Love Me Once Again

Thirty-one

In the end, I did not had dinner with Chris on Sunday. By the time I woke up, it was already noon. I woke up with a nasty headache and had to drag myself out of the bed.

I had a quick brunch, just toast and eggs and milk. Then I decided to head downtown and explore the city a little. That's why I ended up in the downtown until dinner time where I had Five Guys before I returned back to the apartment. I did not run into Chris. His lights were out so I reckoned he was not back yet.

I went to bed on time by ten to prepare for my first day of work the next day. Fortunately I overcame my jet lag and could sleep nicely.

I set the alarm for half past seven, that would give me ample time to get ready and even have breakfast.

The sun was already all bright and sunny when I awoke. Being summer, days were longer than nights. But soon it would be autumn. I would be looking forward to see the autumn of Canada with its red maple leaves.

Jong Woon would love it here.. Hang on, now, where did that came from? He just popped up so randomly. Goodness.. I know he had been busy over the weekend with two concerts in Seoul. And he did mentioned that he would be heading to Hong Kong afterwards, which probably he's already in Hong Kong by now. I was surprised, and maybe somewhat disappointed that I hadn't received any text from him. Not even a hello, like he sometimes would text.

I settled for a quick toast and headed out. My bread was half out, I would need to get a new loaf soon unless there's good breakfast at the hospital.

Nicholas told me that the labs were in the South block but he told me to drop by the cardiology dept first, which was in the North block.

He met up with me at the North block's entrance.

"Good morning!" He greeted me. He was looking very smart today in a casual blazer over a navy blue pants and holding a messenger bag. "All good at your apartment?"

I nodded and thanked him again.

He brought me up to the dept which was on the third level. The dept was led by Senior Prof Dr Mitchell White. He was a robust man in his early fifties, burly and full of vigour. He shook my hand very enthusiastically and welcomed me.

Then I was introduced to the two other senior doctors - Dr Victor Burrell and Dr Tom Corrie. The rest were junior doctors like Nicholas or residents making a total of nine doctors. All of them were very friendly and welcomed me warmly.

Accordingly to Dr White, I would not have to be in the frontline that often. Maybe just a couple of patients, specially for research studies and assist with a few ops. In his words, 'it would be a waste not to have me in surgery'. They only had two surgeons. Not all cardiologists are surgeons. But Nick, as he told me to call him, said that there weren't that many ops to do, thank goodness. It just means people here don't much have heart related problems. That's why the cardiology dept was more of research than practical. Almost all the doctors here were on academics exchange. But I was the only Asian doctor. Nick couldn't be counted though he had Asian heritage and I think he was glad to have me.

To get to the South block, we had to walk through a few corridors. Because he was talking to me, I wasn't paying attention to the directions. But I reckoned I would figure it out eventually.

The South block was much quieter where it housed the labs and the specialists clinics. There were no wards in the South block.

The labs occupied the entire basement.

I was introduced to two other researchers - Sally and Vanessa.

So, every morning I report to this lab with these two lovely ladies. Then every tuesdays and thursdays mornings, I would be helping out with the patients consultations back at the North block. That would be my daily routine. Sounds absolutely heavenly. I might actually have time to go sightseeing.