As he drove the work the next morning, he had two vehicles on his tail. One was his father’s motorcycle; the other his brother’s truck. The motorcycle carried his father only. The truck, a 2030 Ford F- 150 extended cab- midnight blue, ‘Chai’s favorite color- carried his older brother and twin sister. The people behind him were on a mission: get the bureaucrats to get off their asses and get Jake his grant money for his research project or fire Jake and stop jerking his chain. Either way, the bull shit was stopping that day.
When they parked, there were a few men that were psych patients due to PTSD and other psychosis that were out for a morning walk. They spotted Jacob right away. “Morning, Dr. D!” one young woman yelled.
“Moring, Corporal Jennings!”, he shouted back. “How are you feeling after that stroke the other day?”
“Still feeling a little out of balance, but better.”
“I think I’m supposed to see you later to go over CAT scan results. Hopefully, we’ll find what caused that and if there’s any way to fix it.”
“If anyone can fix it, Dr. D, it’s you.” She’d made her way over to where Jake was with his family members.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Corporal”, Jake said in his normal speaking voice.
She looked at David and Jordan. “You know, Dr. D, you look a LOT like the older guy and the girl back there behind you”, she said.
“That’s because their family. The old guy as you called him is my father and the girl is my twin sister.”
“What about the other guy? You look a lot like him too.”
“My older brother, soldier.” She snapped to attention when he said that. “At ease, Corporal. I’m not brass. I’m a simple civilian.”
“Are they going to hang out with us today, Dr. D?”
“That was the plan.”
She smiled. “Cool. Can I hang out with them after my appointment?”
“If your caretaker says you can, I don’t see why not. But, let’s be sure of what caused the clot in your brain before I say yes or no. We don’t want you under a lot of stress.”
She nodded. “Ok, Dr. D. I’ll see you later.”
“Good- bye, Corporal.”
“Bye, Dr. D.”
Jake grabbed his coffee out of the car after grabbing his brief case, then locked his car up after shutting the door. “Sweet girl”, he thought out loud. “Hope I can figure out what’s going on.”
“She seems kinda sweet on you, Jake. Delilah might get jealous”, Jordan joked.
“Ha, ha, sis. Because of a traumatic brain injury, she has the mentality of a thirteen year old girl.”
“But, you called her ‘soldier’ and she snapped to attention”, David pointed out.
“I know. ‘Soldier’ is her trigger word. It’s a word that causes a reflex action. Soldier makes her snap to attention. At ease and she goes back to her thirteen year old self.”
“And that’s one of the things you’re wanting to try to reverse with this research?” Malachai asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to reverse with my research, ‘Chai. That’s it exactly.”
---------------
Jake stopped every now and then to check on his Dad, brother, and sister as he made his rounds that morning. He’s see a couple of patients, then stop and check on his Dad. Then he’d see a couple more patients, then stop to check on his sister. A couple more patients before he checked on his brother. It was a good system.
The Private that had the idea came out. He was sitting with David during one of Jake’s stops. “Hey, Dr. D!” he said.
“Hello, Private Douglas. How’s my second favorite Marine today?”
“Second? Who’s your favorite?”
“My uncle who passed away a few years ago. You gonna answer my question or do I need to get that young woman over there to come over here and make you talk?”, he said as he motioned to Jordan.
“I’m good, Doc. Just hanging out here with David.”
“That’s my Dad, Private.”
“No!” Private Douglas looked at David. “YOU’RE David Draiman?”
David nodded with a grin. “That’s me.”
“What did you do to have two kids go into the music business, and then one go into the medical field?”
“Actually, I have two in the medical field. My second daughter is following after her mother and going into massage therapy. And I like to think I did something right to have a son that’s a doctor. I mean, he’s good at what he does. My wife and I just encourage our kids to follow their passions. Jordan and Malachai over there did that and followed me into the music industry. Jacob went medical and became a doctor because helping people is his passion.”
“And he’s a good doctor”, the Private added.
“He is.”
Douglas looked back to his Neurologist. “Dude, I thought you were pulling my leg, not that I would have felt that”, he joked.
“We’re working on those legs, but, seriously, Douglas, would I lie to you?”
“Yes”, the man responded without missing a beat.
“Maybe about treatment stuff, but not about who my father is. Come on, man, give a young fibber some kind of credit.”
Douglas laughed. “Have you lied to me about anything yet, Dr. D?”
“Not a thing, Douglas. You have my word.”
“You’re pretty fucking awesome, Dr. Draiman. I like you. You speak the truth no matter how hurtful it may be.”
“Douglas, I come by that quite honestly.” He looked at his patient and his father. “Now, if you guys will excuse me, I have a patient I need to go check out.” He smiled at the men before flipping the chart open and heading to the exam room where he was needed.
---------------
After finishing his rounds, Jake was approached by the Director. “Dr. Draiman, what’s going on here?”
“My father and my brother and sister decided to follow me in this morning to spend a little time with the men. You jack ass bureaucrats were dragging your heels too much for me, so I told my father. He made the decision to come up here. If you want to fire me, fire me, Director Harrison. I’ve reached the point where I just don’t give a fuck. You’ve jerked my chain ever since I started here and I’m not going to tolerate it anymore. I told you over the phone that Loyola would take my research project in a heartbeat. I called the Chief of Neurology last night and asked. So, you fuckers have two choices; fire me or unass my money. Take your pick because I don’t have all day. I have other patience to see”, Jake said after laying the chart in his hand on the counter at the nurses’ station where he was being confronted.
“I have to say, Dr. Draiman, you have a HUGE set of brass stones stuffed in those slacks. I remember you telling me that about Loyola. It would be appreciated from now on if you would remember to wait for approval before you bring someone into my hospital, but…”
“Hold it right fucking there, Director Harrison. If I have to jump the gun while waiting for you fucking bureaucrats string along the red tape, then I’ll do just that. I’m very much my parents’ child in that regard. If it takes telling you to shove your precious approval to get something done around here, then by God, I’m going to do it. You hired me to help these men and women but you have my hands tied with my research because you and your Washington bureaucrat buddies are sitting on your asses, drinking scotch and brandy, and not giving a fuck about the men and women who helped make it possible for you to do just that. Now, as I said earlier, you can fire me or get the fuck out of my way; and that includes unassing my grant money. What is it going to be? Am I here to help these men and women, or am I taking my research to Chicago?”
The Director just stared at Jake for a moment. “Are you kidding me, Doctor?”
“No, get out of my way or get rid of me. Those are your options. I’ve had as much of the bullshit from you bureaucrats as I can stand. It’s time for you bastards to lead, follow, or get the hell out of my way. Pure and simple.”
Director Harrison looked at David. “Your son has a huge set of stones, Draiman.”
“Big as mine at the very least. Were I you, I’d give that young man an answer before he just finishes his rounds and walks. I think you’ve officially pissed my son off”, David responded.
Harrison studied Jake for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “Alright Dr. Draiman. You’ve got your grants and I’m out of your hair. You can start your work next week. It will take that long to get a lab set up for you to do the work in. You drive a hard bargain, doctor, I’ll say that much. Enjoy the rest of your shift.” He walked away, pausing a few feet away and calling over his shoulder. “By the way, Dr. Draiman, you passed.”
“I passed what?” Jake called after him.
“My bureaucrat buddies and I were testing you to see if you had to balls to work here. You passed.” The director smiled at him and continues down the hall.
Jake turned to his father. “Did that really just happen, Dad?”
“I think it did, Jake. You told the Director exactly what he needed to hear and not only did you keep your job, but you got your grants. Congrats, son.”
Jake shook his head, then pinched himself. “Ouch”, he said under his breath. “Ok, I’m not dreaming.”
“We’ll celebrate when you go on lunch, bro”, Malachai said. “My treat.”
Jake laughed. “Sweet. Thanks, ‘Chai. I’ll be back in an hour or so. I have a few appointments I need to see before we can go do just that.”
---------------
Jake finished his three morning appointments before taking lunch. There was an outpatient with severe headaches, one with severe tremors, and an inpatient with seizures and no known reason. The seizures were so severe that they were having to keep the young man because it wasn’t safe for him to go home. He was no older than Jake himself was. All kinds of tests and scans were ordered by the good Dr. Draiman- blood work, MRI’s, CT scans, PET scans, whatever was needed- and Jake went to meet with his family. “Alrighty. Let’s get the hell out of here and get some food. I’m starving!” he said after putting away the last chart for the morning.
“You’re finally finished?” Jordan asked. “You take forever.”
“Being thorough isn’t a quick thing, Jord. I have to take lots of notes and order tests and all that good shit. It’s not an exact science, you know.”
“You’d think you’d be faster at it, though”, Jordan complained. “I’ve been hungry for hours.”
“You should learn to eat breakfast then”, David chided his oldest daughter.
“I had a bagel this morning”, she said.
“A bagel isn’t breakfast”, Jake said as they walked out of the Neurology department. “Ok, so, what’s the plan for lunch other than Malachai paying?”
“How long do you have for lunch?”
“Hour and a half, and I really don’t want to eat the chow here. It’s pretty gross, plus they make a LOT of pork.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here”, David said. “There’s this steak place a few blocks from here that I’ve been wanting to bring your mother to but I want to check the place out before I bring her up here for our anniversary or something.” And with that, the patriarch of the Draiman clan led his children from the hospital.
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