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I entered the hospital and approached the receptionist. A young girl with her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She pulled the glass panel back and I quickly glanced at her nametag.
"Hello, Jane. I just broke my arm, I would like to see a doctor."
"Of course sir." Jane replied. Surprised at how calm I was. "Umm...just have a seat, I'll make some calls and see who's available."
"Thanks."
On the left side of the room, there were some chairs and a table with some magazines and a bible. Classic hospital waiting room setup. There was a fake tree in the corner by a water fountain. I found a few empty chairs next to Jane's desk. I don't like sitting beside strangers (especially hospital strangers) which is why I sat in the farthest seat away from the other patients.
There weren't many people in the waiting room. I did a quick head count and came up with seven including myself. About five chairs to my left, there was the old lady, Mrs. Hickory, who lived a little farther down the road I live on. She had heart problems. The old lady had about three heart attacks a year, it seemed. They usually weren't major but a few times she came close to Death's door. Mrs. Hickory was here with a man who I had never met before. He looked to be about 30. I guessed he was her grandson.
On the other side of the room, directly in front of me was a Hispanic woman close to my age. She was very attractive. She had long black hair and wore a thin yellow tank top. If I wasn't married, I probably would have tried to get her number. This woman looked healthy enough but the little boy she was with, (who was probably no older than Jake) had a bandage wrapped around his hand, so I assumed that was why they were here. I remembered seeing her at the drug store in town where Gwen and I get our medicine. I couldn't remember her name, if she even told me what it was before. I also didn't remember hearing about a kid.
The other person I knew was Dr. Haxon, who was standing by a door to my left and talking to a man who looked about 40 years old. The man was rubbing his head and making painful expressions. I couldn't hear everything they said but I caught the words "head" and "die" from the man in pain, so he must have had a really bad headache. When Jake was three, he tripped and busted his head on our coffee table. Dr. Haxon was the one who patched him up. Needless to say, we got rid of the coffee table until Jake got old enough to watch where he was going. Dr. Haxon took the man into the room and shut the door. Now there were five of us.
The waiting room was surprisingly quite. There was the occasional sniff from Mrs. Hickory's grandson accompanied by some whispers from the drug store lady and her son. I said nothing to anyone.
About a minute after my observations were complete, Jane slid the glass panel back again.
"Dr. McCoy is almost finished with his current patient. He will see your son shortly Ms. Santos."
"Okay, Thank you." Ms. Santos replied.
The glass window slid shut again. Jane picked up a phone and began talking to someone. I wondered why they even need a glass window like that. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that if someone came in with a nasty contractable illness, the glass would probably be a sure way of keeping it out. How nice. While the other patients are catching the illness, the hospital staff would be just fine. Why don't we get a glass window? We could all catch ebola and Jane would be just fine. There's a kid in here for Pete's sake! What if some guy came in and infected us all!? Where the hell is my glass window!?
I forced myself to calm down. I was getting angry again. I thought I had this under control. Twelve months of anger management and constant medication wasn't cheap. I tried to remember what the therapist told me five years ago. What was his name? Take deep breaths. Think happy thoughts. Ronald? Richard? No. Peaceful thoughts.
I went to my special place. The special place I created in my mind for times like this. It was a clearing in a deep evergreen forest. The sun was shining through the break in the canopy. I was sitting on a large gray rock about two feet high. The top was flat and perfect for sitting. I stared at the little stream flowing beside the rock. Tiny blue fish swam along the current. A white tailed deer stood on the other side of the stream. It stared at me staring at it. It's antlers were still covered in velvet. It was almost close enough to touch. I reached out to it with my arm. My right arm. My finger was two inches away from it's nose when I heard a faint ringing in my ear.
The ringing got louder and louder. The white-tailed buck darted away. The birds in the trees flew in the same direction. Still the ringing got louder. My special clearing began fading into black. I heard the sound of metal rattling and clanging. I opened my eyes. The ringing was real. The rattling was real. A voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Attention all patients and staff. The hospital is being forced to lockdown. Please do not panic. The situation is under control. I repeat: Do not panic. The situation is under control."
I entered the hospital and approached the receptionist. A young girl with her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She pulled the glass panel back and I quickly glanced at her nametag.
"Hello, Jane. I just broke my arm, I would like to see a doctor."
"Of course sir." Jane replied. Surprised at how calm I was. "Umm...just have a seat, I'll make some calls and see who's available."
"Thanks."
On the left side of the room, there were some chairs and a table with some magazines and a bible. Classic hospital waiting room setup. There was a fake tree in the corner by a water fountain. I found a few empty chairs next to Jane's desk. I don't like sitting beside strangers (especially hospital strangers) which is why I sat in the farthest seat away from the other patients.
There weren't many people in the waiting room. I did a quick head count and came up with seven including myself. About five chairs to my left, there was the old lady, Mrs. Hickory, who lived a little farther down the road I live on. She had heart problems. The old lady had about three heart attacks a year, it seemed. They usually weren't major but a few times she came close to Death's door. Mrs. Hickory was here with a man who I had never met before. He looked to be about 30. I guessed he was her grandson.
On the other side of the room, directly in front of me was a Hispanic woman close to my age. She was very attractive. She had long black hair and wore a thin yellow tank top. If I wasn't married, I probably would have tried to get her number. This woman looked healthy enough but the little boy she was with, (who was probably no older than Jake) had a bandage wrapped around his hand, so I assumed that was why they were here. I remembered seeing her at the drug store in town where Gwen and I get our medicine. I couldn't remember her name, if she even told me what it was before. I also didn't remember hearing about a kid.
The other person I knew was Dr. Haxon, who was standing by a door to my left and talking to a man who looked about 40 years old. The man was rubbing his head and making painful expressions. I couldn't hear everything they said but I caught the words "head" and "die" from the man in pain, so he must have had a really bad headache. When Jake was three, he tripped and busted his head on our coffee table. Dr. Haxon was the one who patched him up. Needless to say, we got rid of the coffee table until Jake got old enough to watch where he was going. Dr. Haxon took the man into the room and shut the door. Now there were five of us.
The waiting room was surprisingly quite. There was the occasional sniff from Mrs. Hickory's grandson accompanied by some whispers from the drug store lady and her son. I said nothing to anyone.
About a minute after my observations were complete, Jane slid the glass panel back again.
"Dr. McCoy is almost finished with his current patient. He will see your son shortly Ms. Santos."
"Okay, Thank you." Ms. Santos replied.
The glass window slid shut again. Jane picked up a phone and began talking to someone. I wondered why they even need a glass window like that. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that if someone came in with a nasty contractable illness, the glass would probably be a sure way of keeping it out. How nice. While the other patients are catching the illness, the hospital staff would be just fine. Why don't we get a glass window? We could all catch ebola and Jane would be just fine. There's a kid in here for Pete's sake! What if some guy came in and infected us all!? Where the hell is my glass window!?
I forced myself to calm down. I was getting angry again. I thought I had this under control. Twelve months of anger management and constant medication wasn't cheap. I tried to remember what the therapist told me five years ago. What was his name? Take deep breaths. Think happy thoughts. Ronald? Richard? No. Peaceful thoughts.
I went to my special place. The special place I created in my mind for times like this. It was a clearing in a deep evergreen forest. The sun was shining through the break in the canopy. I was sitting on a large gray rock about two feet high. The top was flat and perfect for sitting. I stared at the little stream flowing beside the rock. Tiny blue fish swam along the current. A white tailed deer stood on the other side of the stream. It stared at me staring at it. It's antlers were still covered in velvet. It was almost close enough to touch. I reached out to it with my arm. My right arm. My finger was two inches away from it's nose when I heard a faint ringing in my ear.
The ringing got louder and louder. The white-tailed buck darted away. The birds in the trees flew in the same direction. Still the ringing got louder. My special clearing began fading into black. I heard the sound of metal rattling and clanging. I opened my eyes. The ringing was real. The rattling was real. A voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Attention all patients and staff. The hospital is being forced to lockdown. Please do not panic. The situation is under control. I repeat: Do not panic. The situation is under control."
