Meet Dr. Krueger (3)

Webb:  (grumbling) I suppose we can postpone the meeting to another day.

Johnson:  (Protesting) but he's a stranger why should he be allowed to stay with Dr. Krueger? They never even met before today!

Dr. Field:  (to Johnson) I didn't hear anyone else offer to stay with him; do you want to stay with him?

Johnson:  Well, no, I can't stay … I have to get home and…

Webb:  I certainly can't stay; I have a business to run and…

Turner:  Don't look at me; I certainly can't stay! (They all hurry to the elevator) What about his brain? Does anyone know if the concussion will affect his brain?

Dr. Field:  Then it's settled. (turning to Steve) You can stay in his room.

Steve:  Natalie, I'll have the chauffeur take you back to the hotel.

Natalie:  I'd really like to stay here, if that's all right with you, Dr. Field?

Dr. Field:  Let me think about that for a minute we don't usually have two people staying in the patient's room. (He asks the nurse for Cy's medical chart.) Vital signs are good. He's sleeping peacefully. Are you a relative?

Natalie:  No, I'm not; but I consider myself a friend to him. I'd be happy just to stay out here in the waiting room if you don't want both of us in the room.

Steve:  Doctor, if it won't affect Cy's recovery, I think he would like to see both of us when he awakens…Natalie will help care for Cy when he leaves the hospital. We were having dinner together before he got hit. I think he prevented us from being badly hurt by pushing us out of the way of that speeding car. His friendship is very important to both of us.

Dr. Field:  Very well, you can stay. One of you will have to sleep in a chair. It will be too crowded for the nurses to do their job with two extra cots in there.

Steve:  I'll take the chair. I won't be able to sleep anyway.

Natalie:  I don't think I will either.

Dr. Field:  (smiling at them) So do you want a cot or just another chair?

Natalie:  Another chair will be fine

He leaves to make the arrangements. Soon a nurse is back with blankets while an aide quietly carries a chair into the room. Steve and Natalie sit down and look at Cy. A nurse checks his pulse, adjusts his IV and leaves the room.

Steve:  (whispering) I don't know if I'll be able to sleep for a while…Do you want to go out in the waiting room and talk?

Natalie:  Yes, I'm not sleepy either. (They quietly leave the room and sit near by, just ten feet away from Cy's room. They have a clear view of the nurses who enter every 15 minutes to check on him.)

Steve:  I need to call the home office to tell them what has happened. It's ironic, But just before I left San Francisco, Mr. Jameson said I needed a little excitement in my life. I can imagine his comments when I tell him about this incident.

Natalie:  And what about the police report?

Steve:  Since no one could get the license number, they said there was very little that could be done. They'll just keep a record of this in case anything similar should occur. Then if they get lucky, a trace might lead to the suspect.

Natalie:  How could anyone do this, Steve? He's such a great person. Did you notice how happy he was to have dinner with us? I think he must be a very lonely man.

Steve:  Yes, I did notice him having fun with us. He couldn't stop chattering his childhood and his work. I just wonder… (he pauses.)