Welcome Home Doc

After completing his residency in pediatrics, on his first day home, Dr. Lenny joins his parent’s medical practice and is immediately put to work before he even has a chance to unpack. Among his first patients are brothers who routinely injure each other fighting and a feisty girl their age. Life in the small medical practice continues at a breakneck pace. In a brief lapse in the frenzy, Lenny and his father break to meet with the team managing the construction of the hospital’s new annex into which they will move their practice. Lenny has serious issues with the building’s design and runs into strong opposition.

The day after the debacle with the hospital planning committee, a patient referred by his burn specialist ex-girlfriend appears in this office to change his life and the lives of dozens of people around her. The girl has been badly burned in an incident involving mishandled charcoal lighter fluid that killed her father. She uses a wheelchair because she can barely walk after six months confined to a hospital bed. They have moved to this small mountain town because they have nowhere else to go.

The younger of the brothers who had been in the office on Lenny’s first day on the job and the feisty little girl who was Lenny’s first patient have gotten into a fight which landed them in Lenny’s office to be patched up. Seeing an opportunity to accomplish several goals simultaneously, Dr. Lenny teams his little pugilists to assist his new burn victim patient back to health. By doing this, he can get them to stop fighting, provide physical and emotional assistance to help the girl’s recovery, help her assimilate into her new school, and protect her from the bullying that often befalls handicapped kids.

The families meet to discuss the idea. Not long after the meeting ends, the feisty little girl hatches a plot to fix Dr. Lenny up with the burned girl’s recently widowed mother. The scheme will eventually involve half a dozen families and will become one of the worst-kept secrets in town.

The hospital administration responds to Lenny’s comments by restructuring the committee and replacing many of its members, making Lenny the primary local medical consultant. The construction company replaces its representative with the father of the boy Lenny has drafted to help his burn patient, expecting that their relationship off the job will enhance their ability to work together. This move turns out to be far more successful than anyone could have imagined.

Among the other changes, Lenny suggests bringing in a hospital consultant that he met while he was on one of his internships to replace the one they have been using. The suggestion forms the base for a long and prosperous relationship between the consulting and construction companies.

While looking for a job, the burn victim’s mother becomes involved with creating videos and a website sponsored by the town’s chamber of commerce to support the local businesses. The extended families, including all the kids, become involved and lay the groundwork for what will become a driving force in their lives.

While the kids are working to bring Lenny and Heather together, they also form relationships that will carry them through high school. Life settles into something approaching routine with soccer games and budding romances. Several of Lenny’s former girlfriends appear, but he sends them all away.

The team approach to physical therapy is even more effective than Lenny had hoped. The trio becomes inseparable and a force to be reckoned with.

Life settles down into something of a routine when an arsonist strikes and burns down the clinic. His baby had been stillborn, and he accuses the doctors of aborting the baby after they accuse him of domestic violence, causing the baby’s death.

In the aftermath of the clinic fire, most of the community rally around the doctors, but a vocal minority continues to make trouble. The kids embrace the idea that education could be vital in resolving the resistance they faced and create a medical education website with educational videos for, by, and about kids.

Financially supported by a company that made in-home medical test kits and logistically by the construction company building the hospital under many local doctors’ supervision, the website takes on a life of its own. Romances tangle and untangle. The hospital construction continues at an accelerated pace, and the website draws considerable attention, both favorable and unfavorable.

MARTHA JUMPED TO her feet, almost knocking over her chair, ran around the counter, screamed with delight, and enveloped the young man coming through the door in a big hug. “You made it! I was so worried. You said you’d be here last night.”

The young man laughed loudly, as much for the patients in the clinic’s waiting room’s benefit as for himself. “The rental truck had a flat. I had to take it this morning to get it fixed.”

“I’m glad to see you,” Martha said so everyone could hear her. She whispered, “It’s crazy back there, your mother delivered two babies last night, and Mrs. Turner is in the birthing suite with twins. If we get one more woman ready to deliver, we’ll need to send her to the county hospital or send someone home early. We’ve been backed up all day.”

“I’m glad to be here,” the young man said so he could be heard. He whispered, “Martha, calm down. You know what Dad always said about ducks. Calm on top, and paddle hard underneath.” Then he said, “I see you took my suggestion and let that color grow out of your hair. The silver is a good look for you.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, would I steer you wrong?” He tilted his head for a better look. “You can release me now.”

A girl sitting next to the door giggled. Martha turned to the patients in the clinic’s waiting room. “This is Doctor Marcus’s son, Lenny. He is joining the practice.”

The girl who giggled asked, “Will you be my doctor?”

Despite the packed waiting room, Lenny needed to express calm. He could not let the waiting patients think that they would be rushed through to make up for the delays. Warmth, humility, and courtesy had always been an integral part of his parents’ practice. Lenny understood, better than most of his colleagues, that social interaction was an essential part of keeping his patients healthy. Lenny sat in the empty chair next to the girl. “I don’t know. You’re my dad’s patient, and he may not want to let you go. It’s up to him and your mommy.”

“Don’t I get to choose?”

Lenny paused. He smiled. “You and your mommy and the doctor can chat, and you can decide together.”

“Thank you.”

Lenny’s father poked his head in the room. “Lenny! I thought I heard you come in. Can you help? The Ferguson boys are fighting again, and I need a referee.”

Calmly, Lenny turned to the girl. “A good son does what his father asks.”

She giggled as Lenny stood to go assist his father.

As Lenny walked past the reception counter, Martha said, “Your mother could use your help in the birthing suite. The twins should be arriving at any minute. Nurses Gail and Amanda are in with her. Poke your head in after you finish with the Ferguson boys.”

“Thanks. You’re the best.”

Lenny did not need to be told which exam room held the combative boys. He heard the shouting. The older boy had blood running out of his nose, and the younger one sported a new black eye. Lenny’s father had one boy on the one hand and the other on the other hand trying to keep them separated. Their mother was slumped in a chair in the corner, exhausted. It had been all she could do to bring them in.

Lenny swept up the younger boy, dodged a flailing fist, and carried the boy to another exam room. He brusquely deposited the squirming youngster on the exam table and grabbed both of the boy’s hands. He put his face nose to nose with the boy and shouted like a drill sergeant, “This has got to stop! I don’t care who started it! I don’t care who said what! You are hurting each other! This town needs you to be healthy for the soccer team. If we’re to beat Sunny Valley this year, we need you and your brother to be healthy. You’re our best soccer players. We will not lose the game because our two best players could not get along. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Whose blood is that on your hands?”

“Some is mine. Some is his.”

“Let’s get you cleaned up and see how much of a mess you’ve made of your hands. This will hurt.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jesse did not cry out as Lenny cleaned the blood off his hands, but he did clench his teeth, and tears did come to his eyes. Lenny examined the bruised eye for damage and found nothing of concern.

“Well, the good news is that you won’t need stitches. The bad news is that these bandages will need to be changed every day. You will come here every day right after soccer practice, and one of the nurses will change the bandages.”

“Can Nurse Esther change my bandages? She’s cute.”

“She’s married to a good friend of mine who will punch your lights out if you so much as look at her funny.”

“Just sayin’.”

“Don’t even think about it.”