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“No shit?” Drew asked.
“No shit,” she answered. She let out an exhausted breath. “Actually, Idoknow what his issue is with me. He doesn’t like the ‘hype’ surrounding me.”
“You’re too much of a badass for him?”
“It would seem so. It’s not as if I make a habit of touting my accomplishments—okay, that’s a bit of a stretch. Even I can admit that I’m the queen of the humblebrag, but I’m working on myself. Anyway, there are not many residents with a CV as decorated as mine.” She shrugged. “I’m an overachiever, what can I say?”
“You think you have to tellmeyou’re an overachiever? As if I didn’t have a front-row seat to watching you twist yourself into knots over test scores.”
“If you think it was bad in high school, it’s nothing compared to how obsessed I became about grades in college and med school,” she said. “But therealhype started after an incident that happened back when I was a first-year resident, during my general surgery rotation. The patient’s gallbladder had erupted, and the attending had just removed it, and then he quit.”
“What do you mean he quit?”
“He quit. Right there in the middle of the surgery. He said, ‘I’m done,’ put down the number eleven blade, and walked out of the operating room.”
“What the fuck? Who does that?”
“Those may have been my exact words. It’s one of the few details I can’t recall from that day,” London said. “I just remember taking over. After getting past the shock of what had just happened, several of the nurses ran to get another surgeon to help, but by the time that surgeon arrived, I was in the zone. She allowed me to complete the procedure.” She flicked imaginary dust off her shoulders. “And that’s how the legend was born.”
“Damn, London. That’s pretty badass. No, that’stotallybadass. You’ve earned the right to brag.”
“Well, if you ask Coleman, what I did that day wasn’t a huge deal.”
“So he’s a hater,” Drew stated.
“A big one. The fact that I’m a woman only irritates him more. I wasn’t being hyperbolic when I said the thing about him believing that women should only be nurses and not strive to be physicians. He’s actually said those words. I haven’t heard them directly, but several of my colleagues have.”
“And no one has brought it up to Human Resources?”
“The thing you need to know about Coleman is that he’s been at County since they laid the first bricks on the building. No one questions him because he’s such a legend. And when someonedoesquestion him, she’s labeled a troublemaker.
“I’m never disrespectful to his face,” she continued. “I understand that I’m a resident and he’s been at this for decades. But I won’t just sit there and take shit either. Or remain quiet when I see something I don’t agree with.”
“You shouldn’t,” Drew said. “I think if more people had questioned some of the decisions that have been made at County, the hospital wouldn’t be in the position it’s in now. Which brings me to this program.”
Drew gestured to the knee-high rock wall that lined this portion of the walking path. He waited for London to take a seat before continuing. “Now, I know geriatrics isn’t your wheelhouse.”
“The exact opposite of my wheelhouse,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but I still want your opinion. It’s about the Seniors Clinic that’s attached to outpatient care services.”
“That’s still in operation? I thought County disbanded it after the city built that new Council on Aging facility last year.”
“That’sthe reason for the sudden drop-off.” Drew snapped his fingers. “I couldn’t figure it out. It looks as if the number of patients using it has steadily declined over the years, but there was a significant drop about fifteen months ago, and no explanation for it.”
“From what I hear, Coleman was pissed because that Seniors Clinic was a feather in his cap,” London said. “Now he can’t tout the success of the program to the hospital’s board of directors.”
“Yeah, but the hospital is still putting a good portion of its budget into a clinic that no one is using.”
She looked over at him, a furious scowl on her face. “Are you kidding me?”
Drew held his hands up. “Don’t blame the messenger. Trident’s chief auditor discovered it this morning. It raised a huge red flag for him. When I looked a little deeper, it just didn’t seem to make any sense.”
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I have been begging for the past year for a sensory room on the pediatric floor, and Coleman has shot me down, citing the budget. Yet he’s spending funds on a clinic no one uses?”
Drew raised his hands again. He didn’t have an answer for her. Instead, he asked, “What’s a sensory room?”
Her anger remained palpable. Drew could tell that she was struggling to get it under control.
