ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪ: ᴀ ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴅᴀʏ's ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪ

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"... omniscience about life and death is not within a physician's purview. A doctor should never write off a person a priori."

Jerome Groopman, MD,

The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness

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"Hello, Dr. Bailey," a young Asian woman greeted the older resident as they met at the nurse's station near the intern's locker room. She discreetly rubbed her belly before going over the notes for the surgery she was scrubbing in on with Dr. Herman up in Fetal Surgery.

"Dr. Chen," the shorter black woman greeted back one of the only residents she could stand in this hospital. "How did I get the unfortunate task of babysitting whiny little interns while you are scotch-free?"

"You'll have to ask the Chief that," Julie Chen smirked at the grumbling woman, knowing she'd not get the answer she'd like from her mentor.

"Oh, I know you used those two little rascals you have for kids to get out of it," the older woman scoffed as she glared at the amused younger woman. "Don't even bother to deny that. But I will make sure you get your own interns next year."

"Uh-huh," Julie rolled her eyes fondly as a group of interns came toward them with a perky blonde holding her hand out to Bailey.

"Hi, I'm Isobel Stevens, but everyone calls me 'Izzie,'" the girl smiled at the resident, making Julie feel bad for her as Bailey just looked from the blonde to her hand before looking at the other interns including an Asian woman and a dirty blonde female, and a brunette young man that reminded both of the residents of a little puppy.

"I have five rules. Memorize them," Miranda Bailey told them with a bit of attitude. "Rule Number One – Don't bother sucking up. I already hate you. That's not gonna change." She gestured to the stuff on the counter next to her, "Trauma Protocol, phone list, pagers – Nurses will page you. You will answer every page at a run — a run – That's Rule Number Two." She gestured to the woman next to her, "This is Dr. Chen, a second-year resident. If I'm not available, she'll be able to help you long enough to make sure you don't kill anyone."

She started walking away from her friend as the interns quickly gathered their gear before following, going across the crosswalk above the lobby. "Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You're interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop, and don't complain."

Having made it across the room, Bailey opened one of the doors, leading to a room of bunk beds. "On-call rooms – Attendings hog them. Sleep when you can where you can, which brings me to Rule Number Three. If I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is actually dying. Rule Number Four – The dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, you would have woke me for no good reason. We clear?" The dirty blonde female hesitantly raised her hand, making Bailey ask, "Yes?"

"You said five rules," the intern stated. "That was only four."

Bailey's pager started beeping and she looked at it before continuing as she moved past them, "Rule Number Five – When I move, you move." The resident started to jog down the hallways as her interns tried to keep up, ordering a few other interns, "Get out of my way!"

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Scrubbing out of the surgery a few hours later, Julie hurried to the ladies' room to empty her stomach as nausea overcame her. Clutching her belly, she breathed through her mouth as it passed, breathing a sigh of relief. Quickly flushing the toilet, she rinsed her mouth off in the sink before taking a deep breath. Splashing some water onto her face, she wiped the cool liquid off before leaving the room and bumped into someone as she came out.

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