At the door of Room 116, Janice paused with the lunch tray in her hand. This should be the best part of her day when she and old Mary compared stories of Emergency rooms they'd worked. As  she laid the tray down, Mary pointed to the bruise on her arm; her blue veined hand shaking. "You need to get away from that man. I don't have much power left, but I can get you there."
          Janice stared. "What? Where?"
          Mary smiled. "The Fenris Ulf Emergengy Room, of course. I wrote you a recommedation. Margeret told me she needed you." She reached out a folded piece of paper. Janice took it automatically. "The Door is in the back of my closet." She pointed, "Go."
      Janice blinked and politely parted the the dresses and nightgowns. Behind them in the smooth wall was an iron-bound wooden door. Her rational mind screamed but her hand reached for the latch.with the paper and her purse in one hand. Through that door was away from Jeremy, from working in a dinky nursing home hopefully from snow. She pulled the door open. A Hospital corridor.  She stepped in and heard Mary's voice behind her, "I'll tell them you're gone." She spun. Only a blank wall faced her.
     She pulled her phone from her purse. Where was she? Full bars. No GPS. She leaned against the wall and sent a text to Jeremy. "I'm leaving you." She took a deep breath. Nowhere to go but onward. After a few turns, she ran into the usual little old lady at the Information Desk. "I'm here for the job interview for the Fenris Ulf  Emergency Room." Two years with Jeremy had taught her the conceal panic.
      There was the usual map with directions and the woman was kind enough to draw a line through the area marked, "Staff Only" to the break room. "Ask for Janice Wolf. Good luck."
     Janice hurried down the corridors before her nerve broke. Soon she found herself in the labeled break room. She walked in, nothing much, nurses and doctors in scrubs rumaging through an old fridge, couple vending machines, several sofas that looked like GoodWill rejects. "I'm Janice Kulpere. I'm here for the job interview with Margeret Wolf." There were few cheers and a tall redheaded woman stood up and reached for her hand.
       "I'm Margeret Wolf. When Mary Jorgenson said you were coming, I thought she meant days--Never mind. Let's go in the back."Janice handed her Mary's letter and her resume before the door was shut.  
      She glanced over them as she pulled a job application form from a pile. "You know I'm going to ask why left L.A."
     Janice's face twisted as the words poured out. "There was a shooting, in the parking lot. I thought I wanted peace and quiet. married this guy. A farmer. Moved to the sticks. Whole nine-yards." She paused for breath and tried to still the screaming in her brain.
      Margaret chuckled. "It didn't last. And the guy?"
      Janice shrugged, "Let the cows have him."
      After a quick quiz and a pile of paperwork, Margaret was shaking her hand again. "I hope you like it here. We're short-handed, as usual." Janice nodded.
       Magaret smiled. "You seem nervous."
        Janice nodded. "Mary told me this place is different, but..."
       Margaret patted her shoulder as she lead the way thourgh corridors labeled, "Staff Only" to the desk. "You should get the hang of it. There's no more than three-four languages spoken around here. We have plenty of translators and most people speak some English." She smiled nervously. "You'll be working here at the desk until-" she picked up a thick book labeled, "Emergency Procedures for Non-Humans". "Well, until you..."
        Janice took the the offerd book. "Of course. I have to get current."
        "And I'm afarain that your salary will reflect this." Janice nodded. "Alright, I'll go over the file system. Now H stands for human, nothing new there; W for weres, the letter after is the type W for wolf, J for jaguers like that; V for vampire; F for Fay and C for Centaur. There's also O for things that aren't in the list. When you're off desk detail, we'll go over protection needed. It's in the the book."
        Janice flipped through the cards. "Ah, yes, and what about insurance?"
        "This form here. We have national health insurance. The only opening we have is for the third shift. Sure you can handle it?"
      Janice managed to keep her voice calm. "After L.A., I can handle anything.
       Margaret sighed, "I wish we could wait until you'd had a class or two, but..." After a few other notes on procedure, a glimpse at the list of drug seekers under the desk and the various alarms, they shook hands again as Margret walked her out with the thick book under her arm. The warmth of the outside air seemed to embrace her. Down the broad street, lined with palm trees, she saw docks and a bit of beach. A spicy odor grabbed her attention. A hot dog vendor. She glanced at the list Curried Hot Dog, $3.50 was at the top. At least they used American money. As she ate, she tried to come up with a plan. She glanced at her phone and the bowl of onions on the counter and a plan came to her.
      With a handful of onions in a napkin near her eyes, she walked into the parking lot. She approached   Margaret. "I don't know what to do. Look at this." She turned the phone outward. Margaret and several other nurses gathered around so they could view the message. "Not sending you anything. If you don't come home; I'm killing the cat." Her voice was thick with tears. "All I have is a change of clothes and a little cash."
    Several nurses patted her shoulder. Someone pressed a twenty in her hand. The offers poured in. "We'll credit you some scrubs."
     "Here's a voucher for the resall shop."
      One turned to Margaret. "I could have her take over that empty space in my condo. I would ask for first months rent."
       Janice smiled and shook hands all around. Margaret frowned, "What about the cat?"
       Janice's smile broadened. "I gave the cat away last week."


      Soon Janice was settling down on a sofa bed. She heard the announcer at the band stand next door calling out, "Let's have a big hand for Pertii Kurikan Nimipavit." The strands of punk rock mixed with the air conditioner, the noise of an amusement park and the waves in the background. She smiled; peace and quiet are so overrated.



       
     

    I thought that I would have this blog to showcase my writing. But I also want my friends to be able to follow this blog to keep up with my writing and my life. So here goes.
    I'm the mother of a thirteen-year-old would be pilot and my husband has lupus or mixed connective tissue disease or... Anyhow I just recently got him sprung from Mayo and he won't have to be back for a while. Of course after taking out his gallbladder and spleen, maybe they've just run out of things to remove. I'l try to post something here on a regular basis. Hopefully weekly. Stay tuned. The first story in my series will appear in the next blog. If you go to my Patroen page you can see what you can do to be involved in my series. www.patreon.com/posts/5803979