Those Who Remain

Chapter 26

"Long time no see Dean," I said as he walked into the medical shed, "What have you been up to? I've barely seen you other than in the mornings at the house."

"They've been keeping me busy over at the kitchen," he replied as he grabbed the marker to write his name on the waiting board, "More and more people seem to be coming for meals."

"There is no need to put your name on the board. There is no one here," he placed the marker back down and walked over to me, "I'm not shocked more people are showing up. They probably want to preserve the food they have in their homes."

"That's probably true," he smiled lightly, "Do you think everyone would want to come eat dinner at the cafeteria tonight around six? I feel like none of us have really talked."

"I'm sure they would," we had a lot to talk about, "Why are you here today? Is everything okay?" I'm not sure I could handle another friend having a serious health issue right now. Lily just wasn't herself lately, and if Dean somehow started to go downhill as well, it would be a hard few months.

"I'm just here for a blood pressure and wellness check," he replied back putting my worries at ease, "I had high blood pressure before all of this, and I'm starting to run low on my meds. Dr. Lowes just wants to make sure we keep a close eye on it."

"I can go ahead and take your blood pressure if you want," I motioned for him to come into the small exam room, "Dr. Lowes should be here any minute."

"Perfect," he said as he made himself comfortable on the exam table, "I've felt fine, so I'm not too concerned."

"That is a good sign," I put the cuff around his arm, "How do you like working at the cafeteria?"

"Well, I love to cook, so I'm really enjoying it so far. The people I work with are really nice, and were very accepting of me when I first started working there. None of us are professional chefs, so we all just do our best with what we have. It's going great," he had a large smile on his face, which showed how satisfied he'd been with his work.

"I have to say, what I've eaten from there is delicious," Dr. Lowes said as he walked into the room behind me, "If you keep making food that good, my wife isn't going to cook anymore."

Dean laughed and shook his head, "I wouldn't want to do that. We still need to make sure we have enough food to cook for a while. If more and more people come, I'm afraid we will have to start rationing it."

"When we get that garden up and running in the spring, I hope we won't have to worry too much about that," I replied putting the cuff away. I turned to Ryan and said, "Blood pressure is 135/99. I'll be in the waiting room if you need me. It's too small for all of us here."

I shut the door behind me to give Dean privacy during his check, and I went to look at the inventory in the back room. I pulled the boxes off the top shelf and noticed that we still have plenty of tylenol, advil, benadryl, and bandages. However, it looked like we were getting low on medical tap, but that was not something we used too often. As I made a list of the things we need people to look for on runs, I heard someone writing on the white board.

I walked out of the back room to greet whoever it was and found Ridge sitting in one of the waiting chairs. "What are you doing here?" I walked over and sat down next to him.

He pecked my cheek, "I'm gonna get the stitches out of my arm. I keep forgetting, with everything going on, and I don't want to wait any longer to get them out."

"Fair enough," I looked back towards the storage room, "I'm doing inventory if you feel like helping while you wait."

"Sure," he stood up and offered me a hand, "I'll probably hang around after my appointment because there is nothing to do otherwise."