If I Have To

The One For Me

New York, New York
April 1st

Kasey L.

April Fool's Day. A day I despised. And yes, I can take a joke and I like to think I'm pretty funny when need be. No, the reason why I hate this day is the type of jokes some of these people do that end with them coming into my hospital. People, specifically teenagers, used this day to take their jokes to the extreme. I only been at work for two hours and I already had to do surgery on a teen boy who endured burns from a firecracker put in his ass while he slept.

Another burn situation where his friends poured boiling hot water on him. And one more where the kid was pushed off the top of some stairs and suffered some head trauma. I don't know what the hell these kids were thinking but it was annoying. Every year it was the same. And every year I thought the same thing, these kids were getting dumber. But there was one thing that I did enjoy about April Fools. I always left work early. I was counting down the time until I could head home and be with Xena.

I had something special for her too. She voiced to me how lonely she's been feeling since being out here. She was pulled from her life in Seattle and wasn't settling in New York all that well. Davon even told me how she would sit in the apartment majority of the time in the room. He'd check on her from time to time, asked if she wanted to take a drive, and she would always refuse. I had a few things in mind to cheer her up today.

In the meantime, I had to deal with these ridiculous surgeries. Exiting my patients room, I shook my head in annoyance. These parents needed to talk to their children about the dumb stuff they do. There's no reason for these kids to purposely dare one another to skate off the roof of their home. The boy was lucky a trash can broke his fall and he only suffered a minor head injury. He could have died but at the time him and his friends were not thinking about that.

These damn kids.

"Mr. Langston!" I heard my name and I look back. Tee jogged towards me, resulting in me to slow my walk. Once she reached me, we walked side by side to the front.

"Everything alright?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Yes, I just need you to sign this release form for a patient." She handed me the tablet she was holding. I scanned the document then signed on the appropriate line.

"Also, three of your previous patients are asking for a referral letter. I'm not sure why they're asking for you instead of their doctor but I'm just relaying the message. And Henry asks if you could fill out a death certificate for him and he'll just sign it," she went on, taking the tablet out my hand once I was done.

"Why can't Henry do it himself?" I asked and she shrugged.

"I don't ask questions. Sorry," she apologized.

"Understandable."

We reached the front and walked to the desk. The waiting room filled with people, some didn't look that harmed while others were hunched over holding their stomachs. More ridiculously stupid April Fools pranks, I assumed.

"Excuse me!" I turned around when I heard someone shout. A woman and a child hurried towards me.

"I'm sorry but I've been waiting here with my daughter for two hours now and I need assistance." She angrily told me.

"What's the matter?" I asked, looking at the little girl she was with.

"My daughter got a bead stuck inside her nose. I tried to take it out but I think we got it stuck even more. Can you help?" She questioned.