“Sure thing, Dr. Pierce,” the receptionist said.
On a whim, I decided to go for it. “Hi,” I called through the receptionist's window. When the doctor turned around, I glanced down at her lab coat. “Dr. Pierce, I’m Savannah Greyson. I saw online that your clinic is looking to hire a physician assistant.” I stuck out the folder in my hand.
“I know this is a bit unorthodox—"
“We like unorthodox here,” she said, cutting me off.
I smiled. “Well, I’m certainly that. Anyway, I’m a licensed PA with just under five years’ experience in the emergency room.”
“That would make a shift to urgent care easy,” Dr. Pierce noted as she scanned my résumé.
“Yes, it would,” I rushed on. “I live only about ten minutes from here, and I can be flexible.” I stopped short. “I mean, I do have a nine-year-old son, but your online job description said you were looking for someone for day hours.”
“We are,” she said.
I pushed out a sigh of relief. “Great. As you can see, my references are excellent.”
“What would you do in the case of a patient presenting with shortness of breath or unexplained wheezing?” she quizzed.
I inhaled and ran through the numerous medical scenarios that could cause a patient to present with those symptoms.
“It depends on the patient, of course. I would do my best to get a medical history to rule out asthma or any other possible chronic condition. But you said unexplained wheezing, so in all likelihood, the patient hasn’t experienced it before. In which case, I could be led to believe possible cardiac arrest. But the necessary testing should be run to be sure.”
“Which we don’t have here,” Dr. Pierce noted.
I paused and glanced around. “I would follow the proper protocols to get the patient transported to the nearest emergency department, which is Carson Medical Center, so they can be tested and get the treatment they need.”
Dr. Pierce nodded. “All viable solutions. What are you doing tomorrow morning at nine?”
“Nothing.” Hope welled up in my chest.
“Can you be down here for a formal interview? My wife and co-owner of Brightside will be available then.”
“Absolutely. I will see both of you then.” I stuck out my hand for her to shake. “Thank you so much, Dr. Peirce. Thank you,” I said to Reese, the receptionist.
She gave me a giant smile and thumbs up.
“If this works out, we’ll have you to thank,” Dr. Pierce said. “We’ve been short-staffed for a while now.”
“I look forward to the opportunity.”
A few minutes later, I exited Brightside Clinic feeling a little taller than when I walked in. Brightside was the urgent care facility that was number one on my list. Though the salary was on the lower end of the spectrum of what I could make, it was still enough for Aiden and me to live comfortably, once we moved out of Ace’s house.
I’d already started to think about rebuilding my life down there in Harlington. I didn’t want to pull Aiden out of school in the middle of the year, and if I could find a job doing what I loved and serving the people I most wanted to, it would be a win-win.
Brightside Clinic served those who were uninsured or underinsured. Due to that, the staff salary wasn’t the same as one would make at a higher-end facility or even working in a hospital, which was likely why they had trouble with staffing.
But this was the population I’d always wanted to work with. It was why I’d had my heart set on going into medicine since I was a teenager.
While the rest of my life might have been a complete mess, things were looking up in my career. All I needed to do was bide my time with Ace, get him to sign the divorce papers so that I could inherit my grandmother’s trust, pay off Vincent Reyes, and hope that was enough to keep Aiden out of his biological father’s crosshairs.
CHAPTER7
Savannah
The sun nearly blinded me as we pulled into the parking lot for the Air Force summer picnic. It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in sight, despite the predicted late afternoon thunderstorms.
It was still early in the summer, but the temperatures reached the high eighties. I would bet the temps would rise at least another ten degrees before the day was over if the rain didn’t come.
