"Just take these pills and you will be better." Dr. James Matthews, said to his fifty-three year old patient. The old man nodded. His name was Donald Henry with abdominal pains.
"Thank you. But what if the pains come back?" He asked. His glasses sat on his nose a little crooked like a seesaw balance with a slighter bigger kid on one side.
"Than that means your taking the pills." Dr. Mathews answered. He have to work clinic hours due to doing a surgery on a patient without their consent. Even though the woman survived and he offered the husband a coffee, he still had to pay for it all.
"What? I thought the pills were to help me." Donald looked at the bottle for side effects in case abdominal pain was a side effect.
"According to this record," Dr. Mathews holds up a patient file. "Your birthday was two days ago. Happy fifty-third birthday by the way. Anyways, your birthday was two days ago, June ninth. I assume you probably had a barbecue from that stain on your left pant leg. I will also assume that you had heartburn for those heart burn relieve pills in your pocket. They might fall out. So you probably are just having a regular stomach ache from eating some food. And you don't need pills." He looks up from the chart to look at the shocked face of Mr. Henry. He opened his palm into a flat surface and waited for the bottle of his medication to be landed into it. Donald quickly gave me back the medication. He walked out a little shocked and closed the examination room door with a soft click.
Dr. Mathews, James, sat there on the steel stool in front of where his patients would sit. He gripped the bottle in his hands. He was used to the twenty years of medication yet the bottle felt new and unusual.
These pills were for him. Him and his rare brain disease. But this disease was actually rare and a syndrome. It is called Sunflower Syndrome, a sensitivity to light which can cause seizures if flashed, similar to epilepsy. Its named Sunflower Syndrome for sunflowers and their relation with the sun since the syndrome has a reaction to light. He doesn't have grandma seizures, but absent seizures. Where he will stare at nothing while his brain his hijacked by a seizure. To him this is normal, his life in isolation. He can be outside as long as his hair is cut short and he doesn't go somewhere that can cause the sun to seem like it is flashing such as running under trees that cast a shadow, a trigger zone for his seizures. But these were rare for him since he had medicine. Right now his medication was always low since he had to take five pills in the morning and five pills at night. They were strengthened so he didn't have to take more but it didn't help that his dose was constantly changed.
"Dr. Mathews? Oh, there you are. Dr. Blake is looking for you." A reception desk nurse said as she poked her head in the the examination room. Dr. Blake sounds like a man but is actually a woman. She had long flowing black hair that was often put in a tight bun. She always wore a light colored blouse with either black pants or a black, business-like skirt. Every now and then she would throw in a brightly colored bow tie if her blouse had a collar. He thought that made her look sexy. But of course she was beautiful the way she was, everything he thinks is often exaggerated thanks to his brain. If he feels angry, he would be a flaming bull. If he felt love, he would be a rapist to the woman he was "hitting" on. If he was sad, he would be at the bar for nights struggling with depression. He always had to control his feelings, that's why he doesn't have a wife or kids or even five friends. But he does have three friends. Dr. Blake, a cardiologists, and is colleague.
He wondered if he should get up from his stool to see if Dr. Blake wanted something that absolutely needed his attention. He smoothed his brown hair back into the very slight wave to the left. His hair was short cropped besides the slightly longer bangs. He looked younger than he actually was. In reality, he was thirty-one. But with his glossy hair and non-wrinkled skin he looked a few years younger then his actual age.
After three minutes of sitting on the empty room, James got tired of the silence and walked out of the room. He gave the reception lady the files of Mr. Henry that were attached to his clipboard. Doctors at the Health Hospital of Recovery and Research were required to have clipboards. They preferred for their doctors to have black ones, but a few didn't follow the instruction like what he did. His was a canary yellow one with an abstract sun that looked like an ancient design of the sun. It stood for his syndrome.
"So what was wrong with the old man?" Jill, the reception lady, asked. She had a smirk on her face. They all knew she didn't enjoy the elderly, kids, cancer patients, babies, or very ill patients. She really didn't belong in the hospital besides her natural ability to work at the desk. Although her job there originally a nurse, their boss, Mr. Hoss, figured out about her dislikes. She still has nurse duties such as the charts and checking on them when they first arrive, but she is almost always at the desk. That's how she learned the status of reception lady since she didn't like desk nurse.
"Why do you care." James grumbled. He didn't want to deal with Jill's unnecessary remarks about the elderly. He was often hurt by her remarks and didn't return to work since his depression would last forever from his exaggeration of emotions. Then he would feel enraged and Dr. Blake would come and help clean up broken vases at his house.
Jill rudely scoffed at him but he ignored her, trying not to boil over. He was constantly humiliated and teased by Jill. Jill had been a rich kid growing up in London but decided London was to "fancy" so she moved to America. Most the time she complains about the dirty alleyways littered all over and the disgusting foods. Sometimes she even complained the dinner is called dinner instead of tea time. She gets on every ones nerves, especially James's.
All the doctors and nurses wondered why she hadn't been fired yet. Four months ago, a sue was filed against the hospital. Mr. Hoss's wife had been a patient in the clinic. She was put in examination room one and opened the door to find her own husband having an affair with Jill. They later divorced and everyone was to keep quiet about the incidence. So no matter how many sues or complaints the hospital gets about Jill, she will never go.
"There you are! I've been looking for you." A cheery voice suddenly spooks Dr. Mathews. He jumps but quickly smooths his hair and straightens his tie. He was wearing a button-up blue shirt with one of his nice pair of khakis. His tie is a mixture of different stripes of warm browns, reds, oranges, and yellows. He looks up at Dr. Blake.
"I know." He answers smoothly.
"Where have you been?" Dr. Blake smiles and puts her hands on her hips, leaning ever so slightly to one side. It made her smile look even bigger and always cheered someone up, even Dr. Mathews when he was in a bad mood. Today she was wearing a light grey blouse with a pair of black pants. Her lab coat was straightened with a few black and blue pens in the pocket on her chest that had "Dr. Flora Blake" sewn in cursive on it.
"Clinic. You know. The surgery and everything. I got an extra three months of clinic hours."
"Its been two and a half months since then. You only have about a week left. How's your clinic patient." She asks. She walks to Dr. Mathews side and continued walking with James.
"Oh, he's fine. He left a few minutes ago. A fifty-three year old man with abdominal pain. Turns out his birthday was a few days ago and he was just having some indigestion. Very minor and simple, something you could figure out at home. If not with common knowledge, at least with a computer."
"Come on, James. He's fifty-three. Probably doesn't have a computer." Flora chuckled.
"Yeah, and apparently no knowledge." James muttered. Flora suddenly stopped in front of him.
"Was it Jill again?"
James looked at his feet. He felt like a little kid since they would often look at there feet when they were being scolded. He nodded slightly.
"You know she doesn't matter. Your a great doctor. You have gone through a lot with your syndrome to be a great doctor. She's just another spec of dust you just have to step over." James listened to this small lecture. He knew Jill wasn't something, or someone, to fuss over but all her careless thoughts and remarks about people made him mad.
"Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm off for my break." Her voice softens and she goes back to her original place next to James.
They had to walk down two hallways to get to the center of the hospital. It was a courtyard that didn't have a ceiling, not even a glass once. Five white tables with five chairs each sat there in even places among the mixture of grass and cement. Often the chairs were unorganized and and extra two or three tables from inside were taken out to be placed for extra room outside. James always thought the hospital had a weird smell, between healing and death. He didn't know why since he had been a doctor at the hospital for five years.
Both Flora and James were completely silent getting coffee and a free sandwhich that only the best doctors were given. Actually only the doctors that were there when the hospital was built but they say the best doctors get the free sandwhich and coffee so that the other doctors strive to be better.
There were a few tables inside but all were taken.
"I guess people weren't ready for the fall to come so soon." Flora spoke, more like whispered. James nodded. Most the people there were in short sleeves and shorts. Although there wasn't much time left for summer anyway, people weren't expected the colder weather today.
"I guess we can sit outside."
"James, no. You know you can't."
"Well, I don't see why we can't. We can sit in the shade. See that table?" He points to a table right by one of the three glass doors. The sun was at the right angle for a shadow to be cast over the table.
"Fine. Just say if we should go inside." Flora agrees reluctantly. They walk to the glass door and step outside, bringing two chairs to the table.
"How's your day been?" James asked after his second bit of his sand which.
"A three year old with a cold who's parents thought was a deathly disease. And then a woman who was here for a ultra sound to see if her abdominal pains were a tumor."
James takes a sip of his drink and listens. He nearly spews out his drink of the mention of a tumor.
"What? A tumor? Why would she want an ultra sound of a tumor if she knows she already knows she has it?"
"She had been to three doctors previously with the same abdominal pains. She also says she had vomited and gained a little weight around her stomach area."
"Hmm. Sounds like pregnancy." James rubs his fingers on his chin as if he was swirling up massive ideas in his head.
"It was. I told her she had a tumor and she burst out in tears. Then I told her it was alive. Then she burst out into a sob. Then I told her she was pregnant and she hit me and walked away." She looked up from her plate and gave James a slight smile.
"Hormones." James smiles back and takes a sip of his drink, never moving his eyes from Flora's. They started chuckling, then started laughing. They didn't stop laughing until they saw a mother on the inside started yelling at a young girl because she accidently knocked her cup over on the floor. The little girl, maybe six, bent over, tears streaming down her face as she was scolded over and over again. Rage burned inside of James. He clutched his hands in a fist on the table top. He watched intently as the girl was hit twice on the back, her now sprawled on the floor. The mom yelled at her for her to clean her mess and then meet her in a room.
He was so mad at the women and focused on the girl that he didn't even notice Flora get up and walk to the girl until she was helping the girl up and wiped the apple juice from the floor with a few napkins. The girl stood there, her pink shirt a little wet from laying on the floor but her face was soaked in tears. Flora grabbed another napkin to wipe her face. James was on the other side of the glass, still outside, but he was Flora kneel down and tell the little girl something which made her smile. James cursed at the glass, his anger driving his curiosity. The girl giggled and ran off. Flora came back outside.
"What did you do that for?" James asked. He was still a little tense.
"You didn't recognize her? That was Betty." She smiled, but there was still a little shade of shock on her face. Betty was a six year old girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She was easy to cheer up but her mother, Ashley, abused her children. Betty's father committed suicide after he realized he couldn't stop his wife's actions. Betty had been to young to understand but her brother and sister understood. They tried to runaway and try to stop their mother, but that just made them end up in the hospital. He brother was thirteen. He was the bravest and always guarded his sisters. His name is Caleb. Her sister, Johanna, is eleven. They both work together to protect Betty as best as they can.
James himself couldn't believe he didn't recognize Betty. When their mom left them at home and went to the bar for the night, James and Flora would take the three kids to get pizza and ice cream, very rare food they were able to eat. He guessed it was because she had her hair in two pigtails.
"Who's in the hospital this time?" James leaned forward, eager for an answer.
"Johanna. Broken arm. Kidney failure." Flora was looking down, leaning back in her chair.
"Is someone going to call child services? This is way beyond the other visits. Usually a bruise or scratch, once a few stitches."
"She was hit with like a paddle, it bruised her kidney and it didn't heal so it shut down. Just come on, we'll have to take it out and she'll have one kidney is we don't find a match. Ginger is calling them. She said they should be here in twenty minutes." Flora sighed and stood up with her plate. James followed her and picked up his plate, throwing it away in the same trash can as Flora.
"Don't you dare touch me!" Someone bellowed from down the hallway. Some police officers were carrying a woman out from a hospital room. A man in a black suit was talking to Betty and hugged her close when her mother started yelling. Caleb walked put of the room and is mother went crazy. She thrashed and managed to get her hands around his neck. She clutched his throat harder and harder. His mouth was in an O as an attempt for oxygen. James and Flora darted down the hallway as one of the police pried away Ashley's fingers. Caleb's eyes were half way open and he was completely limp. Two men with police uniforms checked on in but moved out the way when James reached him. He went down on his knees, sliding a few inches. He checked Caleb's pulse, a weak thumping sensation in his neck.
"Weak pulse. He's not getting enough oxygen through his body." Flora shined a small flashlight in Caleb's eyes. All of the Child Services and policemen had left besides one.
"He's unresponsive. Damn it!" Flora just remembered. "He's got asthma. Bad asthma. If he can't breathe we can't get his asthma medicine to him."