The Committee Will Kill You Now: A Novel by JL Lycette

Author:JL Lycette [Lycette, JL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2023-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Doo-dee-DUM-dah.

The next day, Thursday, Noah veered through the crowded hallway to a phone alcove and dialed the extension. “Dr. Meier.”

“It’s Lucia, in the SICU. Sorry to bother you, but Mrs. Turner’s niece is asking for you again.”

Noah pinched his brow. Even though he’d planned to get up there to look for his missing note, he couldn’t blatantly continue to talk with Joan Turner’s niece. “Look, she’s not on my service anymore. Call Mar—Dr. Maddox.”

“Rose Turner insists on talking to you. She said she trusts you the most.”

Well, she shouldn’t. He didn’t want to face her again. Not when he wouldn’t be able to look her in the eye.

He glanced at his watch. He’d been on his way to the dictation room to finish up delinquent charts. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” The one short syllable contained a galaxy of disappointment.

Damn it. Since when did he care what Lucia thought of him?

He cleared his throat. “I meant to say I can’t right now. But I can be there in an hour. Tell Rose to wait.”

“Will do.” A pause. “Thank you.”

Noah hung up, not wanting to think too closely about what he’d just agreed to. He continued to the dictation room, a part of the old library, initially repurposed as a conference room and now as a place for the residents to catch up on charts. Several long tables dotted with phones divided the space between white marble columns, and a no-longer-functioning fireplace bracketed the far end. Above the mantle, someone had inscribed the words Non sibi sed omnibus. Not for myself, but for all.

Scattered textbooks decorated the mostly bare bookshelves—classics like Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine and Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery—donated to the program by alumni and faculty. To his right, as he entered, were rows of cubbies with each resident’s overdue charts. The cubby with his name on it contained three heavy tomes.

“Hey, Noah. You’re behind too?”

Dumping the charts on the closest table, he turned to spot Colleen at the other end. “Yeah, I hate doing these. I’m always behind.”

Noah could practically feel his father frowning over his shoulder. You shouldn’t put off work that needs to be done. Nip it in the bud.

He let out a long sigh. Great, his father’s voice was back.

Colleen resumed her dictation. The physician-speak they’d all become fluent in poured out of her mouth into the phone.

Noah grabbed the first chart off his pile and cradled the phone receiver between his ear and shoulder, freeing both hands to flip the pages. He punched in his dictation code and began. “This-is-Doctor-Noah-Meier-Family-Medicine-service-ID#74839-dictating-a-discharge-summary-on-patient-medical-record-number-02847180-date-of-admission-04-07-92-date-of-discharge-04-12-92-discharge-diagnosis-1. COPD- 2. CAD- 3. DM2…”

As much as he disliked the task, the routine soothed him, and he soon finished all three charts. He glanced up. Colleen’s stack had shrunk significantly, but a few charts remained in her pile.

She leaned back and stretched her arms. “God, I hate these. Can’t wait until we’re second-years, and there’ll be a new batch of interns to take over all this.”

“Yeah, hard to believe.” Noah attempted a smile. “Only two months to go.

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