I am blown away by the response to this, and I am so thankful for all the wonderful comments and words. You guys are making me want to update and write faster, and I have done just that. Hopefully, if this bout continues, I can keep updating at this rate. As you all might've guessed by now (and that I warned by stating in the first chapter), this story was inspired by other events/stories/songs/etc. I am just trying my best to keep myself intrigued, too. That said, this story will deal with a lot of medical aspects. Some of which I am familiar with, and some which I am not. I have done quite a bit of research, but again, I am not an expert and I would appreciate if there is something wrong and someone kindly corrects me. I in no way want to offend anyone. I simply wish to make people happy with my writing (though some would say I do the opposite ;D)... anyway, shutting up.
Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Ally finished high school as the valedictorian, which pissed a lot of people off. Some even say she bought her way there. Truth was, Ally was a fantastic student, and many just assumed because she was rich and known as a mean girl that she couldn't possibly be smart too. She made a speech that probably didn't mean much, took her prom date Cooper with her to a wonderful night, and then sat back on her in ground pool and enjoyed the start of summer vacation. It went like this for nearly a week until one day, her father came up beside her, casting a shadow over her sun (she was working on a better tan since she wanted to go on vacation in a few weeks).
He looked down at her with scolding eyes.
"Yes, Daddy?" she asked, wondering what she might've done. It wasn't like she had chores (they had house keeping for that) and she honestly had not spent any of his money in the last couple of weeks. She was practically a normal, boring girl.
The man held a letter in his hands. "This is from your college," he stated simply. "It says they will not accept you after all unless you get some community service in this summer. They need to see your will to help others in a medical field. I thought you volunteered at the hospital during winter break, Ally!"
Her cheeks burned a bright red, something only her father had the ability to make her do. "I … I um might've had Elliot's mother say to you that I did." She did not mention the things she had to do to Elliot in order for those words to be said.
He rolled his eyes, "I am paying for your college education, Ally. I am not going to pay for you to attend somewhere else. This is the school I attended and I do not want to look like a fool in front of them. I truly do not appreciate being lied to, especially from you." He folded his arms over his chest, making him look even more menacing. "I already fixed the problem, don't you worry." She smiled brightly, but then he shook his head. "You can kiss your vacation with Trish in the islands goodbye, because they could not work around it."
Ally immediately began to complain, "But Daddy, we already booked the hotel!"
"Cancel it," he snapped and she shut her mouth immediately. He was truly pissed. "You're going to be volunteering at a place I picked this time around. I think you'll find it worth your time, at least I hope you do." He narrowed his eyes. "I know you would like to make your mother and me proud, and I hope by being there you will."
"Where am I working?" she asked, beginning to fear he had her set up at a nursing home or something. She would not wipe old people's butts!
He smiled this time, though there was no happiness in his face. "There is a rehab facility up at Miami General that houses severely injured teenagers. They face a large range of problems, and the intern program there which your school is affiliated with. You will go there Monday through Friday for the next six weeks. In turn, the school will allow you to start in the fall."
Ally was appalled. Six weeks of volunteering for this internship meant she would only have two weeks of freedom after it was over. What about her plans for her trip? "But…"
"No buts. I'm disappointed in you, Ally." He pointed to the house. "I suggest you start getting ready because you have to be there for orientation at two pm."
Ally waited for him to go inside before tossing her magazine into the pool, stomping her feet onto the marbled ground. This was not fair! Why did she have to have volunteer work in order to start college? It seemed ridiculous! Everyone else she knew was having the summer of their lives, and she was going to have to cancel the one thing she'd been looking forward to for weeks! Wait until she told Trish.
Begrudgingly, she was on her way to this rehab facility at around one forty five, while she spoke to her best friend via Bluetooth on the highway. She was still furious but she didn't want her father angry, and she really did want to get into that school. Still, it made her mad that her father couldn't work around her vacation or find something that she could do both with. Besides, what could she do at a rehab facility? She was going to school to become a doctor, not a physical therapist.
"Are you going to be working with like people with broken arms and stuff maybe?" Trish asked. She was at the mall with one of their friends, shopping for some party that was in a couple days.
"I don't know!" she snapped, beeping at some guy who didn't go fast enough for her. "I'm just so upset. We've been planning this vacation for months now! I've already got two bathing suits picked out!"
Trish laughed, "I know that it sucks. But we can go when you're done. We'll just rebook. Don't worry about that. Don't worry about me—I'm not upset. The beautiful islands below us aren't going anywhere."
Ally huffed, "Yeah, until some mega hurricane comes through and wipes them all out."
"It would probably wipe us out too," Trish considered.
Ally practically screamed, "Great. Awesome. Just kill my summer now. Maybe I'll get washed away and will find myself on some island anyway. Perfect."
"Have I mentioned that you're dramatic?"
She didn't offer her a response to that.
"I'm pulling up to the place now, Trish. I'll call you when orientation is done. Hopefully I'll make it through it without wanting to shoot myself. Have fun shopping. Without me," she added pitifully.
Trish laughed into the phone, "It'll be torture without you."
She hung up on her.
Ally sighed as she tossed her phone into the bag beside her and looked at the building. It was small for a medical center, only two stories and looked as if it had seen better days. Public hospitals usually had that problem. The fancy hospital that her father worked in looked like something out of the future, and the landscaping was absolutely stunning (this place only had a few overgrown rose bushes that covered some of the sign). She figured they probably couldn't afford to have it redone.
She killed her car's engine and then walked across the cracked pavement until she reached the entrance. Inside, she asked where the orientation was set to begin and the director at the information desk informed her it had already begun. Ally glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed it was ten past two. She was late. Wonderful.
She thanked the person despite this and found where orientation had begun, letting herself make a grand entrance to inform every other person in the room that she was important. Important people can come in late.
"Would you be Miss Dawson?" a short man with a receding hairline asked. She nodded curtly. "We appreciate timely people, Miss Dawson. Please take a seat and let's not make a habit of it."
She stuck her chin up at this and sat next to a kid who looked like he was sweating buckets. Disgusting, she made sure to keep her distance. In the next half hour, she listened to the stuffy man explain the program to the ten or so other interns. They would be paired up with someone close to their age (the ages ranged from about 15 to 18) and were expected to learn the basics of the challenges the patient faced and detail how their recovery went. In the end, they were to turn in an essay on what they learned, and how this would help them in the long run as they advanced in their medical field of choice (guess it wasn't just future doctors in the room).
"I'll pair you off as follows. You are more than welcome to introduce yourself to your partner today, but I do remind each of you that your partners might be in varying levels of physical and mental condition. They are here to heal and some injuries are worse than others."
The girl a few seats down raised her hand. "Yes?"
"What does that mean?" she asked. "I would like further knowledge on this." She sounded like a robot.
He smiled at her, "That means that some of these patients might be in a wheelchair, or have other medical needs that you might not be too familiar with, or have experience with. We try to keep our patients matched with people with similar medical backgrounds, but it doesn't always work out. Some of these patients have been here for a while and some are only going to be here a week or two. That means that you would be repaired with someone else."
Ally rolled her eyes. Awesome.
"And back to my list… please listen for your name." She tuned him out as the first few names were said and then she heard hers come from his mouth, "Ally Dawson, you have been paired with Austin Moon. He is in room 5B on the second floor. Feel free to go to the information desk and pick up a copy of his folder when you are finished here. I'm afraid you will not be able to meet with him today."
"Why is that?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"He's in surgery today, will be back tomorrow," the man explained.
Ally nodded, satisfied. The orientation went on for several more minutes, before they were separated into even smaller groups to learn the basics of HIPAA (privacy rights) and some basic medical knowledge for those who were truly new to the field. By the time they were done for the day, it was nearly five pm and Ally was a bit tired. She hurried off to the front desk where she gathered Austin Moon's file. She tossed it in her bag and then walked back over to another girl, named Cassidy Regan who complimented her shoes. Her heels were one of her favorite brands, so the girl must have some sense. She figured she'd befriend her.
"Who do you have?" she asked.
Cassidy pointed down the hall where a dark haired boy with glasses was walking with a severe limp. "You can't tell but that's Jake. He lost his leg to cancer a couple months back. He's working on a fake one and he'll be here just about the same amount of time we will." She smiled brightly. "He's actually kind of cute." She glanced over the piles of paperwork they were given and laughed, "Wouldn't it be funny if we fell for each other? I hope there isn't a rule against that."
Ally forced a smile. She couldn't imagine ever doing the same.
When she got home, Trish and a few other girls were waiting for her by the pool. She tossed her bag with all the paperwork at the door and immediately went to change into her bathing suit so she could join them. Together, they hung out in pool rafts as the sun went down, drinking frozen drinks mixed with alcohol now that her father had gone back to the hospital.
"It's such a bummer," Elisa stated with a sigh. "You guys had such a great vacation planned. Can't you make him change his mind?"
Ally sighed, "No. My only hope is that whoever I got is only there for a short while. I can scam my way into the volunteer hours I would still need and we can still go. The vacation is a month away." She pointed to an imaginary calendar. "I'm not canceling it yet. I still want to go."
Trish raised an eyebrow beneath her cheetah print sunglasses. "I thought you told me you canceled it already."
She grinned, sipping her brightly colored drink. "Nah. I have hope."
"Well, you did say you were being paired with someone. Who is it?"
"Some guy named Austin," she said. "I couldn't meet him today because he was in surgery. I figure he probably broke his arm or something and it'll be simple."
"Sounds like it," the other girl Naomi grinned. "I agree with Ally. You guys will be able to go with no problem." She sighed, flipping onto her stomach on the raft. "Bring me back some of that sand, would you? I can only dream of getting there." Ally smiled at the girl, but secretly was laughing in her head. Of course she could only dream of getting there. Her father was once a successful business man but his business had tanked over the last winter. She knew the girl was swimming on borrowed money practically. Soon, they'd have to move out of the rich house down the street and into one of those houses that she passed on the way to the facility that day.
"I'm sure you could come with us," she stated for affect anyway. "It's only a few thousand to go."
Naomi smiled like she wasn't hiding a huge secret. "Oh yeah. Maybe."
Elisa broke the awkward silence that followed. "I say we get drunk! It's Ally's last night of freedom for the next six weeks!"
She glared at her friend, but raised her glass anyway. "Yeah, guess so. To my freedom."
Trish only rolled her eyes as the girls' clanked glasses.
The next morning, Ally's alarm went off at seven am and she resisted the urge to throw it out the window. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and began her morning routine, trying to find something to wear that was cute but also functional for the rehab center. She saw the way the guy doing the orientation had looked at her outfit and didn't need to be reamed out two days in a row.
She settled on a pair of dark wash shorts and a sparkled tank top, using her fashion sense to add the appropriate jewelry. She then tossed her hair onto her head for a moment, deciding if she couldn't be at the beach, she would fake some beach waves. When she was done, she looked absolutely perfect.
With a sigh, she tried to put a smile on her face, but even she could tell it was fake. Further to her annoyance, she didn't even have time to switch her bag from yesterday. Inside, she saw the file on Austin Moon that she still hadn't read. How much did she need to know anyway? She would meet him and she was sure it would be simple. Vacation would still happen. Besides, she had texted Cooper that morning and he wanted to take her out on a date that night. So, she had something to look forward to when the day was over.
Glad that no one was home, she quickly grabbed a protein bar and smoothie that one of the house keepers had prepared and began her drive to the facility.
Once there, she noticed several other interns already with their patients. She heard Cassidy (who she ran into first thing) say that one of the other girls was paired with a blind guy and rambled for a few minutes about how awful that must be. She was waiting for Jake to get out of some appointment so they could meet up. Ally was still not sure what this whole deal was.
"What am I supposed to do for five hours?" she asked Cassidy, folding her arms. "I don't know this guy. Maybe he doesn't even want someone here."
Cassidy looked a bit taken back. "You take their mind off things, I would think. You learn about their condition in the process." She smiled genuinely. "It's a great experience for med school and I really hope that me and him remain friends. I already spoke to his mother and me and him are going to head out to the park down the road from here and have lunch. I brought some with me."
She revealed a homemade packed lunch that she left on an abandoned wheelchair. She even had a few games inside. She looked worried for a moment, "I don't know what he likes. He's 17 just like me. I assume probably hanging out with friends and doing guy stuff. I just want to make him feel better. His mom says he's had a rough few days after receiving the fake leg."
Ally had stopped listening at this point. She seemed like the doctor type that her parents were. Cared for anyone and would put their heart on their sleeve in an instant if it made someone smile. She was just not that person.
"Ally, are you still listening to me?"
"Yes," she lied, giving her a bright smile. "Good luck with all of that. I suppose I should go find my patient."
Cassidy grinned, calling over her shoulder, "Good luck! I'm sure you'll hit it off."
Ally first had to find the elevator, which seemed ironic considering most places like this had it in the front of the building. Instead, this building's was in the back, near a utility closet that reeked of bleach. It was old and shook when it climbed to the second floor and for a second, she thought it might collapse with her in it. Instead, it opened with a creak and she stepped out, finding a similar layout. Ally looked on the front of his file and saw that the room was 5B and she began to walk down the corridor, seeing she was near room 15. Finally, when she got to the front desk, a nurse greeted her.
"Hello! You must be one of the interns. Who is your patient?"
Ally forced a smile, "Austin Moon. Am I near room 5B yet?"
The nurse made an unreadable face, one she couldn't understand. "Ah yes, just this way. Have you met Austin yet?"
"No," she admitted. "He wasn't here last night."
"Yes. He arrived early this morning following his surgery. According to his mother, it went well. From his file, you can understand why that's a great thing." She motioned for Ally to follow. His room seemed to be in the corner of the hallway. She was about to admit that she had yet to read his file, but did not know if that would land her in trouble. She figured she would elude further to what happened to him before they got there anyway. "I think you'll find his room to have a great view. I was telling him this the other day. You can see the beach from there. Though, many former patients claimed it was quite the tease…" It seemed this woman could talk for what seemed like hours. Ally just kept nodding her head, until they stopped before a half closed door. "We're here. Mr. Moon?" she asked, knocking gently.
There was a silence before a voice said, "Yes?"
"Good morning," she said more cheerily. "It's nice to see you awake. I spoke to your mother before. I'm sure she's told you now that we're pairing many patients with interns who will be working toward medical degrees in the future. I have come to introduce you to yours."
The voice didn't answer for a moment. "Alright. Come on in."
She opened the door and motioned for Ally to follow. Seated in a bed was a blond boy who looked to be about her age with a mop of hair that was quite impressive. From her viewpoint, she couldn't see anything wrong with him. His arm was not even in a sling. He waved with one hand from where he sat on the bed, covered by a thin hospital blanket. Beside him, he had some sort of video game that he was playing.
"Hi, I'm Austin," he stated warmly. He had a bright smile. Maybe he was almost ready to leave and this would be the brightest, fastest experience of her life.
"I'm Ally," she stated back and the nurse beamed like this was some sort of great feat.
"I'll let you two get acquainted," she practically cheered and left the room.
Ally did not move from her spot in the doorway, simply kept her eyes on him. He looked like a typical Miami teenage boy, with a tan and probably a smile that could melt a girl's heart than shred it the next day. He eyed her from the bed, as if he couldn't figure anything out.
"So…" he trailed off.
She raised an eyebrow.
He then laughed, "Are you going to come any closer, I don't bite."
"Why don't you?" she fired off without meaning to, but he only laughed a second time.
Ally didn't understand what was funny.
She stepped forward a few inches and crossed her arms.
"You seem uncomfortable."
She was a bit uncomfortable, as she couldn't figure out why she got paired with this kid, or what kind of surgery he had since he looked perfectly fine. He also seemed to be in pretty good spirits compared to the sad, pathetic looking patients she'd seen downstairs. She chose not to answer his question, instead walked over to one of the windows where indeed, you could see the beach. A part of her yearned for it.
"You like the beach?"
She turned curtly on her heel. "Yes."
He raised an eyebrow this time, "I prefer lakes."
"That's how you'll get mauled by an alligator."
Austin chuckled. "I don't think I would put up much of a fight at this point."
She turned to him fully this time, giving him a quizzical stare. "What does that mean?"
He glanced at her bag, which she dropped at the door when the nurse left. His file was poking out of it. Suddenly, she remembered what the guy from yesterday said. There were some at the facility who were dealing with mental recoveries. Maybe that was his issue. It would sure explain his odd behavior.
He ran a hand through his hair, and then asked, "Did you read my file?"
She froze in place, digging her flip flop onto the ground. "Not yet."
His head bobbed up and down as if he suddenly understood. "I gotcha."
"What?" she practically seethed. "Listen, I'm really not sure what you're coming at, but could you please make a little sense?" She paused; wondering if that was offensive to his recovery. "I mean," she stammered, thinking she probably just screwed herself.
He obviously understood she had no idea what was going on, and wordlessly flipped back the covers on his bed and she stumbled backwards at what she saw. He was missing one leg completely just below the knee and the other one was severely, darkened and bruised. He raised an eyebrow again, as if to say do you understand now? And then smiled.
"That looks disgusting," she said without a second thought.
Austin was clearly taken back but did not appear offended. "Yeah. I know. Thanks."
She shrugged.
"So like, are you working on crutches like Jake, or do you have a leg yet?"
He smirked this time and just shook his head. "You want to be a doctor, right?"
She got defensive at his humorous tone. "Yeah. I do. What's it to you?"
"Did you even read my file?" he repeated, crossing his arms.
She shook her head meekly, feeling like she might've missed something. Taking this as her cue to finally skim through it, she walked over and grabbed the file. The first few sentences were about the amputation. The second leg was severely damaged but they were hopeful that it would recover. Maybe that was why he was in surgery the day before. Then, the color drained from her face and she whirled around as if there should be some sort of clear sign for this kind of thing.
"Paraplegia?" she stammered.
He shrugged his shoulders, "Yep." Then, he rolled his eyes, "In that case, if you wouldn't mind taking that gigantic designer bag off my wheelchair and bring it here, I would love to get the hell out of this bed today." Ally was too shocked to give a proper retort.
"Alright, I'll repeat: I'd like to get out of this hospital bed today, so if you could—"
"I heard you," she snapped, coming back to the present. She walked back over to where she plopped her bag, seeing she'd dropped it on a wheelchair. She instead put her bag on the counter beside it and wheeled it over to him, folding her arms over her chest because of his snarky comments.
He just stared at the chair, then her. His lips folded into each other and then he rolled his eyes. "You're kidding, right?"
Ally was getting annoyed by his attitude more and more. He either needed to start making more sense, or she might punch him. She considered this… would she lose the internship over that? If not, it might be worth it.
He motioned to his lower body with a snarl. "Did your Barbie Doll brain forget that I cannot move my lower limbs?!" She felt herself step back a few inches at his anger. He seemed nice enough when she walked in, but she didn't appreciate any of what he was doing now. "I cannot get into the chair myself."
She immediately went on the defense, "I didn't know that!" she stated. "I don't even know how to help you get into it."
Austin groaned, pushing a button, "God help me if you were ever my doctor."
"Yeah, sorry," she snapped back, "I haven't been to med school yet, so I don't know anything. Whoops, like that's my fault."
He didn't answer her, only waited for the same cheery nurse to come into the room. Austin then put on a fake smile to rival hers and said, "Nurse Wendy, Ally hasn't learned how to transfer someone via a bed to a wheelchair yet. Can you show her how? I told her you would be more than willing to teach her. I didn't want to scare her at all the first day."
The nurse, now known as Nurse Wendy immediately began to apologize. "Oh, Ally! I should've told you that. Here, let me show you the easiest way for us smaller girls to move people who are bigger than us… you see… it's all in how you lift…" she trailed off and Ally watched, still annoyed at how he was acting. His behavior was completely different when the nurse was in the room and that bothered her. Ally didn't like being treated like that. She usually was the one with the upper hand. Was this a challenge?
Finally, Austin was in the chair and according to his own comments, "Relatively comfortable, thank you." The nurse asked if he needed anything else, then Wendy left the room again and Ally resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him like a child.
There was a silence. Ally took the time to look around the room. She didn't know how long he'd been here, but the rooms weren't decorated like some of the others she'd passed along the way. Maybe he really was almost done here and would be going home. She was about to ask him this when she noticed he'd already wheeled himself out of the room and was making his way down the hallway. She threw up her hands and followed after him, calling his name.
He stopped short, to her surprise and Ally managed to now plow into him with seconds to spare. "Where are you going?" she demanded.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Kinda depressing to sit in a room all day," he chided back. "Everyone hangs out in that big room downstairs. I would like to not spend my days a miserable asshole, so if you'd allow me that, I'd be great."
"But!" she called out as he started to wheel forward again. "I'm supposed to be your… your whatever the hell I am!"
He turned the wheel this time, giving her an impassive stare. "So, follow me then and try not to whine like a five-year-old child. There are people here with a real reason to cry."
With that, he was off again and Ally just groaned and followed. He better be gone by the time the island vacation came up. Because if this asshole was the person who stopped her from a tropical beach, she would make sure he never forgot her name.
