After the Storm (manxman)

Epilogue

Epilogue

(Randall House's Clinic Area)

Stephen

The sense of pride I felt every time I walked through the clinic doors of Randall House never ceases to amaze me. At this time of the evening, the waiting room was still packed with the patients who had to work all day, so they had to wait until after hours to be seen for their checkups, their medication re-fills, or just their plain well visits. It was an example of another one of Luis' visions that has become to reality. Having the medical clinic open around the clock to see those in need at any time they may need to be seen by their medical provider and not an anonymous Emergency Room doctor.

I tipped my head in greeting at the security guard Walter, who nodded his head in return and opened the secured sliding glass doors from behind his desk that led to the examination rooms and offices in the back. There wasn't really a need to such a level of security. But Luis was insistent upon anyone being seen in this clinic had to have a sense of safety while on premises and their medical records have protection and privacy from outsiders.

Making a beeline straight for Luis' office, I avoided the treatment areas as I went. It wasn't unfair for the intravenous infusion patients to smell the aromas coming from the food containers I was carrying while they are either deathly nauseous from their meds. They had to be without food for the duration of their treatments. Reaching his office, I held my thumb up to the scanner on the wall and watched the red light turn to green before I turned the knob to enter the room.

The door closed and the lock engaged behind me and I couldn't help but to smile at the utter pristine neatness of Luis' office space. His desk was almost arranged to OCD standards with the files neatly stacked on one side, his pens and other office supplies in an organizer on the other. It was a miracle with all the paperwork necessary with running an organization like this, that his office didn't look like a war zone of papers, calendars, schedules and the like. But then again, Luis also had an awesome clerical staff at his disposal.

I shrugged out of my winter coat and hung it on the rack next to his. My dedicated husband has been here since the crack of dawn helping with the infusion patients as well as the daily checkups performed in the clinic. I'm sure he hasn't eaten anything more than what he could swallow on the go. Sometimes, I had to step in and put my foot down or else my man would never see the other side of these doors. Never mind that the staff on the payroll is generously supplemented by the staff volunteering from the hospital to help.

Two years ago, after the fiasco Michelle Randall attempted to wreak on Luis' life and Jackson's estate in attempt to get money her and her son did not deserve by outing Jackson's medical diagnosis to the world when her blackmailing schemes failed. Luis had taken the reigns and turned what could have been a negative situation into something positive in the form of Randall House. He not only created a charity in Jackson's name. He created an entire network of resources to further help those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and the people who cared for them.

Randall House not only offered a twenty-four-hour clinic with top notch physicians on staff like Dr. Brad Malone, one of the main medical doctors, but a plethora of Nurse Practioners like my Rosa, and Luis' best friend Aubrey. They generously volunteered their time here seeing patients right along with the hired staff. Randall House not only catered to the patient's physical needs, they also offered mental and psychiatric assistance as well. That department was headed by an old friend of mine and college buddy, the world renown Dr. Royce Covington-Carmicheal.

When Luis had first shared his vision with me and Randall House as still a figment of his imagination. I'd immediately thought of Royce and his Covington House. I knew the that two offered completely different avenues of care on the spectrum of mental health, but at least my friend could have pointed us in the right direction and steer us towards the right people who handled infectious diseases and their treatments.