Time Off
"Yeah, poor guy's had it," the respiratory therapist said sadly, shaking his head.
"Well, he'll be okay once he's fixed and be back in a few days," replied a nurse almost absently as she checked the supply count in the exam room.
The particular respirator they were talking about in exam room three hadn't been very reliable recently in when it would turn on and stay running. Dr. Brackett had wanted the thing fixed, so there was the RT getting it ready for the repair shop. He finished unhooking the machine and stood back, thinking. He grinned.
"Hey." The nurse looked over her shoulder at him. "Don't you think it would be better if certain channels were taken?"
Dixie McCall frowned in confusion. At least five nurses were gathered around the station, talking and giggling. She knew from experience that when there were so many nurses in one spot, it wasn't a good thing.
"Okay, we need a name for him," Shelby said.
"How about Fred? I like that name," Daisy suggested. Heads bobbed in agreement.
"What is going on here," Dixie asked, looking from one face to another.
"Oh, hi Miss McCall. You want to help?" Shelby smiled.
Roy DeSoto and John Gage exchanged worried glances. Not only was there a fairly large group of nurses at the bay station, Dixie was among them and she was laughing. It wasn't so much the group or the laughing that worried them, it was the glint they saw in Dixie's eyes when she turned their way.
"Johnny, Roy, perfect timing. Want to help?"
"What is this? A joke?"
"It's exactly what it looks like." Dixie was calmly sitting in a chair across from Dr. Kel Brackett's desk. The corners of her mouth were twitching up, undermining her serious expression.
Kel sighed and looked at the paper in his hands again. "Who, exactly, is requesting this?"
Dixie smiled a little.
Kel's eyes went wide. "It isn't..."
Dixie nodded, giving in to the urge and smiling fully. Kel stared at her for a second, then began laughing. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard and said as much.
"Why? He works here, right?"
"Well, yes, in a manner of speaking." Kel frowned, laughter gone.
"I'm just saying that you should be impressed he thought to fill this out, all right and proper and stuff." It was hard to keep a straight face and she didn't really mind loosing that battle.
"This looks amazingly like Roy's handwriting," Brackett said, studying the scrawl.
Dixie shrugged. "He couldn't fill it out himself, so Roy did it for him."
A moment of silence. Then, "Fred?"
Dixie raised an eyebrow. Kel sighed again and picked up a pen.
"I'm not gonna do this again, Dix, under any circumstances. Got it?"
"Alright Kel, if you insist." She took the form and headed out of the office. To get a good laugh, Brackett figured, along with everyone else. He chuckled and went back to his patient's chart.
Dr. Mike Morton paused mid-step in the hallway. Dr. Joe Early was reading something intently, from what he could see, taped up at the bay station. The older doctor would read it, shake his head, re-read it, chuckle, and repeat. Wordlessly, Mike went and stood next to him. It was a request for leave of absence form, which read something like this:
Name: Fred O'Breath II
Organization: Rampart General Hospital, Emergency Room
Type of Leave/Absence: Illness/injury/incapacitation of requesting employee
Dates/Time Requested: From September 21st to September 22nd or 23rd; 8:00 am to ?
Remarks: "I need some serious time off I'm having an brain/organ transplant."
Under the signature for Mr. Fred O'Breath II (which looked remarkably like Johnny's writing), there was Dr. Kelley Brackett's, head of ER.
Mike looked at Joe, Joe looked at Mike. They both looked at Dixie, who was reading over some paperwork on a supply request. She felt their stare and glanced up.
"What?"
"O'Breath," asked Joe, blinking.
"What is this, a joke?"