"Nylon 3 suture please",
"Nylon 3 suture coming right up"
"Finishing time!"
"22:00 hundred hours-finishing time"
Another suscesful appendicentomy! A prayer of thanks is offered . All are unscrubbed-and we called it a day.
I was getting ready to go home after a long day. I walked through the sombering corridors of the theretre, all coloured either in pearly green or turquoise blue. I could hear every nudge of my step on the floor. The monotony of colour was not one appealing to sight, but over the years, it had become almost an emblem of the OT. I watched as patients where wheeled in as emergency or elective cases for operation. The anxious look on their faces differed very little from my own, especially in my early years of apprenticeship. Sometimes I feared my hands and eyes would fail to coordinate, sending the patient into a precocious rest from which they would awaken no more. I would often query whether the air cons were functional or had become decrepit over time-for streaks of perspiration would mark my brow as it were a man working in the blast furnace .
I reached out into my back pack to pick out my mobile that created a discord in the serene silence that prevailed. I turned to switch it off, but in no time it rang again. I supposed it to be a call. But as I took a clear look at the screen, the time read thus '9 AM'. I turned to my wrist watch to thwart the inconsistency in time, and it read '09:00hrs'. I wondered as to what could have caused that strange tell of time. Had I over stayed in theretre or were my 'time keepers' unwary of the hand of time?
While in the jargon of thought, and paucity of action, a familiar sound was heard. A doorbell. But why would a doorbell be heard in theretre? In the maze I heard a distinctive voice calling out ,"Andy, Andy, Andy!" For a moment I felt a little entranced, then it hit me, I had just awoken from sleep. And I was late for work. It was really 9 in the morning. I pulled the curtains, and a flood of light swept through the room with piercing brightness. I jumped out of bed as one who escaped the clutters of death.
I hurriedly rushed to the door to check who had come to disturb me early morning. As I turned the door knob I realized I was not ready to meet the world in my state, the night's drool had clowned my face. "A minute " I shouted . "Alright pal" a reply came.
After putting on a gentleman's facade, I opened the door and who should I find standing in front of me with a jolly big banana smile, Natalie! She had a striking semblance of little red riding hood. The scene however lacked a old granny and a rogue of a wolf. And instead of a red hoody, she had on royal blue. "Hey Andy, good morning, hope you had a lovely night. I just came by to let you know that I have made plans for you to meet up with mom. I told her that you are a therapist, and that you could be of great help to her. Though she wanted to know what kind of therapist you where, she said there's a whole bunch of your type and she needed to know which one. Actually she wanted to know if you do psychotherapy or something like that. So which one are you Andy?"
"Aaaaaum. Aaah, well Natalie, can we talk about that a little later, I kinda overslept and I need to rush for work right now. My boss will be wroth with me if don't make up for lost time."
"Oh okay, sure. No problem. Then I'll see you tomorrow, is that okay?"
"Tomorrow is fine, you need to get going now, wooosh"
"Okay Andy , 'Mr Andy'."
"Wow, that went fine, no resistance."
I turned to fix myself up for the day's work. But just when a stone's throw away, my little neighborhood 'miss bouquet' turned and shouted, "OH, Andy, I have kept my word, I made delivery of flowers to Chandler. She's an angel, she loved them flowers. In fact she said if I keep up the good work, she'll pay me a 'note' for every delivery."
"She liked them?" ,
"Aanha!"
"But wait minute, did you tell her they were from me?"
"Well aaah, no. Was I supposed to?"
At this point I had totally forgotten time was ticking.
"What? But that was part of our deal- you were supposed to take the flowers and tell her they were a gift from me, you know, like a weekly dose of friendship "
"But technically they were my flowers you know" she interrupted .
"Natalie!" I motioned with a seemingly stern face.
"Alright alright, alrighty then. I'm sorry, I should have told her- in fact I'll let her know on my next dispatch . Oh and do I also get a little allowance since I'm doing this outside my compassion week itinerary? "
"I thought a visit to your mom was your pay?"
"Okay, okay-deal renewed on old terms"
I soon managed to wade off my little whisker. I ran into a frenzy to ready myself for work and in no time I was out of the house.
As usual, by the time I perched into the hospital area, the parking lot was filled up. I had to maneuver around for a porch for my little cart. I knew a fine or clamp was coming my way for that.
I rushed into the clinic and was I in luck, my absence was bearly noticed. I took my place in one of the rooms and I was handed a pile of patients's files. Patient after another walked in and walked out till non was left. A wheeew moment . Some patients were satisfied, others dispondent. A clinch in diagnosis was always something to look forward to as a doctor yet a dread,at times, to the patient for it either added to the fears or added to the already existing exasperation. One of the hardest things I had come to learn is to admit ones gap in knowledge of certain spheres of medicine, though one dreaded instilling a lack of confidence in the Healthcare system. 'I don't know, followed by appropriate reference if avaialble' would save many an alchemist of health unnecessary trouble, and the patient -mismanagement. At the end of the day, it was worthwhile . I had come to enjoy the ritual of inspection, palpation percussion and auscultation. It made me appreciate the little details of life. Things as subtle as splinter hemorrhages, or nicotine stains could be harbingers of grave conditions-hence their presence worth notice.
Perhaps Natalie was that little nuance of life that reminded me that the simple things of life do really matter too. Perhaps I needed a bouquet of beauties by my clinical window.
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