A Billion Flowers

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Maia Lynn Anderson! Wake up!" A loud, irritated voice pounded on the door of my bedroom.

Thrashing around my bed, I groaned and sat up. My eyes squinted at the source of noise. Unwillingly, I stood and walked towards the door, opening it and my friend, Riley, looked as angry as ever. Personally, I was annoyed too. It was early in the morning.

"Do you know what time it is? It's 4am! Your shift starts in like an hour?" Riley is your average model student friend. Maintaining straight A's in all her life, I guess you could say she is a nerd. I mean, she is a doctor. Yet again, her physical appearance made it seem she is not. Riley had pallid complexion, a very feminine chin and her eyes were exuberant blue. She stood tall at 5'10 with a healthy body since she goes for yoga classes every now and then.

"Okay okay, I'll take taxi, okay?" I tried to calm her down.

"Besides, no one really notices it when I am late!" I added.

"Hey, just because your friend is a board member, you should not slack around! You're a doctor for goodness sake, Maia." She got more irritated.

"Okay, fine. You win. I'll be ready in a minute," She tried to add more nagging but I slammed the door close before she could utter another word.

Yes, I am a doctor. I graduated in Walton Hills University, one of the top universities in the country, with a Medical degree specializing in Cardiovascular. At the age of 26, I am still single, I had one or two flings but it was never serious.. or it was because they were jerks. My friend, Riley and I moved in together in a suburban home which was conveniently located at the center of the city. It was a half an hour ride to work, so not that far yet not too close to work. I rummaged through my closet, deciding on which outfit I should wear for a very early morning shift.

Draping the heavy white coat around my shoulders, I tiptoed to my office. Being new to the hospital, I had to share with another newbie doctor. Opening the tall gray door, I peeked inside.

"I see you are late, again, Dr. Anderson," A deep voice startled me.

Smiling sheepishly, I turned around to look up to the familiar brown eyes that I grew up with.

"Hey, Mr Walker!" I chirped, though I gulped nervously.

"How many times do I have to tell you don't call me that? I am not my father, Maia," He pointed out. I sighed.

"You're literally my boss, Mr Walker. I don't want anyone to think of anything," I said, looking down.

"Listen, you're my friend and a great doctor. You maintained straight A's in university! No doubt this hospital would find you qualified," He reassured me. He grabbed a hold of my shoulders and leaned down until our eyes were of the same level.

"Besides, you're ugly. Of course they'd think I hired you for your skills," With that, I slapped his arms.

"You jerk! I knew it!" He laughed, loudly.

His black hair was sleeked to the side just like a business man. Charles Robert Walker is the only child of Mr Keith Walker and Mrs Clara Walker. They owned Walker Group, which controlled Walker Medical Centre, Serenity Hotels & Resorts all over the world and invested on other businesses like winery and farms. When Charles turned 25, his parents officially gave him the company, making him millions of dollars worth. Being the CEO of a multi-millionaire business did not change him  single bit, sure his hair got neater but he is still childish.

His laughter died down and he wiped his tears.
After a few seconds, he turned serious again as he looked behind me.

"Mr Walker, good morning." A high-pitched voice spoke behind me.

Behind me was my office mate, Dr Anna Garcia. She clutched tightly onto her white coat and bowed. She was late, too. That is weird, she is never late. Her brown hair was tied loosely into a bun on top of her head. Her paleness tells me she's either sick or just really scared of Charles now.

"You're late?" Charles said. His face now looks completely the opposite of what it was when he caught me being late.

"I'm sorry, sir. I slept through 3 alarm clocks. It won't happen again," Her voice shook as she looked down while her hands were clasped together.

"Do you need a louder alarm clock? I will gladly provide you more than 3. I do not want to see this again. Understood?" His voice even got deeper as he glared at her. Anna nodded profusely and looked at anything but Charles.

Charles looked at me and walked away with his hands in the pockets of his black neatly ironed pants. While he left, silence engulfed the hallway.

"Anna, what happened?" I asked, carefully. I'm scared she is still fragile over the incident.

"I'm okay. It's just I stayed up last night watching movies!" She regretted her words once they left her mouth as she slapped her hand on top of her lips.

I chuckled. "It's okay to have once in a while relaxation. I'm glad you could watch a movie with a busy schedule," I said as we both walked into our office.

Our office was medium sized. 2 desks facing each other on opposite walls. A comfortable double deck bed at the other wall near a tall window. The wall was painted white and the floor was marbled.

I slumped down on my chair. "I have a 12 hour shift, again! It's been a week!" I complained.

"Unlucky you! I've had 10 hours this whole week," She bragged as she opened the refrigerator to grab an apple.

"I know you're his best friend and all but why is Mr Walker way nicer to you than to the others?"

"I don't know? Besides, he isn't really nicer to me. He's more annoying," I claimed.

"Ahhh... Right. You like him?" She suddenly asked.

"Uh.. No?" I said, confused.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Anna. Can we stop with this topic?" I said.

"Fine, fine. Anyways! Do you like Elliot?"

"No, Anna. I do not like guys," I stated.

"Oh.. You could've told me sooner. I'm sorry."

"That's not what I meant, Anna!"

"I understand, you're in the denial stage. It's okay! I know this one young ---"

"Anna! Let's go to our shifts!" I stood up and grabbed my white coat that was on my chair behind me.

"But Elliot's not here yet," She said.

With that, someone knocked and entered.

"Hey guys! Let's go!"

"Elliot! Finally, we were just talking about you," Anna said, happily.

Elliot certainly changed a lot. He matured more, he ditched all his playing cards, loose jeans, glasses and computer games. Elliot graduated with me though he specializes in neurology. He stood tall at 6 foot, brown hair that was neatly trimmed. His smile charms all the ladies, his jaws were not prominently defined but it was defined enough that ladies go crazy. He was the no.1 crush of all the nurses in the hospital.

"Come on, Maia. Let's go for emergency room rounds,"