I made my way back through the corridor, this time looking out for anything moving quickly towards me, and back into the reception. On the right of me I saw a door with a sign on it saying 'STAFF ROOM'. I walked over to it and put the code in.
Inside was a sink, some cupboards, a sofa at the far end of the room and there were a line of lockers along one side. I found the correct locker and put in the code. It clicked open and inside were some green scrubs, my pager and a copy of my shift timetable. Also, sat at the back was my brand new stethoscope. It was orange and as I picked it up I felt another stream of adrenaline rush through my body; this really was actually happening! I put them in my bag and left the timetable in there as I already had a copy. I closed the locker and went to the toilets to get changed.
When I returned there was still no one in there. Once again, I opened my locker and put my things in. I clipped my pager to my trousers and put my stethoscope around my neck. As I did this I smiled, I was still sure that I was dreaming!
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door and a man in green scrubs walked in. He was tall, had light-brown hair and was wearing a red stethoscope around his neck. I assumed this was Tom.
"You're Ellie, right?" He said. He sounded pretty friendly!
"Yeah! I'm guessing that means you're Tom then?"
"You guessed right!" He said, with a smile on his face as he held his hand out to me. I shook it and smiled; I was right about the friendly part!
I shut my locker as he walked in and shut the door behind him. "So, you're 21, you're a paediatric emergency medicine specialist and you started med school when you were 15!" He said, as if he was being quizzed.
"Someone's been listening!" I exclaimed! Not many people could remember even that much about me!
"So, are you ready to enter the wonderful world of cubicles?" He said in the most sensible voice he could. That wasn't easy for him as it wasn't exactly the most normal question ever!
"As ready as I'll ever be!" I laughed!
We walked out of the staff room and through the double doors just around the corner. There was another corridor and as we walked down it and through the doors at the end, he explained to me that he would be with me all the time for the first week until he knew that I'd be alright on my own and that if I needed any help I had to ask.
Just hearing that made me once again nervous. He could see that and he asked me if I was ok. "I'm fine, sorry! I'm just nervous." I said.
"You'll be fine!" He reassured me as we reached the desk.
"So, where do you want to start? Easy, hard?"
"Anything you like!" I really didn't mind what he gave me; I just wanted to get started!
"How about this? Arm laceration, it just needs some stitches so it should be pretty simple!"
"Sure!" I said in agreement.
"Ok, so I'll introduce us whilst you prepare the kit," He told me, he laughed when he saw the nervous look on my face, "I've told you, you'll be fine!" This made me smile as we walked over to the patient in bed 3.
The patient was a young man aged 24 and he had a large cut on his arm. As I prepared the kit, Tom introduced us. "Hi, I'm Dr Kent and this is Dr Lawson. Dr Lawson is going to stitch your arm up and then you're free to go!"
"So why are you here then?" The man asked Tom.
"I'm just observing." He replied.
Nothing more was said after that.
I put the kit down on the bed and prepared the anaesthetic. "Sharp scratch." I said as I placed the needle into the wound. The man winced. "We've just got to wait for the anaesthetic to kick in and then we can begin!" It told him.
"How long will that take?" He replied.
"About 2 minutes."
"Okay."
"So how did you do this?" Tom asked.
"I caught it on a nail at work." The patient replied. I wasn't sure whether I believed him or not, but it wasn't serious so it didn't really matter that much.
"I'm going to start, okay?" I told him.
"Yeah." He didn't sound very pleased, but then you wouldn't if you were about to have stitches in your arm!
I stitched his arm quickly as I found it surprisingly easy! "Done!"
"Thanks, can I go now?" He asked me in a hurry.
"You've just got to sign some paperwork, THEN, you can go." I told him. He wasn't going anywhere until I had finished with him!
I put the things I had used where they needed to go whilst Tom found the necessary paperwork.
"Nearly there!" He said and I laughed.
I signed where I needed to and then told the man where he needed to sign. He signed it and before I knew it he asked if he could go. "Yes, you can go now!" I told him. I wasn't sure why he wanted to go so soon but I wasn't going to stop him!
We walked to the desk and watched as he walked out of the room. I'd never seen anyone walk out of a hospital so quickly!
"Nice work," Tom told me, "I've never seen such neat stitches!"
"Right!" I laughed. "I'm pretty sure you have!"
"I'm not, that was amazing!"
"Umm... Thanks!" I was quite amazed that someone had just congratulated me on my stitches!
"What next?" Tom asked me.
"Anything!" I replied!