A/N: this is a stand in origin story, something i wrote before i smashed together the prequel! not actually the origin story for reals, lol. look out for the prequel coming soon for the whole deal!
TC—Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Fall, 2006
Stupid textbook reading sections. I'd rather be doing real work than staring at pages all day long.
The huge expanse of volumes that are the med shelves of the library loom over me. I walk through the various subsections, my mind swimming. How will I find Poston, Amy, A Study of the Cardiac Functions, among all these books?
I hear a book slam in frustration from the study tables, a sound that was heard often at Johns Hopkins. I'm not surprised if it's a day to day thing here, too. I just got to campus and it already feels like I'm living in a pressure cooker.
Either way, the urge to help overwhelms me. Maybe I can lead this person out of their confusion. Or not. We'll see. I peek out from behind the shelves.
There sits a young woman, definitely a first-year like me. She sits at a table alone, poring over a file chock full of papers, a shut textbook beside her, her back to me. A white coat, that of a student, is slung across her chair.
Keep your cool. I walk up to her tentatively. "Uh—hi—um...what's your name?"
She grabs her plastic travel coffee mug, probably poised to splash it in my face. Her muscles relax when she sees I'm not an ax murderer.
"Oh. TC Callahan." She pushes her black-framed Ray-Ban glasses up on her nose. She's cute, in a smart kind of way. "What's in my name for you?" Her voice has this warm lilt to it, an accent.
"Were you—did you need help?" I'm transfixed by her. Her eyes glint through the clear glass over them.
"Grace," she says. "That's my name. And as for the help..."
Grace tucks a strand of straight, brown-ink-red colored hair behind her ear. She turns a little. A diamond stud shines in her nose. "Mystery case assignment. My whole class is after it. Arienne, Jordan, Connor, probably you. We need a diagnosis by tomorrow."
Stop focusing on how hot she is, dude! Help her! First step to winning over women much?
"Okay, um, let's take a look." I pull up a chair next to Grace.
She scooches to accommodate me. Then she continues. "It's this. You probably already know, but here's the info. Scans are clean, CT is clean. The throat culture shows something. Patient has rashes, too," Grace explains, peering at her case folder.
"Could be some sort of infection or virus. Let's start from there and make our way down," I suggest. "Maybe we can work together on this one."
Grace nods her approval, smiling at me. It's a perfect grin. Her cheeks are pink with excitement. "Good idea. Two heads are better than one, right? Wait. Virus? Infection? That's it, Callahan! You got it! That could be the solution to everything! You're a genius. Where did you study before this?"
"Georgetown," I respond. I'm grinning, too. "Top of the class."
"Well, that was obvious. You have to be pretty smart to get it good there," Grace says to me. "Anyways. Let's get started! Shall we take that lead of yours?"
You wouldn't believe where that lead took us. And I'm not talking about the mystery case.
YOU ARE READING
One Life ✓
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