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Procedure 8:
Optipessimism
We all go through our lives…
People are hurt, cut, bruised…
A medical solution for a medical situation comes into my hand.
There are burns, people who get hit in the face with guitars, but the one thing
doctors cannot cure…
Is the human heart. Not the one of anatomy, but the actual heart we all have,
the heart that holds in it our strongest desires and darkest secrets.
Emotion, a cut more than skin deep.
Which leads me to my thoughts of him…
“I already told you, I’m not going to sue you! Why are all you damn lawyers so
uptight?!” the girl who had been hit in the face by the guitarist “Zeut” was
angry.
“Miss Redan, just calm down, would you?!” Northe yelled suddenly. She had been
silent for most of the fight, but just letting this bickering continue…
“How are you going to pay for this?” the lawyer asked, ignoring Northe’s
interjection, “You can’t have that much money, by the way you look.”
“Excuse--” Raine had walked in the room to check up on her patient, but she was
rudely--and ironically, at that--interrupted by the very person she way trying
to save.
“ ‘The way I look’? Just what exactly do you mean by that? I had enough money to
go to that concert, and I have my ways to pay for this operation too. I‘m Regale
Redan. I have my ways. She…” a finger was thrust at Raine, “says the right half
of my face is fractured or something. She’ll fix it. So there.”
“Excuse me, but--”
“And? I can’t take your word on this. What if this doctor messes up? What if you
don’t like the operation?” the lawyer had a firm gleam in his eye.
“Excuse me, I--”
“I know what you’re trying to do, you know, I’m not an idiot!”
Northe sighed, “Ugh. People here will do anything for money. He’s trying to get
her to sue so he can file a countersuit. This is annoying me, Dr. Sage. I can’t
take this. May I interrupt?”
“Yes, I’m counting on you to handle this rationally.”
“Of course.”
Northe smashed her hand down on a small table next to her, “HEY! Both of you sit
down shut your mouths, and listen to me! The doctor has something to say!”
Silence. Northe smiled to herself. Raine cleared her throat.
“Miss Redan, your charts have shown an abnormality in your lower jaw bone. One
of the other attendings will be performing this operation--I’ve been filed to a
different case. But the abnormality may be an anuerism. The doctor who has
replaced me--”
“Reef Corel.” a new voice suddenly said. Raine turned around swiftly on one
heel. Another disturbance. Then she saw who it was.
Reef Corel was sort of an old friend, or that was what one would think if they
say Raine and Reef together for a couple of minutes. Raine used to know him in
the other world, her world…
But they had to act natural now. It seemed like everyone but Rubyi, and of
course Reef, had thought Raine had transferred to this hospital.
“Dr. Sage?” he asked, a small flush coming to his cheeks, “You’ve been
transferred to room 33A, on the other side of the building. Can I speak with you
later, regarding some things?”
Raine mentally smiled; he wasn’t bad at covering his tracks at all. She nodded
and went towards the door, “I know Dr. Corel. He’s very good, trust me. Northe
is staying as your intern, I presume?” Her eyes gave an interrogation.
“Yes, Rubyi is now yours. She managed to get out of the pit.”
“Okay then, thank you. Dr. Corel.”
Raine walked away and strode to the other side of the building. She saw people
looking at her left and right. Talking about her. But what? Se pricked her ears
up to see if she could get anything. She had a nervous walk now.
“So quick in the operation room…”
“Like she’s got a power or something…”
“Great. She’s spectacular, really.”
An air of confidence now followed Raine about, allowing her to drop her worries
and move on. For once, she wasn’t being discriminated. For once, she was
respected by others--people who weren’t just her friends.
‘But…’ she thought, ‘Is it just because they think I’m human?’ No, she shook her
head. She couldn’t think that. She decided to stop muddling in her thoughts when
she reached her destination.
“33A…”
“Is where we’ll be together!” Rubyi ran up to the ex-Professor-now-doctor and
hugged her, “Raine, I’m so glad we’re working together!”
“Y-Yes, Rubyi…anyways, let’s go see the patient…”
She opened the door as Rubyi released her arms and saw a man laying in a bed. He
was pretty well built, handsome in that sense where he wasn’t too burly but just
right. Rubyi had a curious look in her eye, wondering if she could possibly date
him…but weren’t there guidelines against that? His eyes set her thoughts at a
standstill until he broke the silence.
“So you’re Dr. Sage? I heard you’re the one to turn to on this.”
“The charts don’t say you requested the change…” Rubyi gave a questioning look
to the papers in front of her, “But you’re right, whatever you have, Raine will
cure it.”
“So that’s your name, then?” he asked, a small smile on his face. Rubyi just
gushed inwardly and fumbled her notes.
“Yes, that’s my name. But Mr…”
Rubyi finished, “Cennery Flows. What a nice name…”
“…Yes.” Raine roller her eyes, “Mr. Flows, you have Pneumocystis jiroveci
pneumonia, it’s a bit rare, located in your kidney.”
“I see. And that means in English?”
“You have a fungus-like bacteria in your kidney that needs to be removed but you
haven’t signed for it yet. May I ask why?”
“…I haven’t got around to it.” He looked sideways and glanced out the window.
His hand hit some papers before it rested onto his stomach.”
“The forms are right there. It’s completely stu--” she noticed Rubyi stamping
her foot. Beside manner. Raine started again, “There’s many harmful symptoms
this disease holds. I’d list them for you, but since my intern needs to learn,
I’ll have her list them.”
Rubyi turned over some papers and blushed, “Oh, yeah. I mean, yes. Symptoms of
Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia are high fever, non-productive cough, shortness
of breath--even morseo on exhalation--weight loss and night sweats. This symptom
isn’t common in people with normal immunity systems. It is however, ordinary in
people diagnosed with--”
Cennery cut her off, “AIDS. …So, how do we go about treating it?”
Raine cleared her throat. She had heard of this disease before…Rubyi finished
for her.
“By far the most commonly used medication is a combination of trimethoprim and
sulfamethoxazole. They work pretty well together in this case.”
“Well, I’ll just have to think about it, then.”
At this point Raine lost it and shook a bit. Why wouldn’t you want help if you
could so easily have it? She said as more of a command than I statement, “Well,
you do that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on my other patients.
Rubyi, I’m assuming you can handle this while I’m gone?”
She slammed the door before she could get an answer, leaving Rubyi to sit there
awkwardly.
“Well, is there any reason you don’t want to get operated on. Raine’s a very
nice person, really.”
“No, there’s nothing wrong. I don’t even know why I’m in here.”
“It says here you collapsed while at your job! Don’t you think that’s a good
enough reason?”
“…Even so, it’s really not that big of a deal.”
“But you can be saved, Mr--”
“Just call me Cennery.”
“Okay, Cennery. But you can be saved. This isn’t a lost cause!”
“…It’s really not that big a deal.” He shot her a small smile.
“…Well, if you leave here, operation or not…would you mind taking me out
somewhere?”
“Um…well…”
“Oh…you’re in a relationship.”
“Uh, n-no. No, not really.”
“So you’re single.”
“Well, technically yes, but--”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I’m not exactly…well, straight.”
“What do you mean?”
‘Straight?’ she thought, ‘What the hell does that mean. He looks pretty vertical
to me. Maybe he has a hunched back…’
“I’m gay.”
“Oh!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\Raine’s
Anatomy/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Eglise looked at her own patient. His legs, burned and singed like no tomorrow.
Oce would also be helping her on this operation--of course the attending would
be doing the main work, but other things they’d get to perform, and not just
suturing at that.
“Well, he’s Hoast.” Oce looked at the ceiling.
“ ‘Hoast’ ?”
“Human toast. You know how H is the first letter in--”
“That’s really not funny, Oce. I thought you were better than that.”
“It’s just a joke, Eglise.”
“This man got burned to the bone and lost a hell of a lot of leg muscles. We’ve
just barely begin to correct his blood flow and you come in and call him names?
Someone’s dying, ha-ha-ha!”
Oce was silent. He had never heard Eglise use any cussing words before.
“I’m sorry.” she looked at the floor, “It’s just that…I have a history with fire
and burn victims.” che rubbed her thigh silently, “I’m sorry, really, but
please…just don’t disrespect him like that.”
“Eglise…”
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