Chapter 14: I'm Ready To Present

April 10, 1990, Holy Tuesday, McKinley and Circleville, Ohio

"What's your point about the lounge?" Doctor Wernher asked as we continued our conversation.

"Since I became a Resident, we've lost the Residents' office and one of our consultation rooms because we needed more treatment rooms. That leaves no place to sit and discuss cases didactically with students, so at a minimum, they should be allowed in the lounge for that purpose. As an aside, we've also lost the Attendings' office because you need an office in the ED, not upstairs, so there's no place to conduct meetings out of earshot of patients except the single consultation room.

"As for nurses, they need a place to relax, even for a few minutes, when the ED isn't busy. But even more, they always had access, and taking it away sends the wrong message. It says they aren't valuable members of the team and makes them second-class citizens. That's a bad thing, no matter how you slice it. The new ED has two lounges, plus an on-call room and a locker room, as well as four consultation rooms, so make the changes when we move, if you feel it's necessary."

"Do you know the intention for having two lounges? I didn't see anything in the notes Doctor Northrup left."

"From the most recent conversation I had with him about it, he intended the smaller one to be for Attendings only and the other one for everyone else, though obviously Attendings could be in the larger lounge if they preferred. That said, none of it was cast in stone."

"I'll consider everything and decide what to do before the end of the week."

"Let me just say that the sooner you resolve the situation with the nurses, the better. The longer it goes, the more difficult it will be to get them onside."

"I'd like to ask a question I probably shouldn't ask," Doctor Wernher said.

"I ask those questions all the time!" I chuckled. "I can't object to someone else doing the same thing!"

"Why concede anything when it's likely you would win in the end?"

"Why have an enemy when I can have a friend? I didn't pick a fight with you, Doctor. Was I unhappy Loretta didn't get the job? Absolutely. But for that to have happened, we'd need a time machine to go back and prevent the February 20th incident, though that wouldn't have guaranteed anything, given there appears to have been a desire to hire from the outside.

"Once Lor was shot, there was no way they weren't bringing someone in from the outside. I accepted that and, in fact, felt your background was positive. We got off on the wrong foot; now we're on the right one. Well, assuming you agree with my proposals. And I won't gloat or lord it over you or cut you down behind your back. I want a win-win scenario whenever possible. Let's have a beer soon, Doctor. I believe we actually have a lot to talk about."

"I'll let you know," Doctor Wernher said. "Dismissed."

I got up, left his office, and headed to the surgical locker room to change into my street clothes so I could drive home. After dinner, we attended the third Bridegroom service, and when we arrived home, we said evening prayers and put Rachel to bed. Once she was tucked in, Kris and I cuddled on the couch.

"I think I may have resolved the situation with Doctor Wernher," I said. "But to reach a win-win scenario, I had to agree to eighty-hour weeks through the end of August. In addition, I offered to be flexible about vacation days around your delivery."

"And what did you receive in return?" Kris asked.

"Détente," I replied with a smile.

"Oooh, «le docteur américain» uses a French word!" Kris teased in her lovely French accent. ("the American doctor")

"A good portion of English comes from French, thanks to the Normans! In any event, the program will continue as originally designed, and Doctor Wernher will rescind the changes to the lounge and allow the nurses more flexible breaks. Well, assuming he accepts, which I believe he will."

"Why would he give up so easily?" Kris asked.

"I believe he realized that, in the end, he would lose. I'm pretty sure that realization happened on Friday at the M & M when there was a chorus calling for him to sit down. Ultimately, if he wants to achieve his goals, he needs allies, not enemies. Or, it's also possible he's following Michael Corleone's principle of keeping friends close and enemies closer. Either way, my program is back to normal, and eighty-hour weeks are the norm for PGY1s."

"It's not ideal, obviously, but we agreed that we'd make whatever adjustments were necessary for your Residency. My sister will be here every day, starting June 2nd."

"You say that like it's a good thing!" I teased.

Kris laughed softly, "You like her, even though she can be challenging!"

"Perhaps," I replied. "But she's more interested in toying with Brett than teasing me, at least for the moment! Do your parents like him?"

"He's Orthodox and a good student, so I would say they approve."

"Back to our family. Rachel will either be at daycare at the church, at Abi's, with your parents, with her godmother, or with the Kozlovs during the week. That should keep her happy and busy."

"What would your schedule be?" Kris asked.

"I suggested 5:00am to 9:00pm, Monday through Friday, and Doctor Wernher seemed amenable. That leaves weekends free for us, so we can attend church as a family, go to band practice, do our shopping, and have family time. And we can adjust Rachel's schedule so she can see me some evenings. The two of you could also come to the hospital for lunch or dinner during the Summer. We could meet at the diner across the street, if you'd prefer."

"Let's see how things go with Charlotte Michelle, but I like that idea. What happens in September?"

"Mary and I will split shifts in the ED, and I'll be on a surgical team. I'll work from 5:00am to 5:00pm on weekdays. Mary will work 5:00pm to 5:00am when I'm in the ED and 5:00am to 5:00pm when I'm in surgery. Those weeks, her first shift will start at 5:00pm on Mondays, and her last shift will end at 5:00am on Saturdays. It kind of sucks for her, but that's the life of a PGY1. Things will improve for her in a year.

"For the times when neither Mary nor I is in the hospital, other surgical Residents will cover. In just over a year, we'll add another Resident, and things will improve a bit, as I said. It'll be another four years or so before we have a full complement of trauma surgeons. A bit over a year from now, I'll be a PGY3, and I'll have better shifts because there will be two more junior trauma surgeons who'll put in longer hours."

"Are you happy?" Kris asked.

"I would have preferred not to have had the conflict in the first place, and I positively hated sitting around doing nothing for hours on end, so yes, I'd say I'm happy with work. I'm positive that's what you meant to ask, but I want to say I'm very happy in general. I have you, Rachel, and Charlotte, even though I'm not able to hold Charlotte just yet because you're monopolizing her time!"

"Not for much longer! About two months from now, and we'll have her in our arms."

"I enjoy having you in my arms!" I said lovingly.

"And I enjoy being in your arms!"

"Has our marriage been what you expected it to be?" I asked.

"I'm not sure how to answer that," Kris replied. "Not because I'm not happy; I am very happy. It's that I don't know that I really had expectations of what it would be like. Of course, my expectations of how wonderful sex would make me feel were exceeded!"

"Your prediction was correct, though."

"Which one?"

"That most of our lovemaking would be like our wedding night — slow and gentle."

"Because it fits both our personalities and meets the true need we both have for closeness. We also both very much enjoy giving pleasure, and neither of us seeks our own at the expense of the other. That said, once Charlotte Michelle is born and I recover, I might need to be ravished for hours and hours!"

"It will be my pleasure to give you maximum pleasure!" I declared.

"And all we can do now is cuddle because of our agreement about Holy Week."

"I'll always enjoy cuddling with you!"

April 11, 1990, Holy Wednesday, McKinley, Ohio

"Hi, Shelly," I said from the door to the Residents' office in surgery late on Wednesday afternoon. "You wanted to see me?"

"Come in and shut the door," she said.

I did as she asked and sat down across from her.

"What's up?"

"Remember how I asked you to be patient? I think things are going back to normal with the ED."

"I'll be back in the ED next week, with shifts from 5:00am to 9:00pm Monday through Friday, with Mary as my student; the lounge is now open to all; the nurses have flexible breaks; and that will cause them to withdraw their grievance."