Chapter 4: The First Encounter
As the day passed by and one patient after another entered the doctor's praxis, John's nightmare slowly vanished out of his mind.
He was busy, talking to impatient patients, reassuring concerned parents of ill children, arguing with one of his assistants about some silly files… In short: Working-non-stop.
It was the beginning of September and slowly but clearly the flu was going around, duplicating the amount of patients he treated every day.
So when he finally finished at around 8pm he was just about to leave as he met one of the new nurses on the hallway. Mary Morstan. He recalled her name. She had just been employed a week ago and though she was very quiet and seemed to be a bit shy, she obviously got along well.
As much as John had been told by some of his colleagues, she had worked before then in a much better and huger clinic, one with a great reputation.
Heaven knows why she had chosen to come here of all places.
"Good evening, Dr. Watson" she nodded and smiled sheepishly.
"Oh please, just call me John. And you are Ms. Morstan, am I right?"
They actually had not found the time for a proper talk yet. Both have been just too indulged and busy with their work. This was indeed the first time they were exchanging a few words.
"Exactly." She answered. "It's Mary, for you" she smiled again, now even brighter.
"She's pretty" John thought. Her blond short hair was kept in a ponytail and her huge eyes were sparkling blue. She was rather petite but there was something in the way she moved which made her look strong.
"Okay, Mary. I hope you're coming along well? If you've got any questions or remarks you can come to me or my colleagues anytime." He offered.
"Thank you. I'll remember that if I should ever need help. But right now everything is working pretty well. Except that your little praxis is nearly overrun by patients. "She made a little grimace, though smiled nevertheless.
"And what about you, Dr. Watson … uh, I mean, John? You're looking quite exhausted, too. Are you alright?"
"Could be better", he admitted, "Haven't slept good in the last few nights. Need some rest, I suppose. I'm indeed wearied at the moment. But then there's my schedule which is so putting a spoke in my wheel." He sighed exasperatedly. He didn't tell her that there was more to it. More than just an overfilled schedule…
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. You should really take yourself some days off." She said and patted his shoulder.
"Ah, no. I really can't do that. I cannot afford that. And besides, I love my job. It's just a bit much at the moment." He shook his head.
"Yeah, okay. I understand that. Well, anyway … if you should ever need someone to cheer you up you can call me. I'm quite new here as you know and am in need of someone to show me a bit around." Now she was showing her bright and captivating smile again and John couldn't help but do the same. "Oh yeah, sure. I will. Thank you very much." He nodded and stretched out his hand. Mary took it. "Good night. See you soon."
"Yep, have a good night as well. Bye."
He found himself still smiling stupidly, when walking out of the praxis.