Rhythmically Inclined

Chapter 22

"Alright, Nurse Ulrich, what do you think we should do with our patient?" The doctor she had been shadowing, asked. Kim looked over the patient's folder, humming as she thought.

"Well, there is a chance of her appendix rupturing, so I would push antibiotics and schedule for a laparoscopic surgery to have it removed." She answered confidently. The doctor nodded.

"Which antibiotics would you prescribe?"

"She allergic to penicillin, so..." She tapped the end of her pen to her nose. "I would go with clarithromycin. And watch for side affects." The doctor egged her on. "Which include general GI irritation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, elevated blood urea nitrogen and skin rash. But, those are the more common side affects."

"Good job. Get it done." He waved his hand and Kim raced off to put in her orders.

While waiting for the surgery to begin, Kim checked her phone.

"How's work?" Senku had texted.

"Busy, but gr8!" She replied, then she sent a quick text to her friend, Tome.

"Need 2 plan practice... Gig in 3wks!!"She locked her screen and shoved the phone back in her pocket.

"All med students to the Nurses station." The PA system sounded. Kim sighed, she hoped to be able to watch her patient's surgery. She raced down the corridor to the desk.

"Nurse Ulrich, you need to be quicker." One of the older nurses scolded her quietly. She nodded and turned her attention to the doctor that called for them. She motioned for the small group to follow her. Kim pulled out her mini notebook and rushed to the front of the group.

They stopped outside a closed door. The could hear a woman inside screaming and raging inside.

"This patient is having a psychological reaction to something they took. What do you do?"

The group mumbled, unsure of the answer.

"Listen!" Kim spoke up.

"To what?"

"The patient. Usually, the reason a patient is aggressive is that they feel unheard. If, said patient has ingested something, it may be the only way, they feel, to get a proper check up." The woman nodded and opened her mouth to speak again. "But, I would also call for Psych and order a stomach pump, just to be on the safe side." Kim continued. As the doctor gave the others a chance to answer, than gave them the proper protocol for such a situation. The woman inside calmed down and another nurse exited the room.

~

Kim followed her usual after work routine. Let out her dog, Bruster, ate then went to her grandparents and mother's urns to pray.

After cleaning up the kitchen, she retired to her room and opened her laptop to work on new music.

A sudden pop at her window brought her out of her thoughts. There was a nerf bullet stuck to the glass. She smiled and rolled over to the window, opening it.

She glanced over at the apartments across the street. Senku was grinning from his own window, his nerf gun dangling in his hand. She dialed his number.

"It's one in the morning, go to bed." She laughed as he answered.

"Says the girl who just worked an 18 hour shift an hasn't slept yet." She watched him roll his eyes.

"Whatever." She grabbed the suction cup bullet and loaded it into her own gun. "Nice shot though."

She set the phone down and took aim. The toy bullet sailed across the street, sticking to their living room window. She heard him laughing at her terrible shot.