Dr. Gregory Wall pulled into the doctors’ parking lot as he did every morning at seven. He spotted Shelly’s still unwashed Bug as he struggled to get out of his car. He took the elevator to the fifth floor and stopped at the nurses’ station for his morning report.
“Good morning, Doctor,” Doris greeted him as she held out with a stack of files and messages.
“Hold those for a minute, Doris. Have you seen Dr. White running around this morning?”
“She’s in your office waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me?” he asked. He was usually the first to get to work and many times would stay the night at the bedside of a little patient.
“She’s been in there for the better part of an hour.”
With a “Harumph,” he grabbed his briefcase and walked to his office. Shelly stood staring out of the window. “I hear you’re waiting for me?” he said. “Now that’s a switch.”
“I’ve been here for a while.”.
“A while?” he asked. “It’s seven a.m. What’s going on?” “Well, I got a call from Nick Harris this morning.” “This morning? I repeat, it’s seven a.m.”
“Actually, he called me about three.”
“The man calls you at three in the morning?”
“He’s in Vegas at the insurance conference. Remember?”