Willie Mae Sheard took another glance over her eldest son, Drew, right before he walked out of the door to begin his new job. Her son had graduated graduate school just this past Spring semester and after the countless recommendations from several professors, he found a job within three months of graduating.
It had been tough - the job search - and he had though that he would be searching much longer, lounging around on his parents' couch while his father yelled at him to get up and do something. However, everyday he went out in search for something. He had promised his father he would help with the bills as soon as his income started coming in, but Henry insisted that Drew began saving for a place of his own.
"Make sure you walk in there with your head held high," Henry reminded his son before he could leave. "You're a Sheard. This may be your first job in your field but that doesn't mean you're an amateur."
Drew nodded his head in response and turned to walk out the door. He gave his mother another hug and began making his way out. He was driving around the car his father gave him as a high school graduation present. It had gotten worn down over the years but it still did its job. As he reversed out of the driveway, he spotted his old friend, Twinkie, across the street, leaving her home beside her mother. He honked the horn as he passed them and got waves in return.
It had been years since he had a real chat with Twinkie. He hadn't been out the house much since moving back after graduation, only to go on job hunts. He told himself to remember to go see about the Clarks later on this week. Last he had heard about them was that they had finally gotten a record deal and began releasing music.
He had heard some of it and thought it suited them. But, about two years ago, when he was graduating university, they had announced a hiatus. From what he knows, they haven't come back from that hiatus yet. He made a mental note to himself to ask Twinkie about that too.
He had been going back to church with his dad and from time to time and Twinkie would come in and play for the music team. Dr. Clark had visited as well to help with directing the choir. He had not seen the any other sister besides Twinkie since before he left for college.
♡
He pulled into the parking lot of his new workplace, Primrose Psychiatric Hospital. Drew loved the study of minds since his high school days and knew he was going to be a psychiatrist. He had been hired to be another doctor in the hospital's psychotherapy for their patients. He walked into the building and the putrid smell of antiseptic and chloroform filled his nostrils. He walked over to the receptionist.
"Good Morning, I'm J. Drew Sheard," He introduced himself to the dark-haired woman, "I'm the new psychiatrist."
The lady looked up at him and smiled, "Hi, I'm Carmen. Walk right through those doors on the left of you, knock on the second door to your right and our supervisor, Dr. Winans, will be there to greet you."
He nodded and made his way to the supervisor's office. After knocking, he hears a soft voice that tells him to come in. He opens the door to find his old school friend, Michael, greeting him with a smile.
"Mike? That's you?" Drew exclaimed.
Michael laughed and pulled Drew in for a short hug, "How you been man?"
"I can't complain," Drew sat down in the chairs in front of Michael's desk. "I just graduated a couple months back. This was the first call back I got."
"Yeah, it's tough out here," Michael agreed. "Welcome to the team though, brother. Honestly, the staff sticks with who they regularly work with. So, you probably won't be getting friendly with our receptionist out there." He joked. "The security stick together. The nurses stick together. The doctors stick together. It'd be in your best interest to get to know those doctors and know how they operate. Talk to the nurses as well, they know patients personally, having to deal with them everyday. I'll take you on a tour after this, but I just want to emphasize we do our best to treat our patients with kindness. This isn't a madhouse where there's electroshock treatment you know, we want these people to recover and be able to go back out there in the real world. So, keep that in mind."
