My Own Way
Rollercoasters
Holy roller
I got shot down
In Southern California
And it ain't easy being on top, no no
And you're up with the stars
And it ain't easy being on top, no no
With higher society
And it ain't easy being on top, no no
You're on top of the world, yeah
Are you having a good time?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to Tamora Pierce
My alarm clock went off with a loud buzzing sound at five thirty A.M. I groaned, flipped over onto my stomach and then pounded my fist hard on the off button.
Stupid alarm clock… I thought grumpily, glaring at my current nuisance, and wishing that it would just melt under the heat of my intense gaze. Unfortunately, it didn't and just flickered the time, 5:31, back at me, virtually unaffected.
I moaned softly into my pillow. It was way too early to be awake. I didn't even get up this early for med school. However, after a little self coaxing, I managed to roll out of bed, and made my way to my shower.
Forty minutes later, I was ready for work. I had eaten breakfast, which was coincidentally my favorite childhood cereal, Lucky Charms (I decided I need all the luck I could get today), my curly dark brown hair was in its usual pony tail and I had a brand new pair of light blue scrubs on. As I inspected myself in the mirror, I knew I was ready to face the outside world.
I left my new apartment with one last fleeting glance, before walking to the elevator. My reluctance to leave its comfort made me feel oddly ashamed. I had been waiting for this day, ever since I decided that I was going to follow in my father's, grandfather's, great grandfather's, etc. footsteps before me. I should be excited. Shouldn't I? Maybe I was just nervous.
Yeah, that was it.
Shaking my head, as an attempt to clear my doubts, I pressed the down button on the elevator several times and then, began to tap my foot in annoyance.
God, it is slow today. I thought impatiently and checked my wrist watch. It was now 6:21. I had thirty nine minutes to make a twenty minute drive, but still, I wanted to be early for my first day at Mercy General.
The sound of a door opening and a wheezing man caught my attention. I turned around and saw that my elderly neighbor Mr. Williams had emerged from the door that led out to the staircase.
"Elevators… broken." He told me, panting.
"Damn," I cursed under my breath. I was on the fifth floor, so I would have to make the long trek down to the lobby. Despite my irritation, I was still able to manage a sweet voice for my neighbor. It wasn't his fault the elevator was busted, after all. "Thanks for telling me that Mr. Williams. You saved me an extra ten minutes of waiting."
The older man managed to smile at me.
"No problem Emma," He said and wiped his wrinkled brow. Mr. Williams took a good look at my scrubs, and added, "Good luck on your first day, by the way."
"Thanks, I'll need all the luck I can get." I told him, thinking back to my selection in cereal this morning. I waved to him, as I pushed open the door that led to the staircase. "Have a nice day, Mr. Williams."
"You too," I heard him call after me, as I took off in a light jog down the staircase. I soon was out the lobby door and into the busy Los Angles streets. A shrieking ambulance whizzed by and I immediately knew where it was headed. A few blocks away was my family owned hospital, Queenscove Medical Center. My family had owned and operated it for a few generations and my father, Neal, was currently the Chief of Medicine there. My twin brother also had his first day of work today, at my family's hospital, as a surgical intern.
I sighed, as I unlocked the door to my black Toyota Camry. It had been a present from my grandfather, Baird, for graduating med school. It stung me a lot to think of my grandfather. He and I are currently not on speaking terms, along with pretty much the rest of my family besides my siblings, Emmet and Emiko. They are all angry that I had chosen to work at Mercy General, over the family's hospital.
Their anger is understandable, though. Ever since I was five and announced that I wanted to become a doctor like my grandpa and dad, I was automatically destined to work at Queenscove Medical Center. I, however, like being difficult and chose, instead, to make my own way at Mercy General. It's not like I enjoyed pissing off my family. No, it's just that most of my dad and grandpa's patients are older and have a lot of money. I want to help everyone, young and old, rich and poor. I know my reason sounds ultra cheesy, but it really is the reason why, I have turned my back from my own family and joined the hospital on the shoddy side of town, Mercy General.
My drive was short. I managed to not hit as many traffic lights and ended up pulling into Mercy General's parking lot with fifteen minutes to spare. I got out of my car, locked it, pulled my backpack over my shoulder, and then looked up at my new hospital. It wasn't like I hadn't seen it before. I had come here for the last few days to go over paperwork with the hospital's business office and my interview. But, this time, I was coming here to work.
It was an old building, not as old as Queenscove Medical Center, which was constructed in the early nineteen hundreds. However, Mercy General hadn't been restored over the years, like my family's own hospital. It still had the funky fifties pale tan bricks and ugly green tiled roof.
Despite all of this, I found myself not caring about my new hospital's appearance. I was going to be happy here. I was going to be saving a lot more lives at Mercy General and making a much larger difference in the city. Plus, I didn't have to deal with my overly protective dad and my annoying twin all day. That was good, right?
I nodded firmly to myself, trying to bolster my own confidence, as I strolled through the doors of the ER. I immediately found, using this entrance was a big mistake.
About fifteen people swarmed me, all of them yelling or complaining in some way.
"Doctor, I've been waiting for three hours to get my sons arm checked out! He fell out of his bunk bed last night and I think he might have broken it." One woman shouted in my ear. "Could you please see him?"
A Hispanic woman was tugging at my sleeve and firing off rapidly in Spanish. She looked close to tears.
"Hey!" A stocky pale skinned woman in a floral scrub top and pink sweat pants yelled, as she marched towards the mob that was surrounding me. "Get away from her! We're doing the best we can! She's just an intern for Christ's sakes!"
The stocky woman tugged hard on my arm and pulled me out of the pack, regardless of all the shouts of protest.
"Come on Greeny. You've caused enough commotion for one morning." The woman told me in a hard voice. She still gripped my arm firmly and yanked me down a hallway.
"Sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to enter through that door." I apologized, my face still very flushed. I didn't plan to make such a dramatic entrance to Mercy General.
The woman's pale face softened.
"It's okay Greeny, you didn't know," She assured me, "but for future reference, always use the side door. It will save you and me a lot of hassle."
"Well noted," I told her and tapped my temple with my left hand for extra emphasis. She still had a secure clutch on my right forearm.
The stocky woman led me down a couple of hallways and ignored all the amused glances that the passing doctors and patients were giving us. She finally stopped abruptly in front of a room that was labeled, 'Conference Room'.
"You get assigned to your attending here." She explained and let go of my arm.
"Thank you very much," I told her sincerely, resisting the urge to rub my now sore arm.
"No problem at all Greeny," She replied with a smile. "Just try to stay out of trouble next time."
"I deffinently will." I said, inwardly shuddering at the thought of all those yelling people in the ER.
The stocky woman turned to leave, but then suddenly spun around.
"Oh, and please, please try your best to not bitch out in your first week." She told me with her hands on her hips and a very serious expression plastered on her face. "We don't get that many interns here, especially women interns, because we're in such a bad area of L.A. So, don't let us down. We need a strong woman doctor here. We only have three in Mercy General at the moment. So, you'd be a big asset."
"Don't worry." I assured her, despite my surprise at the woman's blatant cursing. "I promise you I won't 'bitch out' now. I've come too far." I thought of all the hours I slaved away in med school. After all of that work, I was deffinently not going to give up at this point.
She smiled.
"Good luck in there, Greeny." The stocky woman told me with a wink.
I nodded and watched her hustle away, probably heading back to the ER to deal with the mob. I checked my wrist watch and I realized I was five minutes early. I decided to go inside anyway, so that I could get a seat.
To my surprise, the conference room was already occupied by five men and one woman all in white coats. When I stepped tentatively inside, they all twisted around in their seats to stare up at me.
"Am I too early?" I asked anxiously, hoping that I didn't interrupt anything.
A man with thinning, grey hair rose out of his seat and I recognized him immediately from my interview in June. He was the Chief of Medicine at Mercy General, Doctor Gregory Naxen. He smiled warmly at me.
"No, no, not at all my dear," He insisted and ushered me into a chair that was set up facing the conference table that all the doctors were currently sitting at. I guess I didn't notice him before, being distracted by the men and woman in the white coats, but another person was there too, in scrubs. He was sitting in one of the chairs that faced the other doctors. He looked nervous and was wringing his hands together.
"Thanks," I told the Chief of Medicine and sat down next to my fellow scrub wearer. He stared at me with wide hazel eyes and reminded me of a deer caught in the headlights.
"No problem, my dear," said Doctor Naxen. "Make yourself comfortable. We are just waiting for the other three interns, so we can get started."
"Sure," I replied and straightened out my light blue scrubs, before sinking comfortably into my chair. I turned to look at my fellow intern. He was still squirming in his seat. "Hi," I whispered, "my name is Emma Queenscove. What's yours?"
"Q-queenscove?" The man with the mousy brown hair stuttered. "Doesn't your family have like a famous hospital on the other side of the city?"
"Yeah," I said, keeping my voice low. The six doctors had gone back to their discussion, but I didn't want to disrupt them.
"Then, what are you doing here?" He asked me in a whisper, looking quite shocked by this revelation.
"I just wanted to make a bigger difference." I told him frankly and knew that I would probably have to answer this question a lot for the next few days, once everyone knew who I was. They would all want to know why the famous Neal Queenscove's daughter would come to intern at a no-name hospital like Mercy General. "Most of my family's patients are older. So, I wanted a chance to practice medicine on all types of patients and not just the one's who are circling the drain."
"Oh," My fellow intern still looked at me with wide eyes, like I was dangerous or something.
"You still haven't told me your name." I reminded him with a warm, reassuring smile. I didn't want to scare the man. He looked like he was already going to pee his scrubs at any moment.
"Oh, uh, sorry," He said and ran his hand through his hair nervously. "My name is Theodore Jesslaw, but you can call me Teddy."
"Nice to meet you," I whispered and then, my head shot up, as I heard the door creak open.
Two men in mint green scrubs stepped inside the room, both wearing broad grins. One was of Hispanic origin with caramel colored skin and curly black hair. The other was Caucasian, but still very tan, only a shade lighter than the Hispanic man. He had pale blonde hair and almond shaped blue eyes.
"Welcome boys," Doctor Naxen slapped both men heartily on their backs and guided them towards Teddy and me. "Have a seat. We just have one more intern left that we are waiting for."
The black haired man plopped down in the seat next to me with the other man on his left side.
"Hey guys," My new seat neighbor greeted us. "My name is Melvin Tarside and this is my friend Scott Nicoline." He jerked his thumb at the blonde haired man, who grinned back at Teddy and me.
"A pleasure to meet you both," He murmured at us. I could feel Teddy shaking beside me.
"My name is Emma Queenscove and this is Teddy Jesslaw." I told them and sighed inwardly. Their next question was inevitable.
"Wait, as in the famous Queenscove family that owns that gigantic hospital on the opposite side of L.A.?" Scott asked.
I nodded and explained my reasoning, as in why I would join Mercy General as a medical intern, instead of sticking with my family. They accepted my story, but nevertheless, told me that they thought that I was crazy for skipping out on the family business.
Finally, the last intern arrived. He stumbled into the room a minute before seven and was panting wildly, like he had just been running.
"Ah…" Doctor Naxen gripped the man's shoulder and directed him into a seat next to Teddy. "You must be Doctor Hill. You're not late, so relax and take a seat."
"Thanks," The curly red haired doctor said, still breathing heavily, and sat down next to Teddy, who eyed him anxiously.
"Are you okay?" Teddy whispered to his fellow blue scrub wearer.
"Yeah, just peachy," Doctor Hill replied sarcastically and rolled his bright blue eyes, before he wiped the bead of sweat that had formed on his face.
"So, now that all our interns are present, we can begin." Doctor Naxen said, beaming in our direction and then, stood up. "I am Doctor Gregory Naxen, the Chief of Medicine here at Mercy General. These," He motioned to the five other doctors in white lab coats, "are my colleagues. Doctor Grace Cooper," A woman in her thirties with strawberry blonde hair got to her feet, remained there for a good five seconds, before sitting back down, "Doctor Henry Salamin," An odd looking man with dark hair and a beard did the same thing, as Doctor Cooper, but looked a little more irritated than the woman doctor for going through the hassle of getting up, "Doctor Mathias Ezeko," A bald black man in his fifties, stood up slowly, and smiled down at us, "Doctor Rex Olau," A wrinkled man in his early sixties rose half way out of his seat and then plopped back down, "and last, but certainly not the least, Doctor Jamie Nond," A sandy blonde haired man in his mid thirties scowled at the Chief of Medicine and raised his left hand lazily.
I recognized Doctor Nond immediately. He had been present at the award dinner that was held in my dad's honor the year before. My dad had been named the best doctor in the state of California by some medical magazine and the blonde haired man sitting in front of me had been the runner up.
"So, now that you all know my colleagues, I will inform you that each one of you will be assigned to work beside one of them." Doctor Naxen informed us. I couldn't hide the surprise on my face. Normally, one attending was in charge of a group of interns. Now, I had the chance to get my own attending all to myself. "I know it's unorthodox, but I decided to do it this way because, since we have so few interns here at Mercy General, I wanted you take full advantage of the individual attention that you will need in your first year as doctors."
All of the interns nodded and I knew that none of us were upset. It was an interns dream to have the full attention of an experienced doctor, instead of having to share him or her with ten other people.
"I made up the assignments last night," He waved a piece of paper in his hand, "not even my colleagues know which one of you they've got, so it will be a total surprise for all of you."
A loud sigh came from Doctor Nond, but Doctor Naxen ignored it and his gaze turned towards Scott and Melvin.
"I'll dish out the surgical interns first, to my surgical attendings." He said with a small smile and the two men in the mint green scrubs stood up next to me. "Doctor Nicoline, you'll be with Doctor Ezeko." Scott and the black surgeon exchanged nods. "Doctor Tarside, you're going to be trailing Doctor Salmalin."
"Welcome aboard, young man," Doctor Salmalin said, chuckling lightly.
I watched Melvin give the older doctor a polite smile, before throwing a worried glance with his blonde haired friend. Apparently, Melvin got the same weird vibes rolling off Doctor Salmalin, just like I did now.
"Now, moving onto our medical interns," Doctor Naxen gaze locked upon Teddy, Aidan and I. We all stood up, just like Melvin and Scott had a few moments before. "Doctor Jesslaw, you're partnered with Doctor Cooper." I could feel Teddy trembling beside me, as Doctor Cooper's eyes started to scrutinize him. Unfortunately, for my fellow intern, she didn't look satisfied by what she saw. Instead, she scowled.
"Uh huh," The mousy brown haired man managed to get out.
"Doctor Hill, you'll be trailing Doctor Olau." Dr. Naxen continued.
I heard Aidan let out a soft moan under his breath, before replying in a fake cheery voice, "An honor doctor," He dipped his head in the older man's direction.
I couldn't help, but roll my eyes. That guy was unbelievable.
"So… that leaves Doctor Queenscove and Doctor Nond."
I could feel the five heads of the residents snapping in my direction.
"Queenscove!" Doctor Nond spat my last name with so much venom and animosity that I was actually scared. He had leapt out of his chair and was pointing his condemning finger in my direction. "What the hell are you playing at Greg by letting the enemy in here?"
Hurt could be the only emotion that currently consumed me. I didn't want to be considered the 'enemy' by my own attending. I was a doctor, just like him. Our only enemies are supposed illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and HIV. We weren't supposed to be fighting each other.
"I am not the enemy." I snapped at my new attending, furious that he was enraged by my mere presence. He was being absolutely ridiculous and immature.
Doctor Nond glared loathingly at me, but ignored my words. He instead attacked Doctor Naxen again.
"That bastard is using her to spy on me Greg." He nearly shouted. "He wants to make sure that he stays number one in the state. How could you let her in here? Are you insane?"
"Did you just call my dad a bastard?" I said, feeling my temper rising quickly. No one insults my family in front of me and gets away with it. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
I knew it was rude and probably a little unwise, since I am a lowly intern, but I wouldn't let this man get away with demeaning me and my family.
"Doctor Queenscove that is enough," Doctor Naxen told me firmly, his usually calm grey eyes were now flashing. "All of you go outside, while I talk with Doctor Nond."
I marched out of the conference room, still livid that my own attending could hate me without even knowing me. It was absolutely unfair. How could he judge me this quickly?
No one spoke a single word, as we filed outside. Teddy threw me a worried glance, while the jerk, Aidan smirked at me. Meanwhile, the other attendings were all staring at me with mistrustful eyes. I bet they had the same opinion as Doctor Nond, but weren't so open about it. This only made my fists clench.
"How could you do this to me Greg?" I heard Doctor Nond yell. His voice was perfectly audible, despite the wall between us.
"Why can't you give her a chance?" Doctor Naxen's reply was muffled and I had to strain to hear it. "She told me in her interview that she wanted to work here to help everyone, no matter what their finacial status or age was. You know how Queenscove Medical Center exclusively caters to the rich and elderly. She wants to make a bigger difference. I think that is very admirable and it is the reason why I accepted her into our internship program."
I could feel my face burn, as nine heads twisted in my direction. My fellow interns and attendings were all staring at me again. As if they were observing me under a giant microscope. It made me squirm.
"A load of bull shit in my opinion," Doctor Nond said and I could feel the rage build up in me again.
"Jamie…" Doctor Naxen's voice seemed exasperated. "Just do this."
"What if I don't want to?" Doctor Nond replied stubbornly. "What if I don't want to teach the spy?"
"She is not a spy, Jamie." I heard Doctor Naxen snap. "She has my full confidence. I know I don't go all official on you a lot, but you must be reminded that I am your boss and if I say that she's your intern. She's yours."
"Why can't you give her to Grace or Rex?" Doctor Nond pressed. "Why me?"
"Because I said so and that is my final word, unless you want to be suspended for not following orders." Doctor Naxen told the attending resolutely.
"I… I… I fine," Doctor Nond growled. "I'll do it, but I am not going to enjoy it."
"I didn't say you have to enjoy it. You just need to be a teacher that is all I am asking of you." Doctor Naxen replied.
The sound of scraping chairs and footsteps made Doctor Olau and Doctor Salamin, who were leaning against the door, trying to listen discretely, jump back. A cross looking Doctor Nond and a smiling Doctor Naxen appeared in the doorway.
"Our issues are all settled now, so if the attendings would like to begin rounds, you can head off to that." The Chief of Medicine informed us. "Have a nice first day interns."
We all mumbled our thanks to the kind, old doctor and I turned to look at my new teacher. He still wore a scowl and the hatred in his brown eyes was obvious. I stared back at him determinedly. I would show him.
"Come on Greeny." He barked at me and snapped his fingers like I was his dog that would follow him around at will. Of course, I did trail him down the hallway like I was on an imaginary leash, but it didn't mean I liked it. "I've got a lot to show you. Be careful to note it all in your little spy notepad your daddy probably bought you."
"You've got a lot of nerve." I told him, trying my best to keep at his heels. Damn, he walks fast. I thought, peeved. "I am not a spy!"
"Sure, you're not Greeny." He said in a complete disbelieving tone of voice.
This only made me angrier. I always had a temper, even as a child, but as I got older I learned to control it more. Unfortunately, Doctor Nond was currently wearing down my control.
"Now, this is the supply closet." He pointed to a door with a tiny glass window that read, 'Private'. I assumed it was labeled that way, so no patient or visitor would wander in there by accident. "Could you fetch me a syringe and needle, greeny?"
"Fine," I muttered and walked inside the supply closet.
Before I could even blink, the door closed behind me and I heard a click. I spun around to see Doctor Nond jingling his keys mockingly in the window and wearing a ridiculous grin on his face.
"Can't do much spying in there? Can you greeny?" He said, his cocky voice muffled by the door.
"Let me out of here!" I yelled irately after trying the locked door handle and started to pound my fists on the door.
"Sorry, I'd rather not." He replied. "Instead, I think I am going to leave you in here, while I complete my rounds. Maybe, I'll even be nice enough to let you out before the end of your shift." I growled at him, my green eyes flashing dangerously. He was deffinently going to pay for this. "Hopefully, you'll spend the entire day wishing you worked for you're your precious daddy and then, decide to return to his open arms like the prodigal son. Won't you princess?"
"Fuck you," I muttered, absolutely pissed off now. He had no clue how much I sacrificed with my family to just work at Mercy General. How my relationship with my father and grandfather was now basically on a string. "Who the hell do you think you are?" I shouted.
He grinned at me again.
"I am the one and only Doctor Jamie Nond." He said in a smug tone. "Spell it out with me there greeny, J-a-m-i-e- space- n-o-n-d. You got that or do I need to repeat myself?"
I decided to ignore him and turned my back towards my attending.
"Aw man…" He sighed dramatically. "Don't tell me you are going to start sulking. I bet you haven't done that since daddy told you that you couldn't get that hot pink convertible you wanted for oh so long."
I clenched my fists, but continued to give Doctor Nond the silent treatment. As irritable as he was, it wasn't going to help my career at Mercy General if I broke his nose on my first day.
"Fine Doctor Queenscove, I'll be seeing you in about… hmm…" I knew he was now checking his watch for theatrical purposes. I refused to give him the pleasure of turning around to watch his spectacle. "Maybe twelve hours, give or take. Have a terrific day."
I groaned after I heard his footsteps quickly fade away and realized that he had truly left me in here, alone, for twelve hours. I immediately tried pounding on the door, praying that some passerby would overhear me and rescue me from my dungeon that was the supply closet.
Unfortunately, after ten minutes straight of screaming and hammering on the door, I grasped the fact that no one in the hospital was coming to release me. I ran my hands through my hair and sunk to the floor, in total defeat.
Life sucked.
Leave it to me, to get the evilest, most misunderstanding doctor in the entire joint as my attending. I just wanted to help more people by working at Mercy General and instead, I get locked in a supply closet. I stared angrily up at the ceiling.
If this is your idea of a joke, it's not that funny. I thought and wished that someone, at least God heard it.
I glumly hugged my knees to my chest and kept my eyes fixed on the door, hoping that someone needed something out of the supply closet. I ended up sitting there for two hours in a complete brood. First, I cursed myself for being such an idiot for thinking I would be accepted here, despite my last name. Then, I cursed Doctor Nond for being an absolute asshole to me and lastly, I cursed the entire hospital for not wanting a single item out of the supply closet.
Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket and I eagerly took it out, praying that it was someone from Mercy General asking where I was. Instead, it was a text message from my Emmet. It wasn't like I was upset that my twin brother had texted me, but I really, really wanted it to be from someone in the hospital.
Well, if you wanted to get a message from someone at the hospital, you probably should have given your number out to them, genius. I thought disparagingly and then, smacked my own forehead.
Touché.
I sighed, before reading Emmet's message.
Hey twiny, how is your first day goin?
I resisted the urge to write back, 'Absolutely horrible, I am not learning anything. Instead, I am being held prisoner in a supply closet'. I didn't want Emmet telling my dad about how I was being treated here. My dad would just raise a big fuss about it, get me embarrassed, demand I come back to Queenscove Medical Center, and then go on and on, saying, 'I told you so'. I groaned, as the mental images flooded my mind. The strongest one, surprisingly, was one of Doctor Nond sneering at me and telling me to go run home to my daddy and his large credit card.
I pushed those all out of my head, however. I would not return to my family's hospital, even though I would be regarded as practical royalty there, and no one would dare mock me, lock me in a supply closet, or treat me like utter crap. I needed to make my own way in the medical world, without their help. I needed to be a good doctor on my own terms, by saving lives, not by my last name. Unfortunately, Mercy General was the only way I could achieve any of that.
I made up a total lie to my twin brother and then, pressed the 'send' button. My brother and I ended up having a short conversation via cell phone, before he told me that he had an appendectomy and would call me later.
Time seemed to pass unbearably slow. I now had been stuck in the supply closet for three whole hours.
I might as well get something good out of this. I thought and began to study what shelves held what item. I knew that memorizing the exact location of all the supplies would be beneficial for me in the future. Plus, it would piss off Doctor Nond if I knew more about the hospital than the other interns. He would probably accuse me of doing 'thorough spy work', but I found myself not caring. He could accuse me of being a double crosser as much as he wanted, but I knew the truth and so did Doctor Naxen and that was all that mattered.
I was into my fourth hour, when my stomach began to grumble. I checked my cell phone and the time read, eleven thirty six. It was almost lunch time at Mercy General and I was going to miss it, stuck in the supply closet.
Ugh.
I groaned and lay back down on the ground, hugging my knees to my chest. Maybe, I could get comfortable enough to take a nap. It certainly wouldn't hurt me. I had nothing else to do.
It seemed like I was just closing my eyes, when someone barged into the supply closet. My eyelids fluttered open and I saw the same strawberry blonde haired doctor, Doctor Grace Cooper, and my fellow intern, Teddy, still looking as frightened as he did this morning, staring down at me.
"How long have you been in here, Queenscove?" Doctor Cooper snapped at me. I stared up at her, my green eyes wide in amazement. I checked my cell phone and found that I really did fall asleep. It was now 12:30. My amazement was quickly replaced by relief and I let it wash over me. After five long hours, freedom was finally here at last.
"Five hours, doctor," I told her and then, scrambled to my feet. Unfortunately, I found that my right foot had fallen asleep, during my imprisonment, causing it to give out from under me. Luckily, Teddy was ready to grab my arm to prevent me from falling, which would have made me look like more of an idiot in front of the attending.
"Thanks," I mouthed at him.
"Oh, he is so dead." The female doctor growled and began to rant. "I knew he was being suspicious when he ordered everyone to steer clear of the supply closet this morning, but I never would have dreamed that he would lock his own intern in here. Wait until I get a hold of him. I am going to chew his head off."
I tried to picture who was scarier to me at the moment, Doctor Cooper or Doctor Nond, and decided that they were at an equal scariness level. I had no idea, who would a full fledged argument between the two of them. But, by the look on Doctor Cooper's face, I am almost feeling sympathetic towards my rotten attending.
"Come," She barked at me and for the second time today, I was being pulled down the hallway. Apparently, everyone here thinks I am incapable of following another person. First, it was the nurse in the ER and now Doctor Cooper with her iron grip. I moaned inwardly, as I earned more amused glances by passerby's, as I was dragged into a room that was labeled, 'Cafeteria'.
My attending was easy to spot, despite the swarms of nurses and doctors that filled the place. He was the only person that was sitting alone. Doctor Nond was at the table in the back corner and seemed to be totally absorbed in his food. He didn't even notice Doctor Cooper storming towards him, until she slapped her hand on his table.
"Ah… Grace," He said calmly, regardless of the woman doctor's bright red face, "what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Cut the bull Jamie." She practically shouted and to my extreme discomfort, everyone's heads in the cafeteria turned in our direction. "I can't believe you, you insufferable jerk! How dare you lock your own intern in the supply closet for five hours! Are you insane? Because if that's the case, I am sure I can pull some strings and get the psych ward to check you out."
Doctor Nond must have not been aware of my presence because he looked surprised to see me standing there.
"Oh, you released the spy." His stony brown eyes still penetrated my own with absolute loathing. "Have you had enough time to think? Are you ready to run back to daddy now, Queenscove? Had enough of our poor, mismanaged hospital?"
He did not pause in between any of his questions, so I could rebuke him. Instead, I earned the melting stares of everyone in the room. I cursed under my breath. I hated drawing all this attention to myself. I didn't want it. I wasn't like one of those attention whores, I used to hate in high school.
I felt the blood rush to my face. I had to be tomato red by now.
"You f-" I began angrily, before I was cut off.
Doctor Cooper rested her hand on my shoulder.
"Let me handle this, Queenscove." She advised me, before rounding on Doctor Nond. I immediately got completely lost in her tirade, not even bothering to keep up because of the incredible speed the older doctor was talking at. I was able to pick up a few words from time to time, however, like 'inhumane', 'irresponsible', and 'dangerous'. At last, she was done and a deafening silence seemed to have filled the cafeteria.
"What do you want me to say?" My attending finally asked. It made me furious to see that he wore a look of indifference, not even ruffled after being screamed at in front of all of his colleagues.
"Sorry Jamie! I want you to apologize to your own intern… your damn student, and then, want you to actually teach her something, instead of locking her in the supply closet for five hours." Dr. Cooper snapped. "You got that, or do I have to get Naxen involved?" She jerked her thumb at me. "You want to lose your job over one intern, Jamie, one single, insignificant," She turned her head back at me, "no offense Queenscove, intern. Is that what you really, really want?"
My attending actually appeared to be hesitating. Did he really hate me so much that he'd rather be fired, then teach me?
"No," He admitted with a sigh and looked at me again. The loathing in his eyes was still there, but it had softened slightly. "Sorry for locking you in the supply closet for five hours, Greeny."
Why is everyone calling me Greeny? I wondered for the first time today. It was a random, out of the blue thought and I had no clue why my brain decided to surface it at this current time. Originally, the nurse and now Doctor Nond… what was with that nickname?
"Apology accepted." I said through gritted teeth. I was still extremely angry at my attending and on top of that, embarrassed from all the unwanted attention. I found that I would have loved nothing, but to break his nose at the moment.
"Now, buy her lunch and then, have a nice chat on how you two are going to resolve your differences." Doctor Cooper snapped at my attending. "Do it, now!"
"Jesus Christ Grace," Doctor Nond scampered out of his chair, like a frightened rabbit, and made his way for the lunch line. "What do you want to eat, Greeny? Nothing to expensive, I don't have as much money as you."
I ignored that last remark with great effort and turned my head towards the bulletin board that showed the day's lunch selections. I studied it for a moment, before making my decision.
"A turkey sandwich, please." I told him and I didn't know why I was suddenly being so polite to the bastard. Maybe, I just felt bad for him. Doctor Cooper was pretty harsh on him, after all.
"Sit." Doctor Grace Cooper ordered me and I took the seat across from my attending. "I don't know why you haven't received a pager yet, but I'll give you my cell phone number in the mean time. So, if he gives you anymore crap, just text me and I'll come to give him a piece of my mind. You got that?"
I nodded, though as appreciative I was that Doctor Cooper wanted to protect me from my attending, I wanted to tell her I could handle it on my own. I didn't want everyone else fighting my battles for me. I was strong enough to do it on myself.
However, I didn't tell her that because the memory of her yelling at Doctor Nond was still fresh in my mind. She was a pretty scary woman, when she was angry and I am sure she still had some rage left over from five minutes ago. I decided not to take my chances. Instead, I accepted her number and put it into my contact section on my cell phone.
"Thank you very much Doctor Cooper for getting me out of the supply closet." I told her, truly grateful, before she started to leave for her own lunch table. "I thought I was going to be stuck in there all day."
"No problem, Queenscove," The older female doctor told me, "Just remember to call."
"I will." I lied, knowing that I would never ask her for anymore help in dealing with my attending, except, of course, if I was locked in a supply closet again.
Doctor Nond returned with my turkey sandwich, shortly after Doctor Cooper dragged Teddy away to sit with another female doctor and a man in green scrubs, who had to be a surgeon.
He let my lunch fall unceremoniously onto the table.
"Thanks," I muttered and took a bight out of the turkey sandwich. I'll admit it tasted really good, for cafeteria food.
To my discomfort, Doctor Nond watched me eat my entire lunch, not even taking his eyes off me for a minute.
"What," I finally asked him, "do I have something on my face?"
"You are a direct thing for an intern." He told me. "I would never dare to be that straight forward to my own attending."
"Well, I bet you, your own attending never locked you in a supply closet for five hours for no apparent reason. Now did they?" I fired back.
Doctor Nond shrugged.
"No, I guess not." He admitted. "You have me there, Greeny."
There it was again, Greeny. The nickname I automatically got with no real explanation. If he got to treat me like crap the entire morning, I think I deserve to get some of my questions answered.
"Okay, you got be cruel to me this morning." I told him. "I think that warrants me to get a few questions that I have on my mind answered."
"I already bought you lunch." Doctor Nond argued. "Isn't that enough?"
"No," I said firmly and watched my attending roll his eyes.
"Fine, fire away,"
"First, why do you call me Greeny? Some nurse did too this morning, before you, and I have no clue why I got this nickname." I told him.
"Oh, you must have run into Nurse Salma." Doctor Nond explained. "She calls all the interns that. I am just copying her because I am totally unoriginal and I refuse to call you by your name."
"Doctor Queenscove? Or Emma?"
"Both," He replied with a fierce gaze. "I dislike both names immensely, especially your last name."
"Fantastic," I mumbled, trying not to roll my own eyes.
"Hey, at least it isn't anything worse, like annoying midget girl or rich kid or princess or daddy's girl or-"
"Okay, you can stop that now. I get the point." I interrupted him with a scowl. "And I am 5'4. I hardly see how that classifies me as a midget. You aren't that tall yourself."
"On the contrary, I am six feet even." My attending said with a satisfied smirk. "That makes me eight inches taller than you."
"Congrats," I informed him sarcastically. "Next question," I said and hesitated slightly. I was actually afraid to ask him this one, "why do you despise me so much? What the hell did I ever do to you?"
I held my breath and scrutinized every inch of his face for an angry reaction.
"There are a lot of things Greeny that I despise about you." He told me, his eyebrows now furrowed. "And it would probably take the rest of the day to explain everything to you. Unfortunately," He rose from his chair, "we have rounds to do."
I groaned in frustration and followed him out of the cafeteria. I had to jog to keep up with attending.
"Wait, is it because my dad was named best doctor in the state? Is that why you hate me?" I asked. "It would be pretty immature of you, if that is the reason. You can't hate someone because you're overly competitive."
"Well, I guess I am immature and overly competitive then." Doctor Nond said with a shrug, snatching a bunch charts off the counter of the nurse's station and then dumping them into my hands. "Hold these, Greeny."
"There has to be more." I insisted, as we entered a patient's room.
"Zip it and watch me do my magic." He instructed me and approached the patient. He was a pudgy white male, in his forty's, with curly brown hair.
A nurse was already in there and relayed to my attending,
"Mr. Webster was admitted complaining of a chronic coughing and shortness of breath, Doctor Nond."
I watched my attending flip through the patient's charts, as Mr. Webster let out a loud, hacking cough. Doctor Nond looked up and studied the man more carefully.
Mr. Webster coughed several more times, each one more violent than the last, before his body relaxed again.
"Nurse, get a blood culture on Mr. Webster and if I am correct, which I know I am, you'll be starting him on erythromycin in a bit." He told the lady in the purple scrubs, who nodded, before hustling out of the room. Doctor Nond turned to me. "Greeny, why would I treat Mr. Webster with erythromycin?"
"For pertuiss or it's commonly known name, whooping cough, Doctor Nond." I shot right back at my attending with a hint of satisfaction. I hoped that the years of hanging around Queenscove Medical Center, plus med-school, would put me over the top of my fellow interns. I had a big name to live up to, after all. I needed to be the best here at Mercy General.
"Ah… so you aren't dumb, Greeny that is a relief." He said, stuffing Mr. Webster's chart back into my hands. "But, that was an easy one. We'll go check out some of my patients in the ICU and really see what you're made of up there. Come." Doctor Nond snapped his fingers and I trailed after him.
The ICU at Mercy General was certainly a lot different, then the one at Queenscove Medical Center. For one thing, it wasn't filled with old people suffering from strokes, heart attacks, etc. In fact, it was a lot bloodier.
Three young men with stab wounds from a gang fight were our first patients. Doctor Nond got to fire questions away at me in front of everyone, and I got to play the smart ass, by answering them all with perfect text book answers.
"So, you know your stuff, Greeny." Doctor Nond said with a sigh, as we leaned against the counter of the nurse's station. "Thank God for that or I might have ripped all my hair out, but we got to see if you can put it into practice."
The door to the ICU crashed open with three people wheeling in a man that was bleeding profusely and screaming on the top of his lungs.
"Ah… looks like you finally have a perfect chance to prove yourself, Greeny." Doctor Nond said, as we rushed forward to stabilize the man. "Dazzle me."
I grimaced and heard a nurse rapidly tell my attending,
"It's a gun shot wound to the chest. He's losing blood fast and needs to have a chest tube inserted to remove the blood that is in his collapsed left lung."
"Greeny, chest tube stat." Doctor Nond barked at me.
I took a deep breath, as I had a scalpel thrust into my hands by one of the nurses, and tried to ignore all the blood that was now dripping onto my new scrubs, plus the deafening sound of all the beeping monitors.
You can do this. Just like in med school, except on a living, breathing person. You can't let Doctor Nond down. I thought and chanted my professor's instructions in my head.
A one inch incision at the seventh intercostal space in the mid-clavicular line, a one inch incision at the seventh intercostal space in the mid-clavicular line, a one inch incision at the seventh intercostal space in the mid-clavicular line-
"Do it Greeny or this man is deffinently going to die." Doctor Nond shouted at me, breaking through my thoughts.
His words seemed to bring me back to life and I finally mustered up enough courage to make the incision. After that, it all seemed to become natural for me. I grabbed a hemostat to spread the tissues down to the rib, then just over the rib and into the pleural space. I finally popped through the pleural lining and into the chest cavity, so that I could pop the chest tube in. After I secured the tube in the chest cavity, I sealed my incision with gauze that was being held out to me by a nurse.
I sighed in relief. My ordeal was over and Doctor Nond and the nurses could handle it from here. I watched in amazement, as my attending rallied everyone to stabilize the gunshot victim, so he could be sent down to surgery.
"For a second there, I thought you were going to lose your head, Greeny." Doctor Nond said. His eyes were still fixed on our gunshot victim, who was now being wheeled out of the ICU and to surgery. "For God's sakes, it was just inserting a chest tube, not rocket science."
I couldn't meet my attending's eyes and instead, settled for the floor.
"I know." I muttered. "I just got caught up in the moment with all the shouting people and the blood and the- "
"You probably should have thought about that before you applied for an internship here." He snapped at me. "This isn't daddy's little senior citizen center, where the most you get is a rich grandma needing a hip replacement. This is the real world of medicine, Greeny. Get used to it or get the hell out of my hospital."
"Yes Doctor Nond," I said, truly ashamed.
"Get out of my sight." He snarled. He was the angriest I had seen him all day, even after Doctor Naxen announced I was his intern. "Go get some clean scrubs and take your time because I really, really don't feel like looking at your pathetic face any longer. It just irritates me to no end."
"Yes Doctor Nond," I repeated and couldn't even bring myself to be angry with him for demeaning me. I knew I deserved it. I hesitated and I am lucky that the gun shot victim didn't die on us because of my stupidity.
"Go! Go! Go!" He shouted impatiently and pointed towards the door.
I marched out, keeping my eyes glued to the floor, not even daring to look up at everyone else. I just knew I would be more embarrassed than I already was.
My feet carried me down the hallway, but I quickly realized that I had no clue where I would find a scrubs machine in the hospital. I stopped and looked around for a friendly face. Unfortunately, everyone looked either aggravated or just plain mean.
"Ah… if it isn't Doctor Queenscove," A voice drawled from behind me. I spun around and saw it was my fellow intern, Aidan Hill. "That was some impressive show in the ICU. Doctor Nond really had a field day with you, didn't he?"
"I just want you to know, Hill, that I don't like you, at all." I informed him tartly. "So, get the hell away from me and stay out of my business."
"Sure, I'll just go get myself locked in a supply closet." He said in a mocking tone. "I am sure we'll never cross paths there, especially after this morning. I am sure you'll now be avoiding that supply closet for the rest of your internship."
"Go to hell." I growled and turned on my heel, stomping off in the opposite direction.
"By the way, the scrubs machine is over here, Queenscove!" Hill shouted and pointed to the doorway to his direct right. "Judging by the amount of blood on your scrubs, I'd say you'd be looking for it."
"Good observation," I muttered, before trudging past my fellow intern and into the room I had been searching for.
For the scrubs machine to work, I would have to put my bloody shirt in, which meant I would have to strip down to my black laced bra. Unfortunately, it happened to be my tremendous luck that Aidan Hill decided to follow me inside.
"So, are you going to give me a free show?" He asked with a smirk and folded his arms cockily over his chest.
"Maybe, you should ask your mommy first. After all, this is the first time you're going to see a woman in a bra." I retorted, not even bothering to hide my frustration. "It might be too sensitive for your little boy eyes."
"I think you meant to say that I'll just be seeing a little, ugly girl in her training bra." Aidan shot back, unfazed.
Touché.
"Get out, now." I snapped and pointed at the door. "I am warning you Hill and unless, you want to test my already thinning patience, I suggest you sprint out of this room."
"No, I want to see if women doctor's live up to their reputations around here-as whores."
I felt my fists clench. He had a lot of nerve.
"Get out."
"No way,"
"Leave."
"No,"
"Don't make me-"
Hill sneered.
"What are you going to do, hit me with your purse?" He laughed scornfully. It was at that moment, that I decided his laugh was one of the worst on the entire planet, maybe in the universe. "Seriously though, Queenscove, let's see the girls."
Little did my fellow intern know, that my father, my sister Emiko, Aunt Kel, Uncle Dom, and my cousin Byron were all either currently apart of the military or had been. This meant that I had picked up a few tricks from them over the years. Especially the self defense one's from my Aunt Kel, who told me how to ward off any unfriendly men that wanted to take advantage of me. I had never really had to resort to any of these 'tricks', but I would be happy to see Hill be the first person I'd try it on.
"Oh… I won't hit you with a purse, more like my fist." I told him and took a threatening step forward.
Hill scoffed.
"You probably couldn't even bruise me with your best shot." He said haughtily.
I rolled my eyes. That man needed someone to take him down a peg or two.
"You have one last chance, get out now, or suffer the consequences." I told him, as a final warning. I really wanted to hit him, but I knew it would be improper at work, especially on my first day. At least, if I gave him one last opportunity to leave, I wouldn't feel as guilty for breaking the hospital's rules, after I smashed Hill's nose.
"Come on Queenscove. You know you can't resist showing them off to me, so take off your shirt." Hill's eyes were glued to my chest in anticipation.
Pervert.
"Is there a problem in here, Greeny?"
I inwardly moaned, when I recognized the voice. Doctor Nond was standing in the door way, looking very stern, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at us both suspiciously and to my delight, Hill earned a fierce glare.
"No Doctor Nond, I was just trying to get some clean scrubs." I told my attending. "Doctor Hill here was just about to leave," I glared at my fellow intern, "weren't you?"
"Yeah, there wasn't much of a show here anyway." He remarked snidely and then, brushed past my attending without another word.
"You have any interesting choice in men, Greeny." Doctor Nond commented, after a few moments of me glowering at the corner that Hill had been standing in. "Just like you make an interesting choice in hospitals. Both of these choices are equally confusing to me."
"He's not my boyfriend, if that's what you mean." I shot back, ignoring his jab at me for deciding to work at Mercy General, instead of Queenscove Medical Center. "He's far from it." I shuddered at the thought of Hill and I involved romantically. He'd be the worst boyfriend, ever. "So, if you excuse me, doctor, I need to change into a new shirt. I would have done it earlier, like you requested, but some people were persistent in remaining in the room and getting a free show."
I swore I saw a scowl pass over Doctor Nond's face, but before I could blink, it was gone. Instead, my attending nodded curtly, exited the room, and pulled the door closed hard behind him.
I sighed, relieved my ordeal with Hill was over, and proceeded to change out of my bloody scrubs. After pulling a fresh blue scrubs shirt over my head, I joined my attending in the hallway.
"Do you have your head screwed back on, greeny?" Doctor Nond asked me bluntly, his stone cold brown eyes boring into my own. "Is all the nonsense with your little boyfriend forgotten, so that you don't stand there like an idiot the next time a dire patient needs help?"
"Yes sir," I replied, not even bothering to protest on the boyfriend comment.
"Good, let's get back to rounds." He said, before snapping his fingers. "Come Greeny."
And just like this morning, I trailed after him like an obedient puppy dog.
Two car crashes, one liver failure, three cases of dehydration, a broken collar bone, and one kidney transplant patient later, my first day of work finally ended.
I felt oddly accomplished on my first day, even with my imprisonment in the supply closet. Sure, I figured out quickly that I wasn't the best intern in the world. I lacked in some areas and shined in others. For example, I was pretty decent with all the book facts, but when it came to handling a quickly fading patient, I would lose my head. However, I knew I was lucky to have Doctor Nond, as my attending. Despite him being quite antisocial, sarcastic, and down right mean, he was actually a really good doctor.
I learned from today that it would take a lot of work to win my attending over. He hated my father, thought I was a spy, and saw me as a spoiled princess that had no real reason to become a doctor, besides living up to my family name. Regardless of all this, I believe I put myself on the right track by the end of the day to building a better, more trusting relationship with my teacher. I even had Doctor Nond bode me farewell at the back door with a grunt and a mumble, "You could be worse."
I took his words as a compliment and because of them I was able to face the world outside Mercy General with a genuine smile on my face. As I put my key into the ignition, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. I flipped it open and the message inside made my smile turn into a grin. My twin brother was inviting me out for a few beers with my cousin, Byron, and my sister, Emiko, who I hadn't seen in two weeks.
Tonight was going to be a good night.
Edited- March 3rd, 2009