Chapter 18: Lori's Story

It was a Monday morning. The crowded, hectic hospital was humming along. Kansas City was home to a very large, very well run hospital.

That was one of those Mondays I hated. I started behind schedule because the weekend nuclear medicine crew didn't finish all the hospitalized patients before their shift ended. That meant a lot of extra exams before my scheduled appointments. To top it off, the hospital administrator left a message for me to come by at lunchtime for a new assignment briefing.

As fast as I could, I processed the weekend patient load. I planned on getting to my appointments after meeting with the boss. Morning appointments had to be rescheduled. My lunch was an apple and a prayer for patience — not patients — as I walked to the forth floor offices.

The hospital was chronically understaffed and over-committed. That I was doing duty in the Nuclear Lab when I was an RN indicates how tightly the hospital had to manage every penny. We were profitable but teetering on the brink of chaos all the time.

If the new assignment meant longer hours, I was considering changing jobs. I barely had any life as it was. Though I earned a high salary, what good was that if I couldn't even get to go to church and lunch with my folks once a week?

No one seemed to care about my life, anyway. I hadn't been on a date in four months. Because I was so tied up, I couldn't meet anyone, go anywhere, or even find time to adopt a cat to keep me company when I was home.

'Stop whining, ' I told myself for the tenth time that day.

The administrator's suite was not large but not small, either. He had two outer offices where assistants processed daily department reports and prepared grant requests, and department needs assessments. In a nutshell, they handled all the other paper that hospitals grind out daily in an attempt to survive while achieving a minimal amount of success.

You couldn't accuse our administrator of wasting money on his offices or staff. The desks were functionally small. His was the same. We were all in the same boat. If you are going to run a Christian Hospital, you'd better learn to work with humble surroundings, because that's all you're going to get. I was proud of our mission to the poor and sick. We tried to make profit where we could in order to provide the free services we gave to the community. It really was fulfilling to have a part in that, even if it interfered with my social life.

"Lori," he said, mincing no words, "our Jacksonville unit is desperate for an experienced nuclear medicine technician to set up and get their unit running. If you can go, we will pay all your living expenses for three months and give you a small raise for helping us out on short notice. You're the only one with the right training who doesn't have small children to pick up and move. I thought I'd ask you first."

There it was, I thought. Send Lori. She's single and doesn't have a life. She won't mind. She always says yes. And it was true. I'd make the arrangements and take care of their problem then come home and try to invent a life since I didn't have one to leave behind, anyway.

"Okay," I said, "when do I need to go?"