The fatigued and grouchy mood Logan found himself in the following morning only intensifies as he notices that the waiting area in his practice is packed full of locals looking more than miserable.
“What’s going on?” he asks Nikki as he strolls behind the counter to check his patient list for the day.
“Seems like a food poisoning outbreak from a retirement party for librarian Myrtle. Right now Dr. Fields has them all scheduled for thirty minutes of IV fluids to treat the dehydration. Unfortunately, we just have the two interviews today. I think they’ll run in the other direction if they see the office this way.”
Nodding at her assessment, Logan walks back to his office before calling patient after patient to be hooked up to an IV.
Fifteen patients later, Logan sits at his desk, head cradled in his hands. He has been vomited on twice and had to help an elderly patient make it to the restroom before it was too late. It was just too much on top of his already irritable mood.
A knock on his door is quickly followed by Dr. Fields standing in Logan’s doorway, reminding him of one of the two interviews they have scheduled today. Logan’s already contacted Mary Bell about joining his team, so he’s joining the remaining interviews just so he can get to know their potential employees.
Following the other physicians into the conference room, they sit around discussing the mayhem going on in their practice while they wait for their candidate, Avery Poindexter. Logan sits and checks his phone for any messages from Austin about meeting up after work tonight since he knows he’s going to need a beer or five. After calculating that ten minutes have passed, Logan angrily glances around the room, searching for any sign of the interviewee.
“This is ridiculous,” he says to the room. “We’ve already waited ten minutes. Regardless of his resume or how knowledgeable he is, he is wasting our time and I have patients to see.”
Logan storms out of the room and heads back to his office before calling the next patient back to a room. As he moves to the waiting area, he notices that Nikki has left and their nurse, Sandra, is manning the desk. Unable to waste time asking for Nikki’s whereabouts, Logan instead hurries his patient back to the exam room and begins hooking her up to an IV.
The second interview arrives and doesn’t go as well as Logan had hoped. The applicant had just found out his girlfriend is expecting, so he didn’t think the hour commute each way to the town would work. It was unfortunate, given that the guy had a killer resume and Dr. Fields still hadn’t chosen a candidate.
I wonder what happened to Melanie and Max? I’ll have to ask Nikki later.
Offering that they share Mary Bell when she starts on Monday, Logan proposes he sit in on a few more interviews with Dr. Fields, but the doctor turns him down, inferring that he was just going to look through the candidates they had already seen.
Checking his phone one last time before leaving, Logan still has no messages from Austin. Not particularly in the mood to head to the bar alone, Logan quickly changes his clothes in his office before closing up for the night.
Passing by one of the large windows in the hallway, he takes notice of the angry storm clouds outside pouring sheets of rain onto the ground. Logan sprints back to his office to grab his umbrella, not looking forward to driving in the nasty weather.
After locking the two sets of doors, he turns and walks directly into a small, solid black mass. Looking more clearly at the figure, Logan finds that it’s a girl hidden behind an overly large rain jacket. Not much more is visible behind the hood but the tip of her nose.
“Are you Dr. Fields?” she asks him with a voice that is shaking from the rain and chilled weather.
“Nope, you just missed him. Can I help you?”
“No, I was supposed to meet him earlier today about a job.”
Realizing that this is the interviewee that wasted all of their time today, Logan finds it impossible to hold back the lashing words as they escape from his mouth.
“Well, Avery, was it? I’m not sure you’d be a good fit for us since you couldn’t even make it to your interview. You wasted my time, and Dr. Fields’, when we could have been helping our patients.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to waste your time,” she says in a quivering voice, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a sob. “It really wasn’t my fault,” she murmurs, obviously cowed by the roll of his eyes. “My car died and I was on the bus, but there was an accident. They wanted to take us all to the hospital, but I knew I needed to be here. They wouldn’t let me leave until I was checked out by a paramedic, which took hours. I walked here after taking a rain jacket that the man who sat beside me on the bus offered me.”
Listening to her story, Logan glances down her body and his eyes land on her feet. Small black flats that have been torn up, clearly from miles of walking, give way to soaking wet pants.
“Look,” she continues, “I’m sorry. I should have called, but I don’t have a phone, and,” stifling another sob, she finishes “It’s been a rough year – hell, a rough life - and I really need this job.”
The agony in her voice literally makes Logan’s chest hurt - the pain radiating outwards to all the tips of his limbs.
“Ok, please stop crying. Come in tomorrow at nine and I’ll get you a meeting with Dr. Fields. And I’m sorry I snapped at you after the day you’ve had.”
Sorry? When the hell have I ever been sorry about something I’ve said or done? I live my life with no regrets. No second thoughts. Austin calls me blunt, but I say the truth and I won’t sugar coat. But seriously? This girl has me apologizing?
“Thank you,” she replies, turning to look back out into the heavy downpour.
Logan surprises himself again when he says, “Come on, let me take you home,” and takes a hold of her elbow.
She hesitates at first, but then she must have decided to trust him because she easily follows his direction.
Under his umbrella, Logan steers her toward his black BMW M3 and holds the door open for her to slide onto his leather seats. At her reluctance to sit, Logan assures her that she won’t ruin the interior.