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 Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:30 pm
Sitting on the chair next to Ashley, the receptionist, Kioshi had one leg drawn up while he watched a sniffling teenager being brought back into one of the piercing rooms. He’d seen her ear, when she’d come in and her mother had shown Ashley the reason they were here, and he’d seen just how bad the poor girl's ear looked. He’d listened silently as the mother had explained taking her daughter to Claire’s, because of course it was Claire’s, to get her first ear piercing - so it would be all healed for the new school year. He’d listened when the mother explained going to Claire’s earlier and being told it was just swollen, that it would go down, but he couldn’t fathom them being so damn stupid - the piercing had been ******** eaten by her ear lobe!
He’d felt his hands shaking, something he’d hidden in his lap, as the daughter cried and kept close to her mother. She was saying how betrayed she felt by the piercer at Claire’s and how much it hurt. And for a moment he considered getting up and hugging the poor girl - she should not be crying and hurting as she was. Instead he stood up, though not to hug her, and offered her the tissue box. As he stood he took a better look at her ear lobe…that thing was infected - he could see the pus just starting to ooze from the front of the earring…from around where the jewelry had vanished into her ear.
When she was brought back, along with her mother, he moved around to the front as he moved around the lounge area and paced as he drew his cell phone from his back pocket and placed a phone call. This poor girl her mother had mentioned her pediatrician being on vacation as well, because the mother had planned to take her into the doctors…but the receptionist mentioned the doctor being on vacation and it wasn’t something they dealt with. The receptionist suggested a hospital or the place she got pierced - hence the failed trip to Claire’s.
Maybe he could help this poor girl…if only his hands would stop ******** shaking as his anger mounted and boiled. He was not pleased…he was really not pleased. This poor girl had been butchered, if you asked him, by some inept idiot who was not a professional anything and shouldn’t be allowed to go near a person's ears with anything. He really did want to rant, and perhaps rave a bit, but he held his emotions because he knew the mother and daughter would hear him and it would only make things worse. “Please pick up…” The receptionist was likely to pick up, she was good about that, she knew his number and would likely get Lorcan on the phone when he asked. He needed a professional for this poor girl, and her mother, because she needed someone who could care for her.
As his pacing continued he blinked a few times, angry tears stinging his eyes, as he ran his fingers through his hair. Fingers tangled, and caught, in the hair holder he used to keep his hair out of his face. Yanking the hair holder out, for now, he let it slip onto his wrist as his hair fell about his face. “Damn it.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:33 pm
Lorcan had finished up his last appointment for the day and was taking time in the waiting room to speak with Judith about her most recent request for stationery and things to decorate the clinic with for the upcoming holidays. She was just as prompt and prepared as he was even if it was for a very different goal. The conversation they were having was interrupted as the phone rang and then shortly it was passed over to him as she had a knowing look on her face.
Blinking for a moment in a bit of surprise, he accepted the phone and looked at her questioningly until he heard the end of a curse through the line and recognized the voice. “Ah, Kioshi, is everything alright? Are you having trouble with your migraines again or has something else come up?”
Waving Judith off, since it was time for her to head home anyway, he covered the receiver as he let her know to lock up and that he would do the final rounds when his call was over.
That done he felt a bit better about talking on the phone in case something was going on. Not that he didn’t trust his secretary to be discreet, it was just still a habit of his to keep Kioshi’s issues on the strictest need-to-know basis.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:33 pm
“I’m fine, I was hoping you might be able to help a client of my shop though…her doctor is apparently on vacation. Also, the place which messed her up won’t touch her - no surprise there considering what a load of talentless hacks they are. Not even licensed…” He had a rather strong opinion on certain matters and work was one of them. The fact some people pierced people's ears in the middle of the mall, or in a store front, where people could bump into them and no one had a license were things which got under his skin. That wasn’t even counting the whole host of other issues he had with such places.
“She’s little and she’s in the back right now in tears, I’m not sure if it’s the pain or the normal emotions of a teenager…” Since he couldn’t remember how emotional he’d been at that age, and he wasn’t the best with emotions now.
“I know your feelings on things and you know mine. This girl was done wrong, really wrong.” Taking a deep breath, feeling his hand shaking as he held his phone, his pacing had yet to stop. He had enough energy bottled up right now and needed to get it out, and going out was not really an option. He was on the clock plus he didn’t trust himself to not make a drive over to the mall and have it out with some people.
“You told me about your cousin, and the messed up stitches he had, consider this as someone just as qualified as that person. Only this person's job is giving piercings. I can’t help, our piercers can only do so much - you know that. She needs something we can’t do.” And there was that pleading in his voice, because seeing that little girl hurt and it enraged him in equal measure.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:34 pm
Listening to what was going on, he could tell they were upset but they weren’t giving him a lot of details to go on. It was a bit bothersome but he was more than willing to help once they’d mentioned piercers and he had a better idea of what was going on. If they needed him it was because something was infected or a bit more seriously wrong with something.
“Do you want to drive over to my clinic? They can follow you in their car. I’d prefer them to come here over me going there for sanitation reasons. I also need to properly assess things to figure out what sort of treatment might be needed. It was good you called when you did though, I just finished up with my last appointment.” Taking a seat in Judith’s chair, he ran a hand through his hair as he thought through things.
“You can let her and her parent know, I’m hoping a parent is there at least, that you’ll be referring them both to a physician. Text me when you arrive and I can go down and unlock the clinic door as Judith just left and locked up. I’ll get one of the examination rooms prepped in the meantime.” Keeping his voice professional and a bit firm, he started making a mental list of what needed to be done as he looked over the area behind his secretary’s desk. There were more than a few decorations here that were new to him but it wasn’t his place to say anything about them. He could tell they were probably from the same shop she sent him to from time to time.
“Just take a deep breath and keep the girl calm alright. I can help her as soon as you all arrive.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:36 pm
“Yeah - yeah, I’ll have the mother follow me and bring them to your clinic, I think a hospital would panic the girl more.” And he also wasn’t sure how much he trusted the doctors there to know what to do, at least when it came to piercings. It felt like some were utterly clueless. At least he knew Lorcan had a clue, knew how to handle something like that.
“She’s thirteen, we’d never see someone so young without a parent.” And she was in no state of mind, emotionally or otherwise, to handle herself anyway. The mother was somewhere between anger and wanting to just comfort and calm her daughter. Taking a deep breath, as Lorcan instructed, he turned slowly then and looked to his own secretary and smiled.
“I’ll let you know when we get there, I’ll check in on her and see how it’s going. It was embedded…they’re going to have to remove it.” Which would, no doubt, upset the girl more since that could be rather painful depending on how bad it was. “I’ll speak with the mother and I don’t think anyone will mind me taking off, I’m free from appointments for the rest of the day.” Another breath as he headed down the hall towards the piercers room. “Lorcan, thank you for this.” Because he didn’t know anyone to suggest to the mother, and he knew how Lorcan operated and that the girl would be in good hands, he didn’t want to scare her by sending her to a hospital or some walk-in clinic. This would be far better for everyone. “I’ll see you soon.” When he did hang up he went to talk to the mother, as soon as he was able to, her daughter was in tears and ear was being drained and cleaned as she clung to her mothers arm. Making his offer, promising the doctor was one of the best and professional, he told them that they could follow him - he’d lead the way. Once this was done they’d all leave together and get her taken care of, the little girl's name he learned was Rebecca.
It was nearly forty minutes later that he was stepping out of the shop with the girl and her mother, her ear bandaged though there was a spot of blood on it, as he led the way to his car and told them to find him and follow him. Once in his car he waited until they were behind him before heading for the others clinic. At least the jewelry was out of her ear, it was cheap anyway, and they’d soon be seen by a doctor who he knew would handle her with care. Lorcan took his job seriously and would not be pleased with the shape her ear was in due to some shoddy so called piercer. That brought a smile to his face…someone who would dislike the piercer as much as he did. Laughing softly as he turned onto the block he parked and reached for his phone to call, while climbing out of his car. “We’re here.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:38 pm
More questions were answered since teenager really did mean anywhere between thirteen and nineteen for him. The picture that was painted was aggravating and it made more sense why they were as upset as they sounded. Hanging up as a plan was confirmed, Lorcan made his way to the first exam room on the left of the hall to start setting up. If Kioshi was removing the problematic jewelry then he would just double check things and clean up accordingly.
It sounded like things might be infected so he made sure he had a sterile set up to clean things again. He was sure the other would do the same but once the jewelry was out it was bound to ooze on the drive over so an additional cleaning would do the girl well while giving him the chance to see if anything more serious was happening.
A round of antibiotics would be needed but at least there were several 24 hour pharmacies in the city and it would be something covered by any insurance which meant he could do the paperwork and get everything done before they left so they could go straight to a pharmacy and pick things up.
Heading down, he went to unlock the door as his phone rang. Seeing Kioshi along with a mother and daughter, he nodded. “Hello, I’m Dr. Cosgrove. My friend has told me about what happened, let’s get inside and I can take a look and help.” Offering a reassuring smile, he beckoned them all inside and to the exam room where he had set everything up.
“I’ll have to take a look but then we can make sure everything is alright. I have some small ice packs ready for afterward to help numb things a bit.” Looking from the girl to their mother, he kept that reassuring tone in his voice, keeping that trained bedside manner up front to help ease any lingering worries as he noticed the bit of blood on the bandage on the girl’s ear.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:39 pm
Watching as the mother introduced herself, and her daughter, the woman went on to explain what had happened to her daughter. The ear piercings had been done only two days ago at Claire’s and swelling was expected but it was red and painful and this morning her daughter woke up with the front of the earring inside her ear. Claire’s had turned her away, they weren’t at fault and the girl must have laid on it, she should see her doctor. The mother had thought of a professional place after finding out the pediatrician was on vacation for the next week.
Listening to it had him silently fuming as he stepped inside past the three and took a moment to look around. It helped knowing a doctor, because they could help with things like this.
Watching as the sniffling thirteen year old stepped inside, thanking doctor Cosgrove, she followed to the room she was to be seen in. Once the covering came off her ear the problem was obvious. The front opening was larger and still messy while the whole of the ear lobe was red and swollen and more than a bit warm to the touch. It didn’t hurt as much but it was still leaking and still could drain even. Her mother had pictures on her phone, because of course she did.
Kioshi for his part went and took himself a seat in the room to keep an eye on everything and watch. This was his co-workers client still in a sense and he really did want to make sure she was ok, and let his co-worker know later via text.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:40 pm
Washing his hands, he got a new set of gloves on and pulled the hanging light down as he took a look. It was most definitely infected and oozing just a bit which he worked on carefully cleaning up with a soft swab and some saline solution. Once he was able to clear it a bit more, he used a squeeze bottle to irrigate it a bit more before applying some ointment gently and letting it air dry for now.
“It will hurt for a few days but then it should calm down a bit with the help of some antibiotics and an anti-inflamatory.” Looking at the girl’s mother as he spoke, he had seen what he needed to from the photos but it wasn’t the worst he’d seen while looking into what sort of things came along with the other’s line of work. It was still a terrible thing to happen to a young girl though and he was glad to be able to help while their normal pediatrician was out on vacation.
Taking his gloves off, he washed his hands again and dried them before writing a prescription out on his pad. Turning back, he brought a glass jar full of sweet treats as well for the girl to pick one from. “You did very well, you can have a few of these if it’s alright with your mother. Just be careful not to sleep on that side for the first few nights if you can and try not to touch it.” It went without saying that if the girl wanted to try getting pierced again it would be better to go to a shop like the one Kioshi worked at but he wasn’t going to bring it up right now.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:46 pm
Watching from where he sat Kioshi was glad to see the girl calming down more and more, having someone else taking care of her, and her mother was a lot calmer than she had been. She was thanking the other, several times in fact, the older woman was very happy and was going to be going right to their pharmacy to pick up the medications - it was a twenty four hour location.
Rather than mention booking an appointment, or walking in, in a few months time for re piercing Kioshi figured that might be a bit too soon to talk about. Though he understood peoples want to have jewelry in their ears…something shiny and pretty. It was why he had several in his own ears. He liked to see it in the mirror when he got ready in the morning. It was never something he’d done for attention…he rather disliked having people's attention.
Watching Rebecca grab a sweet as she got up, thanking Doctor Cosgrove for his help, she was smiling even. A lot better than she had been, it had him smiling even. When the two left, to hurry and get her medication so she could start it tonight, he was sitting forward and smiling. “Thank you. I couldn’t leave her like that and not help…I didn’t know if you’d appreciate the last minute business. It’s one thing if it’s myself, or someone else, who’s involved in certain other work. But this I was unsure of.” But he couldn’t allow something like that to go untreated and he didn’t want to trust unknown doctors in a hospital or some walk in clinic.
“I still want to find who pierced her ears and hurt them…that is what a piercer at the mall does…they use guns which can’t be cleaned, jewelry that isn't’ appropriate, and they aren’t even licensed to pierce. I can’t see why such things aren’t shut down or banned.” He might even consider yanking a starseed. This was what bothered him so much about his own industry…places like that, which really weren’t even part of the industry, but it hurt knowing places like this still did such things. While he didn’t have his piercings in when powered up, taking them out before he powered up, he had them in now…which gave a good idea of just how many he had decorating his elfish ears. White gold with black or blue, black diamond and sapphire, dotting his ears with bits of color. A web was inside an ear, a conch piercing, and little studs decorating the rest.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:52 pm
Washing his hands again after he manage to pull the paper sheet off of the examination table, everything was slowly put away as he nodded. “I understand, she’ll be alright. It wasn’t the worst I’ve seen come across in the ER when I was in rotations there. It’s fine, this wasn’t some sort of frivolous thing, there was sufficient reason for it to get looked at immediately. I’m always able to help children, I don’t like seeing kids hurting.” Because she was only a bit older than his niece and nephew were, just a few years older but still very much too young to have to deal with something that bad.
It was a bit odd to hear them considering hurting a civilian but he could understand it, the thought had crossed his mind while treating battered wives or husbands in his office. There were just lines that couldn’t be crossed, unfortunately. Sighing, he pat their shoulder slightly to try calming them down a bit. “Would you like some tea? She’s going to be perfectly alright and I’m certain they’ll chose your shop the next time so you can make sure things get done properly. You did a good thing bringing her here and that’s what you should focus on.” Other than that, he didn’t really know what advice to provide, this wasn’t his strength. Working through people’s emotions was always difficult for him but he was willing to try at least since they had come for help more than once at this point and he was getting used to them showing up or going on patrol with him.
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