by Barbara Ebel
Oliver didn’t seem to mind and sat in agreement while Bob hooked him up and then tugged. The dog jumped down and pranced around on the pavement with exuberance.
“Come on in,” Bob said when he took out his apartment keys. “And you, too, Oliver. Welcome to one of your homes.” He dropped the leash and Oliver went straight in. The dog scoured the floor and Annabel filled one of the dog bowls on the counter with water and set it down. Oliver drank greedily. The two students watched as the dog examined his new surroundings. When he finished, he jumped up on Bob’s couch.
“Oh, no, Oliver,” Annabel said.
“No problem. Like I told you once, most of this furniture came from Craig’s List. After what he’s been lying on, he deserves it.”
Annabel sat down next to the dog. “Wow, you have special privileges already.” She nestled her hand into the fur around his neck. “I wish I could hang out with you tomorrow,” she said softly. “Human beings can be the worst species in the whole world. Mostly everyone I’m working with right now is deplorable or morally corrupt.”
Bob fell into an oversized leather chair and eased his legs onto the ottoman. He studied the two of them, knowing how troubled she was with the rotation. He grinned. For Oliver’s first night with them, he was proving to be useful and therapeutic for Annabel. The worried expression she’d worn during their trip had faded; her eyes softened when she talked to the dog, and twice she leaned over and kissed his forehead.
“Before you go, do you want to tell us about it?” Bob asked.
She stroked her shiny hair in the front of her collarbone and considered his question. Bob waited.
“The most awful events unfolded today,” she started with a choppy voice. “My attending practically kicked me off the ward, the chief resident is nothing short of malicious, and I’ve been accused of being the responsible party for overdosing a patient with morphine. And that’s just the start of it.”
“Get it all off your chest. Oliver and I can listen all night.”
-----
If Annabel needed to survive the next day on obstetrics, hanging out with Bob for too long was not a smart idea. She summarized the basics for him over the next half hour.
Bob was also tired but leaned forward in his chair several times, appalled at the details. He wished he was rotating with her at the same time. That way she would have company and he could back her up with her issues. Although, he thought, he also respected the fact that she could handle herself.
The dog’s head was nestled on her lap, so she slid it off. “Oliver, I need to take off. You be a good dog for Bob.”
Bob rolled the ottoman out of the way and rose from the chair. “Hold on a moment.” He reached over for his iPhone. “Mind if I take a picture of you and Oliver? The first day here?”
Annabel smiled. “Sure.”
He clicked, they switched positions, and Annabel took one of Oliver and Bob. Then she clicked a selfie with all three of them huddled together.
“I’m sorry you’re going through this,” he said. “Don’t get sidetracked, however, and not study enough.”
“So true. But if Dr. Harvey doesn’t give me a decent clinical evaluation, I’m toast.”
“Worrying won’t help.” He walked her to the door.
“Bye, Oliver.” She inched down and patted his head.
“I’ll bring him to the vet tomorrow for shots and whatever else he may need. I’ll text you.”
“Thanks, but don’t you overdo it. We’ll settle up the finances soon.” She grabbed the door handle and glanced down again. “I sure hope he is indeed housebroken!”
-----
At home, Annabel perched herself on a kitchen stool. She realized she deprived herself of dinner and opened a large yogurt. She had a strong desire to talk to her parents, but she also needed to touch base with Dustin. She checked her phone to find no messages from him.
“Hey Dustin,” she texted. “I think you’re working a late shift, so I won’t disturb you. But hello anyway!”
She took a few spoonfuls straight from the container and her phone dinged.
“I’m at my desk at the moment. How was your day?”
She laughed out loud. Not wanting to type out an obscenity, she decided on grawlix symbols.
“*!#@%”
“That bad?!” he responded.
“Affirmative. But on the bright side, I got a dog tonight. My medical school friend, Bob, and I are going to ‘share’ him.”
“Hmm. You can tell me about that later. Solar has also learned a new trick. You won’t believe it.”
“Seeing is believing, you know.”
“Then what night are you coming over? After a nice dinner out, of course.”
“I’ll let you know. Obstetrics is crazy.”
“Okay, love, later…”
She scrunched her eyebrows. Hmm, he never used that term before with her. She kind of liked it, she thought, as she went back to her home page. But her phone dinged again. This time from Bob.
The three pictures popped up. Her heart warmed; they were priceless, especially the last one with two smiling medical students and a goofy, grinning, happy dog between them.
CHAPTER 17
Annabel stirred a half hour earlier than normal. Most likely, she thought, because her vivid last dream was about a laboring patient wrenching in pain while health care professionals passed by her room without going in. She tossed off her covers, went to the kitchen, and selected a flavored K-cup. The Keurig machine was a new acquisition from the end of her internal medicine rotation, given to her by Bob. It made her think of him as she put on the single serving. She wondered how Bob’s night was with Oliver.
She puttered, getting ready with the mug of French Vanilla in tow. After dressing a bit more stylishly for the day, including sterling silver earrings under her long hair, she called for an Uber ride and went downstairs.
For 6 a.m., it was apparent it was going to be a beautiful day as she stood on the curb. She forced herself into an optimistic mood as much as she could as a black sedan double parked and the driver rolled down his window. “Annabel?”
She threw her backpack in first and scooted in. “How are you today?” she asked.
“Not too shabby for this time of day.”
“That makes two of us.”
He drove off and turned his music volume up, which suited her just fine. She pressed “home” in her phone contacts. Since her father, Danny, was a neurosurgeon with a busy practice and her mother, Sara, was a teacher, the early hour was no problem at all.
“Hey, honey,” Danny said. “Is everything all right?”
“I thought women have a sixth sense about things and not men.”
“I’ve lived a hard, eventful life. I learned a thing or two along the way. Like when my kids are going through a rough time.”
Annabel had to agree with him. The poor man had gone through terrible times because of a noose around his neck for years - a certain female health care worker. However, he was super smart and talented in his specialty. Always, in the back of her mind, he was her greatest inspiration.
The driver pulled onto the entrance to I-75 and the Cincinnati traffic picked up.
“You started OB/GYN,” he said. “It should be too early to form a concrete opinion, but how do you like or dislike it so far?”
Annabel made sure not to speak louder than the music. “Too many things are going wrong, including patient care. Like a patient being bolused and dying due to an overdose of magnesium sulfate for preeclampsia. And then, specifically for me, being blamed for a different patient’s medical narcotic error. The patient is on a ventilator overnight, Dad.”
Danny was upstairs in the main kitchen where his wife and best friend/brother-in-law, Casey, sat with steaming coffee and wearing pajamas. He met their eyes. “It’s Annabel,” he said.
He went back to the call. “I’m sorry about this. You must straighten this situation out right away. First of all, the current opioid crises makes
healthcare professionals and laypeople sensitive about the whole issue and sometimes stories get blown up out of proportion. Secondly, if a patient was harmed in any way because of the error, that misunderstood mistake could jeopardize your grade, your reputation, and be a blemish on a clinical evaluation. Go to your attending right away.”
“Dad,” she almost sobbed, “he’s the highest-ranked person to accuse me based on what a nurse told him.”
Danny shook his head at Sara and Casey. “Ask to speak to him alone. Somewhere with no distractions. Attendings are multi-tasking all the time, so that will be difficult. Try your best. You would never do something like this. Also, in general, the medical field is not without human error. We are aware of this; there are procedures in place to avoid it. Take, for instance, the sequence of ‘time outs’ before a surgeon actually makes an incision on a patient.”
She inhaled deeply. “You’re right, but somehow on this rotation, there is less respect towards students. I felt like more of a team member on other rotations and not like some side show.”
“You let me know how it goes. Would you like to talk to your mother? She’s here with Casey. I’m leaving for a morning surgery schedule, your mom needs to get ready for work, and Casey’s paramedic shift is this afternoon. If he’s even going to put in a decent day’s work, that is.”
“Hey,” his friend yelled.
Annabel snickered, knowing the two men had a humorous running commentary on Casey’s paramedic job. “Okay, Dad, thanks. Hate to dump you with the bad news. I’ll tell Mom my fun news.”
“Bye, honey. Your mom and I will fill each other in tonight.”
Danny handed Sara the phone, rinsed his empty mug, and headed to his car.
“Annabel,” Sara said, “what’s going on?”
“Bob and I got a dog last night. You all are going to love him.”
Sara furrowed her eyebrows.
“Put her on the speaker,” Casey said.
“You’re on the speaker now,” Sara said. “How and why did you get a dog? How will that work out?”
“For the time being, Bob and I are separated from the same schedule. Between the two of us, we think this can work out. We picked him out from a shelter. Another dog can’t replace Dakota, Mom, but I think this one may be good for me.”
“All right. I’ll give you and the dog and Bob my blessing. Take care of him and yourself.”
“What did you name him?” Casey asked.
“After one of my former patients, whose last name was Oliver. Casey, he’s the most gorgeous thing!”
“You sound happy about him. Give him a biscuit from Uncle Casey.”
“Thanks.”
Sara cut back in. “I haven’t asked you in a while. Are you and your sister talking to each other yet?”
Annabel hated to tell her mother what she didn’t want to hear. “Not yet.”
“You two are wasting precious time. She’s the only sister you have left.”
Annabel gulped. Her oldest sister had died, ironically enough from a medical problem which theoretically should not have happened. And she and Nancy, her younger sister, had had an argument and fallout.
“Mom, I’m not the one being immature.”
“Since you are older and the mature one, why don’t you take the bull by the horns and call her?”
“Mom, please, I tried already. Right now, I’m dealing with more blazing fires than her.”
“Okay, sweetheart.”
“Bye, you two. Hope to see you soon.”
“Bye yourself,” Casey said.
“Love you,” Sara said and hung up.
Annabel focused on the song the driver bobbed his head to. Blake Shelton crooned “I’ll Name the Dogs.”
Ha! she thought. She had named Oliver and hummed along just thinking about him.
-----
The driver dropped Annabel off. She was early and hoped to bump into Stuart before he left after being on call overnight. Better than hunting for him upstairs, she could spot him anywhere. In the hospital’s lobby, Stuart sipped a frothy cappuccino outside the coffee shop.
“You’re studying before 7 a.m.?” She rested her backpack on the table and added, “You’re amazing.”
“But not as dramatic as you.”
“What did you hear?”
“Probably rumors. You didn’t tell some nurse to give a patient 200 mgs of morphine.”
“You’re correct, but convince my attending.” Annabel pulled out a chair.
“I’m not assertive enough to speak up about certain issues, but if you need me to, I will.”
“Thanks, Stuart. Are you faring any better than me by doing the night hours?”
“My problem is I don’t like the subject matter.”
“Really? I assumed most guys looked forward to it. After all, I assumed since it has to do with female genitalia and your gender gets a hard on about that, they’d mostly love it … if I may be blunt.”
“Hey, all barriers about anatomy and sensitivity about discussing body parts and what they do go out the window in medical school. This is different. Seeing bulging vaginas with heads popping out and afterbirth is opposite than a turn on. And a resident told me last night what’s worse is doing smelly exams in the clinic on women with discharges and foul odors from bacterial vaginosis.”
“Oh, Stuart. That’s more information than I need. A resident said that?”
“Yeah.”
“Come to think about it, that’s a different perspective I didn’t think about. However, there are other areas in medicine that aren’t fun either. Take being a gastroenterologist, working in a GI suite a good deal of your time, and doing colonoscopies. Or being a urologist and sticking scopes up penises, especially the ones with venereal diseases or whatever.”
“See. There you go.”
“In any case, we’ve come across some bad attitudes. Why does it seem like the residents now are moaning more than usual?”
“Maybe they wouldn’t be happy no matter what they do. You know, burn out and all. Perhaps more of that is going on.” He licked his lips to clear off the steamed milk foam from his cappuccino while Annabel eyed his paper cup. Maybe she would supplement her earlier Keurig with what he was drinking.
Annabel leaned forward. “I miss you, me, and Bob rotating together. There is safety in medical student numbers. Who woulda thought?!”
“Speaking of Bob … do you know how he’s doing?”
“He’s following the predicted path of recovery from his tick disease. Next Monday, he goes back to internal medicine and finishes up and we embarked on getting a dog together yesterday.”
“How’s that going to work out for you?”
“I don’t have a clue, but we’re off to a decent start.” They both got up and Annabel slung her backpack over her shoulder. “I have the unpleasant task upstairs of trying to talk to Dr. Harvey in private about this accusation against me. Otherwise, it will never get cleared up.”
“I’m headed out. By the way, Amy Wagner’s induction is going along well and Bonnie Barker slept through the night on the ventilator. The medicine service is extubating her soon.”
“Thanks, Stuart. Catch you tomorrow, I hope.”
Annabel skipped the added coffee indulgence and went upstairs. She dumped her bag in the lounge, threw on her white jacket, and was still early. Before Dr. Harvey made an appearance, she hustled to the ICU and witnessed a great relief. A doctor and a nurse exited Bonnie’s room, where the young woman was devoid of her breathing tube.
As she walked in, Bonnie cleared her throat. Annabel remembered to scan the monitors; her patient’s vital signs registered as normal as if she was walking around a shopping mall. She wondered, however, what Bonnie was told about what had happened to her and how she would react to such information. She stepped to the bedside cautiously.
“Dr. Tilson, I made it, didn’t I?”
“You did. Believe me, I am as relieved as you are to find you awake and without breathing assist
ance from a machine.”
She leaned her upper body towards Annabel and her eyes widened. “If this traumatic experience had not occurred, I would not have seen the light.”
“What light?”
“Don’t say anything, but Tony talked to me. I realize what a super guy he is and how much he genuinely cares about me and Samantha. But I also heard that our baby is not one-hundred-percent well.”
“Yes, Sam has what’s called OI.”
“We must talk to the pediatrician. I bet Tony and I will become experts and do what’s necessary for our child.”
“What a positive attitude. Samantha is a newborn with two mature parents.” Annabel thought about the answer to the next question. “How do you feel about the wrong medicine you received yesterday?”
“Like I said, I learned something. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn’t come in my room to help me out.”
“A school of thought says that I may have caused it.”
Bonnie tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Is there any truth to that?”
“No, Bonnie. In a miniscule manner, it could be construed that I enabled the sequence of errors, but that’s a stretch. If I had done anything to overtly put you here, my conscience would be killing me and I would be questioning my presence here as a medical student.”
For a moment, Bonnie put her hand on Annabel’s sleeve. “I believe you.”
“Thank you.” Annabel unwrapped her stethoscope from her neck. “Won’t Tony be relieved to see you this morning?”
“He may be here any moment. Crazy Tony didn’t even go home. I was told he’s over in my obstetric room sleeping in the chair.”
“He is dedicated.”
“Like a faithful dog.”
Annabel smiled. She thought of Oliver. Hopefully, he would be a dog that followed that description. “May I listen to your heart and lungs?”
“Absolutely. Do your thing.”
The two women laughed and Annabel placed her stethoscope over Bonnie’s right lung and told her to take a big breath.
