The Taxi

Two

Lauren awoke to her screeching alarm and a throbbing headache. She groaned and slammed her hand down on the nuisance of a machine and rolled out of her cozy bed, stumbling to her bathroom for some relief for her headache. After popping two aspirin, she dressed casually, knowing she'd have to change for work anyways. She brushed her teeth, applying some light makeup to hide her obvious sleep deprivation that comes from being a surgical resident and tied up her thick black hair in a pony tail. She grabbed her wallet, purse, and keys and slipped out of her apartment and was in the elevator in seconds.

A light smile splayed across her lips as she remembered her encounter with Camila last night. The elevator dinged as it stopped on the second floor, and the doors opened to none other than Camila.

"Well, well, well!" Camila smirked, stepping into the elevator and taking her place next to Lauren. "We love our coincidences don't we?"

Lauren answered her question simply with a bright smile. "Why are you awake so early? It's barely 4:30 am!" She exclaims, checking her watch. "I wanted to cry when I got assigned to early rounds."

"Journalism waits for no man." Camila laughs, as the doors slide open and she steps out, leaving Lauren standing alone and in awe of the girl she had just met. By the time Lauren had collected herself, Camila was already out of the building and nowhere to be seen on the city street, fairly busy despite the hour.

Lauren just shook herself out of the daze the brunette had left her in and set off towards the hospital. Entering the doors, she smiled some nurses she had worked with before and the doctor she was constantly on rotation with before rushing off to the locker rooms to change into her scrubs and more appropriate shoes. She made light conversation with the residents that were called for early rounds. She had become close with after some of them having gone through medical school with her and their first years of their surgical residency.

Lauren was her attending's pet project. She was the youngest in her class, having skipped a year of high school and a year of medical school. She was easily the smartest of her colleagues as well, and among the most dedicated. She had become interested in cardio after losing her first patient due to a cardiac complication. Her attending, Dr. Gina Warner had taken to the young doctor and has molded her into the brilliant surgeon she is today.

"Dr. Jauregui!" a familiar voice called from across the locker room. "Hurry it up, we've got an interesting day."

Lauren sighed and finished readying herself for a day of blood and the border between life and death. She scurried to where Dr. Warner stood waiting, chart in hand.

"We got a new patient last night, and I snatched him up just for us. His name is Marcus Farmer, he's a medical mystery. We've run every test under the sun for this guy, and all of his results are normal. He's a 28 year old male, and perfectly healthy, except for the fact that his heart doesn't work." Dr. Warner explains, showing Lauren the test results that would point to a perfectly healthy individual.

"Family history?" Lauren asks, still looking through the lengthy test results and numerous scans, holding some up to the light to discern any abnormalities lying within the organ.

"He's adopted. He doesn't know anything about his family. That was my first thought too, but it's a dead end. We've got nothing there." Dr. Warner sighs. She was the best of the best and if she couldn't find anything, no one could. "We have a photojournalist coming in today too and we're stuck with showing them around trauma. Something for National Geographic."

Lauren's heart fluttered at the mention of the words she now associated with the mysterious brunette from the taxi. It couldn't be her, right? Then again, Camila and Lauren had a knack for coincidences.