The Doctor's Waiting Room

Inside Jeannie’s head there was a tiny but muscular Japanese Taiko drummer like those she had seen on television last night, who was pounding on her skull to be let out. Jeannie’s face was pale and drawn beneath the dark sunglasses, not a match for her smoothly coiffed hair and smart business suit. And she kept the sunglasses on inside the doctor’s waiting room to keep out bright light, which made a migraine much worse. Jeannie had taken a couple of over the counter headache pills which were supposed to help migraine, but they hadn’t and now she was beginning to feel sick. Please, please, thought Jeannie, don’t let me throw up, I must be better for my interview this afternoon, I need a job. She wasn’t about to get up and go into the washroom and miss the call to go in to see the doctor.

Jeannie had been sitting on the hard orange plastic chair since just before nine, her appointment time, when she had arrived, and it was now a quarter to ten. She let out a groan – she didn’t mean to – and the kindly old lady next to her said, “Are you alright dear?”

“Sorry, yes thanks I’m alright, just got a bad headache.” The old woman, who was on crutches, shifted in her seat and let out a sigh.

“These chairs are no good when you have to sit and wait for ages, are they?” she complained, while rummaging around in her voluminous carryall bag.

Jeannie thought she really could carry all in that bag, but agreed with her “yes, my last doctor at least had upholstered chairs, although he wasn’t as good a doctor as this one.”

The old lady smiled, looked Jeannie up and down and told her, “you need to get yourself some thicker upholstery, like me, some extra padding wouldn’t do you any harm and it does make sitting much more bearable.” Jeannie laughed with her, but started to feel a bit concerned when the woman found what she was looking for in her bag and began to pull it out – she thought she would be offered some chocolate or a biscuit, but she was too nauseous to eat a thing. But no, the woman had a tiny bottle in her hand, which she unscrewed, put up to her nose and sniffed.

A beautiful and amazing fragrance hit Jeannie’s nostrils. It was bright and fresh, but flowery and warm like an English garden on a warm summer afternoon. She vaguely recognized it as something her mother used to use. The woman noticed Jeannie’s reaction and offered her the bottle, and the suggestion that she put a tiny bit on a finger and rub it into her temples. Jeannie hesitated, but liked the scent so much she took a little. As she rubbed it into her temples, Jeannie felt the pounding in her head becoming much less.

“Thank you!” Jeannie gushed, “this helped my migraine go away a lot; what is it and where can I get some?”

The woman smiled “Why, it’s lavender of course! An ancient remedy for headaches. You can get it at some chemist shops, but I sell it at my shop. Here’s my business card, come and see me if you like.”

“Alice Shepherd, Lic. Herbalist,” Jeannie read from the card. “And oh, is that the little shop on the corner of Blackbird Lane, with all the gorgeous plants outside? But I thought it had closed down.”

“That’s my shop, and it hasn’t closed down, I just need to find an assistant to help me. Stupid me fell off a ladder and broke my ankle, so I can’t manage it all on my own,” said Alice. “I don’t suppose you know anyone looking for a job?”

“Only me,” said Jeannie. “I don’t know much about herbs, but I like gardening, and I’d love to learn more. I’ve got my resume right here – I’m pretty good with bookkeeping and computers, and I can write, and I’m not afraid of hard work. I’ve got an interview this afternoon at a solicitor’s office in town for a secretarial job, but could I come to see you after that? Would you need a full time person?”

“Yes I do need a full time person to run the shop and take care of the plants. If you can help with bookkeeping that would be good too. You can learn as much as you want to about herbs and there will still be more to learn. It takes a few years of study to become a licensed herbalist, but you could do that if you like the business.”

The nurse at the door called “Alice Shepherd,” and Alice heaved herself up on her crutches, turning to Jeannie, “Come to the shop this afternoon, you can look around and we can talk some more over a cup of tea.”

“Yes, I’d like that, thank you,” smiled Jeannie.

Jeannie and Alice hit it off even more over tea and scones that afternoon. Alice was a good cook and was getting used to doing things leaning on her crutches. She had her lunch, tidied the shop up, checked on the plants outside, and made some scones, and was very glad to sit down with Jeannie when she arrived. Alice introduced her dog Sage, a little old cocker spaniel, who took to Jeannie right away. Jeannie showed off a photo of her own dog, Daniel the Spaniel. They talked all afternoon, and Alice offered to share her tea of baked beans on toast with Jeannie, who gladly accepted, then said she must get home to feed and walk Daniel.

She was back next morning with Daniel, to see if the two dogs could get along, and of course two cocker spaniels are going to get along! Jeannie offered to help Alice open the shop. They did and although it was quiet at first, customers suddenly started showing up and they did a good business all day. Regular customers were especially grateful to have the shop open again.

Jeannie was offered the secretarial job, but told them she had a previous offer, and hardly went back to her apartment again. She stayed most nights in Alice’s spare room with Daniel, and moved in permanently at the end of the month. Both women were alone in the world. Alice had been a widow for twenty years and Jeannie had nursed her mother through cancer until she died a year ago. They were both cheerful souls for the most part and got along very well.

Summer tourists swelled their business profits and they began working on a plan to expand the business to include a small tea shop.

There were no more visits to the doctor’s office that year. Alice’s ankle healed really well, but she kept off ladders. Jeannie began studying for an Herbalist’s license about a year later. Her migraine headaches had disappeared.

If this story has a moral, it is that we should not fret if we have to wait, because we never know what might happen during the waiting time – could be something that changes our life for the better.