i apologize , '' carol offered , knowing that her words were a poor consolation , but that is the first available appointment.the reality of the situation was that carl would have to wait four weeks just to see a counselor and have his mountain of paper work filled out before he could even think about seeing a doctor.carol had learned this lesson the hard way.in the past when she had taken it upon herself to slide patients who were desperately in need into doctor appointment slots before the mountain of paper was completed , she had received the wrath of both the doctor and the administration department.carol had gotten into some knock-down , drag-out arguments with the doctors.the only thing she had accomplished was to cultivate a continued reputation with the entire staff , and raise her own blood pressure.the patient had never won out , and had always gotten the short end of the stick.she promised herself after the last fiasco that she would never attempt another rescue mission again .