Were they?
“—I can’t help but feel you could be doing more for those two young doctors.”
“I plan to.” Dok busied herself with straightening paperwork on her desk. “I just haven’t quite figured out how to do it. Myday is so full with patients and emergencies ... and paperwork ... it’s difficult to find a way to fit them in.”
“You heard about what happened to Hank Lapp at the store today?”
“No.” She froze. “What?”
“Wren Baker told him that he suffered from hearing loss and that’s why he shouted all the time.”
Dok cringed. “How did Hank take that?”
“Better than you might think. He told her that his mother said he’d been blessed since birth with a voice that could wake the dead.”
Dok let out a deep huff. “David, I have been so caught off guard by Charlie and Wren. I’m thoroughly unprepared for them. They need so much supervision.” She leaned her elbows on the desk and rested her chin in her palms.
“They’re eager.” He made it sound like a selling point.
“Yes, eager. I’ll grant you that. Very eager. But also culturally insensitive to the Amish.” Wren, she meant. She leaned back in her chair. “And did I tell you they didn’tmatchon Match Day?” That was still hard for her to swallow.
“You did.” David folded his arms against his chest. “But the nurse is working out well for you?”
“Evie? She’s a big help. She’s had a lot of direct patient care experience, unlike Wren and Charlie. And she’s very intuitive. She knows what I need before I ask for it. I told you that her grandparents were Mennonites, right?” She dropped her shoulders in a sigh. “It’s unfortunate that Evie’s only here for a couple of months.”
“So, you say that the residents need supervision, and they need a little work with cultural sensitivity. Since Evie is familiar with Plain ways, maybe she could do some supervising of them when you’re called out of the office?”
Interesting. Dok tilted her head.“It’s not typical ... but I suppose Evie could provide guidance. Maybe on some basicpatient concerns.” She gave him a thumbs-up. “Good thinking, David.”
“Why can’t you take one or both of them on house calls?”
“Most of my house calls are to the Amish. I guess I just ... feel protective of them. It took a very long time for them to accept me. Evie is one thing. I don’t have to worry about how she handles herself around the Amish. But the residents are a different matter.”
“But people do accept you, and if you were to explain to them about the resident doctors, and how they’re gaining experience under your supervision, then I think you might be surprised by the acceptance. Your word carries a lot of weight around here. You’ve earned people’s trust.”
“And I’ve worked very hard for that trust. Earning trust doesn’t seem to be on the residents’ radar. Honestly, they haven’t earnedmytrust either.”
His brow furrowed. “You’re going to have to let them interact with your patients. All of them. Englisch and Plain.”
“I’m working on it.”
David stroked his beard in a thoughtful way. “King Solomon once said, ‘Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.’”
Dok frowned. “It sounds like King Solomon started with someone who was wise to begin with. I’m not sure about these two.”
“And then there’s Paul’s words in the book of Titus, encouraging older women to teach what is good—”
Dok slapped a hand on her chest, coughing a laugh. “Older women?”
“You’re missing the forest for the trees, Ruth. Sharing knowledge and experience with the younger generation is pleasing to the Lord.”
Dok swallowed a sigh. Once David started quoting Scripture, she knew she was beaten. How does one argue with the Word of God? “Fine. I read you loud and clear.”
His face softened, and he pulled at his beard. “Listen, I do understand. Training a store employee isn’t the same thing as training a doctor, but I can appreciate the time and investment it takes, especially at first.”
Dok grinned. “And you have a revolving door of store employees.”
He winced. “I know. As soon as they’re trained, they seem to find better-paying jobs. Still, I like to think I’ve been a building block in their life’s journey.”
Only her brother. Dok gazed at him, impressed by his ability to try to squeeze out the good to be found in any and all situations. “Okay, okay. I get your message.” A yawn escaped. “I’d better get home before Matt wonders if he still has a wife.” As soon as she said it, she wished it back. “Don’t! I already know what you’re going to say. That’s why these candidates are here in the first place.”
Amused, David rose to his feet. “Maybe you should start by calling them what they’ve trained to be—doctors.”
Overly enthusiastic, socially oblivious, thoroughly inexperienced, green-as-grass doctors.
Nope. Dok just wasn’t ready for them.
