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Post by jmkgeb on May 6, 2007 16:57:35 GMT -5
Dr. Michael Crane walked down the hallway away from the nurses station where he had just signed off on a chart. Looking down at his watch he saw that it was awhile yet before his next surgery (not that he was doing the surgery, but he was still there, and if he wasnt, they'd notice). He figured he had time for some coffee. Coffee always seemed to be a good thing when you had hours of work yet ahead of you.
Heading over to the elevator he pressed the down button and waited for the doors to open. He stepped inside as the doors opened.
((Open!))
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Post by euphoria on May 6, 2007 17:12:59 GMT -5
Natalie walked to wards the elevator, finishing off with another patient, and having to meet another one in a short while. She figured with the time she had to kill, might as well take a break...maybe even get some sleep, or just find something else relaxing to occupy her time. She saw the doors to the elevator open, and quickened her pace. Hospital elevators took forever, so even though she wasn't in any rush, she didn't want to stand around and wait for another when she was able to catch it right now.
She managed to make it right inside and pressed the button for the appropriate floor, also glad that it was going down. She casually looked at the man next to her, looking once and then turning her gaze forward again. She hadn't seen him around much...which wasn't a huge surprise since SGH wasn't small. "Hi! I'm Doctor Natalie Cooper," she introduced. She figured that since they worked in the same hospital, she may as well talk to him...and hopefully he wouldn't think she was totally insane for doing so. Some doctors preferred silence, but she was one of the more talkative ones.
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Post by jmkgeb on May 6, 2007 18:45:14 GMT -5
Mike reached out holding the door open as he saw the woman rushing to make the elevator. When she was inside he removed his hand allowing it to close. He gave her a small polite smile as she looked over his way. He didnt recognize her, so wasnt even able to place which department she worked in.
He smiled again as she introduced himself, glad she was friendly (and having been considering introducing himself as well). "I'm Dr. Michael Crane, its a pleasure to meet you Doctor Cooper" He told her.
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Post by euphoria on May 7, 2007 19:46:55 GMT -5
"Likewise," she said still smiling as he introduced himself. "So what kind of doctor are you?" She asked, wondering why she hadn't seen much of him before. Not that she had seen every single doctor here, but she usually had some sort of general idea as to what they were...but him, she had no clue. [ah..kinda short, sorry, will get longer ]
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Post by jmkgeb on May 7, 2007 20:00:59 GMT -5
"I'm an anesthesiologist" Mike told her. "What about yourself?" he asked, not remembering seeing her before. He then tried to think about what floor she was just coming off of, maybe it would end up being a stupid question. Even stupider could be that he couldnt remember the floor they had just been on, or what departments were there. After finishing with his last patient he had been on autopilot. He hoped she wouldnt think his question too lame or obvious.
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Post by euphoria on May 7, 2007 20:25:44 GMT -5
"Ohhh," Natalie said understandingly. "No wonder I haven't seen you around! I'm a psychiatrist..well, resident psychiatrist. I don't do surgery often, so thats probably why I haven't seen you around." She wondered how many people had seen him around...and what they called him. Yes, Natalie had been here long enough to know the silly nicknames associated with a few of the doctors. She was embarrassed to admit that she also called them by those names...of course, only talking to other female doctors. She would never call them those things to their face, unless it accidentally slipped out. She couldn't help but wonder what his was...or, if he had one..yet.
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Post by jmkgeb on May 7, 2007 20:41:42 GMT -5
Mike smiled as she stated her residency choice and explained that was probably why she didnt recognize him. He was almost relieved that she wasnt a surgeon. He had met a lot surgeons with egos or who were super-competitive, they seemed to lose track of the idea that the patient was the reason they were there. Other specialities he found to be more down to earth...but he tried not to judge too much, he had met some friendly surgeons here.
"Yes I guess that would be a good reason why" Micheal told her. "I have visited your department a few times before, not under the most pleasant circumstances, usually for some quick sedation with a troubling patient"
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Post by euphoria on May 10, 2007 19:00:39 GMT -5
Natalie smiled and nodded. "That makes sense. Some patients get so out of hand. How often have you been there?" She wanted to ask so that she wouldn't feel bad for not knowing who he was. She usually tried to meet as many people as possible. Of course, it was possible that during the havoc of trying to sedate the patient, there was no time to get to know the fellow doctor.
"So have you lived in Seattle long?" Since she was in an elevator with him, she might as well get to know him...she just hoped he didn't mind talking, since she was the one who had initiated the conversation and could really be chatty, which she knew some people could get annoyed by.
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Post by jmkgeb on May 10, 2007 21:16:03 GMT -5
"Oh not too often actually" Mike responded as she asked how often he had been to psych. He felt a little silly for having mentioned it in the first place, but had just been trying to keep a conversation and it was the first common ground he saw between them. "I guess you guys are pretty good at talking down your patients without needing meds." He was starting to ramble trying to cover himself, but was glad for the change in topic.
"About 6 months now, so not too long...I came here straight from residency to start my fellowship here in pediatric anesthesiology. I'm starting to know my way around here by now though" He commented. "What about you? Have you been in Seattle long?"
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Post by euphoria on May 12, 2007 10:02:05 GMT -5
She smiled as he said that he didn't have to come too often. "Sometimes, certain patients are just out of control...surprisingly, it happens here more often that I would have thought." Not that she minded of course...but she always preferred talking to a patient to calm them down rather than medicate them. Of course, sometimes they had no choice.
When he told her how long he had been here for, she didn't feel as bad for not meeting him. Even though six months was a long time, at the same time it wasn't. "Where did you move from?" She asked curiously. "Yeah, this hospital certainly takes a while to get used to...considering how big it is. I remember how many times I got lost when I first came here, and even to this day, I still sometimes do. I came about three years ago from New York, to start my residency in psychiatry here."
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Post by jmkgeb on May 12, 2007 18:25:58 GMT -5
"It does take some getting used to. My first week I was paged to the ER, somehow ended up in the neonatal ICU...not the easiest thing to explain" Mike said with a light laugh, not even sure why he was admitting to an embarrassing moment from his first few days here.
"I moved here from Chicago...seems like we've both traveled a bit to get here" He commented.
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Post by euphoria on May 13, 2007 9:10:58 GMT -5
She laughed as he told her his story about getting lost; ending up from one place that was completely different from the one he was supposed to be getting to. "If it makes you feel any better...I kept getting the floors mixed up, so I was going up and down in the elevator for two hours one time, trying to find out where my office was." She remembered that day quite perfectly...she had even seen the same people on the elevator giving her quizzical looks, but she was too embarrassed to ask where her own office was, so she just kept wandering around the hospital until she found it. "The only good thing that came out of it, was that I familiarized myself with the hospital pretty well that way...mind you, I felt a little nauseous from the extra long elevator ride." She hadn't thrown up thankfully, but even if she had, she probably would have left that part out of the story.
"That it does!" She said agreeing to his comment about both of them having done some traveling. "I've never been to Chicago before...how is it there?"
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Post by jmkgeb on May 14, 2007 16:20:25 GMT -5
Mike smiled as he listened to her tell her story of being confused riding the elevator, both because he found it to be an amusing story, and also because he felt less embarrassed about rambling on about his own mishap upon arriving. He felt less like he was saying more than he was supposed to on an elevator and more like they were having a normal conversation. "I bet you were taking the stairs for a few days after just to avoid it" he said jokingly after her comment of motion sickness.
"Chicago can be nice, has its nice areas and its not so nice ones...like most city's I guess. But most of the people are pretty nice. How's New York? Do you miss it? "
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Post by euphoria on May 15, 2007 19:20:07 GMT -5
She laughed once again as he said that she probably took the stairs for a while. "How did you guess?" She asked smiling. "It was then that I realized wearing heels to work wasn't such a good idea...but if I had to choose between walking up stairs, and heels, sadly, I would pick the heels," she said kiddingly. She actually wasn't too fond of high heels, but wore them only on certain occasions.
"Actually, I use both things...depends on how much energy I have on that day. I do believe that both take the same amount of time though, since sometimes, the elevator takes so long to come, but I guess thats the case with all hospital elevators." She felt like she was rambling a bit, but she was just talkative...perhaps a little too much. Maybe she should cut back in case he was getting annoyed because right now, he had no where else to go...he was trapped!
"Thats great! Sounds like a wonderful place! I do miss New York...a lot of people think its crowded and too busy, but there are more peaceful areas. I'm more of a city girl I suppose, although some peace and quiet is nice too. I think Seattle has a good balance of both, which is why I love it here."
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Post by jmkgeb on May 15, 2007 20:17:18 GMT -5
Mike laughed as he listened to her talk about the tradeoff between wearing heals and taking the stairs. "That's one thing I definitely dont envy about the women who work here. You've got guts to even attempt those things" He joked with her. "I'm glad I dont have to worry about that decision*
He then smiled as she rambled on a bit about taking either depending on her daily preference. He was glad he wasnt the only one who rambled and he was taking it as a positive sign that she hadnt wanted to cut the conversation short when he was talking.
"New York sounds like a nice place too. And you're right, I think Seattle does seem like a good mix of things. And the hospitals great, couldnt really ask for more"
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