Lily swiped the probe end of the thermometer across the forehead of the elderly women she was tending to. She hated these thermometers because the reading wasn't as accurate. The general rule of thumb was to add a degree to the results. The small device beeped once, and she turned it to see the readout. 103.3 was not a good readout, especially after adding that one degree.
"How long have you felt this way?" she asked as she prepared a hypo-shot combination of two drugs, acetominophen and a strong antiviral.
The woman was barely able to answer her. "About a week."
"Why didn't you come in sooner, Evvie?" asked Doctor Alexander as he entered the exam area.
"Not enough beds..." Evvie winced as Lily administered the drugs.
"I'd have built one for you!" Alexander admonished kindly. "I'd have given you my own!"
"You already don't get enough sleep," Evvie whispered.
"Hush," Alexander replied. "Lily, if there isn't a bed free, seriously, give her mine. It's the one in the back room."
Lily nodded. "There've been a few that have freed up since I've arrived," she said softly so that Evvie wouldn't hear.
The male doctor sighed. "Come see me when you've gotten her settled."
Again, Lily nodded. She saw the elderly Evvie to a bed and had a civilian orderly help get her settled. The old woman was asleep before Lily left her. She went in search of the doctor, and found him resting in his office. His head was down on his desk, and it took a moment for her to realize that he was weeping. She shut the door fully behind her.
"Doctor Alexander?" she asked softly.
He shuddered, then straightened, hurriedly wiping his face. "I'm all right, Lily. It's just, this is very hard on a man who has delivered their babies, set their broken bones. Every doctor sees his people buried, but it's not supposed to be like this."
"You're right," she agreed. "It's not. When I was a girl, there was a similar plague on my planet. No where near as deadly as this one is, hardly anyone died. It's what made me want to be a nurse."
"As I recall, that was the Flu Scare on Beta Talisman."
"You remember rightly, Doctor Alexander."
"Now Lily," even though he was still a little snuffly from his tears, he stressed his familiar use of her name. "I believe I told you to call me Marcus."
"Once again, you're right." Curse it! She felt herself blushing.
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in, Miri," Alexander called out, recognizing her profile through the frosted glass of the door.
Miri cracked the door, taking in the scene without a comment. "Marc...we have a problem."
4 comments:
Damn you! You cut it off just when I'm ready to read more....I hate having to wait for the next installment.
Sorry, Neph. I was in a hurry to get a post up before another thunderstorm came through! But at least it keeps you coming back for more right?! lol.
I'll try not to make you wait so long for the next post. LGS takes a little more time than I was expecting...Jean-Luc wasn't kidding when he warned me about that.
That's the sort of line to end a part on!
LGS does need a lot of your time, doesn't it?
just a little! The team work challenges require more time than the alone challenges!
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