Life's Corporate Memories

Life’s Corporate Memories

by

Neil B. Christianson

Copyright Neil B. Christianson 2010

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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This book is science-fiction. The concepts expressed herein are solely those of the author.

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Published by Neil B. Christianson

On SMASHWORDS

I dedicate this book to my wife, Dodo, who has put up with my obsession with a cold-core model for 58 years.

ISBN

Life’s Corporate Memory Copyright © 2010

by Neil B Christianson

*****

Chapter 1.

A flash of yellow was all they saw as a school bus smashed into the passenger side of their automobile. A screech of tires and a grinding crunch of steel told the story. His wife died instantly. He was slammed against the door frame so soundly his cranium cracked, his mind registered not a thing after the flash of yellow, but he still lived.

Chris Jensen and his wife Ruth were on their way home from meeting with his cardiologist at the Arizona Heart Institute on 91st Avenue near Thunderbird Road. They were happily discussing the good news that Chris’ newly implanted pacemaker/defibrillator device worked perfectly. A device designed to shock his heart into beating again should it ever stop.

They were traveling north on 91st Avenue just crossing Bell Road when a driver in a commercial van ran a red light and hit the front end of their car sending it careening into oncoming traffic. The school bus was right there. Ambulances and fire trucks from nearby stations quickly responded. Firefighters used the jaws-of-life to cut away the twisted wreckage to free them. Emergency Medical Technicians carefully extracted him and raced his battered body to Boswell hospital, where emergency room doctors assessed his condition and concluded if a comatose state can be considered living then he had survived. If not for his new pacemaker/defibrillator starting up his heart, he now would be in the great beyond.

Using records from previous hospitalizations, hospital management contacted Chris’ primary care physician, Dr. Nancy Tindell, who immediately asked to speak to the emergency room doctor on duty. They connecter her with the emergency room’s extension and asked for Dr. Sanderval.

This is Dr. Sanderval, how may I help you.

Dr. Sanderval, I’m Dr. Nancy Tindell, Chris Jensen’s primary care physician and I was hoping you could give me a summary of his condition.

Well Nancy I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Mr. Jensen may be brain dead. He took a severe blow to his head in an automobile accident that took the life of his wife, Ruth. You were probably her primary care physician also. Anyway, we are trying to contact his family in hopes of getting permission to shut off his pacemaker/defibrillator so he can pass away peacefully. Do you happen to have a contact in your records?

Well let me think, Chris and Ruth have no children and I believe their attorney is executer of their estate. Let me see, I have a name somewhere in my records. Yes, here it is, she’s Helen Greenberg. I’ll contact her and we’ll come to the hospital and confer with you and Boswell management as to the appropriate action to be taken. I’ll call Helen and get back to you as to when we can be there. Will that be all right?

That would be fine. I’ll tell management you are contacting his attorney and taking care of the situation. Thanks Nancy.

Nancy immediately placed a call to Helen Greenberg and was informed that she was out of the office, but would be back in an hour and would immediately call upon her return. Nancy went back to her current patient workload and entered Examination Room 3.

. . .

True to her word, Helen Greenberg called Nancy at 2:00 PM. They discussed the case and agreed to meet at Boswell Hospital at 5:00 PM. Nancy called Dr. Sanderval and told him when they could be there. He agreed the time would be fine and suggested their meeting take place in the emergency room’s conference room.

At 5:00 PM, Drs. Sanderval and Tindell, attorney Greenberg and the Boswell business affairs representative, Harold Madox met to discuss what was to be done with the battered Mr. Jensen.

Since the emergency room was Dr. Sanderval’s domain, all agreed he should be the team leader. Sanderval gave a short rundown on Mr. Jensen’s condition and then said, I have had the patient examined by the resident neurosurgeon and he informs me there is some level of activity. Even though it is barely discernable, it makes my previous suggestion, to turn off his pacemaker/defibrillator, out of the question. But, we can only keep the patient in emergency, or intensive care, until he stabilizes, then we must move him to a hospital room, but that too cannot be indefinite. So, our work this afternoon must determine how to provide the patient with, what could be, long term care; any suggestions?

Helen Greenberg said, Mr. Jensen has excellent health insurance as well as a sizeable estate to draw on for long term care. In addition, I’m sure the insurance settlement from the accident will cover any long term care he’ll need.

Well now that’s good news. said Sanderval, Since emergency room and intensive care will be covered by his insurance, we can point our efforts toward mapping out long term care and selecting a facility that can provide the kind of care he’ll need.

I’ve had several clients who’ve been in similar situations, said Greenberg. So, I’d recommend the Thunderbird Care Facility. It has the latest medical monitoring equipment, full time staff and provides round the clock personal monitoring by student nurses. Also, it’s near the hospital so it won’t be inconvenient for Dr. Tindell to drop by and evaluate his progress. There is however a waiting list, so if the hospital could see its way clear to board Mr. Jensen for awhile I’d be happy to look into getting him into the Thunderbird.

That sounds excellent, I’ve dealt with that facility before and have had nothing but good results, said Dr. Tindell.

I’m sure we can find space for him for several weeks if need be, said Madox. We’re not that crowded at this time of year and we could easily take care of him for a month or two. But, I’d like to see it resolved with a tentative schedule to go by. Can you provide that Helen?

It will all depend on Mr. Jensen’s progress, but I’ll get on it first thing tomorrow, said Greenberg. I should have a tentative schedule mapped out later this week or early next week. I’ll also contact his and her next of kin and get funeral arrangements started for Ruth. I believe she requested cremation.

That’s fine, said Sanderval. This patient isn’t going anywhere other than to intensive care for at least a couple of weeks, so that’ll give you plenty of time to secure long term care. If there is no further business, I recommend we get back to work and leave Mr. Jensen’s long term care in the capable hands of Helen and Harold.

All agreed and took their leave.

. . .

Three weeks after his accident Chris Jensen was moved, under the watchful eye of Dr. Tindell, to the Thunderbird Care Facility.

*****

Chapter 2.

Thunderbird Care leases a three story building near Boswell Hospital on 107th Avenue. Its border of Mexican fan palms and silvery grey olive trees, along with its off white stucco walls, give it an old world mystique. To add to its mystique prints from Renaissance period artists adorn the off-beige walls of its corridors. The front third of its first floor contains office space for management and staff. In its middle portion a kitchen prepares meals for patients who are able to eat solid food. The Kitchen also services a small cafeteria for the employees as well as visitors. Laundry and housekeeping take up the back third of the first floor. Patients who can feed and care for themselves occupy rooms on the second floor. The third floor holds invalids and comatose patients who need constant monitoring. Needless to say the third floor is an eerily quiet place. A perfect place for student nurses to study.

Chris was taken to Room 307. It was small, but along with the patient’s bed and monitoring equipment, which was mounted up and out of the way, it contained a small desk for the student nurse, who would watch over him from 7 PM to 7 AM. During daytime hours the nursing staff, wait staff and cleaning staff made frequent visits to third floor patient’s rooms. Also, the nurse’s station on the second floor kept track of all patients with direct connections into their monitoring devices. Hence, around the clock observation of the patients was accomplished.

. . .

Student nurse, Carol Cummins, arrived for her shift at 6:45 PM. She was a young brunette with slightly oriental caste to her features. This hadn’t bothered her in the past but of late she had taken to wondering where she a girl of Norwegian descent had gotten her features. She’d asked her parents, but they laid it off to some Viking gene that was inherent in their genes. Her father even told her when he was in High School how his biology teacher, Mr. Daniels, had asked him about his lineage. At the time, he’d been very proud that all his grandparents were Norwegian. Mr. Daniels then proceeded to inform him that the Norwegians were descendents of Vikings, who were fierce and adventurous warriors. To this her father had swelled with pride. Mr. Daniels proceeded to tell him how they even raided into Africa and Asia. Then, Mr. Daniels asked, Did you ever stop to think what they brought back from their raids? At this revelation her father thought of his aunt, Mina, who had black kinky hair and realized if you are descended from Vikings your gene pool need not be too pure.

Carol checked the assignment board and found she had a new patient. His name was Chris Jensen in Room 307. A review of his medical records showed she had a long shift with nothing but study time. Oh well, she could certainly use the time constructively. She entered his room, checked the monitors and settled down at the desk to study for tomorrow’s test in anatomy. A little before 2 AM she began to feel sleepy, so she ventured down to the cafeteria for a cup of strong black coffee to revive her sluggish concentration. Upon her return she took a few sips and went back to studying.

At 2:15 AM she heard her name being called. She walked to the door. Opened it and scanned the hallway. No one was there. Thinking it had been the wind she erased the incident from her mind and went back to her books. At 2.25 AM she again heard her name. She repeated the inspection of the hall. No one was there. This time, however, it unnerve her, she questioned her sanity. She was reluctant to pass it off as the wind and began to look around the small room for the source of the mysterious voice. Finding nothing out of the ordinary she returned to her studies.

At 2:30 AM the mysterious voice called out, Carol Cummins. Instinctively she looked at the patient and caught a slight movement of his lips. Frightened half out of her wits she crept over to the bed and tentatively said, Mr. Jensen?

His lips moved and she heard his whisper say, Ah the connection is made, but this body’s throat is so dry it’s hard to work its vocal cords. Please give it some ice chips.

Taken aback by the voice she staggered back from the bed. A quick scan of the monitors showed no activity that would account for her mysterious voice. She left the room, went down to the second floor to check the monitors at the central station. Nothing out of the ordinary; should she call Mr. Jensen’s doctor? Not at this time of the morning, nobody wants to hear about a voice that is calling her name. It could easily be her overactive imagination. What should she do? Well why not humor the voice and give the patient some ice chips that won’t hurt him. Leaving the central monitoring station she stopped at the cafeteria to pick up a glass of ice chips. Returning to Room 307 she spooned out an ice chip and placed it on the patient’s lips. The lips parted and the chip slipped into the patient’s mouth. A few seconds later she placed another chip on the patient’s lips. They parted and the chip slipped into the patient’s mouth. She was contemplating her next course of action when the lips parted and the voice said, Thank you Carol that moisture has lubricated the body’s vocal cords, made them more flexible. Can you place another chip on its lips please?

Stunned, Carol hastened to carry out the voice’s request. Three ice chips later the voice said, We understand you are studying for a test. Would you allow us to assist you?

Well if you can, I guess so. said Carol.

The voice said, There are four questions on the test you are taking today. In your anatomy text, they are located on page 35, questions 7 and 11, and on page 71, questions 5 and 9. If you can answer these you will ace the test. Now, we’re afraid this body has been stressed enough for one meeting, so we must depart and let it rest. We will be back tomorrow at 2 AM. Please bring ice chips. Then, we will tell you the why behind your oriental features. Good luck on your test Carol.

Startled and completely bewildered by what she had witnessed, she questioned whether she had talked to the voice or maybe she had she fallen asleep and dreamt the whole encounter. Checking the patient’s monitors she deemed the later possibility the more likely. Still it wouldn’t hurt to review the questions the voice had said would be on the test. A test she would be taking in just six hours. She opened her textbook and looked over the questions. Of the four, she knew the answers to three, but the fourth she found she needed to reread the material covering the subject matter.

It was now 7 AM. She gathered up her books and went down to the central monitoring station to find the day shift preparing for their work day. She reported to the head nurse, Sarah, relayed the patient’s flat brain waves and his uneventful night, but failed to mention her conversation with the voice, because she now believed it had been a dream. At breakfast in the cafeteria she reviewed again the four questions. She felt confident she could answer them satisfactorily. But why was she concentrating only on those four? Her textbook had a lot more questions than four. Was she placing too much emphasis on them because of her dream?

During her drive to Arizona State University West, she kept pondering her strange dream. She entered the class room at 9:00 AM and took her seat. The test was handed out at 9:10 AM sharp. She quickly scanned it. To her dismay, the questions she had been told to study comprised the total test. Since she was well prepared, she quickly wrote out the answers. She was pumped. She could hardly wait for her next shift at Thunderbird; hadn’t the voice said it would tell her why she has oriental features.

Carol finished her last class by noon, went home, showered, had a snack and slept her usual 5 hours. That evening, she arrived for work early because she wanted to make sure she got Mr. Jensen as her patient. Fortunately, the posted work assignment showed she was assigned Room 307. She dropped by the cafeteria for a dish of bread pudding, her favorite and a large cup of coffee. She wanted to make sure she didn’t fall asleep and miss her 2 AM visit with the voice. Busying herself with her studies, time quickly passed until she realized it was going on 1:45 AM. She checked the monitors for the umpteenth time; then, hurried to the cafeteria for more coffee and a glass of ice chips.

Promptly at 2 PM she placed an ice chip on Mr. Jensen’s lips. They parted and the chip slipped into his mouth. She placed a second chip on his lips and it too disappeared into his mouth. She waited, finally the voice said, "Thank you Carol, ice chips really help to get this old body’s vocal cords lubricated. Beer