Her hands rested against the warm metal of the stethoscope, looping the diaphragm around the earpieces readying it for packing away. She placed it on the very top of the box labeled "For Residency", setting it next to her white name tag. She stared at the black letters embedded in the white plastic, still adjusting to the Dr. abbreviation before her name and the M.D after it.
Dr. Isabella Swan, M.D.
It was still surreal, that she'd made it this far, despite everything. Not long ago it had seemed a distant, unattainable dream as her life fell in shambles around her. She'd questioned everything, mostly her ability and her own dedication to this life she was trying to carve out for herself. She had questioned if she'd even be alive long enough to graduate medical school. But she didn't dwell, not allowing her thoughts to stray too far into the unpleasantness of her life. She shoved the nametag back into the box hastily folding the cardboard flaps over each other, taping the seams closed.
She slumped back against the wall behind her, taking in the emptiness of the space she was in, taking the time to appreciate how much this space had meant to her for so long. It was soon to be a distant memory, and though part of her was relieved, an even larger part was petrified. Life was changing, and she was heading into residency after years of medical school and internship, feeling only slightly more prepared than she had when she'd first walked through the doors of Jacksonville's only Medical School.
That felt like eons ago now, a distant but steadily pulsating memory. That chapter was ending. She'd followed Renee and her boyfriend Phil, to Jacksonville, putting up with their dysfunctional romance for as long as she could. When she'd signed the lease for this apartment in her last year of her undergrad it had felt like her key to freedom. And it had been.
But now it just felt like a cage. Where her bright bay windows were she now imagined cold, iron bars meant to trap her in. There were dark, desolate walls where she once saw the bright Florida colours she'd painted the apartment when she first moved in. Each room held a memory she longed to transform or forget altogether. It seemed that there would be no forgetting, though. The memories clawing their way back into her consciousness at every opportunity.
This place had saved her… but she couldn't stay. Her refuge had become her nightmare.
She lifted the last box and heaved it onto the smallest stack in the corner of her tiny apartment. She glanced at her watch, 7:45 – which meant the movers would be here in 15 minutes. She took one last moment to glance around the room, idly wondering what this next phase of her life would bring her.
She'd heard a lot about Seattle, mostly that it was rainy and cold, two things she wasn't fond of. But it had the best surgical residency in the entire state, and that was what she was there for. It seemed like a miracle that she'd even matched there in the first place.
It was time to move forward.
She squared her shoulders, lifted her head, and braced herself for what was to come.
A/N: This story just wouldn't leave my head. I'm about 10 chapters in and hoping to update regularly. I had to take a break from reading and writing for a while as real life was catching up with me in the most dreadful way. But, the dust has settled and I'm back at it.
Let me know what you think? This is uncharted territory for me and I feel a bit apprehensive about it!