Kelly caught up to him. “Ah, but I think you do,” she said. “Having to wait three hours in an emergency room with a sick child must have been a major aggravation that I’d love to discuss.”
“Too bad,” Kim said. “Among other things I was just reprimanded for giving you that bottom-line quote. I’m not talking with you.”
“So the administration hates the truth,” Kelly said. “That in itself is interesting.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Kim repeated. “You might as well save your breath.”
“Oh, come on!” Kelly said. “Your having to wait hours to be seen in the emergency room will strike a familiar chord with my viewers, especially with the ironic twist that it’s a doctor doing the waiting. We don’t even have to discuss the assault and battery part if you don’t want.”
“Yeah, sure, as if I could trust you,” Kim said.
“You can,” Kelly said. “You see, I think having to wait so long relates to the merger story. I believe it has something to do with AmeriCare’s interest in profits. What do you think?”
Kim looked at Kelly as they walked. Her bright blue-green eyes sparkled. Kim had to admit that although she was a pain in the neck, she was also smart as a whip.
“You said it, not me,” Kim remarked. “So no quotes. My life right now is sufficiently screwed up that I don’t need you to make it worse. Goodbye, Miss Anderson.”
Kim went through a pair of swinging doors leading back into the operating area. Kelly pulled to a stop to the relief of Brian. Both were out of breath.
“Well, we tried.” Kelly said. “The sad irony is that this time I’m sincerely sympathetic. A month ago I had to wait almost the same amount of time with my own daughter.”
Kim entered his office complex by the back door. It gave him a chance to get into his private office without having to go through the waiting room. As he struggled out of his suit jacket he picked up his phone and got Ginger at the reception desk.
“I’m back,” Kim said. With the receiver caught in the crook of his neck, he walked over to his closet. The telephone wire was just long enough.
“You’ve got a waiting-room full of patients,” Ginger said. “Thanks to Tom’s emergency surgery, you’re about two hours behind schedule.”
“Any phone messages of import?” Kim asked. He managed to get his jacket hung up and grabbed his short white doctor’s jacket.
“Nothing that can’t wait,” Ginger said.
“No calls from Tracy?”
“No,” Ginger said.
“Okay, have Cheryl start moving the patients into the examining rooms,” Kim said.
After slipping on the white jacket and collecting the pens and other paraphernalia he kept in his pockets, Kim dialed Tracy’s number. While the call went through. he draped his stethoscope around his neck.
Tracy answered on the first ring as if she were right next to the phone.
“Well, how’s the patient doing?” Kim asked. He tried to sound upbeat.
“Not a lot of change,” Tracy said.
“Any fever? How about cramps?” Kim asked.
“Some’ Tracy said. “But I was able to get her to take some chicken broth.”
Kim was tempted to say that Ginger had tried to get her to eat chicken broth on Sunday, but then he thought better of it. Instead he said: “It sounds like you’re making progress. I’ll bet Becky will be feeling herself in no time.”
“I certainly hope so,” Tracy said.
“It stands to reason,” Kim said. “With no fever and no elevated white count, her body’s obviously handled the infection. But keep me posted, okay?”
“I will,” Tracy said. Then she added: “I’m sorry if I was mean last night.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Kim said.
“I feel I said some nasty things,” Tracy said. “I was very upset.”
“Please,” Kim said. “I was the one out of line, not you.”
“I’ll call if there’s any change,” Tracy said.
“I’ll either be here or at home,” Kim said.
Kim hung up the phone. For the first time all day he felt relatively content. Walking out into the corridor, he smiled at Cheryl and took the first chart.