up I thought about what he'd told me. I liked that a lot. They all sounded very capable of completing the tasks at hand. I wondered which two were going to be working with me. I kept what Alice told me in the back of my mind. What could be strange about a new nurse? Unless she was a vampire and other than Melanie from Vancouver, the others all came from places where there was plenty of sunshine. So that couldn't be it.

        Whatever it was I was sure I could figure it out. And if not, as soon as whatever decision was made, Alice would warn me; in the meantime I would enjoy the peace and quiet. I heard Alice and Jasper return from hunting, only to realize that both Esme and I needed to go. So I'm going to finish this entry here and go get some deer in me.

~Carlisle Cullen