A Day in the Life (Lexy)

[Sophie Tillman]

Sophie was in high spirits as she chained her bicycle up at the racks in front of the clinic. Her morning commute often had that effect - good ol' endorphins - and it certainly didn't hurt today, but that wasn't what she had on her mind at the moment. Earlier that week Dr. Roberts had been contacted by a nursing student hoping to visit the clinic, and it was Sophie who had volunteered to be shadowed.

It might have made more sense to give such a role to a nurse with more experience, Sophie having only graduated from her program nearly six years ago. Even so, she was genuinely looking forward to it. She loved her job, even on its worst days. Of course she would leap at the opportunity to encourage a student to enter the field - the world always needed more people who wanted to help others. And while she knew abusive and disinterested nurses existed, the fact that this student had taken the initiative to request this sort of visit had her hopes high.

After depositing her bag and helmet back in the breakroom, Sophie headed to reception to wish the secretary a good morning and check the schedule. There was still a little while before this Mr. McKenzie was due to arrive, so she might as well get the day started.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex was feeling good about his shadow day. He was almost done his second year of nursing, though it already felt like he'd been in classes forever. He loved learning, he really did, but he was also eager to start applying his knowledge in the field. He was nowhere near ready to graduate, but that didn't stop him from asking his professors if shadow days would still be a good idea. His teachers generally seemed on board, with some encouraging the rest of the class to do so as well. Depending on where they shadowed, it might give them an idea of where to specialize later on. Alex already knew he wanted to work with either pediatrics, oncology, or both, but it didn't hurt to be exposed to other places. Already he'd shadowed, and learned a lot, at the infirmary at his old school. Today, he was heading to the clinic in Pilot Ridge.

He remembered too well his last visit here, when Dr Jones had still been in practice. He hadn't yet met the currently practicing doctor, but he imagined that would change today.

It was close enough to his apartment to walk, so he had. Under his dark grey jacket he'd worn scrubs, making sure to layer a long sleeved t-shirt under the top. Not so much for warmth, but to keep his tattoos covered. Most of his teachers didn't have a problem with them, but during his shadowing he wanted to stay as out of the way as possible. That included being respectful of the professional environment and keeping his ink covered for now. Most of his earrings were also out, leaving only two small studs in his lobes, and a stud in his nose. Even his lip ring had come out this time. He wanted to make a good impression, after all.

The clinic was easily found again, and he slipped inside, glad for the warmth, before making his way to the front desk to check in and wait for Sophie to be ready for him.

[Sophie Tillman]

"You just stop by the front desk an' Rita will get you set up for your follow-up," Sophie instructed the woman she was leading back into the waiting room. Her appointment had been fairly routine - a simple physical, thankfully with nothing out of the ordinary - so they hadn't been kept long enough to delay the next. Which would happen sooner or later; more often than not, by the end of her shift Sophie was running behind, despite her best efforts. But that was clinic work for you.

Before she had a chance to call for the next Patient, though, Rita caught her attention from the front desk.

"Soph, your visitor is here," she called over the shoulder of Mrs. Follow-up. She gestured to the young man in gray scrubs. By her watch, he was right on time, Sophie noted with satisfaction.
It boded well with her impression of him.

"Alex? Well then," she said, offering the young man a warm smile. "If you're ready let's head on back, shall we?" Sophie held the door open for him to pass; they could have proper introductions at the nurses' station.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex waited calmly in the waiting room. After all the time he'd spent in and out of doctors' offices and the hospital as a child, there was an odd sense of familiarity that came with them. He'd already seen some of his classmates being squirrelly if they'd been on site somewhere, but to him it was just another place, and one they'd all have to get used to eventually.

Draping his coat over his arm, he turned when he heard the receptionist speak again, smiling when he realized she was addressing his mentor for the day. Tucking a bit of hair that wasn't quite long enough to stay in his small ponytail, he came forward to meet her.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered with a little smile of his own, hoping she wouldn't be one who would get hung up on the fact he had long hair, or piercings. They didn't change who he was, after all, and he'd learned to deal with the fact people judged him on them a long time ago. At least most of his tattoos were tucked behind his long sleeved t-shirt under his scrub top. He offered his hand to her. "It's nice to meet you, Sophie." With that, he followed her back behind the doors, eager to start.

[Sophie Tillman]

"It's nice to meet you, too." The clinic being as small as it was, the walk from the waiting room to the nurses' station was too short to allow for pleasantries beyond a comment or two about the weather. That was all right by Sophie; the tour could come after they'd gotten acquainted.

The nurses' station, which doubled as their breakroom, was brightly lit, its walls painted a pleasant shade of sky blue. A round table stood surrounded by chairs, its surface split into quarters with an inches-high divider. Within each quarter were stacks of papers and a framed photograph or three.

Sophie pulled her own chair out, gestured to the one adjacent ("Have a seat!"), and sat, chair positioned so that she and Alex weren't divided by the desk itself. That felt too stiff; this wasn't a job interview, after all.

"So how long have you been in the nursing program, Alex?" Sophie asked once they were comfortable.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Well, so far, so good. Alex breathed a small sigh of relief as he followed her back. Sophie seemed nice enough, and the fact she had volunteered to let him shadow her for the day gave him hope that today would go well.

Once they reached the hub on the clinic and Sophie settled in, Alex followed suit with the empty chair. After resting his coat on the back of it, he sat down opposite her. As always, he sat with almost alarmingly good posture, something he'd done since he was younger.

"I'm just about done with my second year, so I'm halfway there." He smiled and shrugged slightly. "I started studying physics when I first went to university, because I ultimately wanted to study astronomy. But after talking with some of the nurses at the hospital and getting engaged... nursing seemed more worth pursuing than the stars." Tilting his head curiously, he asked his own question. "How long have you been a nurse?"

[Sophie Tillman]

Rather than being impressed as Alex explained his initial, loftier goals, Sophie felt a tinge of concern. Students using nursing as a fallback because they'd underestimated the difficulty of their Plan A happened more often than it should; certainly there were a few in her graduating class who had gone that route, and physics was not a cakewalk. But as he continued, she relaxed, realizing that he'd done the opposite. Promising.  

Alex's comment about "talking with the nurses as the hospital" didn't go unnoticed either, but it was far too early to ask something as personal as why he would be at the hospital often enough to be getting career advice from the staff. 

"Six years this June," Sophie told him. "Nurses're always needed somewhere, so getting hired after graduation wasn't much of a fuss. I just got lucky findin' a place here in Pilot Ridge."

"So before we get started, Alex, you got any burnin'  questions for me? Anything you're particularly hoping to get out of today?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

Honestly, the thought of nursing hadn't crossed Alex's mind until he was deep into his physics track. Ever since he was little he'd loved looking at the night sky, and the thought of doing it as a job had always been appealing. But now he was looking at practicality, as well as personal experiences from some of the nursing staff he'd dealt with, making the switch had been easy. The idea of giving back sat well with him, and he was itching to finish his studies so that he could do exactly that.

"Wow," he replied, looking impressed. Six years was a long time, but it was clear that Sophie liked what she was doing. "Did you always know that this was what you wanted to do?" After a moment, he paused and blushed lightly. "Sorry, if that's too personal, you don't have to answer." His own reasons sometimes felt a little personal, depending on who he was talking to. Thankfully, most adults seemed less inclined to get all 'weird' over the fact he'd once had cancer. Kids on the other hand... could be cruel.

Her questions made him think. Tilting his head slightly, he shook his head. "Not really. It's going to be interesting, seeing what happens behind the scenes in a clinic. I shadowed the school nurse from my old school last semester, which was... a unique experience." Anything at Hammel tended to fall under that description. "Thank you again for taking the time to let me shadow you, Sophie. I really appreciate it."

[Sophie Tillman]

"It's fine, it's fine," Sophie insisted, dismissing his hesitance with a wave, smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. It wasn't an unreasonable question, and the short answer was a simple enough one. "I wasn't always sure, no, but I gave it a shot and you know what they say about wearing shoes that fit."

The older Sophie got, the clearer it became how lucky she'd gotten early on in her transition. One psychiatrist choosing to help facilitate it instead of playing gatekeeper meant that she was able to get on with her life that much faster. But she knew perfectly well not everyone in medicine had the training, knowledge, or even basic empathy it took to care for trans patients properly. The same held true for meta patients, although at least in Pilot Ridge that wasn't so bad. Either way, Sophie liked being on the front lines, so to speak. She felt more useful here than she imagined she would in most lines of work.

"We're glad to have you. Now, I just wanna go over a couple things," Sophie told him, adopting a more business-like tone. "Patient confidentiality still applies, I'm sure you know. Some folks may not want anybody sitting in on their appointments, and we have to respect that."

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had always prided himself on being respectful to other people, and teachers, official or not, always required the most in his mind. Sophie was no exception, and he planned to continue to be as mindful as he could with her and any other staff member they encountered. Relieved she didn't see the question as unreasonably personal, he smiled back at her. "You seem to enjoy it, though. And if you don't mind my saying, you strike me as someone that really is good at this. Not everyone has the right personality for it." He knew that to be true of some of his classmates already. He certainly wouldn't want to be left in their care. Granted, he knew that some people would probably think the same of him on sight alone before giving him a chance to show them otherwise. Oh well. You couldn't win over everyone.

Spending so much time in the hospital when he was younger, Alex knew a lot about being on the receiving end of nursing care. Without good people filling those roles, his time there may not have been so bearable. Sure, treatments sucked, getting injections sucked, and drawing blood sucked, but with nice people giving hugs and stickers afterwords, and speaking soothingly during, it had been easier. Now he was older, giving back to the profession seemed like the right thing to do. He liked taking care of people, and though he was well aware that it came with an unpleasant side, it was all part of the job. He had faith that he could handle both sides.

His attention came back to Sophie as she spoke, and he nodded quickly to show he was listening. "Of course," he said calmly with regard to confidentiality. That was always reiterated by his teachers during classes because it was so important. It wasn't a problem for him. "I understand," he promised. "I'm up for anything, even if it's just cleaning rather than sitting in on appointments."