A Real Family

Chapter 1-2

At the end of the clinic hours it was typical for Peter, his partner Trevor Mills, and the clinic nurse Helen Williams, to meet and discuss the day’s cases. Bernice was asked to sit in when she was available.

“Mr. Bronfsky thinks he needs a stronger dose of erectile dysfunction medication, claiming he can only get it up three or four times a day now. The man is almost seventy. I couldn’t do that when I was twenty.” Trevor frowned. “I was tempted to welcome him to the real world.”

“Perhaps he simply needs to meet the right woman?” Bernice wondered aloud. She blushed when the other three looked at her with admiration and astonishment.

Peter grinned. “Maybe we can pimp you out, professionally, of course. It would reassure him, and probably scratch an itch of yours, as well, just saying.”

Bernice wasn’t about to let that pass unchallenged. “And, just saying, why aren’t you actively pursuing a certain patient, who leaves this place after every visit feeling as though he got lucky and was walking on air?”

Trevor and Helen both looked at him. Not questioning, but with a knowing look.

“Russell is a very good looking man, and he obviously has the hots for you. And that’s a professional observation, doctor.” Helen leaned back in her chair and smiled. “He’s the only man I know who probably prays for an accident or illness so he can see you before his next check-up. Hell, I’m tempted to trip him on the stairs. Why aren’t you dating the guy?”

Peter slowly shook his head. “He is an attractive man. I’m his physician. Getting personal would be a breach of professional conduct, as well as a conflict of interest. We joke, but I have no idea how he might feel about me. So, if we can get on to the rest of our business…”

Trevor grinned. “Before we get to that, I can take over his file. He’d still have the care he was looking for from our clinic. That would eliminate any potential conflict you might worry about.”

Bernice glanced at Trevor and Helen, winked, and then looked at Peter. “Oh, I might have forgotten to arrange the colonoscopy with Russell. Would you be a dear and give him a call?” She handed him a paper with dates, times, and the man’s phone number.

He thought he smelled a set-up but, his patient came first. Peter Wilson was pushing thirty, single, and spent most of his time working to make the Inglewood clinic a model for patient care. He chose his staff carefully and had no regrets. At times, he wondered if he should have put a bit more emphasis on his personal life. His parents were touring and his only sibling, a sister, played in a band and was on the road. He thought she was performing in Japan at the moment. He’d grown fond of a certain patient over the past three years. Russell Bennett was good looking, charming, and funny as heck. He could easily fall for a man like him. He felt that his professional life couldn’t cross over to the personal. He intended to provide the best care he could for the man. He picked up his cell to call and schedule his colonoscopy.