Night Clinic

Night Clinic

by David Gelber

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

"Night Clinic" is a collection of short stories which tell the unusual events which occur at the free clinic attended by Dr. Barnes and Nurse James. Monsters, magical beasts, villains along with ordinary folks come to the clinic looking for health and hope.

"Night Clinic" is a unique melding of medicine and magic.

EXCERPT:

“Speaking of bizarre and crazy, you are aware that the Interga¬lactic Convention is in town again? Star Trek, Star Wars, and every other outer space franchise all together. So I’m sure we’ll get our share of phaser burns, blaster bruises, and transporter malfunc¬tions. Oh, and to get us off on the right foot, Derek is back with his annual ‘Trouble with Tribbles.’ I’ve left all the usual instruments in the room for you.”

“Not again,” I moaned. “You would think that after four, no five years, he would learn.”

I picked up the chart and gave it a careless glance. Before I saw the words I knew the problem. I walked into the exam room and saw Derek, a regular visitor, lying on his side on the exam table. Seated on a sterile tray were a rigid sigmoidoscope and a tenacu¬lum.

“Derek, we’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I scolded. “And think of the poor Tribbles. They’re supposed to be comforting, I know, but you’re just supposed to hold them.”

 “I do hold them, Dr. Barnes; for a little while. But, the way they coo and vibrate and shake, the possibilities are endless.”

“I hope it’s as simple as last year,” I remarked.

I put on a glove and lubed up my index finger and checked up in Derek’s rectum. Sure enough there was a furry object vibrating just inside. Past experience told me not to try to grab it with my hand; it would just slip away. I greased up the scope and passed it into his rectum. Immediately I visualized a furry yellow ball which was shaking and making low Tribble noises. I reached in with the tenaculum and grabbed the object in its mid portion like a pro and pulled scope and tenaculum out with a single, gentle pull. The Tribble, which was a toy available at the convention, popped out.

“Just one this year?” I asked, although I already knew there would be more.

“No, three,” he replied.

I repeated the routine, pulling out one purple and one red Trib¬ble, both larger that the first and still vibrating.

“I’ll dispose of these for you, Derek. And, please, stay away from Tribbles. You know they’re nothing but trouble.”

He gave a short grunt as I walked out of the exam room.

“What’s next, Nurse?”


And now, a word from the author:

To Write…

To write, perchance to dream. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but my time spent writing starts with time spent lost in thought, letting my imagination run to and fro. This process led to my first book, “Future Hope,” a futuristic story which contrasted a dystopian earth in the year 2156 with a perfect utopia. In another book, I rescued the Minotaur of mythological fame, saving him from the sword of Theseus and setting him on a journey through history.  And, finally, “Night Clinic” was born.

The first “Night Clinic” story began very early one morning at the hospital while I was waiting to start surgery. I wondered where the “people of the night” went for routine medical care. Evella, Goddess of the Night, Mr. V. M. Pire, Mr. Hyde and a pack of werewolves, all creatures of the night, descended upon Dr. Barnes and Nurse James and the Night Clinic was never the same.

Each Night clinic short story came from my imagination; each time focused in a different direction. While operating one Saturday morning, the surgical tech assisting me said I was Captain Surgery, perhaps referring to my superior technique. Consequently, the character Captain Surgery was born. Of course, he needed a sidekick, someone to give anesthesia to his patients. We went through several names: Sleeper, Sandman, Snoozer, but I finally settled on Cloud, a sophisticated, slightly mysterious name which perfectly complimented the far bolder Captain Surgery. This duo makes a few appearances in the “Night Clinic” series.

“Footprints Across Night Clinic” was born from an idea to have a mysterious creature appear at the clinic. It was only after I started writing that I made the creature a baby dragon. This actually borrowed from stories I invented for my children when they were very young. We had (and still have) a purple and orange stuffed dragon. It is a living version of this child’s toy who is “born” at the clinic and adopted by Vince, the clinic custodian.

I dreamed up a lot of different scenarios. A mysterious box is delivered to the clinic addressed “A.T. to A.P” and all sorts of people show up inquiring about it. Star Trek finally meets Star Wars and the result is almost tragic. Mythological beasts and monsters appear, spies, a serial killer, a deranged Raven and so much more sprang from my mind and found a place at the clinic.

Night Clinic presents a completely unique concept as all these mystical and magical characters come to the clinic seeking medical care. It is an incredible package that is sure to keep any reader entertained.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

David Gelber, a New York native, is the seventh of nine sons and one of three to pursue medicine. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1980 and went on to graduate medical school in 1984 from the University of Rochester.

He completed a residency in General Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and Nassau County Medical Center on Long Island, NY, in 1989. Dr. Gelber now is in private practice in Houston, TX.

Gelber has been performing surgery for more than 25 years, but over the last few years he began to pursue his passion for writing, initially with his debut novel, "Future Hope", followed by its sequel “Joshua and Aaron.”

These were followed by two books about surgery “Behind the Mask” and “Under the Drapes.” The apocalyptic “Last Light” and historical fantasy “Minotaur Revisited” round out his published works, while numerous articles have appeared on his blog “Heard in the OR.”

Now he presents “Little Bit’s Story” and his collection of magical medical short stories, “Night Clinic.”

He has been married to Laura for 28 years and has three college aged children. He and Laura share their home with five dogs and numerous birds.

Books Published

Future Hope ITP Book One

Joshua and Aaron ITP Book Two

Minotaur Revisited

Behind the Mask: The Mystique of Surgery and the Surgeons who Perform Them

Under the Drapes: More Mystique of Surgery

Last Light (e-book only)

Blog:

Heard in the OR    (http://heardintheor.blogspot.com)

 http://www.davidgelber.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2747647.David_Gelber

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Clinic-David-Gelber-ebook/dp/B00O3R8760/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416357751&sr=1-1&keywords=night+clinic+david+gelber

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-clinic-david-gelber/1120433341?ean=9780982076392

David will be awarding a $50 Amazon/B&N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the rafflecopter link below to enter. You can find his schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/10/vbt-night-clinic-by-david-gelber.html.

a Rafflecopter giveaway