Doctor with a bright future

The Trauma Unit on Friday and Saturday nights was an endless procession of drunks with fresh bullet wounds, people hauled off the freeway with faces smashed in from a steering wheel or windshield, and motorcycle casualties with multiple fractures. By 2 am the place would smell like booze, blood, and vomit. Doctors barking orders and people moaning in pain were a chorus against the rhythmic  sigh of sliding doors opening, and gurney wheels squeaking.

The clinical rotations ignited a fire inside of Brad. These people need help. Seizing the opportunity, the 3rd year medical student would scrub into surgery every chance he got. Helping the residents by retracting the skin while they fixed  fractured bones, or holding a leg while an intramedullary rod was pounded into position, he worked night after night. He took extra call nights when there was no assigned student, and in appreciation the residents let him suture the wounds and even make some incisions. One of the nurses gifted him with leftover suture  materials, and he practiced on pigs feet from a butcher store. Mastering the various techniques, he was soon suturing right along with the residents and on busy nights they were glad for the help.

Out of all the things a doctor could do, fixing broken people stoked Brad Rosedale’s fire the most. He was lucky enough to match to an Orthopedic Surgery residency while still in his junior year.

The senior year came and went. Taking of sick and injured people filled him with purpose and inspired him to all but live in the hospital which was recognized by the many honors he made in the clinical rotations. As graduation day approached, Brad sent invitations to his family and a girlfriend, but two girlfriends showed up.

Barbara arrived from out of town, a charming and family-oriented law student who always made Brad look good. He was to blame for their on-and-off relationship; he couldn’t decide if she was The One or not. But she was perfect to be his partner at this special occasion.

Tanya was a wild runway model who had burned out and become a surgical nurse. She met Brad at a TGIF party, and they had a tumultuous attachment that he thought had ended. Brad never thought she was The One but had been hooked by her looks and her bad-girl ways. She sauntered in unexpectedly, statuesque blondness in a short silky dress, and waved at him. He put a hand up as if to push her away and tried not to freak out.

Dad Morris made a rare sober appearance, gave Brad a hug, and with his street smarts immediately sized up the situation. He made himself useful by sitting with Tanya in a back row and keeping her entertained with jokes and stories. Barbara showed up and sat near the front row with brother Glen and Mother Natalie, who was recovering from a nervous breakdown. It was one of those times that he felt his parents actually loved him. They were breaking out of their dysfunction by showing up sober and supportive.

I finally made it, he thought, forgetting about the conflict brewing in the wings. He was about to transform into a helper of humanity. “Dr. Brad Rosedale” was announced. He marched across the stage and grasped hands with the school’s President who handed him his Doctor of Medicine diploma. Feeling the document in his hand made him giddy with relief and inspiration surged through him. Nobody could stop him now, not a girlfriend, not his family, not The Man.

The diploma ceremony concluded and Mo managed to whisk Tanya out a side door with the promise of a quick smoke, just as Barbara went up to Dr. Brad at the front of the auditorium for a big hug and kiss. Glen stood by protectively, ready to help Tanya out of the hall by force, if necessary. The two would laugh later while sharing a joint and tell Brad that he owed them a big one.

Somebody had made dinner reservations, and  Barbara came along with Glen leading the way. Mo had Tanya out to the parking lot and was sharing a cigarette with the sexy blonde who was almost as tall as him in her high heels. “Don’t tell Brad,” she said to Mo, with a giggle, as she blew a plume of smoke. “He hates this.”

“Don’t you worry, young lady. He ain’t gonna know nothin’,” Mo said, giving her a gentle caress on the back of one shoulder.

She didn’t need to worry. She would never see Brad again. Neither Tanya nor Barbara would make the cut. There was somebody more perfect waiting for him, and they would find each other.