Chapter 14
It wasn’t long before Ajna was cleared to return to work. The shooting seemed to be a thing of the past, but as she walked into the clinic she was struck by an emotional echo of the event that had nearly taken her life. She became a bit light headed and put a hand on the desk to maintain her balance while trying to hide the fact that she was not quite herself.
“I have to do this,” she said quietly to herself.
Ajna regained her composure and continued through the bay of treatment rooms, into the hallway and toward the break room. She walked through the door and was startled by the sudden cheering of her co-workers. They had been told by the clinic manager that Ajna was returning and had organized a surprise party for her. There were a few new faces, as some members of the staff were not as lucky as Ajna. She, at least, had survived the gun battle that had taken place only a few weeks earlier. As the short-lived celebration continued, a young woman approached her. Ajna recognized her as the expectant woman she had nearly given her life for. Now, she was further along in her pregnancy and would be admitted to Maine Medical Center within the week. Showing Ajna a few ultrasound pictures she said, “these are some pictures of my little girl. Her name is Ajna.” Ajna was without words and as her eyes began to well up the young woman stepped close and hugged her.
“I’m so glad that things are o.k.,” Ajna said.
The young woman’s eyes also teared up as she thanked Ajna repeatedly.
“If you hadn’t done… what you did… I…,” she said.
Her outpouring of emotions made it difficult for her to speak, but Ajna heard her words loud and clear.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Ajna said. “It’s o.k.”
They embraced for another moment and as the young woman took Ajna’s hands requested that she be there for the birth. She gladly agreed and asked to see the ultrasound pictures again. They talked briefly about things like baby clothes and storybooks, but then quickly rejoined the festivities. After lunch, Ajna felt herself slip back into the routine of her work. She was, however, reminded throughout the day to slow down a bit.
“Ajna, you were shot. Remember?” someone said. “You need to take it easy.”
As someone who was used to giving orders, ‘taking it easy’ were words she didn’t exactly relate to very well.
Her first day back to work went quickly, made easier by an unusually slow day. Ajna made a comment to a nurse about how little work there seemed to be.
“You don’t wanna jinx us, do you?” the nurse replied.
“You’re right,” Ajna replied. “I guess I don’t.”
That afternoon the clinic administrator called her aside. She didn’t go to his office, so she knew that there was little, if anything for her to be worried about.
“Ajna,” he said. “I’m so glad to see you back.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “It’s good to be back”.
“Doctor, I did want to talk to you about one thing,” he said.
“Huh, ‘doctor’,” she thought. “This is beginning to sound serious”.
“Sure,” Ajna said. “What’s up?”
“Well, considering the nature of your injury I want to put you on a twenty-hour schedule,” he said.
“Temporarily, of course. Don’t worry, you’re not going anywhere. We need you too badly.”
"Thank you,” she replied. “It’s good to know that I’m needed.”
For the rest of the day, there was the occasional hug as well as the usual questions of concern – ‘how are you doing?’ and ‘are you feeling o.k.?’ In spite of the repetitiveness of the questions, Ajna patiently took them as kind expressions of concern form caring co-workers.
When she arrived home, she noticed that Edward had not yet returned to work. He was still milling about the house cooking and cleaning. He had fallen into the role of housekeeper and seemed to be quite comfortable with it. Ajna stepped inside and hesitated so she could absorb the sight of her husband/housekeeper. Edward stopped and turned toward her.
“Oh, hi,” he said.
He walked over to her and affectionately kissed her on the lips.
“So, how was your first day back?” he asked. “Good, for the most part,” Ajna replied. She stood watching Edward in his domestic activities.
“So, when do you plan on going back to work?” she asked.
“Oh, right,” Edward began. “I was thinking that when you’re back to forty hours then I’d go back to the bank.”
“You just like not having to go back to work, don’t you?” Ajna asked.
“Well, yeah,” Edward answered.
He stepped up to her and put his arms around her waist. At the same time, Ajna looked up at him and put her arms around his neck.
“I would actually prefer to stay home. It seems to be a bit more relaxing than being around all those suits all day.”
“I should hope so,” Ajna remarked.
They drew closer to each other and kissed briefly.
“But I think it’s time for you to get back to work too.”
Edward drew his head back slightly, giving her a somewhat serious look.
“Are you able to get up and down the stairs without any pain?” he asked.
“Maybe just a small twinge. Besides, I am cleared to go back to work,” Ajna said.
Edward let out a sigh of resolve.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “I’ll e-mail work tonight and I guess it’ll be back to work in the morning.”
“Good!” Ajna began. “Because family medical doesn’t last forever.”
Edward e-mailed the bank that evening and filled out the online forms that ended his family medical leave. He received a confirmation e-mail within only a few minutes. Returning to work seemed like a rather strange idea. He’d either been at the hospital with Ajna or at home taking care of her plus doing what needed to be done around the house. His routine had changed so dramatically that he couldn’t help but feel that his comfort zone had become a bit threatened. He returned to work the next morning. It would take a few days for him to get back into his old routine. He knew there would be a lot of questions and when he walked into the bank the next morning he was received by a small group of co-workers. They were all asking the same questions – ‘What happened?’ and ‘How’s Ajna?’ His answers were brief.
“Yeah, there was a shooting at the clinic she works at, but she’s out of the hospital now and she’s doing pretty well.”
He spoke to his boss and apologized for leaving in the middle of the quarterly meeting. His boss told him that everything was o.k. and the meeting went on without him.
“I hope I didn’t offend the people from Beijing,” Edward said.
“Actually, they were just as concerned as the rest of us,” his boss replied.
Edward was a bit surprised at this.
“Really?” he asked. “Isn’t that a bit unusual, given their history?”
“C’mon now,” his boss responded. “They did us a favor by not kickin’ the shit out of us when they started demanded their loan money back. You remember when their economy collapsed? We’re fuckin’ lucky just to be alive at all.”
“Yeah,” Edward started. “But that doesn’t mean they deserve our respect.”
His boss nodded in silent agreement.
“Well, I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on,” Edward said. “I’ll bet I’ve got at least six weeks of figures to go over.”
His boss spoke up one more time as Edward walked away.
“Hey, Ed,” he called out. “If you need anything, you call me.”
“Thanks,” Edward replied. “I may just take you up on that.”
Edward retreated into his office and began pouring over the last few weeks figures. He would analyze the data for a number of different trends and calculate probabilities, creating a projection for the next quarter. Edward had a system that consisted of specific equations for how he felt the numbers should be dealt with. He had honed this system in graduate school and turned it into a flawless work of statistical art and it worked every time. Even the people in Beijing had a hard time understanding how he could create such accurate projections.