Chapter Two
Pushing the already slightly opened door, Trapper leaned in. “Arnold?”
“Trapper, come on in. I understand you’ve already met Ms. Haverty, so I’ll dispense with the introductions.”
Nodding, Trapper observed Ms. Haverty as he slowly sat next to her. She sat at an angle with her legs crossed and one foot wrapped around the other leg.
“Now Trapper, you have to take this training. It’s not voluntary.”
“Arnold, why are we doing this? I haven’t heard any complaints about the way we do things around here.”
“I’m sure you haven’t. It’s not our people who are complaining. It’s our investors. We have to find significant ways to save money and modernize our operations. Using a computer system is one of the ways we can do that. Trapper gave him a blank stare. “All the other hospitals are doing it.”
“Dr. McIntyre, you were in the board meeting when this was presented months ago. All of the department heads bought into it, except you. Weren’t you listening?” asked Ms. Haverty. She received a glare. “Alright, you weren’t listening, so I’ll give you the gist of it. The first phase will put computers on the desks of key personnel. As the Chief of Surgery, you are one of those. It will save the hospital about three quarters of a million dollars a year. After the following two phases are implemented, the hospital will save around three million dollars a year.”
Trapper turned to Arnold. “And when you do expect me to have time to learn how to use this machine?”
“It really won’t take that long, if you’ll just do it,” said Ms. Haverty.
Smiling, Trapper said, “I believe I was addressing Mr. Slocum.”
“Trapper, find the time,” answered Arnold. “I’m not asking. I’m ordering.”
“When would you like to start, Dr. McIntyre?” asked Ms. Haverty, leaning toward him wearing a triumphant smile.
He regarded her, noticing she had quite a nice smile. Too bad it didn’t match her haughtiness. “I’ll have my secretary set up an appointment.”
“In the next three days, please. Otherwise, you’re compromising my schedule.” She stood, shook Arnold’s hand, and left the office.
As Trapper bit the end of the arm of his glasses, Arnold stood and leaned over the desk. “Trapper, give it a chance. It might mean you can actually leave the hospital on time.”
Standing, Trapper turned to leave, talking as he walked out the door. “I doubt it.” When he arrived back at his office, he walked past his secretary’s desk, but then stopped and turned back. “Why the boxes?”
“I thought you knew, Trapper. The hospital is moving to secretarial pools now. Actually, they aren’t even that. They’re data entry. I either test for one of those positions or I’m laid off as of the end of next week.”
“Oh no,” he said angrily. “We’ll see about that.” He picked up the phone on her desk. “Arnold? You’re laying off my secretary?”
“Now calm down, Trapper. She’ll have a chance to test for a new position.”
“Arnold, I need my secretary. You can’t just take her away.”
“You’ll be doing most of the work she does for you on your computer. And there’s no point in you writing out a letter for her to type when you can type it yourself on your own computer. Economic times are tough, Trapper, and they’re just going to get worse. We have to remain competitive. Get used to it.”
Before Trapper could say anything else, he heard a click and a dial tone. Groaning, he continued into his office.
What a beautiful story! I stumbled on this on the Random Story page and what a find it was! I was absolutely enthralled with the characters and how perfect their voices and mannerism were. Exactly the characters that we all know and love. Bravo to you for perfectly balancing drama, romance, and just the right amount of humor (I nearly lost my coffee through my nose when Trapper confessed that Melanie was in love with the oldest son. A perfect homage to our favorite
Cowboys!) And I was super impressed with your medical and legal knowledge! I’m SUPER bummed with how this ended! …mostly because it did! I want to know what happened and “who done it!” I formally protest. 😉
Thank you for sharing this with us. 🙂
-Annie
Annie, first let me apologize for taking so long to reply to such a lovely review. I just got back in town this past Monday and still have a stack of mail and emails I’m working through. Let me just say, I’m thrilled that you ‘saw’ what I had intended to write. This was my very first Trapper story. I had not ventured away from Bonanza before this, but as I wrote it, it just felt right. Perhaps that was because I was around in the 1980s so the times were familiar to me. Lots of research, both medical and legal went into this story, but then I tend to research all my stories for historical accuracy.
Don’t protest too hard. There is a sequel, The Heart of the Matter, that’s not finished. I’m finishing up a Bonanza story first, and then I’ll finish the sequel to this one. Life has gotten so much busier lately, and I’m finding it hard to carve out time for writing. I was writing both stories at the same time, and just couldn’t keep up.
Once again, thank you so much. Hopefully it won’t be long before I can finished up the sequel.
Monica
I loved this story very much and was sad when Leah died, I hope there is a sequel to this story.
Thanks, Adamsangel. Yes, there is a sequel that seems like it’s stalled, but it hasn’t. It’s just taking longer than usual to get through this one. New chapter coming up in Pernell’s Palace.
I am reading this story and loving it very much, I am on chapter 21 now so still have a long way to go. you sure know your medical terms. and you have Trapper as he was in the show,
adamsangel, thank you so much. This was my first try at Trapper and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this story. You had Trapper’s character nailed to a tee! His mannerisms, his words, everything. Loved the banter, loved the story line, loved the intrigue. Enjoying the sequel to this story as a WIP and can’t wait for anew installment! I’m currently reading your other stories now while I wait for more on Trapper! Thank you!
Gosh, thank you so much, Adams_Lover. I think I’ve told you, but this is my first Trapper story, and my first story that wasn’t Bonanza related. I tickles me to death when people tell me I got the character right. It was a lot of fun writing as well. I like to pit people against each other and then see them slowly come together. This was a little easier than Bonanza and a little harder, too. I’m familiar enough with Bonanza and the period to write those stories. And I’m quite familiar with the time period Trapper occurred, and with lots of the content, i.e. the computer stuff. But the surgery stuff was a stretch. The good thing is that I got to watch a lot of Trapper to get some of that right. Now the next installment is really difficult, because they’re out of the hospital and on to other things I know next to nothing about. So the sequel is taking a little time. (a lot of time, really).