#Dax bitches about her old job at the hospital

[maladaptive-maniac]

Dax bitches about her hospital job: The masterpost!

You may have seen me in the tags complaining about my old job, how I was left behind or didn’t have all the right info or whatnot. Well here’s where I’m putting it all so that you don’t have to scroll through a bunch of posts to get the whole story!

Bitching under the cut! Keep in mind that I am autistic, have chronic hip and arm pain, and I was working the night shift, and only 19 at the time.

1: Poor communication. This is the BIGGEST issue I experienced.

1a: Nobody told me you had to terminal clean rooms with bleach water, or that there was a specific ratio of water to bleach tablet I had to follow. One person would say I had to clean the behind-the-scenes of the pharmacy, another would tell me that was the afternoon shift’s job.

1b: When the new hire came in, she took over the Emergency Department, and I was switched over to MSTU (long-term patient area). I was not told that I would have my department switched, nor did I receive any proper training on that area. Also, one time the new hire was told that she only needed to vacuum three of the entrance rugs, and that I would do the other three. I wasn’t told about that until one of the older janitors yelled at her about it while we were in the break room.

2: Frequent interruptions. I thrive best on routine, but I had to be the one carrying the pager (little device that would sing a little song and display a number that corresponded with one of the patient areas) and I would have my routine interrupted and have to go clean up some gross stuff.

3: The workload. This one wasn’t an issue until the last week of my job, otherwise I would have quit much sooner. On top of wiping down the waiting room chairs, mopping the waiting room floors, wiping down the reception desks and chairs, mopping the laboratory, maintaining triage, maintaining 4-8 bathrooms, and routinely taking out garbage and dirty linen every hour or so, I also suddenly had to terminal clean all eight “rooms” of ER fast track, which were less rooms and more small sections separated by curtains. I had to take off the (often clean!) sheets, wipe down the padded table they call a mattress, wipe down the underside of the mattress AND the table itself, crouch down to get all the nooks and crannies beneath the table, including the pedals, AND wipe down all the individual cables that connected to the monitors and those things the nurses use to look into your eyes and ears, rinse and repeat 8 times. I could do one or the other in a night, but doing both meant working overtime and one time the morning shift lady had to take it over for me. Also, I wouldn’t have gotten a raise for doing the work of two people, but that actually didn’t occur to me until after I left.

3a: It didn’t make sense to me that we would only term clean these rooms once a day. I figured it would be best if they were cleaned between EVERY patient, and suggested to my boss hiring a third janitor to do that specific part of the job, but he spouted some bullshit about how he would have to sit down all day and see how much time we’re spending actually working vs sitting around which. Did not make sense to me.

4: They kept leaving me in the middle of the night, all alone, no help whatsoever. If I got paged to term clean two rooms, one of them would have to wait. Oftentimes I was the only person available for both units. It was a nightmare.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the routine part of the work! Genuinely, I loved knowing that I was making this place safer for everyone, even if the floor was a slipping hazard half the time

Also this is the only hospital in town so it’s going to be very awkward if I end up in the ER overnight

Edit #1: One of the higherups took our wet floor signs because he tripped over one, saw that there were like 5 (ER waiting rooms have a lot of entrances), and thought there were way too many (even though I tried to use as few as possible). I never knew where they went. Then it tied back into poor communication, being that I was never told that I was supposed to have a couple signs on my cart.

[teddyvelvetz]

A fic for @chemosynthelich. Hope you feel better. 

I have no clue what I was going for with this? Funny yet kinda sad/sweet? I dunno. I like Rose interacting with Felix. 

Ps. Wrote this in an hour so probably littered with mistakes. Hope you enjoy it anyways.

Rex did not want to be here. He wanted to leave and was angry at his mother for dragging him along. Even at only age five, Rex knew true fear every time he saw his mother’s mentor. Waiting in the elevator to reach his room was torture.

“Rex, sweetheart, if your face gets any longer, it’ll touch your knees,” Rose giggled.

Rex felt his face subconsciously in reply to his mother’s words. It didn’t feel any longer. Rose gave her son a weak smile.

“It’s a saying, Rexy, I promise,” Rose assured her son with a tussle to his dark brown dreads. Rex looked like a mirror image of his father with his dark skin and hair. It seemed like the only things he inherited from Rose were large blue eyes and a timid personality.

“oh. Alright,” Rex grumbled, fiddling with the blue jay feathers laced in his dreads. The charm had been made by Beyal. It was supposed to be good luck, but he couldn’t see any luck in being stuck with visiting the coldest human being he ever knew every Wednesday.

“Looks like we’re here!” Rose cheered. The medic pulled out a key card and slid it into the lock of Felix’s door.

With a click, the room opened up. Not a beat later an empty box of cigarettes hit the wall next to Rose’s head. Rex squeaked in fear and hid behind his mother, grabbing onto her flower print dress tightly. His living nightmare hobbled lazily from the kitchenette wearing a black turtleneck and black sweatpants.

“Dumb bitch,” Felix growled “, you don’t even knock anymore.”

“Good to see you too, Felix,” was Rose’s only reply.

Rex thought Felix was either a ghost or on the verge of death every time they visited. Felix’s skin was the shade of paper, but lately it’d gained an eerie, green undertone. His silver eyes were lined with wrinkles from stress and irritation. Similar wrinkles lined the old medic’s mouth. Felix’s thin, tall form loomed over him and Rose ominously. Rex felt like he was in a trance until his mother hugged the old man. Felix rolled his eyes, but hugged back.

Rose turned to her son. “You wanna hug grandpa, Rex?”

Rex only whimpered and clung to Rose’s dress tighter. Felix raised a white eyebrow out of curiosity. After an awkward minute, the old medic let out a tired sigh.

“Nothing like his father,” Felix grumbled “, at that age Dax at least had the balls to kick me in the shins and scream obscenities.”

Rose nervously laughed. “Sorry Felix, it’s just that Rex can be a little nervous.”

“He’s been nervous for five years,” Felix said with a hollow chuckle. The old man’s eyes narrowed. “And didn’t I tell you to stop with the “grandpa” thing. I was a stepdad to your husband. Nothing more.”

Rose could feel Rex shivering next to her. Today was going to be just as hard as usual. Hold patience, dear Rose. She managed to untangle Rex from her skirt and over to a couch to color. Then she went to work on Felix. His health had begun to decline slightly over the past few years. The radiation and Monsuno essence was beginning to effect his immune system so Rose made it her mission to come every Wednesday to check up on the man she admired.

“Alright, old man,” Rose teased “, let’s get your vitals.”

Rex watched with interest as Rose worked on Felix. He’d been interested in his mother’s job since he could conceive his own thoughts. Rose checked Felix’s blood pressure, eyes, throat, and reflexes with ease. The older adult kept rolling his eyes and complaining that he was being treated like a child. Rose recorded her data in a notebook and relaxed on the couch next to Felix, catching up on the S.T.O.R.M base’s gossip. Rex grew quickly bored and silently slipped off the couch.

Felix’s apartment was boring, but Rex believed the old man must have something interesting to look at. Felix’s house had a bird theme going on. Paintings ranging from dainty small birds to large raptors hung on the walls. A dozen glass birds lined a shelf. His plates even had roosters on them! What was with the old man and birds?

Rex wandered into Felix’s room. It immediately radiated the feeling of “Stay the Hell out”, but the five year old couldn’t hold back his curiosity. The room smelled at like old person and baby powder. Rex quickly found out the baby powder smell was coming from Felix’s vanity. The vanity was pink and worn down. The mirror was cracked in one bottom corner. Makeup covered the vanity’s surface. Rex couldn’t tell what color the top of the vanity was, but he assumed pink. The makeup was odd, but Rex didn’t think it was any of his business to question his so-called grandfather’s hobbies.

The five year old flopped onto Felix’s king sized bed. He felt exhausted. The drive from Rose’s base to the S.T.O.R.M base was so long and tiring. He remembered Felix living with them for a time along with Uncle Ross and Uncle Systemmac, but dad convinced his mom that Felix was too sick and needed to return to S.T.O.R.M to be monitored. Rex had a blurry memory of his mother clinging to Felix and sobbing.

Rex shook off the memory and began to notice the pictures on Felix’s bedside table. He didn’t know the cranky medic owned non-bird pictures. Rex gently lifted each picture to examine them. One was of what he could assume an infinitely younger Felix with a younger Ms. Delilah, another person his mother admired way too much for his taste. It looked like the two friends had just gone fishing, each kid holding a line with trout dangling from it. Another was of Felix embracing a woman that looked like Rex’s father. It must be the grandma he never got to meet. Next to that was a picture of Felix, the woman, Uncle Systemmac, Dax, and Uncle Daedalus, another relative that died before Rex was even conceived. Felix looked like he had so much more color and he was a blonde at one point. What the heck happened?

Then, Rex got to the pictures of Felix and his mother. It startled him to see a younger version of his mom sometimes. Her scars looked so fresh that it looked like the muscle in her face was fully exposed. Not to mention she used to have long hair without the white streak in her bangs. One photo was of Rose and Felix shaking hands. Felix’s eyes were even colder looking than they were now. ‘Working with the new kid’ was scribbled on the corner. Another was of Rose and Felix holding a chicken. Felix’s expression was still a frown, but he looked softer and had a warm glow in his eyes. Rex remembered his mom talking about the chicken. Its name was ‘Sunny’. A third picture showed Felix and Rose with the full Rabbit Bones faction. His mother looked to be the cold one this time, Felix standing dutifully to one side and Six on the other. Rose didn’t like telling the story about her faction, but she promised to tell him when he was older. Rex smiled brightly at the next photo he picked up. It was from his parents’ wedding. Poppop (Jon Ace) and Felix were embracing Rose while Dax stood to the side laughing. Felix had a smile on his face. Rex didn’t think Felix was even capable of that emotion. Rex almost dropped the last photo after glancing at it. It was of Felix sitting in a hospital bed next to Rose. The pale man was smiling down at a newly born Rex. One of Rex’s tiny hands wrapped around a long finger. Felix’s face was filled with pure love and caring, with a slightly nervous undertone.

Rex was beginning to feel like he understood his mother’s friendship with this man a little better now.  A gruff voice snapped the five year old out of his thoughts.

“Having fun,” Felix stood in the doorway, arms crossed and looking down at Rex with an expectant look.

Rex’s eyes widened in fear as Felix approached the bed. The medic crouched to be at eye level with Rex, joints crackling with strain. “It seems you found my old photos,” Felix mumbled. “Good times I say. Hope I can make a few more.”

Felix held out his hand. Rex looked up at him in confusion. “Let’s go back to the living room. Your mom is wondering where you ran off to.”

Rex nodded his head, dazed. His small hand was engulfed by the medic’s much larger one. Rex braced himself for a rough grasp, but was surprised to find Felix’s grasp was gentle and caring. The boy quietly followed Felix back to the living room.

“There you are,” Rose cooed, pulling Rex into her lap. Rex instinctively clung to his mom and buried his head into her shoulder. “Thank you, Felix.”

Felix shrugged. “No problem. He was in my room not minding his own damn business.” The usual coldness crept back into Felix’s voice.

Rose nervously laughed. “He must have gotten bored and wandered off. Rex is usually well behaved.”

She was met with another half-hearted shrug. Felix thankfully did not appear mad to Rose. An awkward silence passed between them. The older medic looked up at the sound of Rose clearing her throat.

“What?” he smirked “, I haven’t seen you this nervous around me since we first met. Spit it out already.”

“I was just thinking…,” Rose began.

“Never a good thing,” scoffed the old man.

Rose stuck her tongue out at Felix earning a chuckle from the pale male before continuing. “I was thinking, since Rex is interested in being a medic, that when he’s ten you could start training him?”

Felix and Rex’s jaws dropped. Was Rose really trying to put them together like this?

“Why can’t you teach him?” challenged Felix. “Like mother, like son, and I am damn sure not the mother.”

“Well, Ryu began teaching me at fifteen. He was older and had a lot more experience. He was a good teacher.” Rose gave Felix that familiar annoying look of admiration at him. “I really think you two could learn from one another.”

“Didn’t Ryu force you to kill a deer and find a use for all its body parts?” Felix countered.

Rose shrugged. “I dunno. Besides that traumatic experience, Ryu was pretty cool.”

“But I-,” Felix began.

“No buts Felix. I’m not going to let you sit in your apartment and waste away. You’re going to do something with what time you have left. You can start right now by preparing. You have five years, Felix. Tick Tock.”

Rex’s eyes met Felix’s. For the first time ever the young boy could see they felt the same: a wish to be struck dead at this very moment.