He’s sitting on the couch, fighting exhaustion.
Hopefully he’ll get some rest. He’s probably still wired from last night.
We gave him some ibuprofen about thirty minutes ago. He’s been leaning his head in his hands and rubbing it often. We could tell his head was bothering him, and checked with him to see if he was allergic to it.
I’ll be there soon. I’ll text you when we’re a half hour out.
Sounds good. We’ll bring him to you.
Thank you.
If nothing else, I wanted to get Ryder checked out by one of our doctors today. I looked at my watch and started to figure out approximately when we’d be back in New York. I thought a late day appointment would work out best. I placed a call to the medical office on campus and reached an assistant.
“Good morning, thank you for calling Omnia Medical Clinic. My name is Melvin. How may I help you?”
“Morning, Melvin. This is Atlas Christos. I need to make an appointment for a new student.”
“One moment, Mr. Christos, and I’ll pull up the schedule.”
“If at all possible, I need an appointment today, please.”
There was a pause, and in the background, I could hear typing.
“Mr. Christos, is this for your mentee, Ryder Baker Smith, or another student?”
“It’s for Ryder.”
“Wonderful. He is actually the only incoming student who hasn’t had his evaluation yet. So this will be perfect to get that out of the way. Dr. Fitzpatrick is available all afternoon. Do you know which off-campus facility will be more convenient for Ryder and his family?”
I didn’t need to get into specifics with Melvin.
“Ryder will be staying at the Plaza Hotel near Central Park. So the facility you have in the Upper West Side would be most convenient.” I paused when I heard typing again. “Melvin, is Dr. Fitzpatrick available for me to speak with?”
“He is. Would you like to speak with him prior to securing an appointment time?”
“Please.”
“Okay, one moment and I’ll transfer you to his office.”
It had been a few rings, and I was hoping the doctor would answer the call.
“Dr. Fitzpatrick,” he said into the line.
“Good morning, Doctor. This is Atlas Christos. How are you today?”
“Atlas, good morning. I’m well, thank you. I hear we have a new student of yours to look forward to this upcoming semester.”
“Yes. Ryder Smith. He’s the reason for my call.”
“Yes, we need to get him evaluated. When will his family be in town?”
“Dr. Fitzpatrick, Ryder is in a delicate situation. He doesn’t come from the typical family situation as most of our other students.”
“I’m pulling up his file now.” I paused to give him a moment to read whatever he wanted to read. I listened to him as he mumbled. “Eighteen… Biological parents unknown… Foster parents of six years Pamela and Roger Craig… Prior to that in and out of foster homes. No medical records on file in Los Angeles.” Dr. Fitzpatrick cleared his throat. “Did I sum it up, Atlas?”
“Roger Craig has anger issues. And I say that purely from my own observations.”
“I see.”
