Medical Opinion #Wattys2017

1

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Georgia jolted out of a deep sleep and scrambled for her phone, knocking over her lamp, glass of water, and book in the process. "Ah damn it!" She tried to hurry out of bed and grab a towel before the water soaked into the carpeted floor, but her legs tangled in her sheets and she ended up sprawled on the ground. "Come on!"

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"Shut up!" Georgia cursed again and untangled her legs. She grabbed her phone off of the floor and harshly swiped at the screen, disabling the aggravating alarm. After chucking her iPhone onto the bed, she ran into the bathroom adjoining her bedroom and grabbed a towel to sop up the water. Once it was cleaned up, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Lord, grant me strength this day, for it is only Wednesday and You know I need help, lest I murder someone."

Georgia took a quick shower and made herself a bowl of oatmeal, her favorite. She needed to eat a good, hearty breakfast to make it until her lunch break at two.

For the past year, she had worked at Meyer Central Hospital as a trauma nurse. She enjoyed it but the work was challenging. She saw things that no person would want to, but that was what she did. She treated people with gunshot wounds, lacerations, burns, and broken bones. Her line of work wasn't for the faint of heart but she enjoyed helping people. It was what she was good at.

After she put on her scrubs, which were plain navy blue, Georgia got in her Toyota Camry and drove to work. Her radio went staticy when she drove under the mile long tunnel pass. It was honestly her favorite part of her drive. The cement tunnel had rectangular lights illuminating the plain scene, people getting lost in the flow of traffic of people going to menial daily work.

Her work was never boring. There were always strange cases. Last week, a man came in claiming his cat had a candle in its stomach and proceeded to lift air, showing them his "cat". As it turned out, he had escaped from the psych ward but no alert was issued. Mostly, she dealt with broken limbs, lacerations, car wreck victims, and the sort. Whatever came into the ER, she dealt with.

The hospital appeared on her left and she drove into the east parking garage. There were four three-level garages and five parking lots. The garages were for employees of the hospital and the lots mainly for patients and their families. Meyer Central was certainly a big hospital. It wasn't Jackson Memorial or part of a large chain, but it felt like home.

Georgia got out of her car and trekked to the ER entrance. Helena, the desk clerk/PN, smiled widely. "Well good morning, Miss Georgia. How are you this morning?"

"Doing fine, Helena. How about yourself?" Georgia walked behind the desk and set her purse down in the cubbies under the desk. "I'm going to run down to the cafeteria for some coffee. You want anything?"

"One of those big chocolate chip muffins sounds good. If you would get me one of them and a caramel cappuccino, you would be my angel." The lively nurse poked at the keyboard, her magenta nails making clicking noises as she went.

"You got it, my queen." Georgia walked off in the direction of the cafeteria and ran into her favorite doctor. Her body bounced off of his hard, muscular one and she looked up into his emerald green eyes. "Oh, Dr. Clark, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there."

Jeremy Clark smiled at the gorgeous nurse in front of him. "It's fine, Ms. Jones. On your way to get some coffee?"

She laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear. "Yes, actually. And I am picking up some coffee and muffin for Helena. How was your shift?"

"Long. I am ready for some sleep for sure. Hey, a group of us is going out for drinks on Saturday. You want to go with us? Do some shots at O'Malley's and play some pool."

Georgia bit her bottom lip and checked her mental calendar. "Um, yeah, sure. I think I should be free then." She looked at her watch and gasped slightly. "Sorry, Dr. Clark, but I have to go. I need coffee before my shift starts in five minutes. If I don't see you before Saturday, have a good day!" She said her goodbyes and ran off in search of coffee.