A Good End to a Bad Week

   "I'm on my way to get you, pack up your stuff. We're done." I held the phone in my hand not quite believing what I'd just heard.
    "We're done?"
    "Yes," said C. "Get your things together." All of them."
    I hung up a little dazed. I couldn't leave. I was supposed to stay and answer the phones. I had follow up calls to make. I couldn't leave. We had patients tomorrow that I was supposed to work with. I stayed at my desk trying to understand what just happened.
   C came in. I knew he had just come from a finance meeting with the doctor that owns the clinic I work at and the newly hired office manager. He sat in the chair next to my desk. I looked at him, confused.
   "We're done," he said. "Pack up."
   The short story was that after a review of finances, it was determined that all non essential  staff were going to be laid off. As a pharmacist, I fell into that category. It didn't matter that I also worked as a medical assistant. It didn't matter that I helped cleaned equipment and managed inventory. Others could take those jobs.
   I was more that a little upset. I had finally been notified that the variance I had been trying to get since August had been approved and that after an inspection we would be granted a pharmacy license for our counseling pharmacy. I was not going to be able to finish the licensing process.
   I thought C was joking, Then he told me that the new office manager was coming. That shook me out of my confusion. I told him I had to make a few phone calls. I needed to do a few follow ups and I needed to file some paperwork with the Board of Pharmacy. If I was leaving the practice then I had to follow procedure for notification.
   C asked me if I had any boxes. There were a few I had saved. I took the books off my desk and put them in the boxes. I went through my papers. I shred the ones that needed to be shredded. I took my license off the wall. I carried all of them into the lobby.
   Soon the desk was empty and clean except for a few things that I thought my coworkers would need. I placed my name tag on the desk along with my keys. I told the office manager that  I would return my scrubs which were at home.
  C and I went out to lunch. After home we changed clothes and took a walk. It was good to walk.
  Early the next morning we went back to the clinic to return my scrubs and some other things. When we got home, we got to work. We were leaving for Door County on Friday and there was much to do. The house needed to be cleaned, clothes needed to be washed and our suitcases needed to be brought up.
   We spent the next few days preparing for our trip. We needed to leave. If there was a time that we needed to regroup and plan our next steps this was it. I needed to stay busy as I really didn't want to contemplate the fact that I was in the midst of the third job loss in less than one year.
  We got everything done. This morning we packed up the car and drove off. The week started as badly as a week could start, but at least it was going to end well. We are now in our usual room in our usual bed and breakfast among familiar surroundings and friends.
  I'm not sure what the future will bring, but at least this week will be a good one.