She's Not a Fan

Chapter 10

Sarah finished seeing the last patient and shortly after, Hank came in to start securing the equipment for the ride home.   She checked the last chart, and shut down the computer and stowed it away.   Hank had everything ready so they climbed into the front cab and headed off.

“Thanks for the ride, Hank,” Sarah said as they pulled up to her house.  “I’ll see you next week.”

“My pleasure, Doc.  If I can help at all with the proposal you’re writing, let me know.”

“Will do.  Thanks.”

Sarah dropped her bag at the front door, kicked off her boots and shrugged off her coat.  It had been a long day and fatigue washed over her as she walked to the bedroom to shed her work clothes and put on warm comfortable sweat pants and hoodie.  In the kitchen, she made a cup of tea and took the steaming mug to the study.  A hot bath and a long soak in the tub sounded a lot more appealing, but the Comcor proposal wouldn’t write itself.

She’d never been a huge fan of public speaking.  Being in the limelight wasn’t her thing.  But she felt passionate about the Mobile Teen Clinic.  They had seen the results.  Teenagers turned to the clinic for help, and came back.  That said a lot.  If they felt comfortable enough to return, they were doing something right.  It made it worth the effort of writing and presenting the proposal. 

She had a good chunk of it done, when her phone rang.

 “Sarah, it’s Danni.”

“Hi Danni.  How’s it going?”

“Good.  What are you up to?”
               “Just working on a presentation that I have to give at Comcor next week.  We’re looking for financial support to keep the Teen Clinic afloat.”

“I thought you had government funding for that.”

“Well, we do right now, but we’ve been notified that it won’t be sustained past next year.  Change of government, cutbacks, blah, blah, blah.”

“Ah, of course.  Does Comcor look promising?”

“Not entirely.  They’re funnelling funds into a community project, but we’re not the only project they’re considering.  I’m not sure how sympathetic they’ll be toward a Teen Clinic.”

“When are you giving the presentation?”

“Next Wednesday.”

“Well, good luck.   Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just focus on medicine and not worry about the rest?”

“Definitely,” She sighed.  “But I don’t think I’ll have the clinic to focus on if I don’t raise some money for it.”

“Yeah.  I suggest you wear a short skirt and a low cut top.”

She laughed.  “Great advice, thanks.”

“Anytime.  I was actually calling to ask if you could see a patient for me and give me your opinion.”

“Sure.  What’s the problem?”

“Before I left for the wedding, I saw a twelve year old boy with a rash.  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.  He’d had it for about ten days.  It was an irregular plaque on his upper back, was slightly red with central clearing.  It looked like a fungal infection, but it was such an odd spot for it.  He tried over the counter antifungal creams and it hadn’t really changed.  Otherwise he’s been well and his past history is unremarkable.  His family is hoping to go on holiday and are worrying about whether it’s infectious.  I’d appreciate it if you could take a look and let me know what you think.”

“No problem.  I’ll get Teresa to call and bring him to the clinic.”

“That would be great.  His name is Robbie Bennett.”

“Do you want me to call you after I see him?”

“If you don’t mind, then I won’t worry about it.”

“You’re supposed to be on holiday!  No worrying.”

“I know.  I know.  It’s hard to turn it off.  But I am relaxing.  Multi-tasking gives me energy.”

“I know.  Well, I’ll let you know.   And I’m looking forward to getting together next Friday night.  Whose turn is it to bring the movie?”

“Claire.”

“Great.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Thanks Sarah.  Bye.”

Sarah hung up and after working on the presentation for another hour, yawned and read it over one last time.  It was good, but was it good enough?  She’d have to practice it out loud a million times to be comfortable.  And maybe she should buy a low cut blouse, just in case.