Lorelei and Me Pt. 02

Lori then said, "Why don't we all go to the lake house this weekend so Max can see where Ben and I will be living and working. I think the two of you should found a clinic in our town once you finish your residency. Ben has been told by Dr. Robert, our town doctor, that as soon as Ben gets to town that he's retiring. I think the two of you would work well together. Plus, there are ample opportunities for Jill to pursue her veterinary work."

Jill laughed and asked, "So Lori, are you proposing for Max to marry me?"

Max the turned to Jill and said, "No she isn't but I am. Jill would you marry me?" Max held out a ring box towards her as he got down on one knee facing her.

Jill's eyes got wide as saucers as she tackled him crying, "YES!!!" She then kissed him as they lay on the restaurant floor much to the amusement of the other patrons. When they got off the floor they received a standing ovation from everyone. I ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate our friends engagement.

When the excitement died down, Jill turned to Lori and asked, "Did the two of you arrange this?"

Lori laughed and said, "It does look like it, but no, I had no idea that Max was going to propose. It was pretty cool how it worked out."

When we got back to our apartment, Lori and I were inspired by the sounds coming from Jill and Max's room and had our own hot romp with one another. As we lay in bed catching our breath it dawned on me. I sat up turned on my bedside light, looked at Lori and said, "It just dawned on me that you said we would go to Maryland for my residency when we first started dating! How did you do that?"

Lori smiled up at me and replied, "I told you, when you pulled me from my car after hitting that deer, I saw our whole future flash before me in a matter of seconds. It was so comforting that I just knew it was true. Just think in about 4 years we'll be parents. You better start thinking of girls names!"

I laughed and said, "That's easy, we'll name one after my Mom and one after yours."

Lori laughed and said, "My Mom hates her name, so we better use her middle name which is Louise. Is that okay?"

"Works for me."

The next weekend the four of us piled into my truck and headed for the lake house. We had all been there several times before. It was early afternoon on a Friday, so we dumped our luggage and then put on swimming suits and jumped into the lake and swam for a while. After swimming we all lay on the pier and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on our bodies.

After sunning for a while, we all showered, got dressed and headed to Lori's parents place where we had dinner. My Dad and Anna were there as well. After dinner, I asked my Dad and Lori's about our idea of starting a small clinic in town. I described the things we wanted to do medically and how we would like to have 3 beds available for maternity cases and other short-term emergencies.

Everyone thought it was a very good idea and was very necessary for our little town and some of the surrounding towns. Anna especially liked it saying, "That is very forward thinking of all of you." I told her it was Lori's idea which caused Anna to smile and say, "One of my best students!"

As we returned to the lake house, Lori told Max that we would go into town, have breakfast and look around to see if he could see himself there. He replied to her, "I've liked what I've seen so far, so I think it will work out. The thing that's going to be tough is financing all of the equipment we'll need and how we will pay each other."

I said, "Financing won't be too bad. I have a lot of money and Lori's Dad is the bank president."

Max grimaced and said, "I don't want you holding the entire financial burden and I'll have school loans to pay back."

"Unless you want to work for an established clinic, it will cost a lot just to have your own small practice. Things will work out, don't worry."

A few weeks later the four of us graduated and were all 'doctors' of various types. Shortly after that, Lori and I drove to Jill's hometown to participate in her and Max's wedding. Jill was glowing with happiness during the whole weekend. Lori was her matron of honor and I was Max's best man.

After the wedding, Lori and I went home and spent 3 weeks in the lake house preparing for our move to Baltimore. Lori had managed finding a job at Georges Simmons as well, so we were set in that way. We decided to arrive in Baltimore 2 weeks before we were due in order to familiarize ourselves with the area and to find an apartment to live in for the next three years. The night before we were going to leave we had dinner with my folks and Lori's. We had fun as we ate and talked and then some tears as we parted for the night.

As Lori and I lay in bed, she said, "I know we have to go, but I'm really going to miss this place."

I hugged her and said, "I will too, but I'm guessing that we'll be so busy the time will fly by. You know we can fly or drive back whenever we have vacation, so it won't be horrible. Besides, we have each other which, for me, will help immensely."

Lori smiled, kissed me and said, "Yeah, we have each other. I love you Ben!"

In the morning we loaded up the truck with what we wanted to take with us and headed for Baltimore. We decided to take the trip in two stages. The first was to drive as far as Cleveland and spend a couple of nights and then drive the rest of the way to Baltimore. The first days driving wasn't too horrible, though the traffic around Chicago was a pain. The reason we chose Cleveland was because we both wanted to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was really great.

Upon arriving in Baltimore, we followed the GPS on Lori's phone until we got to the hospital and then looked for a motel nearby. Once we got situated in our room, we went looking for a place to have dinner and walk around the area. Later that evening as Lori and I lay in bed, she asked, "So, what do you think? We keep going to bigger and bigger cities. This place is a huge difference from our little town."

I chuckled and said, "Yeah, it is. I'm not too sure how much time we will have to explore the area."

"Well, while we are out east like this we should, at least, see Washington, New York and visit Jill and Max in Boston. There's a lot of history out this way which would be fun to explore."

The next day we went to the hospital and checked in with the administration office. We both got a very warm welcome and were given a lot of information about the hospital and the Baltimore area. They also gave us the number of a property management company that dealt with incoming residents for help in finding suitable lodgings.

We told them we were ready to begin as soon as they needed us since we were here and they said we could start the following Monday, a week early. After we left the office, we contacted the property management company regarding a place to live. We were invited to their office at any time, so we made our way there.

When we arrived, we were ushered into the office of a young woman named Liz. She welcomed us and asked what we were looking for. Lori replied, "We think we'd like to live fairly close to the hospital to cut down on commuting time and to, possibly, walk to work. We'll need a furnished place with two bedrooms."

Liz looked at Lori and asked, "Two bedrooms?"

Lori smiled and said, "Oh yes. We will both be working there and it will be quite possible that we'll be on opposite shifts. Ben will need all of the rest he can get and I don't want to bother his rest with my comings and goings, so, yes, two bedrooms. Also, it needs to be somewhere quiet."

Liz smiled and said, "That makes a lot of sense. Well, I think we have quite a few options for you that may work." She directed our attention to a large screen TV and began bringing up apartments and two flats. I deferred to Lori's judgement because she had definite ideas about what our place should be like.

After looking at over 50 places, Lori had chosen 5 possibilities and listed them in order. According to Liz, three of them were available to view right away, so we got into her car and headed out. The first place turned out to be next to a fire station, so Lori nixed that one immediately. The next place was a four-plex and the apartment we looked at was upstairs. It looked nice enough, though rather small, but would work. The third place was the upstairs apartment of a two flat. As we looked around, Lori's smile got bigger and bigger. The place was very roomy, was nicely furnished and actually had three bedrooms.

While we were looking the owner came up to investigate. She was an older lady of around 70 years old and had a very alert and mischievous manner about her. Liz introduced us to Mildred Miller. She stuck out her hand to shake both of ours. She asked, "So where are you two from, you sound like you're from the Midwest?"

Lori replied, "Good guess we're from a little town in Wisconsin you've never heard of."

Mrs. Miller smiled and said, "Try me."

"Douglas." Lori replied.

"Just east of Viroqua if I remember correctly. I grew up in Muscoda on the Wisconsin River. Any chance you can get cheese curds sent out this way?"

Lori and I laughed and then Lori said, "We'll take it, that is if you approve, Mrs. Miller."

"Call me Mildred and when did you want to move in?"

I wrote out a check for first and last months rent and security deposit and then we signed a lease agreement. Liz took us back to her office, we thanked her and headed to the motel to checkout and move into our new digs. We needed to buy some things like sheets and groceries, so Mildred pointed us in the right direction for everything we needed.

The neighborhood was pretty quiet with a lot of retirees seemingly living in the area. The next day Lori and I walked around to see what was available in terms of services. We found a hair salon that cut both women and men, a coffee bar, a nice looking bistro where we had lunch, a laundromat and a small grocery store.

On Monday, Lori and I showed up at 8am and were whisked off for our orientations in separate directions. I was shown the various areas and departments within the hospital and was introduced to a plethora of other doctors and administrators. When the orientation was complete I was taken to lunch and was told I would be working in the Emergency Room from noon to midnight Friday through Monday with Tuesday through Thursday off. None of this came as a surprise to me and I was hoping I'd be spending time in the ER because it would be good for me as a GP. I was given a locker and told where I could get my scrubs for each day.

When I got home, I found Lori there already making dinner for us. I kissed her and asked her how her orientation went. She said, "It went well, about what I expected. I got my schedule which has me working from 2pm to midnight, Friday through Monday."

I laughed and told Lori my schedule and said, "We can at least walk home together!"

Work in the ER was interesting, intense and highly educational and working there on weekend nights multiplied the intensity 10 fold! On my first night I dealt with a gunshot wound, a drug overdose, several broken bones and the delivery of a baby girl. As Lori and I walked home she was amazed at all of the things I did on my first night. "You must be exhausted! My day was nothing like yours. I worked on a floor where I recorded blood pressures, pulses, oxygen counts and made patients comfortable. It was really boring! Maybe I should see about moving down to the ER."

I laughed and said, "I think that at least one of us should have some energy at the end of the day."

As the days passed I got more comfortable with the work load in the ER, so I wasn't as stressed and before long nights like the first one seemed pretty light. Lori was still bored with working on resident patient floors until one night one of the patients had a heart attack while Lori was checking his blood pressure. She immediately began CPR while shouting for assistance and began calling out instructions to the other nurses while she was performing the chest compressions. Eventually, a doctor arrived and hit the man with the defibrillator a couple of times. The man was rushed to surgery where he had quadruple bypass surgery. The doctor congratulated Lori on her quick and decisive action which, probably, saved the man's life.

About three weeks after we moved into our apartment we received a large parcel from FedEx. Mildred was holding it for us and gave it to us in the morning. Lori and I smiled as Lori said, "Let's open it!" We opened the box where there was a letter on top. I saw the letter was from Lori's Dad, so I let her read it.

Dear Lori and Ben,

Enclosed is the Wisconsin 'care package' that you requested for your Landlady. I hope she enjoys the contents! We miss you both and can't wait to see you again! All our love...

Dad

Inside the box was a Styrofoam container, so we pulled it from the box and handed it to Mildred. She invited us into her home and then she began to dig into the contents of the container. When she had the top off, her eyes went wide in glee as her hands came to her mouth. She then uttered, 'oh my god!' and pulled out a 1 pound bag of cheese curds, a six pack of New Glarus Brewery Spotted Cow Ale, a pound of venison jerky, a bag of fresh cranberries and a selection of various cheeses.

With tears in her eyes she hugged Lori first and then me as she said thank you over and over. The contents had been kept cool by a small amount of dry ice, so nothing would spoil overnight. Mildred directed us to her dining room table and told us to sit while she went into her kitchen. She returned with a couple of bowls and three glasses. She poured some of the cheese curds into a bowl and then poured three glasses of the beer for us. When she was finished, Mildred raised her glass and said, "To Wisconsin and the most wonderful people in the nation!" Lori and I laughed and cried out 'Here, here!'

We drank our toast and then Mildred took some cheese curds in hand and popped one in her mouth, closed her eyes and moaned with joy as she chewed. When she swallowed she looked at us and said, "I have been dying for cheese curds from home for over twenty years! Thank you so much for making an old lady happy."

I smiled and said, "It was, honestly, our pleasure. Things like this make being away from home endurable."

"Yeah," Lori said. "I told my Dad to send these 'care packages' once a month for you."

After six months we were treated like regulars and felt like we fitted in really well. We were making friends amongst our co-workers and socialized with several different people. We were invited to go sailing with a doctor that Lori had worked with out on Chesapeake Bay during one of our weekends. The doctor and his wife owned a large sailboat with several cabins and a kitchen.

It was late autumn when we went and a bit cool, but it was exhilarating. We spent the night on the boat and had a great time sailing and getting to know the other couple. When we returned, we went to a seafood restaurant and had blue crab, crab cakes and oysters amongst other things. I loved it all, but Lori wasn't too keen about the oysters. I paid for dinner as a way to thank them for their hospitality.

While out east, we managed to take some time to explore Washington D.C. which was entertaining. We found New York to be overwhelming with its size and the numbers of people. During one of our vacations, we took the train to Boston to visit with Jill and Max. I got us first class seats for the 6+ hour rides there and back. They only had a studio apartment, so Lori and I got a suite at a nearby hotel and invited them to stay with us.

It was really great being with our friends again. Max and I compared notes about our experiences in our respective hospitals while Jill talked about working in a small veterinary clinic treating cats and dogs. She said she missed working with horses and cattle. One evening we walked to Fenway Park and watched a baseball game, ate hot dogs and drank beer. When we left we had a teary parting at the train station.

Life was going swimmingly for us until about midway through my last year. A young hotshot doctor who was considered tops in cardiac surgery took a shine to Lori. At this time, she was working in his department and as time went by he was getting more and more aggressive with his attentions. She had complained to HR about the unwanted attention, but, apparently, they were unwilling to upset their rising star.

His harassment usually occurred in a breakroom, so Lori began setting up her phone in a discreet place with the video running whenever she went there in hopes that she could get video of him making his unwanted passes. After the third time with the video running, 'Dr. Handsy', as we dubbed him, grabbed Lori and began trying to kiss her and was rubbing her body all over until she managed to knee him hard in the groin.

We took our complaint to a lawyer and described everything we did with the hospital HR department with no success. Our lawyer said that we should sue the doctor and the hospital for sexual harassment and the hospital for failure to control their employees. Before our case went to trial, the hospital wanted to settle out of court. We met with the hospital officials and their lawyers. We explained that Lori repeatedly took her complaints about the doctor to HR and was told that there was no proof and that such a skilled doctor would never behave in this way. We said, we had enjoyed our time at the hospital, but this type of discrimination was intolerable and that the hospital had to be punished for their inaction.

The lawyers went back and forth until they agreed that we would be awarded $2.5 million dollars as well as our legal costs being covered and a letter of apology and a promise from the hospital that they would take corrective actions immediately. The doctors team didn't want to settle thinking they could get off with a slap on the wrist. The judge decided against the doctor and we were awarded another $1.5 million including legal fees.

Despite the legal issues at the end of our stay, overall our work at Georges Simmons was wonderful. We both learned a lot and made numerous friends. However, we were anxious to finish with preparing for our future and wanted to dive into our professional lives back home in our little town. But before we did that, I had promised Lori that we would take a trip to Europe.

We bought Eurail passes that would allow us to travel most anywhere on the European continent. I made our plane reservations from Washington Dulles in business class to Paris to start. Two days before we were going to fly out, we had a tearful goodbye with Mildred while she wished us all the best and that she would miss us. I had reserved a space near Dulles at a 'you store it' place for our belongings and then we checked into a hotel near the airport which would allow us to leave our truck while we were gone.

On the day of our departure we checked in, went through security and then boarded our flight. We were in seats 3AB and were given glasses of champagne as we sat. Neither one of us had done much flying, so it was all new to us. The seats would recline into a flat bed, we had large screen monitors to watch dozens of movies and TV shows. As our flight left the gate, our excitement was palpable.

When we were in the air, I turned to Lori and said, "Thus starts the next part of our journey together! I love you Lorelei Lawrence!"

With a big smile, Lori said, "And I love you Ben Lawrence!"