Lawrence leveled his gaze at him, unfolding his fingers and sitting upright. “You’re going on vacation.”
Puzzled, Kingston shook his head. “I don’t have one scheduled.”
“You do now.” Lawrence picked up a small sheet of paper and handed it to him.
Kingston glanced over it. “What is this?”
“A prescription.”
Smith Pediatricswas printed at the top of the script, along with Kingston’s name and the other docs who worked in the practice. In the center of the paper where scripts were usually written sat one word:sabbatical.
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re taking a break. A long one, at least a month.”
“Fromwork?”
Lawrence nodded. “From both clinics, from the health department, from hospital rounds. All of it.”
Kingston shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“You can. And you will.” Lawrence pointed to the prescription. “Doctor’s orders.”
Kingston laughed. “Very funny.” He dropped the script on the desk. “I know I’ve been a little harried—”
“‘Harried’?” Lawrence’s gray eyebrows lifted. “‘Harried’ doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“I’ll have a talk with Janine about my schedule. It’s been pretty full lately. I’m sure I can free up a weekend or two over the next month or so. And I promise, I won’t work on those days.”
Lawrence shook his head. “That’s not good enough.” He took the script, scribbled on it, and gave it back to Kingston.
His jaw dropped at the new instructions. “Two months?”
“It’s either that or you’re fired. Or worse, you lose your license.”
Kingston fell back in the chair. “What are you talking about?”
Lawrence turned to the laptop on his desk and tapped on the touchpad. “Have you checked your medical ratings lately?”
“I never look at those.”
“You should.” Lawrence cleared his throat and started to read. “‘I’ve been taking my two girls to see Dr.Bedford for over three years and have always been satisfied. But the last appointment was disastrous. He didn’t listen to what I had to say, he rushed through their checkups, and when my youngest asked for her lollipop, he completely ignored her and rushed out of the room. He also...’” Lawrence looked up. “Shall I go on?”
Kingston shrank. “No. Are there more of those?”
“Ten, at the last count. On this site alone.” Lawrence sighed. “You’re an excellent doctor and a hard worker. Too hard. You’ve been spreading yourself thin, and we hoped you would realize on your own how it’s affecting your patient care. Instead, I hear you’ve filled up every Saturday with volunteer work at the health department—”
“You know how shorthanded they are.”
“And you’re only one person. You can’t heal everyone, Kingston. The way you’re going, the more you try, the more harm you’re doing. You need balance.” Lawrence pointed to the prescription. “You need time off.”
Kingston couldn’t respondbecause Lawrence was right. He was burning the candle at both ends. In addition to extra time at the health department, he had covered for all the other doctors’ vacations over the past year, had gone to visit his patients in the hospital on his off-hours, had attended seven medical conferences on his own dime and his own time, and last semester had taken an adjunct teaching gig at Henderson—and then dropped the ball on this fall semester because he was so busy. He was tired, and sometimes he was cranky and short-tempered with his staff, although he always apologized afterward.
But he’d had no idea he was providing subpar care to his patients. And that included their families. Pediatrics wasn’t just about the kids.
“Two months?” he said faintly. “What about my patients?”
“Kim will take over for you,” Lawrence said, referring to the advanced practice nurse they’d recently hired. “We’ve also talked about bringing on another PA.”
