with a patient- the areas I was supposed to avoid.
'Hello, Dr. Littman,' one of the nurses said from behind the nurse’s station. I had no clue who she was. I smiled and nodded, heading toward room 301. I stopped at the door, and went inside. The room was like any other at the Mayo, narrow bed, pleasing decorations to try and make the patient feel more at ease and at peace. The TV was on, but the sound was turned low. A wheelchair sat against the wall, under the window. I turned to look at the patient and saw she was staring at me. She looked pretty good, short strands of dark hair shiny from a recent wash.
'Hello,' I grabbed the woman’s chart from the end of the bed and looked for her name, 'Mrs. Blackwell. How are you?' Blue eyes lit up with her smile.
'Well, I’ve had better days, but overall I’m doing alright.' I heard the water turn on in the small bathroom by the door, and figured she had a visitor. 'And please, call me Hannah.'
'Alright. Hannah it is. I’m Dr. Littman from the research department, and I’ve heard you have some questions for us.'
'Oh, yes. I’m so glad you’re here.'
'Hannah, here’s your water.' I turned as I heard the bathroom door squeak open. A figure stepped out, and my eyes widened as recognition filled me. 'Oh, I didn’t realize we weren’t alone.' She laughed, setting the water pitcher on Hannah’s bed table, then walked over to me with an extended hand. 'Hi, I’m Dr. Corregan.' I took the hand, still stunned as I looked into blue eyes. Did my eyes deceive me, or was my past trying to shake my hand? She looked at me with an expectant, polite smile. Did she not remember me?
'Dr. Littman.' She looked at me, her eyes narrowing.
'Littman. Any relation to the Winston Littman’s?' She cocked her head to the side, eyeing my face. 'Andi?' I nodded.
'Hello, Haley.'
'My goodness.' She smiled, stepping back to take me in, her hand on her chest. 'This is quite a surprise, I must say.'
'You’re telling me. What are you doing here?' She pointed toward the bed.
'I was about to give Hannah her psych eval. And you?'
'Well, I was supposed to answer some questions for her, but seeing as you got here first, I’ll come back. It was nice to see you again, though.'
'And you. Perhaps we could get together sometime and catch up.' I smiled, nodding.
'Perhaps. Well, good day to you both.'
With one last glance at a memory, I turned and headed out into the hall. Imagine that. I hadn’t seen Haley in so many years, and really barely remembered much of our friendship. As I made my way to the elevators, small bits flashed before my mind’s eye. I remembered going to some hideous party with her, though I can’t tell you who threw it. Something about a Koosh ball, maybe? Maybe that was someone else.
It had been nearly eleven years since I’d seen Haley. We had seen each other once when she’d come back from school for Christmas break. It had been in the mall, but neither of us had stopped. We had stared, waved, then moved on.
I stuck my hands in the pocket of my lab coat as the elevator smoothly whirred downward, getting me closer to my own little world of the lab.
Where had my memories gone so wrong? I was convinced that I had not had any friends in school, and that those had been lonely years for me. My life had not truly began until college, and I had made the conscious decision to forget most of high school, and anything before that. Yet, there she was, upstairs talking to a sick young woman.
Shrugging, I pushed open the door to my lab, and headed to my office.
I sighed, already tired as I hung my coat on the back of a chair in the cafeteria. Erin had managed to get here first, saving a table for us. She sat reading a Redbook magazine.
'Are you going to eat?' I asked, reaching into my pocket to get my money. She looked up, shaking her head.
'Nah. I’m not hungry.'
'You know, you say that now, but as soon as I get back to the table, you know you’ll be digging into my plate.' She fluttered dark lashes at me, an innocent smile on her face.
'Me? Never.'
'Salad or sandwich?'
'Really, Andi, I’m fine.'
'Salad it is. I’ll be right back.' The lines had already began to form, reminding me of days back in school. I walked over, and began to look around as I waited. Somewhere I thought I heard my name, but my mind was so far gone, and I was never called Andi here at work.
'Andi?' Eyes narrowing, I looked around until I saw blue eyes staring at me from three people behind me in line. I smiled.
'Hi. Go ahead.' I allowed the two doctors behind me to go ahead of me, and I stood in front of Haley. She smiled.
'How are you?'
'I’m great. Yourself?'
'Good, good. Just trying to get used to a new job.'
'Yes, when did you get here? I’m certain I would have remembered you.' I smiled, taking a step as the line moved up.
'Well, I actually got here Monday.' She smiled.
'Four whole days, huh?' She nodded. 'Where did you come from?'
'I had a position at UCLA teaching for the last two years.'
'Really? So how did you end up here? I mean, I assume you were acting in some capacity of a psychologist with Hannah Blackwell.'
'Yes. I’m a psychiatrist, so after all the schooling, I’ve actually only been out in the so-called real world for about two years.' She ran a hand down the back of her hair, shoulder length now, the sides pulled up to meet in a thin braid that ran down the rest of her hair. 'My father got sick about five years ago.'
'Oh, I’m so sorry.'
'Yes, he was diagnosed with MS. He did well for a while, then he just started to go downhill in the last year. Mom can’t do it alone, so I came back to help out for a while.'
'That must be so hard on your family. I know it’s not an easy disease.' She looked at me, shaking her head.
'No, it’s not. So, what about you? I certainly didn’t think you’d stay in Minnesota.' She smiled, grabbing a bottled iced tea as we passed the drink cooler.
'Well, I left for a short while, but then came back. It’s a long story. I got this job, and the rest is history.'
'How long have you been here?' She grabbed her silverware, wrapping it in a napkin as the line moved a bit more.
'Hmm. Let me think. Dr. Wills helped me get an internship here during my last year of undergrad,'
'Yes, I’ve heard a great deal about your Dr. Wills. He’s made quite a name for himself.'
'I know. I’m so proud of him. We still keep in close contact.' I smiled.
'Always nice to have contacts.'
'This is true. Anyway, so I did my internship here all through school, then after I graduated with my doctorate, they gave me a position here in the lab. So, all told I’d say I’ve been here about ten years.'
'Wow! Good for you.' She grabbed a salad that was in a plastic container with a clear lid. I grabbed one for Erin and a turkey sandwich for myself. 'Hungry?' I looked at her to see a wide smile that for a moment hit me as so familiar, like I’d seen it every day since I was seventeen.
'Well, I’m feeding two.'
'Ah. I see. So how did you end up going to school here? My mom said you went to some school on the east coast.'
