Meghan had been thrilled to receive the bouquet of pink roses that Rick sent over, and, upon returning home, had placed the vase prominently on her dining table. She smelled one of the roses on her way past as she readied to head to her appointment with Dr. Woodruff.

Once in the doctor’s office, she nervously tried to focus on a magazine article about the latest happenings in Hollywood, but was too distracted. Will he clear me to go back to the ambulance? Or did this bout of the flu just push that farther back? She sighed, and jumped when the nurse called her name.

Meghan stood and followed the nurse back. She was weighed and shown into a room. Meghan set her purse down in a chair and climbed on the exam table. After a few questions, the nurse took her blood pressure and pulse ox, then left the room.

Dr. Woodruff was prompt. He knocked on the door and entered. “Hello, Meghan. How are you doing today?”

She smiled nervously. “Doing well. Glad to be over the flu.”

He chuckled. “I’ll bet! I caught it early, and it was not fun.” He looked in her chart for a minute before proceeding to ask her some questions about her health recently. Finally, he asked if she had any questions.

“Well, I was wondering when I would be released back to the ambulance,” she answered.

“Hmmm. Well, you seem like you’re stabilized on your medications and have been able to keep your levels normalized, flu not withstanding.” Dr. Woodruff thought for a minute. “Tell you what. I’ll release you back in 4 weeks. I want to give you a bit more time to recoup from the flu, but I think you’ll be okay. You know what to watch for, and when to use your emergency meds. You’ll want to keep those close by, even when you’re back to work.”

Meghan nodded. “So I’m cleared back in 4 weeks. I’ll tell my boss. Can she call you with any questions?”

“Of course. I know how much you’ve been looking forward to going back to work. Let’s plan to do a follow-up appointment in 6 weeks, see how you’re doing after going back to work and that stress load.” Dr. Woodruff wrote down some notes in her chart and handed her the paper for the front desk on her way out. He shook her hand, and left the room.

A nurse soon returned with a return-to-work form for Meghan and ushered her down to the exit. Meghan made her follow-up appointment and left the office. She made her way to her car and sat there. The tears that came were ones of relief – she had so feared that her bout of the flu would have kept her away from the job even longer.

Wiping her eyes, she pulled out of the medical building’s parking lot and headed for the ambulance station. As she drove, she thought through all of the details she’d need to iron out between the station and the college to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Brandi was not in her office, but Meghan was assured that she’d be back soon. She settled in to wait, chatting with the on-duty crew. The medic was new, having just recently graduated from the same program that she and Fred taught. They were laughing and chatting about the new round of classes when Meghan heard Brandi’s SUV backing into the garage.

“Well, hi there, Meghan! Came to visit?” Brandi asked, entering the common area from the bay.

“Even better – I’ve got clearance papers!” Meghan held up the folder she had with her.

“Well, well, well! Guess you and I need to do paperwork,” Brandi replied, and headed towards her office, Meghan trailing behind her.

Entering her office, Brandi took a seat behind her desk and motioned Meghan to a chair on the other side. “So, you have paperwork for me. When is your doctor releasing you back to duty?”

“In 4 weeks. I just saw him this morning.” Meghan handed over the folder with the paperwork. “He said that you’re free to call him if you have any questions.”

“Shouldn’t need to, considering how much I’ve been researching it. We want you well and on rotation, Meghan,” Brandi replied, looking at the forms in front of her. She turned around and filed the papers in Meghan’s file, then faced her again.

“I know you’re teaching classes, so we’ll schedule you around those as we’ve always done. But I want to kinda ease you back onto the truck, with some stipulations for the first couple weeks.” Brandi steepled her hands and looked intently at Meghan. “I’m only going to schedule you for 2 shifts a week, and with a medic partner. I want vital signs after each call logged. Once we see how you’re doing after the first couple of weeks, we can increase the number of days on rotation.

“I also want for you to start doing a class on various topics at the monthly staff meetings. The next staff meeting is Friday next week – will you be available?”

Meghan thought for a moment. “I think I can arrange for that – it’s a medic class day, and Fred is the main instructor for those. Let me know what time, and I’ll make sure he’s got it covered.”

“Good. I want you to cover 2 things: an overview of Addison’s disease, and how to give intramuscular injections. I want everyone on this department to know what to look for, and how to treat it in the field, including the EMTs. You’re the main reason, but we’ve had a few cases similar we’ve treated in the past, so it’s a good refresher on something we don’t see often.” Brandi nodded.

Meghan was a bit taken aback. “So you’re wanting EMTs and Medics to do an injection class?”

“Yes. If I’m going to pair you with an EMT, I want them to know how to give your emergency meds. Feel free to cover sub-q and Epi Pens, as well.”

Meghan nodded. “I can do that. Can you get enough oranges, syringes, and sterile saline for everyone? If we’re going to do it, I want it hands-on, including injecting each other.”

Brandi smiled. “Not a problem. Let me know what you need before you leave today, and I’ll make sure the order is in by tomorrow.”

Meghan thought for a bit. “Let me go look at the supply room, and I’ll be right back. Just need to look at quantities.” She excused herself and headed to the supply room. She looked at the boxes of needed items, saw how many came in each box, and headed back to the office.

“I think one box of syringes should do it, but I’d get a couple boxes of sterile saline vials and maybe another box of alcohol prep pads. Plus enough oranges to go around. I’ll bring a good handout we use in the medic class that shows angles of injections.” Meghan thought for another moment. “Yeah, I think that about covers it. Tell everyone to wear short sleeves.”

Brandi chuckled. “I see one of the reasons you’re a good educator – it would’ve taken me a week to plan for this class in what took you all of 10 minutes.”

Meghan smiled. “I still have to write up lesson plans. That takes longer.”

“True. So, how are classes going?”

“Well, we’re off to a rocky start. The flu hit me and has swept through the building, so we’ve been out a week already. Classes start back up again tomorrow, so we’ll be playing catchup on the material. I haven’t heard yet if there’ll be an extension to the semester or not.” Meghan groaned at the thought.

Brandi nodded. “We’ve had several out with the flu, myself included. That was a miserable few days.”

“I anticipate that we’ll still get some absences due to the flu, but hopefully it won’t be another school shut-down. I’m supposed to meet up with Fred and Mark this afternoon, see how we’re going to approach the course material with the interruption. I’ll be giving Mark my walking orders back here then; it’d help if I had a schedule to give him, as well. I think he wants me to continue to help with the medic classes when/if I’m free.”

Brandi turned to her computer. “Well, then, let’s compare schedules and get you back on the roster!”