9
Alison
“Alison, Mrs. Engle called to see if we can move her appointment this afternoon back an hour.”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob of the exam room I was about to enter, turning my head to glance at Gina, the office assistant manager. “What does that do to our schedule?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing good. It means your last patient is scheduled at five-thirty, so realistically speaking, you won’t get out of here before seven at the earliest.”
“Damn.” I chewed the side of my lip. “What’s Mrs. Engle coming in for?”
“Just her six-month blood pressure check.”
“Can we fit her in tomorrow?”
Gina darted back into her office, and I heard some clicking as she navigated her computer. When she stuck her head out the doorway again, she was smiling. “Definitely. We have some wiggle room in the morning and the afternoon.”
I nodded. “Okay, great. Can you see if she’s able to do that? If she can’t . . .” I hesitated. Typically, I’d change my schedule to accommodate a patient, even if the need wasn’t pressing. But today . . . “If she can’t, please see if she can come in next week. Adding her today should be the absolute last resort, okay?”
Gina nodded. “Gotcha, boss.”
Standing next to me, my nurse practitioner in training raised one eyebrow. “Now, that’s got to be a first. I’ve been here for over three months now, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do that.”
I frowned. “Do what?”
She laughed. “Tell a patient that you won’t bend over backward to fit in their non-emergent appointment. You know the girls in the front office joke that you’ve trained your patients to expect that they can access you whenever they need, at their own convenience.”
“That’s not true,” I protested, even as I realized the truth of her statement. “Or if it is, it’s just that I try to make life easier for everyone.”
“Except for you,” Cathy pointed out.
Since I didn’t want to venture down that path of conversation, I ended the discussion by opening the exam room door. The patient was a teenage boy who needed a physical in order to join the wrestling team at school, so I introduced him to Cathy and then left her to do the job. She was really growing into her role as an NP, and I’d found that giving her more autonomy only helped both of us.
She wandered into my office half an hour later to drop off a copy of the physical form for me to sign for our records.
“How’d it go?” I asked as I scribbled my name at the bottom.
“Fine. He’s a sweet kid.”
“Yeah, he is. His whole family come here for their care.” I slipped the form into my outbox for the manager to file.
“Uh-huh.” Cathy dropped into the chair across from my desk. “So . . . can I ask a nosy question?”
I smothered a smile. I’d come to enjoy and appreciate Cathy’s open and curious personality during her time here. We worked together well, and I was seriously considering offering her a job in the spring, after she’d graduated.
“If I tell you no, will it stop you?”
“Probably not,” she admitted cheerfully.
“Well, then, I guess you might as well go ahead.”
“Are you seeing someone?”
I nearly dropped my pen. “What? Why do you ask?”
Cathy shrugged. “You’ve been happier at work. I catch you humming while you’re doing mindless stuff. And today, you’re all dressed up and the look on your face when Gina asked if we could add someone who would keep you here late . . . it was definitely not a thrilled face. If I were a betting woman, I’d have a hunch that you have a date tonight.”
My face was flaming. “Oh, would you?”
