I really don’t know if I want to tell Edward about this. Not only don’t I know him well, but he’s in the same field I’m in. I’d hate for him to spill the tea and alert the hospital board what’sgoing on. Although, nothing is definitive so they can’t be mad at me for considering an offer.
Edward senses my hesitancy because he’s quick to say, “Or you and Pickles can go yourselves. No skin off my nose.”
“You know what?” I decide, “Let’s all go. I bet you’d have some good insights for me, Edward.” He smiles appreciatively.
I walk next to the two older men in pursuit of a solution to my problem. Because honestly, I’ve got no one else.
By the time we reach Hook, Line, and Sinker, I’m feeling a little more optimistic about my choice of counselors. I discover both men have been married for over thirty-five years and they both consider themselves happily hitched, as they put it. I knew this was the case for Kevin, but I learn Edward is equally contented.
Kevin opens the door of the rickety-looking bait shop and immediately calls out, “Three buckets of tots, Frankie, hold the worms!”Gross.
A hefty older man around Kevin and Edward’s age walks out from the back room. He’s wearing an apron that is either dirty from cooking or dirty from worms. I can’t tell which. “Pickles, Eddie! How you boys doin’?”
Kevin turns to me and explains, “Frankie has been part of our gang since we were in diapers.”
I try to imagine how these seemingly very different men have managed to stay close friends. I guess a lot of that has to do with proximity. They all stayed in the town they grew up in so it’s easier to assume the disparity of their life choices didn’t cause major disruption to their friendship.
Kevin declares, “Our friend Tommy here needs our help, Frankie. So, get those tots and let’s see what we can do for him.” Great, now I have three old guys weighing in on my life.
Kevin and Edward lead the way to a small table in the corner of the shop. They sit down and motion for me to do the same. Edward asks, “So how’s life treating you, Thomas?”
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk about,” I tell them.
Before I can explain, Frankie comes out with three small buckets of tots. He arrives quickly which makes me wonder if he made them before we got here. After setting them on the table, he pulls up another chair to join us. Frankie must sense my hesitancy regarding the food, because he declares, “We use different buckets for the worms.”
My companions dig in, but I don’t. Instead, I tell them, “I’ve met a very nice woman here.”
“Finley?” Kevin asks. When I nod my head, he tells the other men, “That sweet gal from Happy Snaps.” They grunt in what appears to be approval.
I continue, “But I’m having a tough time adjusting to life in Elk Lake. It’s very different from what I’m used to.”
“I bet,” Edward says while reaching for a handful of tots.
“Also,” I tell them, “I just received an offer from my old hospital and I’m not sure I can turn it down.”
“And you want to know what to do about Finley?” Kevin asks.
“Exactly,” I tell him.
We bat around the same ideas that Shelly and I did. There are no new insights. That is, until Edward asks, “Have you given any consideration to going into private practice?”
“I haven’t,” I tell him. “I’ve been an ER doctor from the start.”
“But you weren’t happy doing that in New YorkorElk Lake. Maybe it’s time to try another area of medicine.”
He’s not wrong. “But don’t you get bored?” I ask him.
“Not at all. I have a full roster of patients. Like I told you the other day, as their primary care doctor, I get to know them well. I get to know their families, too. It’s very rewarding.”
“But I don’t really know anyone here yet,” I say. “I don’t know how I’d even get started in private practice.”
“Lucky for you, you know a doctor who’s about to retire and is going to need to sell his practice.”
I feel a jolt of something shoot through me. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad yet. “I wouldn’t want to take over for you and then decide I don’t mesh with being a primary care doctor,” I tell him.
Edward nods his head. “You’d want to take some time to come in and shadow me,” he says. “I’d give it a couple of weeks to make sure you get a good idea of what I do.”
“Except I have a job at the hospital,” I tell him. “I’m not sure where I would find the time.”
