The Care of Strangers by Ellen Michaelson

Author:Ellen Michaelson [Michaelson, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2020-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

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AT 7:00 A.M., SIMA FOUND Mindy on the bottom of the bunk bed in the on-call room, Mr. Shtrom’s chart open in her lap. Her white jacket was in a ball on the pillow. She was still in scrubs. She hadn’t taken a shower yet.

“The nurses need the chart,” Sima said.

Mindy didn’t look up. “I have to write the death note,” she said blankly.

“They’re getting him ready for the morgue,” Sima said. “They paged me to take him down.” Trips to the morgue were the worst part of being an orderly, even when she didn’t know the patient. But this patient, this Ukrainian patient. She had held the tiny nitroglycerin pill and she’d let him push it away. She tried to imagine if she’d been his doctor.

The door to the on-call room opened. Chief Resident Danielson stepped in. He sat down quietly on the other side of Mindy. He wasn’t known to come into the hospital this early, and he rarely made appearances in the on-call room. Sima didn’t think his presence, quiet as it seemed to be that moment, was a good sign.

“Sima, I need to speak with Dr. Kahn,” he said.

Sima paused in the hall at the partly opened door. She heard Chief Danielson ask for the chart. She heard him flipping pages.

“He was in big trouble the minute he walked in the door,” he said.

Silence. Then she heard Mindy say, in monotone, “I should have done another EKG.”

“This guy was a goner before he got here,” Chief Danielson stated as if it were fact. “But yes, you should have done another EKG. It wouldn’t have made any difference, but that’s what you should have done when Miss Armstrong paged you.”

Sima was grateful Chief Danielson invited her on rounds with the interns, but she could tell he liked to see them squirm when he asked questions. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be an intern on his watch. He should have known Mindy wouldn’t do well in the CCU so soon. He could have assigned her to a regular medical ward. Or Neuro. Nothing big ever happened on Neuro. He had taught Sima a lot, he’d offered to write her a letter of recommendation. What would he think if he’d seen her with Mr. Shtrom?

She put her head into the room. “The nurses need the chart,” she said.

Chief Danielson put his hands into the pockets of his long chief resident coat. “Please write the note and notify the family, Dr. Kahn.”

“They probably don’t speak English,” Sima said.

“Dr. Kahn can handle it,” Chief Danielson said.

Sima didn’t understand how he could be so sure.

Chief Danielson didn’t make eye contact with either of them. He straightened his coat and stepped out.

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