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I’m not sure why I never considered who this woman might be attached to, but fortunately, it’s not my problem. The woman is walking chaos and it’s clearly someone else’s mess.
Dakota sniffles and fuck me, I’d fire myself right now if I could. I’ve never been so distracted with a patient.
“I’ll just turn you this way and take a look,” I tell her.
Once I see the inside of her ear, it’s obvious what’s going on with her.
“Oh, that’s a nasty ear infection.”
I can barely make eye contact with Marlow now, but I can tell from the way her breath staggers and her feet shift anxiously that she’s alarmed.
“Her ears were just checked a couple days ago,” she says.
I look in the other ear and wince. “Both sides. And this side looks like it’s been going on for a while.”
“Oh God, her doctor looked at her ears and completely missed it,” Marlow says, her voice close to tears.
I write a prescription on my tablet and hand it to her. “Start her on this tonight and give her the full course of antibiotics even if she starts feeling better. Once she’s done in ten days, it’d be good if you got her in to see her pediatrician.”
“I just moved here. We don’t have one yet. Can you recommend anyone?”
“Where did you take her a few days ago?” I ask. “Notthere.”
I am striking out on professionalism right and left.
She frowns. “To her doctor in Texas…whoobviouslydidn’t do a good job.”
Guilt stirs in my gut, but I have to do my due diligence when I’m dealing with a patient. She brought her daughter in now and I’m pretty sure I believe her when she says she took Dakota somewhere else a couple days ago. Someone who didn’t try to take care of their daughter wouldn’t be about to cry right now, and the fact that Dakota is cuddled up to her mom like she’s her whole world is another good sign that this little girl isn’t being mistreated.
It’s sad that we’re trained to think this way, but I’d rather be suspicious than let any neglect slide through the cracks on my watch.
“Dr. Langley is great. Dr. Brady is too. If you’re not able to get an appointment with either of them and Dakota is still sick, you can always bring her into the ER again and one of us will take a look.”
“Are you a pediatrician or an ER doctor only?”
“I’m a family physician and we all rotate shifts in the ER.”
“So we might have to see you here again too…”
I resent the way she says that, even though I know it’s for the best. We got off to the wrong start and there doesn’t seem to be hope of that changing.
But the way she’s pushing to get her daughter seen again is another check in the positive column for Marlow. I have no doubt now that despite the state of Dakota’s ears, her mom is a good one.
“I’ll do my best to make sure you’re seen by Dr. Emma Langley,” I say abruptly, standing up and putting the otoscope in place on the table. “I’ll send Amelia back in to go over the prescription with you and the options for getting it filled. Bye, Dakota.” I wave at her and she waves back, leaning into her mom’s side.
Emma Langley or James Brady will have to take Dakota as a patient because I’ll be staying as far away from this Marlow woman as possible.
“Wait,” Marlow calls after me. “What about your car?”
I sigh and she shifts her feet, her cheeks splotchy with anger.
“Leave your number and I’ll be in touch,” I grumble.
I leave the room feeling like I’ve been tossed in the dryer on high.
CHAPTERTHREE
IMPACT
