THE INTERVIEW
by Poet
It had been a week since Dr. Luka Kovac had arrived in Chicago.
During that
time, he'd found an inexpensive marina to dock his boat and had
gotten a
telephone hooked up. One day he took a long ride on the El--an
interesting
experience. He was trying to familiarize himself with the city
and check
out where some of the hospitals were located.
Now he was almost out of money and it was time to find himself a
temporary
job until he decided that it was time to move on. He preferred to
work in
hospital ERs. At medical school his training had been emergency
medicine.
The employment agency advertised that it specialized in finding
jobs in the
medical profession. Luka sat in the waiting room and stared at
the latest
issue of 'People' without paying any attention to what he was
reading. He,
along with other job seekers, were waiting their turn to be
called for an
interview.
A young woman with a clipboard in hand stuck her head in the door
and asked,
"Dr. Luka Kovac?"
Luka tossed aside the magazine and got to his feet. He followed
her into a
small cubicle and sat down in a cramped chair.
The woman sat down at a small desk and said, "Dr. Kovac, you
have an
impressive resume. But may I ask why you've had so many
jobs?"
"It's Kovac," he politety corrected. "I prefer
part-time work in emergency
medicine. I'm just not interested in a permanent position at any
hospital."
"I see. I notice that you came from Croatia. May I ask why
you left?" the
woman continued.
"I got tired of the war," Luka replied, not revealing
the tragedy that had
occurred in his life.
"Well, Dr. Kovac, you may just be in luck. The ER department
at Cook County
General Hospital is looking for a part-time attending. I'll give
you the
phone number. Ask for either Dr. Romano or Dr. Weaver," she
said and handed
him a slip of paper. "If this doesn't work out, come on back
and we'll try
and find you something else."
"Thank you," Luka said as he slipped the paper into his
shoulder bag.
"I'll show you to the door," she said and got to her
feet.
Downstairs in the lobby, Luka stopped at the payphones and
rummaged in his
pockets for the necessary change. He dialed the number and
dropped the
coins in the slot, listening for the ring.
"ER," Randi said when she answered the phone.
"I am Dr. Luka Kovac. Could I please speak to either Dr.
Romano or Dr.
Weaver."
"Just a minute," she said and looked to a woman sitting
near by. "Dr.
Weaver, there's a Dr. Kovac on line 2."
She took the receiver, saying, "This is Dr. Kerry
Weaver."
"Dr. Weaver, my name is Dr. Luka Kovac. I understand that
you have an
opening for a part-time doctor in the ER," he said.
"We do," Kerry replied. "But we haven't started
talking to applicants just
yet. However, if you're in applying, could you be here in an
hour?"
"I can," Luka told her.
"All right. Come to the admit desk in the ER and I'll either
meet you there
or have someone else meet you," Kerry said.
"Okay. Cook County General in one hour. Got it. Goodbye, Dr.
Weaver,"
Luka said. He hung up the phone and headed for the door.
Kerry hung up the phone and turned to the desk clerk.
"Randi, could you
please page Dr. Romano and tell him that I want to talk to him
down here?"
"Sure thing," Randi replied.
Five minutes later Romano showed up in the ER and located Kerry.
"What's
going on?" he asked.
"Robert, I scheduled an interview with an applicant for the
new part-time
position. I think that we both need to talk to him--together.
After all,
you are head of the ER," she said.
"All right," Romano replied. "Call me when he gets
here."
After leaving the employment agency, Luka stopped in at a nearby
coffee shop
to pass the time and get something to eat. Earlier that morning,
he'd been
too nervous to eat, wanting to get his visit to the employment
agency over
with. He was anxious to find a job and start work. Not only for
the money
but to keep his mind occupied. Working kept him from the memories
that
often threatened to overwhelm him.
"Here you are, Sir," the waitress said as she she set
down his cup of coffee
and ham sandwich.
"Thank you," Luka told her.
"If you need anything else, just let me know," she said
and hurried away.
Luka finished his sandwich and sat drinking coffee. He kept an
eye on the
clock and finally decided that he'd better get to County. He
hastily paid
his check, leaving a tip before heading out to the El.
When he'd ridden the El several days earlier, Luka discovered
that the train
stopped fairly close to County. He took a seat, and waited
impatiently for
the train to start moving. This interview had came up sooner than
planned
so he was glad he'd worn his best suit to the employment agency.
The train finally came to the correct stop and Luka got off,
heading for the
hospital. He didn't want to start off by being late.
At precisely five minutes before the interview, Luka approached
the admit
desk and said, "I'm supposed to meet with Dr. weaver and Dr.
Romano."
Randi looked up from her magazine to say, "Oh, you must be
Dr. Kovac."
"It's Dr. Kovac," he politly corrected.
Randi turned to the young Latino nurse standing nearby.
"Chuny, could you
please escort Dr. Kovac to the lounge?"
"Sure thing, Randi," Chuny replied, staring up at Luka.
"Come with me, Dr.
Kovac."
Luka sighed, resigning himself to the fact that no one was going
to get his
name right. He followed her to the lounge.
"Right in here," Chuny said and pushed open the door.
The two doctors were seated at the table. Kerry looked up and
said, "Please
have a seat, Dr. Kovac."
Luka sat down and looked from on to the other.
Romano glanced up from his clipboard and scowled. "Do you
have your resume
with you, Dr. Kovac?" he asked abruptly.
"The name is Dr. Kovac," Luka politly corrected.
"And I do have my resume."
He reached in his shoulder bag for the document.
"Whatever," Romano said and almost grabbed it from
Luka. He scanned it for
a moment, frowned and pointed out something for Kerry to read.
She put on her glasses and studied the item that Romano had
pointed out.
After a minute, she looked up and said. "I see that you came
here from
Croatia, Dr. Kovac. Could you explain why you left?"
Luka sighed, he really hated those kind of questions. There was
no way he
was going to tell these people the real reason why he had to
leave. "I got
tired of the war," he replied. "My home was in a war
zone and I wanted to
live someplace safer."
"So you decided to come to Chicago," Romano said
sarcastically and looked at
the resume again. "How well do you know American medical
terminology?"
"I know it very well. As you can see, I have lived and
worked here in the
United States for a number of years," Luka told him.
"How come you've worked in so many different
hospitals?" Romano persisted.
"I was only interested in a part-time position," Luka
answered. "Usually
the hospitals were looking for someone to fill the position
permanently.
So they didn't need me very long."
"Are you liscenced to practice medicine?" Romano asked.
"Yes. And if you won't take my word for it, then go check
with the
liscencing board," Luka replied, trying to keep his anger in
check. he was
getting very irratated with both the questioning and the other
man's
attitude.
A beeping sounded and Romano checked his pager. "Well, I'm
due in surgery.
He's all yours, Kerry." He actually looked relieved as he
hurried out the
door.
"Dr. Kovac, we'll do some checking with some of the
hospitals you worked at.
We'll get back to you," Kerry said. "And we may also be
talking to other
applicants."
"I understand, Dr. Weaver. Do I consider this interview
concluded?" Luka
asked.
"Yes," Kerry told him. "Do you need your resume
back?"
"No. I have more copies," Luka replied and got his
feet.
Kerry studied him for a moment. She had to admit that he made an
impressive
sight with his height, dark hair and eyes. And those movie star
looks. The
black and grey clothing he wore only emphasized his
attractiveness. Still,
she could understand Romano's dislike. Dr. Kovac was at least a
head taller
than the surgeon. And Romano didn't like how short that made him
appear.
"We'll be in touch," she said.
Luka nodded and headed for the door of the lounge. As he opened
it, he
almost ran into Lucy Knight.
The medical student seemed lost in thought as she headed for her
locker. As
the door opened, she looked up at the tall man striding towards
her. She
quickly jumped back, startled, and dropped the chart she held.
Luka stopped to pick up the chart and hand it over, saying,
"Here you are."
"Thank you," Lucy said, distractedly and stared up at
him.
"You're welcome," he replied and continued on down the
hall.
Kerry glanced at the resume, randomly picking out a hospital to
call. She
dialed the number of the ER at Key West Medical Center.
At Key West, the desk clerk answered, "ER. What can I do to
help?"
Kerry replied. "I'd like to please speak to the head of your
ER."
"That would be Dr. Allen," the desk clerk replied.
"Hold for a minute while
I get her."
"Dr. Rita Allen," the ER chief said when she picked up
the phone.
"Rita, it's Kerry Weaver. I'm calling from Cook County
General Hospital in
Chicago," Kerry said.
"So, Kerry, what's the reason for your call?" Dr. Allen
asked.
"I'm calling about a doctor who worked for awhile in your ER
back in '97'.
The name is Luka Kovac. K-O-V-A-C. Do you remember him?"
"I know who you're talking about. He's hard not to
forget," Rita said.
"He just applied for a part-time position here in the ER.
I'm just trying
to chcek on his reasons for why he only stays a short while at
any hospital.
Can you tell me why he left?" Kerry asked.
"We didn't need him for very long. And he didn't want tostay
permanently.
He was a good enough doctor but kind of quiet and withdrawn. Kept
to
himself a lot. Whenever someone's question or statement got toop
ersonal
for him--he'd either quickly change the subject or just quickly
walk away,"
Rita told her.
"I asked why he left Croatia and I got the impression that
it was the wrong
question to ask," Kerry said.
"One more thing, Kerry, that I recall about Dr. Kovac, was
that he really
got along with kids. He was gentle and patient, taking time to
talk and
reassure them. I always thought he would've made a great
pedciatrician,"
Dr. Allen said.
"Thanks for all the information, Rita. I'll check with a few
other
hospitals about Dr. Kovac."
"Maybe we'll see each other at the next medical convention.
Kerry, let me
know what you decide about Dr. Kovac. I may be wrong but I get
the
impression that life has dealt him some hard blows," Rita
said.
"I'll let you know. Bye," Kerry said and hung up the
phone. She stared at
Luka's resume, trying decide which hospital to call next.
After finishing the interview, Luka headed directly outside,
ignoring the
admiring stares of Randi and Chuny. He was angry at himself
because that
Dr. Romano's attitude had put him on the defensive.
"You think he's going to work here?" Randi asked as
they stared at the
retreating figure.
"Mmm. I hope so. He's a lot better scenery than what we have
now," Chuny
replied, a gleam in her eyes.
Luka boarded the El and found a seat to himself since he was
in no mood to
talk to anybody. At the moment, he wasn't even sure that he
wanted to work
at the hospital. Especially if he had to be working with that Dr.
Romano!
He had worked with a lot of different doctors at the various
hospitals but
Romano was definately the worst. If he had a choice, he work with
the other
doctor. She didn't ask stupid questions and at least tried to say
his name
correctly.
Finally the train reached the stop closest to the marina and Luka
got off to
walk the rest of the way.
As soon as Romano was finished with surgery, he headed down to
the ER in
search of Kerry. Finding her alone at the admit desk, he asked,
"So what
did you decide about that Kovac guy?"
"Robert, I checked with three different hospitals and was
told the same
thing. He only wanted part-time work, was really good with
children and
kept to himself. He didn't leave because he'd done something
wrong. I
can't really turn down his application just because he makes you
look
short," Kerry pointed out.
"There's something about that guy that I just don't
like," Romano persisted.
"Robert, we need a part-time Doctor and he's available. I'd
say that we
just hire him while we look for another attending. In fact, I
already have
someone in mind.," Kerry replied.
"It's up to you--you'll be working with the guy--but keep an
eye on him,"
Romano told her.
"I will," KErry promised.
When Luka got back to his boat, he changed out of his suit and
into shorts
and a T-shirt. He felt too restless to stay on the boat so he
decided to
take a long walk by the lake.
The day was nice and he stopped to watch a group of school kids
on a field
trip to the lake. They had just gotten ice cream cones and were
now walking
along the cement dock, pushing and shoving.
Luka had moved close to the shore and looked out into the
distance. He was
trying to decide if an ice cream cone would taste pretty good on
this hot
day. But not chocolate even though it had once been his favorite
as well
as his son's. Nowadays he couldn't stand the taste of chocolate
anymore.
His mind made up, he headed for the ice cream stand.
By the time Luka got back to his boat, he was tired out from his
long walk.
Now all he wanted to do was collapse onto his bed. He'd slept
very little
the night before and was more than ready to fall asleep. He
kicked off his
shoes and sprawled face down on the pillows.
The ringing of the telephone awakened him several hours later. He
sat up
and reached for the phone. "Dr. Luka Kovac speaking."
"Dr. Kovac, this is Dr. Weaver at County General. We're
going to be short a
doctor tomorrow and I was wondring if you'd be available to come
in," Kerry
said.
"I can. What time do you want me?" Luka asked.
"At 7:00 in the morning," Kerry answered and paused.
"Dr. Kovac, did I wake
you up? You sound half-asleep."
"It's nothing. I was just taking a nap--went for a very long
walk. No job
so it gets boring. I'll see you at 7:00a.m., Dr. Weaver,"
Luka replied.
"Okay. Goodbye," Kerry said.<
"Goodbye," Luka said and hung up the phone. He stared
at it, looking
thoughtful. Only time would tell how long he'd stay in Chicago.
The end.