"Mr. Bradford was just struck by this man," Monica said, pointing at Kim. "And that was after he destroyed a letter box by bashing it against the counter."
"Believe it or not, he's a doctor on the hospital staff," Molly added.
David put out a hand and got Barclay to his feet. David glanced at the man's split lip and palpated along the line of his jaw.
"Are you all right?" David asked the administrator.
"I think so," Barclay said. He got out a handkerchief and dabbed at his bloodied lip.
David turned to Monica. "Take Mr. Bradford back and get him cleaned up. And have Dr. Krugger take a look at him to see if we should get an X-ray."
"Sure," Monica said. She grasped Barclay's arm above the elbow to guide him through the crowd. Barclay glared at Kim before allowing himself to be led away.
"Everyone else, back to work," David said, with a wave of his hand. Then he turned to Kim, who'd recovered his senses.
"What is your name?" David asked.
"Dr. Kim Reggis."
"Did you really hit Mr. Bradford?" David asked incredulously.
"I'm afraid so," Kim said.
"What on earth could have provoked you?" David asked.
Kim took a deep breath. "That prick condescendingly accused me of demanding special treatment when my sick child has been waiting for two and a half hours."
David stared at Kim for a beat. He was mystified at such behavior from a colleague. "What's the child's name?" he asked.
"Rebecca Reggis," Kim said.
David turned to the clerk and asked for Rebecca's sign-in sheet. The clerk fumbled through the stack.
"Are you really on staff here at the University Med Center?" David asked while he waited for the sheet.
"Since the merger," Kim said. "I'm one of the cardiac surgeons, although you'd never know it the way I've been treated here in the ER."
"We do the best we can," David said.
"Yeah, I've heard that excuse several times tonight," Kim said.
David eyed Kim again. "You know, you should be ashamed of yourself" he said. "Punching people out, smashing letter boxes. You're acting like some malcontent teenager."
"Screw you," Kim said.
"For the moment I'm going to chalk that remark up to stress," David said.
"Don't be patronizing," Kim said.
"Here it is," the clerk said. He handed the sign-in sheet to David.
David glanced at it, then looked at his watch. "At least you're right about the time. It's been close to three hours. That's certainly no justification for your behavior, but it's too long to wait."
David looked at Tracy. "Are you Mrs. Reggis?" he asked.
"I'm Rebecca Reggis's mother," Tracy said.
"Why don't you get the young lady. I'll personally see to it she's seen immediately."
"Thank you," Tracy said. She hurried out to the waiting room.
David went behind the desk to get a clipboard for the sign-in sheet. He also used the intercom to get a nurse to come out. When he reemerged, Tracy was back with Becky in tow. A moment later a nurse appeared. Her name tag identified her as Nicole Michaels.
"How are you feeling, young lady?" David asked Becky.
"Not too good," Becky admitted. "I want to go home."
"I'm sure you do," David said. "But first let's check you out. Why don't you go ahead with Nicole. She'll get you situated in one of the examination cubicles."
Tracy, Becky, and Kim started forward. David reached out to restrain Kim.
"I'd prefer that you wait out here, if you don't mind," David said.
"I'm going with my daughter," Kim stated.
"No, you are not," David said. "You've proved yourself emotionally stressed. You're acting like a loose cannon.
Kim hesitated. As much as he didn't want to admit it, David had a point. Still, it was irritating and demeaning.
"Come on, Doctor," David said. "Surely you understand."
Kim cast a glance at the receding image of Becky and Tracy. He looked back at David, who was not about to be intimidated, physically or otherwise.
"But…" Kim began.
"No buts," David said. "Don't make me call the police, which I'll do if you don't cooperate."
Reluctantly Kim turned around and walked back to the waiting room. There were no seats, so he leaned up against the wall by the entrance. He tried to watch the television but couldn't concentrate. He raised his hand and looked at it; he was trembling.
A half hour later Tracy and Becky emerged from the treatment area. It was by chance that Kim happened to see them as they pushed through the exit door. They were leaving without even having tried to find him.
Kim quickly gathered his coat and gloves and hurried after them. He caught up to them just as Tracy was helping Becky climb into the car.
"What are you going to do?" Kim demanded. "Just ignore me?"
Tracy didn't say anything. She shut the door behind Becky and then walked around to the driver's-side door.
Kim followed and put his hand on the door to keep it from opening.
"Please, don't cause any more trouble," Tracy said. "You've already embarrassed both of us."
Taken aback by this new and unexpected affront, Kim took his hand away. Tracy got into the car. She reached for the door but then didn't close it. She looked up into Kim's surprised and hurt face. "Go home and get some sleep," she said. "That's what we're going to do."
"What happened in there?" Kim asked. "What did they say?"
"Not much," Tracy reported. "Apparently her blood count and electrolytes, whatever they are, are fine. I'm supposed to give her broth and other fluids and lay off the dairy products."
"Is that all?" Kim asked.
"That's it," Tracy said. "But, by the way, they said the culprit could very well have been Ginger's chicken. They see a lot of food poisoning secondary to chicken."
"It wasn't," Kim shot back. "No way! Ask Becky! She was feeling sick the morning before the chicken." Kim leaned over to talk directly to his daughter. "Isn't that right, Pumpkin?"
"I want to go home," Becky said, staring out through the windshield.
"Good night, Kim," Tracy said. She pulled the door shut. started the car, and drove away.
Kim watched the car until it had disappeared behind the corner of the hospital. Only then did he start walking toward the doctors' parking area. He felt alone, more alone than he'd ever felt in his life.
SEVEN
Tuesday, January 20th
The OR door burst open, and Kim and Tom entered the scrub area outside OR number 20. As they did so, they untied their face masks and let them drop down over their chests. They rinsed off the talc from their hands.
"Hey, thanks for lending a hand on such short notice," Tom said.
"Glad to help," Kim said flatly.
The two men started walking up the corridor toward the recovery room.
"You seem down in the dumps," Tom said. "What happened? Did your accountant just call you about your bottom line in response to the new Medicare reimbursement rates?"
Kim didn't laugh. He didn't respond at all.
"Are you all right?" Tom asked, seriously this time.
"I suppose," Kim said without emotion. "Just a lot of aggravation." Kim then told Tom what had happened in the ER the night before.
"Whoa!" Tom commented when Kim was finished. "What a God awful experience! But don't be down on yourself for taking a poke at that Barclay Bradford character. I had a mini run-in with him myself. Administrators! You know, I read in a journal last night that in the United States there's currently one administrator for every one and a half doctors or nurses. Can you believe that?"
"Yeah, I can," Kim said. 'That's a big part of why our healthcare costs are so high."