Apothecary Inquiry

Nodding, Tommy made notes in his book. “So, you’d say you’re pretty familiar with asking medical related questions?” His expression remained neutral as he listened, giving nothing away. “Say, I’m a potential customer,” he said straightening his shoulders, “and I tell you I’ve been feeling sick, what would you ask me?” Tommy didn’t expect her to ask the questions that a doctor would, no that was far too advanced and it took a lot of training, practice, and experience. But a receptionist should be able to get the gist of where it hurt or what makes it worse or better to relay the best information along.

“What year are you in school now?” He asked, “And what biology courses have you taken, and with who? And follow up to those: why is it that you want to work in a hospital?”

Tommy watched her thoughtfully and nodded along. Until the end. With a sharp shake of his head he corrected her. “You do not have the training to diagnose yet. That is something that takes years of schooling and training that you don’t have yet. It is dangerous to guess without the proper tools,” he said, “At this point, I will not have you do anything more than recommend. If someone has a cough give them the cough syrup, easy, but gather other information to make sure they get what they need. Anything more serious, you bring it to me.” He paused waiting for her to confirm her understanding. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her abilities or judgements, but she simply didn’t have the skills yet. Not only that, but Tommy would be liable if she made a mistake, that was simply a safety net for himself and for her.

His expression relaxing a hair Tommy’s focus switched. “Evensman is good,” he commented thoughtfully. “Your background will be useful. We will start slow here at first, there is a lot of information to be gathered. I have no doubts, however, that you will rise to the challenge.” Finally, Tommy smiled. Pleased with her last answer. “How much experience do you have with plants? How about numbers?” He switched gears quickly. He’d already read her references and her resume and she had the knowledge and the drive to do the hard part. Now he wanted to know if she could balance it with the mundane shop life.

She had the confidence of the young and Tommy worried that could lead to trouble, but he remembered knocking heads with his father when he was a cocky apprentice. He also remembered screwing up and his father having to fish him out of trouble. He anticipated having to do that a bit with Amelia, but right now, she had a lot to learn.