ice cold bitches
Aggie stuck her nose between the curtains separating Leon from the rest of MedLab.
Ostensibly the curtain was there for the privacy of the patient. It was actually to shield the patient from the harsh reality that MedLab was a hastily-contrived, poor excuse for a medical facility.
"We need a striper in here!" Aggie barked it out to the 5 volunteers sitting in the chairs bolted to the floor.
A hand went up, and an attractive woman in her 30s rose from her seat. "What do you need?"
Aggie was finding this an emotional day. First Commander Erhard, then the promising conversation with Rails, now Aggie's first encounter with Suzanne Devereaux.
Aggie parted the curtain and let the woman come in. "What we need is a million dollar budget, a regiment of trained personnel and maybe a few doctors to do the paper work." Aggie looked at the woman coolly. "You have any of those things?"
The woman returned the look without being intimidated. "I looked after my husband for two years, I can bathe patients, I'm not squeamish, I don't faint at the sight of blood or puke at the smell of vomit. Is that good enough for you?"
Aggie nodded. "It sure is, c'mon meet a special friend who needs special care. You have a name?"
"Suzanne."
"First names are good enough, Suzanne, welcome to the special hell that passes as MedLab. I'm Aggie Brooks, call me 'Agnes' and I'll kill you, this fast-moving snarky bitch is Lori Railsback, also known as 'Rails', if she or I give you instructions, follow them, understood?"
"Understood." Suzanne looked at the smaller blonde woman. "Pleased to meet you, Lori."
"Really?" Rails stopped her frenzied re-stocking of the cart. "Wait until you've been here a week, let's see how pleased you are then."
Suzanne glanced from woman to woman. "Your first problem is you don't think I'll last a week. Your second is I will, and your third is if you want an icy bitch full of herself to give you a trio, I'm probably exactly what you need."
Aggie & Rails exchanged glances.
"If I heard that correctly, you just called us both 'icy bitches full of ourselves'?" Rails folded her arms across in front of her.
Suzanne nodded. "You hear well."
Aggie and Rails burst into grins. "Welcome aboard, Suzanne."
Suzanne finally smiled. "Thank you. What do you need me to do?"
Lori went to retrieve the mound of paper from their inbox, then returned, placing half on the foot of Leon's bed, browsing the other half herself.
Aggie placed a hand on Suzanne's shoulder and walked her towards an older man in a bed. "If I were being an icy bitch, I'd say 'babysit', but this is Leon Freedman. Leon served the USA during the Vietnam war. The war itself was enough for most folks, but Mr. Freedman endured 19 months in a POW camp under the Viet Cong before being rescued, and to us he's not just a crazy old man from the streets, he's a human being with feelings. You call him 'Leon' or 'Mr. Freedman', he's not a baby, he's PTSD and bipolar and requires periodic stays with us to get his antipsychotic medication balanced in his system. The hardest thing for newbies to deal with is Mr. Freedman is one of those people society doesn't want to face. We face him, we treat him with the dignity and respect he's due."
Suzanne stepped towards the head of the bed. "I'm Suzanne. It's an honour to meet you, Mr. Freedman."
Leon Freedman rolled his head away. "Get away from me. Get away, I'm in no mind."
Rails watched Suzanne's face. "With the sedative we've given him, he may need help going to the bathroom, and right now he's in restraints until his meds kick in. Do you understand what that implies?"
Suzanne looked at her. "Bedpans, bedclothes, johnny gowns, bad smells and a lot of laundry."
Rails pointed to the wall opposite Leon's bed. "Washer & dryer, right there. Bedpans get emptied in the steel toilet with no lid and flushed away immediately, understood?"
"Understood."
Lori was looking at her hands. "You kept your manicure up to speed even though you were looking after your late husband, I see."
Suzanne was still looking at Leon. "My husband lived until Mercy took him two days ago."
Rails looked down for an instant. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Suzanne turned towards her. "I'll bet you are."
Lori flushed a deep red.
Aggie sensed things were going downhill fast.
"Let's move on." She stepped towards Leon as well. "Mr. Freedman? Leon? We're going back on call, so Suzanne's going to look after you, okay?"
She turned to Suzanne. "I told you about the sedative. He was pretty strung out and upset from an incident with another passenger before he was brought in. It takes him a long while to fall asleep and he fights off medication."
Suzanne nodded. "I understand."
Aggie looked at her calmly. "We are sorry about your husband."
Suzanne gave her a slightly warm smile. "I believe you are, actually, both of you."
Rails ventured back in to the conversation. "I apologize for being so rude."
Suzanne extended the smile just a little. "Accepted. I imagine this is a bitch of an assignment."
Aggie nodded. "The escape plan was basically for the powerful and rich. We have nothing but MedTech staff, barely any nurses and most of the doctors up here aren't making themselves available. We have nine on the eight wheels and 320 pods. We have exactly two shifts of MedTechs for each wheel. We have a total of seven nurses."
"Geezas!" Suzanne clearly hadn't realized things were that bad. "I may be able to help with that."
Lori shook her head, smiling at her. "You're doing enough. If you can handle Leon Freedman, that's a help. We're still trying to figure out how he ended up at L5."
The voice from the bed was low, guttural.
"Gummint bring me back. Somebaddy wanna keep me close."
It was then Lori read the note from Stormer.
Ostensibly the curtain was there for the privacy of the patient. It was actually to shield the patient from the harsh reality that MedLab was a hastily-contrived, poor excuse for a medical facility.
"We need a striper in here!" Aggie barked it out to the 5 volunteers sitting in the chairs bolted to the floor.
A hand went up, and an attractive woman in her 30s rose from her seat. "What do you need?"
Aggie was finding this an emotional day. First Commander Erhard, then the promising conversation with Rails, now Aggie's first encounter with Suzanne Devereaux.
Aggie parted the curtain and let the woman come in. "What we need is a million dollar budget, a regiment of trained personnel and maybe a few doctors to do the paper work." Aggie looked at the woman coolly. "You have any of those things?"
The woman returned the look without being intimidated. "I looked after my husband for two years, I can bathe patients, I'm not squeamish, I don't faint at the sight of blood or puke at the smell of vomit. Is that good enough for you?"
Aggie nodded. "It sure is, c'mon meet a special friend who needs special care. You have a name?"
"Suzanne."
"First names are good enough, Suzanne, welcome to the special hell that passes as MedLab. I'm Aggie Brooks, call me 'Agnes' and I'll kill you, this fast-moving snarky bitch is Lori Railsback, also known as 'Rails', if she or I give you instructions, follow them, understood?"
"Understood." Suzanne looked at the smaller blonde woman. "Pleased to meet you, Lori."
"Really?" Rails stopped her frenzied re-stocking of the cart. "Wait until you've been here a week, let's see how pleased you are then."
Suzanne glanced from woman to woman. "Your first problem is you don't think I'll last a week. Your second is I will, and your third is if you want an icy bitch full of herself to give you a trio, I'm probably exactly what you need."
Aggie & Rails exchanged glances.
"If I heard that correctly, you just called us both 'icy bitches full of ourselves'?" Rails folded her arms across in front of her.
Suzanne nodded. "You hear well."
Aggie and Rails burst into grins. "Welcome aboard, Suzanne."
Suzanne finally smiled. "Thank you. What do you need me to do?"
Lori went to retrieve the mound of paper from their inbox, then returned, placing half on the foot of Leon's bed, browsing the other half herself.
Aggie placed a hand on Suzanne's shoulder and walked her towards an older man in a bed. "If I were being an icy bitch, I'd say 'babysit', but this is Leon Freedman. Leon served the USA during the Vietnam war. The war itself was enough for most folks, but Mr. Freedman endured 19 months in a POW camp under the Viet Cong before being rescued, and to us he's not just a crazy old man from the streets, he's a human being with feelings. You call him 'Leon' or 'Mr. Freedman', he's not a baby, he's PTSD and bipolar and requires periodic stays with us to get his antipsychotic medication balanced in his system. The hardest thing for newbies to deal with is Mr. Freedman is one of those people society doesn't want to face. We face him, we treat him with the dignity and respect he's due."
Suzanne stepped towards the head of the bed. "I'm Suzanne. It's an honour to meet you, Mr. Freedman."
Leon Freedman rolled his head away. "Get away from me. Get away, I'm in no mind."
Rails watched Suzanne's face. "With the sedative we've given him, he may need help going to the bathroom, and right now he's in restraints until his meds kick in. Do you understand what that implies?"
Suzanne looked at her. "Bedpans, bedclothes, johnny gowns, bad smells and a lot of laundry."
Rails pointed to the wall opposite Leon's bed. "Washer & dryer, right there. Bedpans get emptied in the steel toilet with no lid and flushed away immediately, understood?"
"Understood."
Lori was looking at her hands. "You kept your manicure up to speed even though you were looking after your late husband, I see."
Suzanne was still looking at Leon. "My husband lived until Mercy took him two days ago."
Rails looked down for an instant. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Suzanne turned towards her. "I'll bet you are."
Lori flushed a deep red.
Aggie sensed things were going downhill fast.
"Let's move on." She stepped towards Leon as well. "Mr. Freedman? Leon? We're going back on call, so Suzanne's going to look after you, okay?"
She turned to Suzanne. "I told you about the sedative. He was pretty strung out and upset from an incident with another passenger before he was brought in. It takes him a long while to fall asleep and he fights off medication."
Suzanne nodded. "I understand."
Aggie looked at her calmly. "We are sorry about your husband."
Suzanne gave her a slightly warm smile. "I believe you are, actually, both of you."
Rails ventured back in to the conversation. "I apologize for being so rude."
Suzanne extended the smile just a little. "Accepted. I imagine this is a bitch of an assignment."
Aggie nodded. "The escape plan was basically for the powerful and rich. We have nothing but MedTech staff, barely any nurses and most of the doctors up here aren't making themselves available. We have nine on the eight wheels and 320 pods. We have exactly two shifts of MedTechs for each wheel. We have a total of seven nurses."
"Geezas!" Suzanne clearly hadn't realized things were that bad. "I may be able to help with that."
Lori shook her head, smiling at her. "You're doing enough. If you can handle Leon Freedman, that's a help. We're still trying to figure out how he ended up at L5."
The voice from the bed was low, guttural.
"Gummint bring me back. Somebaddy wanna keep me close."
It was then Lori read the note from Stormer.
