The Vigilante & The Dragon - Book 1 of the Guardians Saga [COMPLETED]

Work and Prey Ch. 6.1

The doctor's office was packed. Alex double-checked the address on Foucher Street. It still matched.

"Excuse me," Alex politely addressed the harassed woman behind the desk.

"Sign in." The woman shoved a clipboard at her. Her short hair was spiked on top and bleached on the ends, looking like a crown of golden spikes.

"Uh," Alex began.

"Sign. In."

There was a wild look in the woman's eyes that intimidated Alex, so she signed her name. The phone rang and the woman picked it up. Alex handed her the clipboard when she slammed down the receiver .

"Insurance card."

"I'm from the temp agency," Alex replied.

"Why did you sign in like a patient? Come behind the desk."

Eyes wide, posture stiff, and hands fisted from adrenaline pumping from surprise, Alex obediently rounded the desk and sat in the chair next to the woman.

"This is a telephone. Answer it. Transfer medical questions to nursing by pushing 1, billing questions push 2, medical records 3, and appointments give to me. Our telephone answering system is broken. We don't have the money to fix or replace it. If any patient yells at you, ask for their name, write it down, and tell them they're discharged from the practice. This is the sign in sheet. Give it to everyone who comes to the desk. If they don't come to the desk, tell them to sign in. I'll figure out their co-pay."

Alex sat frozen like a deer in headlights. Thugs were one thing, but this was one tough boss and a whole lotta info. Alex nodded numbly when the woman shoved the phone at her.

******

So the morning went. Alex never realized there were so many angry people at a doctor's office.

Sick and miserable, sure, but angry?

Five patients had yelled at her before lunch.

"Where are the EKG results on Lombard?" An equally harassed man in a rumpled white coat asked her. There were dark circles under his eyes and a splash of something greenish yellow on the lower corner of his coat, but Alex was too scared to tell him.

Alex stared at him for a moment before turning to look at the frazzled woman, her hair now sticking out at odd angles all over her head. Unfortunately, she was back on the phone.

"Who are you? Never mind. I'm not learning your name until you've lasted two weeks. Tell Carol to call for that EKG." He flipped the chart onto the counter and walked off. Alex figured Carol was the harassed woman, who had been too busy to tell Alex her name.

******

By the time five o'clock rolled around, Alex felt like a wet washcloth that had been wrung out more than once. Two patients had screamed at her, demanding their fifty-page paperwork be filled out now. Five had cried that they needed their hydrocodone increased or it had been stolen and they needed more. They threw pens at her when she told them the doctor had discharged them for illegal drug abuse. One had demanded that the doctor see her without waiting. Alex had refrained from pointing out that it was called a waiting room for a reason. At least Carol handled the few patients who claimed they couldn't pay their co-pay, as they pulled out cigarettes and smart phones with their professionally manicured fingernails.

Most of the patients had been polite. The few bad apples always stand out in everyone's minds.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" Carol, who turned out to be the office manager, asked in a kindlier tone than she had used all day.