Lincoln Hospital

Chapter Two

Athena Payne gazed up at the large, formidable looking building that would hold ninety percent of her time for the next several years. Lincoln Hospital was actually two separate buildings joined together by a skywalk built over a main road. The lawns and gardens were immaculate, an obvious triumph of endless hours of work by several talented gardeners. The bright early morning sun glinted off the windows casting a heavenly glow over the hospital. To the naked eye, it looked like a friendly, welcoming establishment. Those in the medical profession knew better. While it could be the place that restored hope when all was lost for some, the walls also held the ghosts of unspeakable grief for many others. An ocean of tears spilled over lost loved ones would forever stain the floors; destined to never be mopped dry.

As a first year surgical intern, Athena was not naive about the types of cases she would be working on. In order to have a shot of holding the elusive scalpel in the OR, there first had to be some sort of tragedy. Especially in cardiothoracic surgery. And that was exactly where she wanted to be. It was the most hardcore of all the specialties, but she didn't care. It was her dream to become a cardiothoracic surgeon and nothing was going to stand in her way.

Glancing down at herself, she smoothed the front of her sensible white dress shirt before running a hand through her thick, dark brown hair. Her Greek heritage on both her mother and father's side gave her skin a year-round tanned glow that brought out the light in her olive green eyes.

First day jitters had her lingering in the parking lot longer than she should have and she was dangerously close to being late. Shifting from foot to foot, she took a deep breath and willed her feet to carry her forward towards the sliding glass doors that splashed the hospital's name across the front in an elegant scrawl. When she still remained rooted in place a few minutes later, she gave herself a mental kick in the ass.

"Athena Payne!" Athena spun at the sound of her name being bellowed across the parking lot. Her best friend and fellow intern, Sabine Adams, was sprinting her way, her coat flapping out behind her and her black as night curls flying every which way as she ran. "Girl, I'm late, so what the hell are you doing standing out here like you're waiting for the ice cream truck to pass by? You best be getting your ass in there and not be considering bolting on me." she burst out as she skidded to a halt beside her and blew out a breath.

"I'm not bolting. This is me...non-bolting. I'm just waiting," Athena replied, eyeing her best friend out of the corner of her eye. She had no doubt that Sabine had literally just rolled out of bed and threw on anything that smelled clean and rushed out the door. Her make-up was a tad smeared, but somehow the look worked on her. Her curly hair was tousled, but could be blamed on the wind. Her stretchy pants and oversize top dwarfed her, but the slouched look suited her. It should have been annoying that Sabine always looked so good with hardly any effort, however it wasn't. It was just one of the endearing qualities Athena loved about her. The only part of Sabine that looked out of place was the tan raincoat style jacket that was now hanging haphazardly off her one shoulder.

"Is that..." she peered closer at her friend. "Is that a man's coat?"

Sabine blushed, completely out of character for her, and tugged on the ends of the belt. "No. Yes. Well, so what? A coat is a coat. Don't change the subject, Athena. We've got to get in there."

Athena decided to let the matter drop for the moment, but promised herself she would get to the bottom of the mystery owner of the obvious men's coat Sabine was wearing. Straightening her spine, she nodded at Sabine that she was ready and the two stepped towards the main entrance. A squeal of tires and a sudden blast of a blaring horn had both jumping back out of the path of a silver sports car that came tearing around the corner. The car narrowly missed flattening their toes by inches and then slid smoothly into a front parking space. In shock, Athena stared transfixed as the owner climbed from the car. Pressing the key fob over his right shoulder, he engaged the locks with a subtle beep beep.