WIPpet Wednesday: A little TLC

Happy Wednesday! My summer adventures with playing medical Nancy Drew have started. We’ll see what turns up. Fingers crossed!

Today is the last day of school. My younger kid is already home and off to hang out with friends after her half day. My older one is getting ready to go to a rehearsal for the graduation choir. No, he’s not graduating, but younger students are selected to sing for the ceremony. Afterward, he has another rehearsal for his final jazz concert of the year, performing at the International Jazz Festival here in town.

Meanwhile, I’m working on…work. Editing job plus a bit of tinkering with my WIP. Last week, I posted Colin’s mood board along with a snippet about his endless calm. Today, I’ll introduce you to Mary, his nurse. She’s cheerful and energetic where Colin is quiet and steady.

WIPmath: 6/26/2019 = 6 + 2 + 6 = 14 paragraphs, mostly dialog

“Hey, Dr. Schulman. How did it go today?”

He meant to tell her it had been fine, that he’d made it through to the other side. What came out was, “I got puked on first thing and then spent the next eight hours being compared to someone I’ve never even met. And then I snapped at my last patient because I couldn’t hold it in anymore.” He put his arms on the desk and dropped his head onto them.

“Oh, you poor thing. I’m sure your clothes are clean now. You want me to go see?”

“No. Yes.” Colin sat back with a groan. “I don’t even know. I think my brain is broken.”

“You’ll be fine. I have an idea. You want to come somewhere with me?”

“Where?” Colin eyed her, suspicious of what she had in mind.

“Casual little place by the lake. We go out there for drinks after work sometimes.”

“You don’t have something better to do than take me for a pity drink?”

Mary shrugged. “Nah. It’s summer, so my husband’s working later hours. The kids are with my parents, so they’re good too.”

“You have kids?” Colin asked, temporarily distracted. Mary was so tiny he couldn’t imagine her having given birth once, let alone multiple times.

“Two of ’em. I told my husband we weren’t gonna be like his family, not knowing when to quit.”

“I don’t blame you.” Colin wasn’t yet sure about kids, but that was mostly due to having spent more than ten years on his education.

“Go get your stuff, and I’ll grab your clothes from the linens room. I’ll meet you out front.”

She bustled off, and Colin wondered where in the world she got all that energy. Wherever it was, he wanted some. He was dead tired, to the point he was in danger of slithering off the chair and under the desk, asleep. He didn’t want to move. But move he must, so he took a deep breath and stood to go collect his belongings.

Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Wrayburn for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!