…After the old hospital debris was removed completely, the site was secured with fencing, the exposed facade of the Hudson building, and exposed entrances were secured as well. The site was now being prepared for what would be a new parking structure. That structure would have employee entrances to the center corridors of the Hudson building on the first and second floors only. Patients and visitors would use the first floor entrance to enter the hospital.
…The uniqueness of this medical center was that all the buildings were interconnected. You could practically walk city blocks throughout it and because of my experience as a courier, I knew how to navigate it without ever going outside. This was especially useful during the winter months. The next deconstruction/ construction project was scheduled for the Nursing Stations in the Brush Building. The design plan was to color code them with the Nursing Stations in the connected new Harper Hospital, Webber Building.
…I liked working on the 4th floor because of an employee lounge that was located behind the elevators in the Webber Building. A pop vending machine there always carried my favorite, “Mountain Dew.” I also got to see and speak with Margarite who seemed to be there when I had a break in my work load. I knew her when I worked as a courier for the labs. She was meticulous in her appearance but I had a feeling it was just her natural beauty. She wore her hair braided across the top, at which point it crowned into a tight pony tail behind her, and kept her hair out of her face exposing her high cheekbones. I had thought she could be a model.
..She was just as beautiful in the inside as she was on the outside. As a courier when I picked up specimens for her unit she would not only give me the needed paper work but would also leave a note for the Laboratory Technologist to call her for more instructions. Gwen my mentor had told me her boyfriend broke her heart and was a real loser. My conversations with her on my break always centered on where she grew up (on a farm in Monroe County), what she was eating that day ( usually yogurt she made herself), and my preposterous meal of peanut butter crackers and Mountain Dew (easily procured from the vending machines in the lounge).
…She just laughed and believed if I kept eating like that I would wither away. She would also always tease me about the young women here that seemed to be making passes at me and me being oblivious to it. I would usually just smile, say hello, and keep moving. I told her that my mentor (she knew who that was) had informed me after I had been caught leaving Newberry Hall( Nursing Students Residence) one early Saturday morning, I was to clean up my act immediately. I wouldn’t give up the student I had been visiting, and I professed my innocence. Lord knows there was no innocence in me but I maintained it anyways. She smiled and informed me that Gwen had told her about it.
…I let Margarite know that I was suspended for a week without pay, and with the DMC paying for my education, I didn’t want to mess it up now. Plus, when I left the labs to work for the Hospital Administration I had to give up my beeper, and I’m not giving my new beeper number to anyone. Though, I do wonder at times who is carrying my old beeper now, and how many calls they are getting? Curiosity is all. A story for another time I suppose, as I smiled back at her.
….She smiled and said to me most earnestly, “you don’t seem to be the marrying type. You seem driven, preoccupied, and the way you move through these buildings, you don’t stay long enough to speak to anyone.” I informed her they kept me busy checking on the contractors, and just then my beeper went off. “See, I got to go!” She shook her head and laughed, but her words had me thinking for sure. I thought to myself, “what is the marrying type?” Note to self: Next time I see Margarite, ask her who is the marrying type, in her eyes? I’m curious to know what she meant by that, and why she thought I wouldn’t be? My Life’s Journey To Be Continued…. Matthew 28: 16-20
MJ-Way 