Continuing Education Blues

[Tsukiko Aoki]

The conference room had the look and feel of a room that had been used by many different people over the past decade. The carpet was worn, the colors beginning to fade. It had once had an interesting geometric pattern, but trying to make out the pattern now only caused Kiko a headache. The walls had once been painted a bright beige, but that beige looked dingy now, and was covered with dings and scrapes where people had scuffed chairs up against it during furniture rearrangement.

Although the room could have been nicer she was glad that the conference was in Burlington rather than another state; she didn't really enjoy having to travel for continuing education hours. Some of the other attendees were from out of state, but she only had about an hour's drive into town.

The current topic was adolescent dating violence, which was depressing but necessary to cover. So much of her work could be described that way: depressing, but necessary. At least she wasn't alone; she had spied Dr. Terrell from the hospital on her way in and invited herself to sit down beside him. And then she had seen Dr. Muller from Hammel, and waved to him to come sit beside them. At least she wouldn't be depressed alone.

[Deleted]

Lex’s mood soured as he entered the conference room. The close proximity of dingy iron chairs set in a row and seating numerous people that were radiating body heat and breathing in recycled air made Lex mentally shudder. Not only that, but the location left much to be desired. Lex wondered when a health inspector last inspected it as he tried not to imagine the multitude of microorganisms that could be populating the vaguely colored carpet below.

Glancing around for an open seat, he spotted Dr. Aiko beckoning him over with a wave. A man Lex wasn’t familiar with sat next to her, but he assumed they were colleagues at Maddock. Being the closest hospital to the Hammel Institute, Lex had become quickly acquainted with the place and a few members of its staff. After all, if he ever needed to admit one of the students he had to ensure that they would be adequately cared for.

Lex sat down, the chair squeaking slightly, and acknowledged the woman with a nod. The environment made him feel uncomfortable, and the fact he was sitting with a familiar face didn’t console him much. While he wasn’t wholly unfamiliar with the conference experience, even though it has been some time since his last one, the subject was out of his expertise. Before working at Hammel the majority of his patients were elderly and so they had no problems with “adolescent dating violence”, or if they did it would have been fifty to sixty years ago so it wasn’t Lex’s problem. But, now, he supposed, that and other teenage issues were his problem. What a terrifying thought.

[Dr. Robert Terrell]

Sometimes Rob didn't know what he do without Tawney. Other days... he regretted ever working with her as his lead surgical nurse. She wore lots of hats, true. Not only was she his lead nurse on his surgical team, but she also fell into roles like assistant, and her favorite, babysitter. He resented that one, no matter how much she liked it and how much it was actually true. She kept him on time, kept him eating, and reminded him that murder was wrong, especially when it came to team members, and told him to apologize before his interns ran away in tears.

Today was one of the days where he wasn't sure why he'd agreed to work with her. She often managed his schedule when it came to things like CE. Normally the topics were very pertinent to his role, but this one... he got the sinking feeling that she was trying to tell him something. While he did work with teenagers sometimes, they weren't his primary patient group. Tawney had innocently claimed that he'd needed more hours before the year was up, and this was one of the only all day seminars that would up his hours.

He actually missed work - something his husband had heard all about before he'd left the house. He liked working, he liked the operating theater, he liked his office. He particularly liked most of his patients, and he felt like he was failing them, not being around. Tawney had sworn up and down that they would be looked after, and had already texted him multiple times to remind him of that.

At least he'd run into Dr. Aoki on his way in. He liked the pediatrician well enough, and was content to sit with her. When she waved to another man, he glanced back and then nodded to him in greeting as he sat down with them. Mitch and Tawney were always reminding him to be nice. He could try.

[Tsukiko Aoki]

When Dr. Muller made his way over Kiko leaned towards him to whisper, "Dr. Muller! It's nice to see you here. Have you met Rob?"

She gestured towards the man beside her, in case Dr. Muller didn't catch which of the people surrounding them was Rob. "It's nice to see two familiar faces," She added, giving the two men a small smile. It was much more comfortable to have someone she knew nearby, even if one of those people she only knew as an acquaintance.

"Rob works in surgery," She added by way of explanation as to what he was doing there. It wasn't completely out of the question that some of Hammel's students required surgery on occasion; that was simply part of being human, and they were a group of adolescents. A group of adolescents with super powers, many of whom couldn't control said powers. It was a wonder Maddock wasn't flooded with injured students every hour of the day.

The speaker was a round, grey-haired man with horn-rimmed glasses and a beard that made him look a bit like Santa. As he stepped up to the podium a loud squeal rent the air; Kiko winced at the feedback. Oof. This conference was getting off to a difficult start already.

[Deleted]

Introductions were unavoidable in the professional setting, and Lex suspected he would have to partake in many more before the day was done. However, in this case he was pleased to make another connection in Maddock. It would help later if there was an emergency with one of his students.

“No, I haven’t.” Lex said, extending his hand to the other male doctor. He introduced himself, “Alexander Mullur; I work at Hammel Institute.”

He frowned slightly as Dr. Aiko continued to address the adjacent doctor by his first name; he himself had no clue how to address him as a professional acquaintance as he wouldn’t dare call him “Rob” when Lex had just met him that day. After all, the doctor had known certain colleagues for years and didn’t bother to even learn their first initial. Nevertheless, as Dr. Aiko continued to speak he learned that “Rob” was a surgeon, which was a valuable contact for Lex to obtain. The only surgical techniques Lex had in his repertoire were basic suturing and stapling, which could only treat minor injuries.

The conference room shushed as an overweight elderly man stepped up to the podium. But the silence didn’t last long as groans emitted across the room as the audio equipment produced a deafening sequel. Lex rubbed his temples, partially to soothe a quickly forming headache, however, also to express his intense displeasure in this whole fiasco.

Glancing down as his watch and asking no one in particular, he muttered, “How long does this thing last?”

[Dr. Robert Terrell]

Rob didn’t mind the introductions, though he knew a great deal of the professionals in the room already. It came from spending most of his working life at Maddock. Offering a smile to Dr. Mullur, he nodded and shook his hand. “Robert Terrell. And Tsukiko’s right. I’m one of the surgeons at Maddock, though I do a lot of orthopedic work in that.” He’d seen a few cases referred from Hammel, but not many. And only one was particularly memorable in recent history.

Settling down as the speaker came out, Rob also winced at the near-deafening noise. “Remind me to thank my nursing team for this,” he said mostly under his breath. As for Dr. Mullur’s question, he glanced at his watch. “Too long. It’s supposed to be an all-day thing.” Which had been all the more reason to gripe at home before leaving. He’d probably be texting Mitch every chance he got. … And possibly Tawney, because really, this was ridiculous.

[Tsukiko Aoki]

The speaker cleared his throat, then tapped the mic, causing another squeal to erupt. Kiko grimaced and hunched down into her seat.

"They better get the sound fixed," She grumbled under her breath as she gripped the edges of her chair. A young woman with a pony-tail ran up to the podium with another mic in hand. She muttered something to the speaker, and took the mic he had been using.

He cleared his throat again, tapped the mic....

and there were no squeals.

The room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Good morning," He may have been old, but the speaker's voice was deep and strong. "I'm Dr. Gilkeson and I'm here today to talk to you about teen dating violence. Unhealthy relationships can begin early, so it's important that those of us who provide healthcare for children keep an eye out in case intervention is necessary. It's not uncommon for young people to believe that teasing and name-calling are normal, and that may make it hard for them to realize when their relationship crosses the line into abuse. A child may not realize that her relationship is abusive, so she won't confide in anyone about it. So it's up to as to know the signs."

Kiko sighed and leaned her elbows on her lap. She hoped Dr. Gilkeson would hurry up and get on with the signs she was supposed to be looking for.