I was flat chat amongst the chaos in the Wanganoonie Base Hospital, running from reception/triage to various rooms where I was urgently required and had no more time to think of Karen.
Except when I licked my lips and I could still taste her love juices that had dried there, bringing a smile to my tired face.
I did see Simon, with his head full of bright red hair he was unmistakable in the crowd, barging out of the Hospital, crying with his grandmother, Nurse Mabel, trying to console him. I guess he didn't know his lovely granny was also a deviate, pussy eating, cum swallowing, sex maniac. Then again, up until today, neither did I. I was about to pop in and check on Karen when another Code Blue called me away.
I passed Ol Pops, the former pool attendant, who lost his job because of Karen, and was now working here, pushing his cleaners trolley and noticed he was packing a set of handcuffs and radio on a big black leather belt.
I quickly said, "What's with the bat belt, Batman?"
Ol Pop's eye's crinkled up as he smiled under his mask,
"Unions have agreed to allow workers to multitask since we are so low on healthy staff Barry, so now I am doing cleaning and security..
I's get to take out all the kinds of trash that gets in here now!"
Pops joked back.
As I walked away, I thought how much this world had changed because some dude in a far away country thought it was a good idea to eat a half cooked bat. Unions would never allow different job roles to be assigned to one worker, but we were in times unknown.
I was washing down and donning a fresh set of PPE after a very messy Code Blue, I will spare you the details, when I was paged to reception, and just before I was snowballed with demands there, I noticed Ol Pop's cleaners trolley parked by the office where Mabel and I took Karen,.. took Karen on so many levels I thought, "Ha Ha" I chuckled to myself with the double entendre. The door was open and I assumed Mabel had asked him to mop it out after all that had occurred in there.
"Damn, I never got to tell Pops that Karen was here," I said to myself under my breath, ruing what may have happened had I organised them to meet.
Time flew as I flew around dealing with all the work and before I knew it it was dark outside as I wearily walked back to reception.
"Fuck, that's strange," I said aloud in surprise, unheard over the din of the sick and ill waiting and hoping for relief, clogging the hospital entrance. I swore because Ol Pop's trolley was still outside the office, with the door still open wide, and I wondered where he was.
One of the other nurses came up to me, saw me all tired and confused and said,
"Doctor, you need to take five and eat something. The lovely people at Cafe Wanganooie have donated and sent beautiful food for all of us, bless their kind hearts."
I quickly did what I could with those waiting and excused myself to refuel. It felt great transitioning into the safe zone and removing the uncomfortable mask and PPE, as required.
I quickly grabbed a food bag and a drink and enjoyed the luxury of sitting down. Wow, sitting after being on your feet all day was better than sex, Nah.. my mind argued in my tired state. After woofing down the delicious food and having a long drink I must have closed my eyes for a second and had fallen asleep. Fortunately 2 orderlies had come in and their chatting and laughter woke me up. Slumped down in my seat I guess they hadn't seen me, as they were talking like they were at a bar,
"Man, those screams coming out of the security office were something else, hey?" One guy said to the other.
"Sure were, gave me a boner just listening to the bitch cop it, would love to know who was in there doing all the fucking?" said his coworker.
Well that bought me back to my senses real quick. I pushed my chair back as I went to stand and the rubber feet of the chair squealed loudly on the vinyl floor.
One of the guys said, "Fuck man, I can still here her screaming all the way in here!" before the other hushed him up as he saw me.
"Sorry Doc, we didn't know you were here," they apologised.
I just nodded acknowledgement as I walked out, making a bee line for the security office.
Ol Pops was just coming out of the office as I approached it along the corridor, a sheen showing on his dark skin, and his eyes wild looking.
"D,D, Doctor B,B,B,Barry, I was just about to try and find you," he stuttered to me. "I caught a b, b.b,b,bitch trying to steal critical medical supplies and she was babbling on about you gave them to her," he continued, finally controlling his stammer.
"But I didn't believe her, and guess what, it's that bitch from school, Karen Millstar!" He exclaimed.
I demanded Pops to open the door to the security office, and there was Karen, trying to make herself presentable, her face a real mess and her hair a jumbled disaster. When she saw me she gingerly rushed over to me, like she was walking on broken glass barefoot and fell in my arms, silently. I picked her up and ordered Pops to follow me out to my car with the medical goods he had detained her over and a few sets of PPE.
With Karen safely in my car I drove to her parents house, in the better part of town, Karen unwilling to talk about what had happened between her and Ol Pops. She had a look that wasn't easy to pick, not embarrassed, not shame, not fear or scared, not happy or content, just a far away numbness with a strange, uneasy glow.
Donning myself and Karen in PPE, we entered her house and went to her parent's bedroom where her Dad, with a mask and washing up gloves on, the best he could do to improvise PPE, was caring for her mother. I quickly took the poor sick lady's stats and swabbed her to test if she was Covid positive. I told, to Karen and her Dad's relief, that she was stable. Her temperature was still in the normal range and it might be a case of general flu, but the test results will confirm my diagnosis. Karen hugged me then rushed off to the bathroom and her Dad saw me out, saying,
"Thank you for coming out Doctor, I know you must be so overworked at the hospital, Karen must have waited all day there patiently, which is so rare for her, but she does love her mum."
I just said, "You would never believe what happens at the hospital!"
He replied, "I really want to shake your hand and thank you so much, you are a saint!"
I smiled, entered my car and drove away thinking, "Doctor Barry.. the Patron Saint of Anal Cherry Busters..." and laughed so much I almost crashed the car.
Boy was I tired but I had to get back to the hospital, take the swab to pathology for testing, and ensure we had the hospital as best we could for the night shift. It was about midnight when I finally arrived home and jumped in the shower. The steam hydrated all of Karen's scents still on my body and I savoured the aroma for a second before lathering up in the pungent soap I use after work and scrubbing the good and bad of the day off me.
I was asleep before my head touched the pillowcase.
What a day.
"BLATT, BLATT, BLATT...," the alarm was going off, ahh another day.. "Up and at 'em boy!" I encouraged myself.
The Hospital was still busy as and I was mobbed like a rock star on my arrival, but not in the glamorous way. A few hours in I bumped into Nurse Mabel as we both worked on a critical case, a 18 year old youth who had the virus bad.
It took us ages but we finally had him stabilised and he had a good chance of pulling through.
Mabel asked me, "Have you seen Pops around today?"
"Actually I wanted to see Ol Pops, but I haven't, why do you ask?" I replied
Mabel's eyes smiled cheekily back at me, "Well, you know, there is another thing that gets around hospitals real fast, apart from the virus," she cryptically answered.
"What on earth are you on about Mabel?" I asked.
"Ohh, just some gossip, you know those orderlies that work here are worse than old ladies when it comes to gossip," she partially explained.
It seemed Ol Pops hadn't come to work today, and with what the orderlies heard through the door to the security office the day before, the rumour was he had kidnapped a patient.
"What a load of bullshit," I said, "Do you know who was in the office with him Mabel, Karen, and I drove her home, she is fine, and that reminds me I have to check on her Mum's results."
Mabel just nodded, with her eyes smirking, she had fished the information out of me she was after and I gave it up without any resistance.. now she knew who was fucking who in the security office, damn she was a wolf in old sheep's clothing that one.
I went down to the path lab and picked up Karens mum's results, I chuckled to myself when I read the report, poor Karen, she was abused and tormented by Mabel and I into such a state that she tormented love struck, doe eyed Simon, popping his cherry with her just broken in arsehole and then she endured what ever occurred in the security room with Ol Pops, all for nothing, her Mum was clear, Covid negative.
All her Mum had was a cough and a wheeze and Karen had endured all the sleaze.
Before I had an chance to get involved with the next case I was urgently paged to see the Hospital Director.
This guy was the guy that God answered to, he was held in such fear and awe, and wielded so much power here.
After entering the safe zone via the procedures, I knocked on his office door and he said come in.
"Sit down young Barry, take a load off your feet," he kindly commanded.
I obeyed God.. he real name was Gupta, a short, rotund government career medico of Indian parents from Mumbai.
"I understand you have the covid test results for Mrs Millstar with you," he said knowingly.
"Yes Sir, great news she is cle,,,."
"I know," he said, cutting me off.
"But I wonder if you might pass on these results I have here for you to give to her daughter, Karen isn't it?" he asked.
I took the path lab report he offered and read it, it had Mrs Millstar as Covid positive.
"This can't be right?!!" I exclaimed, "The results direct from the lab show she is clear."