Getting Intense

I'm editing the more and more intense parts of Time Diving ( TD) about now - very intense. I finished a nightmare sequence the lead character experiences. I'm sure glad I'm not him. I pack in a lot of emotional upheavals coming out of the mundane. Complex syntax and word ambiguity - good stuff. Yes, I am praising my own work, but with book sales like I have... well, someone has to so it will likely be me ; )
My new job as a simple country doctor is going well. It's a blast and a half to be a doctor again (last job was to insurance oriented and bureaucratic). One bad part - the druggies. They are the bane of primary care. The sad soul who manipulates/cries/praises/threatens the doc to give them their precious pill (yes, precious as in Golum precious) make being a physician laborious grading into unfun. They are not seeking help, they are not seeking top-notch care, they are not seeking your opinion - only they seek precious. I have to spend wasted effort to pretend to address their concerns, when the sub-optimal outcome was ordained before I walked into the room. Wasting time, emotional capital, and resources on druggies... it's not a good thing. Oh well, every silver lining must have a dark cloud at its center, right?
As I'm on the subject, I must say how disquieting "concentrators" are. They are the patients with multiple ajends (lists, we call them) who insist every question/concern/exam componant be addressed at one visit. It truly disrepects the provider. This is insane, as the patient is, after all is said and done, asking that provider to save their life and limit their suffering. So you actively disrespect the person you claim to want to help you is your most critical, intimaite moment. I would think a patient would honor and cater to someone performing such a key function. But they often do not. They place their convenience over the piece-of-mind of the provider. They justify it by asking for services under one co-pay. What, aren't you yourself worth spending the proper amount of money on? Come on people, do it right and don't push your luck with your doc!
True story from this week. I had a druggie, a new patient to me, ask for an enormous amount of narcotics there is no way in the world patient needs to be taking (trust me on this - I'm a doctor). Patient is no spring chicken, and has multiple serious medical problems patient asks me to address. Patient has no clear idea what medication patient is taking and for what conditions. But, instead of allowing me to straighten-out patient's critical medication profile, patient just keep badgering me about why I won't give patient drugs - the other doctors did and the drugs are expense that way and soooo much cheaper if I write for them. So I turn (literally) to patient 2-3 times and say (literally), "Please stop asking about the drugs and allow me to get your other medicine entered correctly. I do not want to kill you by mistakenly adding or omitting something." Then, as I'm turning to continue on the computer, patient badgers, "So if someone had a nail in their foot, you wouldn't give them any medicine for that?" I turn back, point out patient does not have a nail in patient's foot, and ask to be allowed not to accidentally kill them, turn back to the computer, and patient, whines, "I am not a drug addict." I turn to patient and ask when exactly did I say to patient, "You stand on street-corners injecting powerful illegal drugs and selling them to other to afford your habit?" I turn to continue, like 11 medications into the scrambled list, and guess what? Patient asks what patient is to do without needed "medication." That, by the way, is what in poker is called a 'tell'. It reveals the nature of the relationship of a druggie to the drug. Normal people take 'cold medicine', a 'blood pressure pill', 'some red pill for headaches', or 'diabetes meds'. Druggies address their precious as 'med-i-ca-tion'. It's no mere pill or sloppy drug, it's a med-i-ca-tion. They carress the word, hold it in their arms like a dear dear infant so reliant on them (other way around of course, but, come on, they are druggies so don't press them too hard).
Ah well, job-security, right?
I just need to be a famous author and then I won't have to see the druggies. That's the part where you tell all your friends about my fabulous books and buy a couple dozen for yourself - so... come on people, get out there and make me proud!