Feeling No Pain
The summer wind whispered in the
trees as I climbed the last hill. The hospital was finally in my
sights and I sighed in utter relief. I had missed the bus in the
morning and had to run all the way here. It was a long way.
Today
was my very first day at my new job and I was meant to attend a
meeting in which we would be shown around and put into our teams. I
had wanted to be early and my car was in repair, so I was going to
take the early bus. But instead I missed it and there were no other
buses for an hour so I thought it healthy, for my career and my body,
to run to work. I attracted looks as I raced past patients smoking
outside of the entrance and whisked past a couple and to the
receptionist. "Hi." I panted breathlessly. "I'm one of the
new doctors and I am here for the meeting."
"Ah," the woman
sighed knowingly. "You're just in time. The meeting is starting
in two minutes."
The receptionist gave me directions, it was
only up the stairs and in the room on my third right. I thanked her
and ran for it. One minute.
I burst through the door at the last
second. All the others were seated and every head turned to stare at
me.
I gave a nervous laugh and looked for a seat. Only when I sat
down did they all turn away. I gulped. There must've been about 100
other people in the huge hall.
The woman at the podium launched
back into her speech and I relaxed slightly. She just rambled on
about our duties and the purpose of teams.
The meeting was a
tedious one, just mainly speeches and instructions.
Then, finally, we were told to go to room 47 in the West Wing to be
separated into our teams.
I sighed in relief and walked along
with the mass of people to the room. The halls were white and
sometimes there would be an interesting painting and I would stop
then have to catch up with my group.
I arrived and walked inside,
seating myself in one of the front rows before it started.
A man
walked out and looked around at all of us, a smile on his lips that
looked forced and unnatural. "Good Morning everyone." He called
out once the crowd quietened.
"I am Dr. Samson and am the
director of the hospital."
`He had blue eyes and shoulder
length wavy hair and wore a black suit. Dr. Samson slowly began
reading from a long list of names.
"Sally Drawson, Kurstin
Blake, and Jessica Budin." He called out. "You are in team one
with Dr. Lazuli."
Three people got out of their chairs and
walked over to a woman with brown eyes and hair the color of obsidian
that she wore in a million tiny plaits. She smiled sneakily at her
team and they all walked through the door. That's when I noticed
the doctors that stood all around the sides of the room.
Some
looked proud, others looked bored and irritated. Dr. Samson drawled
on for the good part of an hour. I was ready to give up when-
"Mia
Midgee, Samuel Bulldog and Emma Ayres." He droned. "You are in
team thirty three with Dr. Cullen." I stood up at my name, but as
Dr. Cullen walked up to take his place a lot of the others stood up
as well. I couldn't see him as I walked up to him. But then, the
crowds parted. He was young, he was blonde…and he was handsomer
than any movie star I'd ever seen.
He was pale though, and
tired looking, with circles under his eyes. I realized I was staring
and closed my mouth just before he saw me.
He smiled at all of
us and led us outside. "Alright," he said in a voice that I found
remarkably appealing. "Welcome. From now on you are Dr. Midgee, Dr.
Bulldog, and Dr. Ayres." I felt a rush of pride at my new name.
"Come, I will show you around the hospital." He announced.
As
I followed him around, I looked over at Dr. Midgee and Dr. Bulldog.
Dr. Midgee looked more like a dangerous weapon than a woman, her
round blue eyes swimming with secrets and hostility. Her fine,
midnight blue hair fell past her shoulders so straight that you could
cut yourself on it.
Dr. Bulldog looked like a placid man with
droopy brown eyes and his scruffy, long blonde hair.
He felt my
gaze on him, and looked over to smile at me.
Dr. Cullen stopped
at a door and got out a silver key from his pocket. He unlocked it
and inside was a desk, a sink, a coffee machine, and a table with
four chairs around it.
"Welcome to where you'll live for the
rest of your time here."
"Neat." Dr. Bulldog remarked.
Dr.
Cullen smiled and wandered over to the desk where he opened a drawer
and pulled out a document. He walked to the table and threw it down.
"Sit down." He said calmly.
I sat at the end while Dr.
Midgee and Dr. Bulldog positioned their chairs to face Dr. Cullen. He
sat at the other end and picked up the document.
"This is our
first case." He said in a musical voice.
"A woman 20 year
old woman had a heart attack in her home last night. No medical
history of anything but broken bones."
"Did she smoke?" Dr.
Midgee asked.
"No." Dr. Cullen dismissed.
"Diabetes?"
Dr. Bulldog questioned.
"No." Dr. Cullen sighed.
Then it
clicked.
"Dr. Cullen?" I said sensitively.
"Carlisle,
please." He chuckled. I refused to meet his eyes.
"Well,
then, Carlisle." I muttered. "Did you say that she had a history
of broken bones?"
"Yes…?" He sounded hopeful.
"Could
it be that she breaks so many bones because she has vision
problems?"
There was silence. "Dr. Midgee, Dr. Bulldog."
Carlisle said quietly. "Go and find out anything about her history
that you can." They ran off without another word. "Dr. Ayres.
We're going to ask our patient some questions."
I rode a
strange high as Carlisle walked me down the spotless halls. It felt
good knowing that he had picked me over the others. We walked into
the room and he smiled at our patient. She looked terrible, deathly
pale skin but her eyes looked fine.
"Hello." Carlisle said in
a perfectly natural tone.
I envied his professional ease and
skill. "I am Dr. Cullen and this is Dr. Ayres."
He motioned
to himself then to me. "We are your doctors."
I smiled at
her, but she just stared right through me.
I examined her charts
while Carlisle asked her a few questions. He pulled up her side table
and laid seven pictures out on it. "I want you to put these in
order for me." He said slowly. I put down the charts and looked at
her, studying her reaction. She nodded and gazed intently at one of a
little boy flying a kite. She shook her head and started to cry.
Carlisle comforted her as best he could. "It's okay." He said
softly.
He looked at me meaningfully and I nodded, knowing that
he wanted to ask her some questions in private. I walked down the
corridor to our room and sat down, reading over Carlisle's
document. This was a real mystery now.
Carlisle arrived and sat
down beside me.
"I asked her about her parents." He said
coolly. "She said that her mother had glasses when she got older,
but that is to be expected." I frowned. "Didn't she look like
she was in pain?" I asked him. He tensed, and then shook his head.
"No." I frowned again. He sighed.
Dr. Midgee and Dr. Bulldog
walked in. "Nothing in her history." Dr. Bulldog grumbled.
"How
did she break her bones anyways?" I asked. "She broke her leg
when she tripped; she broke two ribs when she fell off the monkey
bars in school." Dr. Midgee hissed at me. "There are too many to
count." Then I had a brainwave. "Her bones break too easily." I
whispered.
Every pair of eyes in the room focused on me.
"Osteomalacia." I hear Carlisle murmur. "But how does that
affect her heart?"
"Broken bones cause an increase in
calcium." I said. "That could interfere with her heart." More
staring.
"Genius." Dr. Bulldog muttered. I blushed
slightly
"Dr. Bulldog." Carlisle called. "Do a bone biopsy
and find out how strong they are. Dr. Midgee. Do a blood test and see
how much calcium is in her bloodstream." The two doctors nodded and
ran off. He turned once again to me. "You are very good." He
praised.
I blushed again and Carlisle chuckled. "Come," he
said. "Let's ask her some more questions."
We were once
again walking to interrogate the patient. "This time, you ask the
questions." He laughed. I did. I asked her about her breaking her
bones and noticed that her fingers looked like flesh had been ripped
from them and it had healed many times. Her lips were also puffy,
cracked and bloody. I asked her to open her mouth, and the tip of her
tongue was gone. "What happened to your tongue?" I asked her. "I
don't know." She said strangely.
It was probably because of
her tongue. I narrowed my eyes. "Don't your lips hurt?" I
questioned. "No." she said in a low voice. I paused. "Have they
ever hurt?" She stopped, and then shook her head.
"She has anhidrosis!" I
exclaimed when Carlisle and I were back in our room. He shook his
head. "How did you come to that conclusion?" "She had puffy
lips, her hands have bite marks in them and the tip of her tongue is
gone!" I cried. "She says that her lips have never hurt."
There
was a long silence. "Wow." Carlisle said after a while.
I sat
down, breathless by my discoveries. We were silent. Dr. Midgee rushed
in first. "She was right." She said. "I know." Carlisle
muttered weakly. Dr. Bulldog was close behind. "Bones of an old
lady." He confirmed. They all turned to look in my direction. Every
gaze was like a scrape on my consciousness, each with a different
burn. Dr. Midgee's was unbearable, Dr. Bulldog's was numb. And
Dr. Carlisle's was one of breathlessness and surprise and longing
in one flaming fire of emotion. And it hurt the most of all.
It was lunch
hour and I went outside to get a breather. I wasn't hungry after
all I'd seen, just a bit scared.
"You were simply amazing."
A voice behind me said. I jumped and spun around, seeing only that it
was Dr. Bulldog.
"Oh, it's just you." I sighed nervously.
"And thank you Dr. Bulldog, but it was nothing." "Please call
me Sam." He grumbled. "And from the look on Dr. Cullen's face
you were more than nothing."
I blushed. So much blushing today!
"I do thank you, Sam," I said. "But he…was just surprised."
Sam gave me a sarcastic look with his droopy brown eyes.
I looked
away. He sighed. "Did you want to grab some ice cream before we go
back to work?" he offered. I looked back up at him, surprised.
"That would be great." I stuttered. I had not expected Sam to be
so friendly. I smiled and we walked across the road to the corner
shop. I had found my first friend at the hospital.
After lunch I
took a deep breath and walked into our room with Sam. I didn't want
to be alone with Carlisle. He was hunched over his desk, perfectly
still. I tiptoed to my seat with Sam.
Suddenly, he looked up.
"Afternoon Dr. Bulldog, Dr. Ayres." He stuttered as he took his
seat at the opposite end of the table. I refused to make eye contact
with him, even though I could still feel his gaze on me.
Sam
gave me a reassuring look that Carlisle seemed to tense a little at.
Had I offended him?
But it was over as soon as it begun. Dr.
Midgee burst in. "Sorry I'm late Dr. Cullen!" she
said.
Carlisle didn't acknowledge her at all. His eyes were
still burning into me. She pouted a little at that, but didn't
glare at me. She simply sat down and waited.
I had never had
much experience with men. I was seen as something un-desirable and
different. Carlisle acted so strangely, and I wondered if he found me
un-desirable and strange too.
Something told me that he didn't.
But why did he keep staring. Dr. Midgee cleared her throat and
Carlisle snapped out of it. "Oh." He said, looking dazed. "Sorry.
I was thinking of what to do with our patient."
Dr. Midgee wore
a look on her face that just screamed Yeah, right! I was
still thinking of what to make of Carlisle's expression when he
stood up. "We need to all go and ask our patient about her past."
He stated firmly. He then walked out.
Dr. Midgee only glared at
me when he was out of the room. I sighed and walked after him, Sam
following close behind.
Carlisle was already at her bedside.
"Did you ever feel pain when you broke your bones?" he asked. She
shook her head. But then everything changed.
She began to shake
wildly, and her eyes rolled into her head. Carlisle gasped. He looked
at all of us, questions in his eyes.
"She's seizing!" He
cried.