Call the Doctor Very Quick!

“You look really good!” Carmen greeted me as I took the seat beside her. I beamed. My early morning struggle with gel liner paid off. Carmen was a sweet girl and a close friend. She was full-figured, good-natured, smart, and cute. She worked before pursuing medical school, unlike me and Anne who went straight after college graduation, so she is a couple years older than us. She also has a steady boyfriend, Shane, whom she met back when she was still working, and they are simply adorable together.

“Oh I know exactly why,” Anne teased, briefly looking up from her smartphone, an earbud fixed on one ear. I looked over to her screen and saw a video of a Richard Armitage interview playing.

“And here I thought you were studying how to do some suturing!” I laughed, shaking my head as I feigned a motherly kind of disappointment.

“I can learn that later. For now, I need my Richard Armitage dose,” she responded before shushing me.

I was too excited for afternoon to finally come after that. I could not wait to see Dr. Anderson again because I rarely got to see him at the hospital whenever I was passing through. Sure enough, when the Surgery Department secretary walked in, my seat could not contain my excitement. However, the secretary did not arrive to put on the lecture on the computer (which is the usual signal for the whole class to settle down). She walked towards the podium and reached for the microphone instead. “Dr. Anderson can’t come in today. He says he’ll instead compress his two lectures in a meeting next week. You’re dismissed.”

That was disappointing. I came prepared! But oh well, at least there’s something nice to look forward to next week, which is otherwise known as “hell week” because it was the week before exams and it was typically the time when every subject decided they’d need more papers to be submitted and the students didn’t need the supposedly vacant time for studying.

I begrudgingly marched out of the lecture hall and waited for the elevator with my friends. We were a close knit group, and we were not all girls, actually, although I was obviously more attached to the girls in my group. There were eight of us, four girls (me, Anne, Carmen, and Olive) and four guys (Tommy, Jack, Lee, and Chris). Our group was loud whenever we went out, and every lunch or dinner out with my friends was always a lot of fun.

We were the last ones left on our floor then, so the elevator had enough room to accommodate the entire group. The guys were teasing me about my makeup and were jokingly comforting me about the disappointing not-encounter with Dr. Anderson, and I was feigning some disabling disappointment to get along with the jokes. Everybody in the group knew about my not-so-little crush on Dr. Anderson.

Amidst the loud banter, I saw the elevator screen flash a number seven and maintain the display as I felt the elevator stop. I was hoping I wouldn’t run into Luke then because I haven’t told any of my friends about him yet, and well, they’re like kids when it comes to new people. Essentially, my friends would obnoxiously tease anyone of us if they met someone’s acquaintance that they didn’t know and was of the opposite gender. It was amusing, really. If the target was not on you.

The doors opened to reveal no one. As a matter of common courtesy, Tommy (the “leader”/father figure of the group, technically because he was one of the oldies, but also because of his personality) called “going down” at the seemingly empty floor lobby. I was relieved to hear no one answer and to watch the doors close again.

“Sorry!” I heard someone say out loud as I saw a hand slide between the doors to have them open again. It was Luke. Well, at least the day is not going to end on a “sad note”.