Shadows | A Forever Fan-Fiction - Sequel to Lights

Chapter Twelve: Tar Pudding

"This one looks nice," Jo said as we surveyed the airy apartment. Part of me ached for the apartment I had shared with my father before he had been killed, the other part just wanted to stay with Jo in her condo. But that wouldn't be fair to her. I had to get out of the nest sometime, and now was just as good a day as any other.

"Yeah," I muttered. "Hey, it has a window!"

"Yep," Jo said. "It has a window. And it's right across the road from the hospital."

"I can't afford this place, though. I just wanted to check it out," I admitted. "It seems okay."

"You would ask that nice girl you mentioned - what was her name... Oh, Eliza! You could ask her to be your roommate!" Jo chirped.

"I don't think she would want to," I sighed. "Okay. I have to go, or I will be late for my appointment with that awful therapist. I can't wait to be cleared for surgery!" I practically bounced away, leaving Jo to examine the apartment further. I crossed the road, disappointment scarring my insides as I recalled that Duvall was my new boss.

I changed into scrubs and fast-walked up the stairs and to the main surgical wing, where Rayes was beginning rounds.i strode past the crowd of interns and residents and into the conference room, where a gaudy-looking woman wearing hot pink pink and white pearls peered up at me from behind a pair of silvery glasses.

"Doctor LaVaughn, I presume?" she asked. She had a voice that trilled every word and rolled every 'r.'

"Um," I said. "Yeah. That's me."

"Sit, sit, dear," she sang, and I sat across from her. "I'm Julianna Trenton, the trauma therapist at this hospital."

"So," I coughed.

"Yes, dear. Please begin from the beginning," Trenton hummed.

I didn't say a word.

It went on like this for some time, until I told her the same story I had given to the police. She made notes on a pad of paper and frowned at me, her brown eyes watching me curiously.

"I'm clearing you," she said at last. I grinned and stood to leave, but she continued. "Only if you decide to accept my offer."

"What offer?" I whined. "Let me get into an operating room already."

"You need to have a therapy session once a week," Trenton deadpanned.

"What?!" I shrieked. She glared at me. "Fine! For how long?"

"Until I say," she sighed. "So, do you agree?"

"Yes, yes. Can I go already?"

"Fine, go cut something." She rolled her eyes, her cheery attitude making me sick as I floundered away and checked the surgery board. I was on the service of the trauma chief, Rory Nicholson. Since Duvall had become the head of surgery, this was probably the new head of trauma.

I glanced left, and I glanced right. There was not a single surgeon in sight. A couple of people from dermatology, a bunch of med students scoping out potential hospitals, but no one useful. Finally, Sujai came around the corner and collected test results from one of the interns.

"Hey, do you know where I can find Nicholson?" I demanded.

"How should I know?" he snorted. "Probably in the ER." He flew past me, the labs fluttering in his hands. Filled with incertitude, I stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the ER. After a few seconds, the elevator doors slid open, and Duvall stepped inside. I hid in the corner of the elevator, trying to remain unseen, afraid that if he said anything to me, I would say something stupid.

Unfortunately, he did see me.

"LaVaughn," he greeted frostily.

"Chief," I replied faintly.

"You sound like a mouse," he snapped.

"Yeah," I agreed, not really sure what I was saying, just wanting to appease Duvall. "I do."

"And you're acting like one, too."

"Yes."

There was a harsh silence. I coughed into my fist when the elevator dinged and I stepped into the ER.

"Do you know where I can find the chief of trauma?" I asked a nurse politely. She pointed towards the glass doors that led to the ambulance docks. I stepped outside, where a dude I had never seen before stood outside in the cold morning air, rubbing his hands together. A strong wind ripped through the air, and I clasped my arms over my chest in a poor attempt to shield myself from the cold.

"Are you Doctor Nicholson?" I called. He glanced back at me and nodded mutely. I strode over to him and extended a hand. "Lights LaVaughn, resident. I'm on your service today." He glanced at me for a moment before shaking my hand. He didn't say anything.

Moments later, an ambulance roared in, and the paramedics rushed out into the dull thrum of a spring morning.

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