A view of the psychiatric ward appears out of nowhere. I'm in a rush to get to a patient but I don't know why. When I turn the corner, soon papers are flying and I am falling for what feels like forever. An arm wraps around my waist and I'm caught. I look up but the light covers the face of the person who catches me. "Are you okay?" The voice of what sounds like a god. I try to speak when.....
Safi wakes up to one of her cats, Peaches, sleeping on her back. Safi sighs, she never gets to finish her dream and see the man's face. She's been having this dream on and off for the past two months with not a clue of why. She tries to slide Peaches off her back softly and get up for the day. She needs to be at the hospital by 7:30AM and it was already 5:45AM.
Safiya begins her usual morning routine; fixes her coily hair into a high puff, does her daily hygiene things and proceeds to fleek the brows. She dances into her closet to pick out the scrubs she was going to wear that day. Of course, she only had the choice between green or blue scrubs but nonetheless she tried to make the process of picking fun.
Safi went with the blue scrubs and grabbed her sneakers. She dashes to the kitchen, grabs her bag and wallet, and runs out to the door to her usual Starbucks after filling the cats' bowls of food.
Yes, Safi likes Starbucks. She was not like the other typical Northeasterners who were in love with Dunkin Donuts coffee.
As she briskly walks to the store, she orders ahead so she can grab and go. Her usual drink? A venti iced caramel macchiato with two pumps of caramel and two pumps of raspberry, keep the vanilla. It's super sweet but when you're up at the ass crack of dawn for a 12 hour shift, sugar and caffeine are a necessity.
She reaches the Starbucks and stands at the counter for all of five seconds before her drink comes out. Safi waves to her favorite barista and jogs out of the door. She jumps on the bus and pops on her headphones and zones out to music.
Today she is beginning her pediatric clinical at the Boston Children's Hospital, the hospital she is hoping to do her residency. An excitement rose up in her, Safi loves kids and pediatrics is the field she wants to go into.
She's dreamt about becoming a pediatrician since she was in the fifth grade. Though that dream evolved into wanting to do pediatric neurology. Now, she is closer to her dream more than ever being in her fourth year of medical school this semester. Soon she will be Safiya Simba, MD.
"Dr. Simba, you have a patient in exam room 3. That's what I'll be told when I work at a practice." Safiya continued to daydream as the bus came to a stop in front of the hospital.
She hops off the bus, sipping her coffee and walks through the front doors. Immediately the hustle and bustle of the hospital erupts in her ears. She takes a deep breath and makes her way the pediatric department to sign in and begin her rounds.
YOU ARE READING
The Anatomy of You
RomanceBeing a black woman in the medical field can be a harsh world sometimes. You've got all the odds against you being black and being a woman, entering a field where there's not many others that look like you. Safiya (or Safi for short) is a young Ken...
