The Good Doctor

Prazosin

It was hours later that they stitched Peter back up. Schneeplestein was absolutely livid. Never in his life had he had a patient wake up on him! He was surely going to have a talk with the board of directors about the Anesthesiologist's malpractice!

But first, he needed food and rest. After he cleaned up, he made his way to the cafeteria where he grabbed something to eat. It wasn't the greatest food, but he didn't have the time or energy to leave and find anything better, and it certainly wasn't the worst food he'd ever eaten, either.

He sat hunched over his food, chewing on his sandwich off in the corner of the cafeteria at a window that overlooked a garden. Patients strolled through the sunny area, chatting with loved ones here and there while enjoying the bright flowers and fountains. It was a very nice hospital. He enjoyed being there despite the stress.

Occasionally, someone would pass by him in the cafeteria and greet him with a simple "Hello, Doctor!" He would pause his meal long enough to wave back, but generally did not feel the need to strike up any conversation. Not until his friend Nurse Malki stopped at his table.

"Hello, Henrich," she said, using his first name. "How are you feeling?"

"A little tired, and a little upset," said Schneeplestein.

"I don't blame you," said Malki. "Losing a second patient like that..."

Schneeplestein stopped, and looked Malki in the eyes. What did Malki mean by a second patient?

"Second patient?" Schneeplestein asked. "What do you mean?"

Malki's brow pinched with sincere concern and confusion. She leaned in and said, "Doctor Schneeplestein, Peter died."

"Wha..." The colour drained from Schneeplestein's face. His mind raced back to his last operation, already beginning to formulate reasons that Malki could be mistaken. Surely she thought he'd had patients after Peter, or she forgot his last patient?

"Doctor," said Malki in a low, concerned tone, "Don't you remember what happened to Peter?"

"Peter!" Schneeplestein gasped, "But... I saved him!"

Malki's eyes widened in horror, and she gasped. She shook her head and said, "No... Henrich... Peter died!"

It couldn't be. Schneeplestein was there. He had stitched him back up himself. He saw Peter wake up! How could he be dead? His head was spinning. He tried to stand, but he stumbled over his chair. Malki grabbed him and tried to get him to calm down, that it was okay, but it wasn't going to be okay!

"Were is Peter?!" Schneeplestein called as he pushed away from her. "Where is Jack?! Jack was with me. He saw me save him!"

"Jack?" Malki asked. "Who is Jack?"

Malki looked around and saw others staring at them. She made a few quick and subtle gestures with her hand to signal for orderlies. A few of the doctors and nurses among them darted out of the room to get help, while one of the orderlies in the cafeteria made his way over to try and subdue the situation until the others got there.

"Jack!" Schneeplestein cried out. "How could you forget Jack?! He was my assistant that day! Irish man! He was from Westmeath!"

"Henrich!" Malki called, "There's nobody here named Jack! Please, you're going to harm yourself if you're not careful!"

The orderlies had made their way in by now. Schneeplestein saw them, and knew what would happen next. They were going to take him away. He tried to run, but as he turned, they grabbed him and pulled himself down. He felt himself falling. Like slow motion he watched the world around him tip and wash to bright white.

"Schneeplestein!' Malki called. "Schneeplestein!"

The doctor sat straight up. He was still in the cafeteria. He was still in his seat. He still had half a plate of food left on his tray. Malki was standing over him, hand on his shoulder, looking quite concerned.

"Oh my!" Schneeplestein gasped. "I cannot believe I fell asleep at ze table!"

"I cannot believe it either," Malki replied, "Perhaps you need your medication adjusted?"

"Medication?" Schneeplestein asked.

The Doctor looked down at his tray. Sitting next to it was a pill box with a whole capsule and half a tablet left in it. He remembered now. The stress of the job had been getting to him, so he had been prescribed some medicine to help him relax and sleep.

"Ze life of a doctor is not an easy one," said Schneeplestein. "I had a nightmare while I vas asleep! I dreamed that Peter died. But he did not! I saved him!"

Malki's brow pressed with worry. She sighed and said, "You really should get more than a fifteen-minute nap in, Henrich. You don't have anything else scheduled right now. You should sleep. Try to get some real rest? For me, please?"

"Very well, if you insist," said Schneeplestein.

The doctor stood up slowly, forcing his knees to straighten enough to walk. He took the last of his pills, and swallowed the rest of his water down. Grabbing the last few bites of his sandwich, he made his way through the cafeteria, and down the hall, past the Nurse's station that sat at the center of it all. One of the nurses -Nurse Betham- even waved to him and smiled. He did his best to return the smile, but between the last bite of sandwich and his exhaustion, his mouth ended up twisting oddly. It was no matter, Nurse Betham understood his intent.

He slipped down one of the currently unused hallways and made his way through the quiet solitude of the wing. There was nobody down there at the moment due to renovations being done in some of the rooms, but it was late at night, so nobody was there working on them.

The solitude was a godsend. He slipped into one of the rooms and sat down in the empty room on the floor. It dimly lit by only the emergency lights, and it was quiet aside from the occasional distant page. Schneeplestein checked his phone out of habit. No new calls. He swiped over to his gallery and ran across a picture of Sarah at a party. He smiled and stared at it for a while, studying her pretty eyes.

To the left of her, he noticed something he had not noticed before. In the background, staring right at him, was Peter. Schneeplestein narrowed his eyes to focus on the man. It was as if he was looking right at him, warning him to stay away from Sarah. Schneeplestein leaned in close, confused as to why he had not seen it before.

Peter's face twisted up into a scowl. The phone screen cracked in his hand. Schneeplestein was so startled he nearly dropped the phone. Fumbling it, he caught it before it slipped out of his hand. When he flipped it up to look again, the crack was gone, and Peter was no longer looking right at him. Instead, he was looking at Sarah. More pointedly, he was looking at Sarah's ass.

"I'm such a fool!" Schneeplestein lamented.

He didn't want to linger on it anymore. He needed to keep his mind occupied. If he could do that, he wouldn't have to see the things he didn't want to. Schneeplestein stood, and made his way back out of the room and the wing. As he passed through the doors, he smacked right into someone coming out of a room, and nearly knocked him over. He stumbled to the side and saw a man as tall as him, brown-skinned, with distinct Korean eyes and a chin that suggested Germanic blood. He wore a pair of tan khakis and a sky-blue button-up shirt. The man startled upon seeing him, and looked ready to run off, but upon seeing the Doctor, he smiled and said, "Oh hello there!"