Top 10 - Diversity
Vidhi Patel has spent a large part of her childhood immersed in the world of politics. Now, after graduating from medical school and becoming a pediatrician, she has to make life-changing decisions. Get married and go down the pat...
Packing the lunch up in the insulated bags. I activated the daily news reading and waited to hear the weekly polls come in. But what I heard stopped me in my tracks.
"Your daily news briefing is being interrupted to bring a still-developing story. Democratic front-runner Vidhi Patel, a New Jersey native, has some skeletons yet to be dug up in her closet. An anonymous source has released medical documents that show a hospitalization a few months prior to the candidacy agreement. Though the source has yet to explain how these records were obtained or the reason for the admittance, questions have now been raised by fellow contenders as well as Republican candidates. More information will be released as it is found. Now, back to your daily briefing."
"Google stop," I commanded, my thoughts running a mile faster by the second. Pulling on my coat and heading outside, I rang Vidhi's doorbell, hoping she hadn't already heard the reports. Luckily, she opened the door, dressed in her white coat and office wear. Confusion clouded my face,
"I thought you had hired two doctors to take your place?" Nodding, she explained as I followed her inside,
"Yeah and they've been running the daily operations for a few months now, I'm just going in today to do the final file transfer," pausing and looking up at my face, she inquires, What's wrong? You look like the world is about to end!"
Her laughter filled the early morning air, my heart not willing to dampen her mood. So I blurted out,
"I hope 10 am to midnight is blocked off on December 10. See you at the meeting tonight!" Stepping back out, she went to her car and I watched her drive off, unaware of my freezing state until she turned the corner.
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"Hey, is there a reason I'm getting such weird looks around town and voicemails from high school and college classmates?" Vidhi asked as she stepped into our campaign headquarters office and shrugged off her coat.
Sighing, I gestured to the seat in front of me and I waited for her to situate herself. Once she was settled, I switched on the TV to CNN as it started the nightly news segment with the leaked documents.
As she took in and processed the information, her eyes widened with shock before her face filled with anger and annoyance. Her lips were set in a hard line as she came up with a plan of action. A few minutes passed before she responded,
"Can we set up a press conference and statement release scheduled for tomorrow? I don't want this to drag on more than it already has been." There wasn't an ounce of sadness in her voice and I nodded to her request before asking,
"Hey, what's running through your mind?" Shaking her head, she stood in order to literally run away from the question, but I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back onto the couch before she could get too far.
Placing two gentle fingers under her chin and turning her head towards me, I asked, "I'm asking you-Vi-the goofy late night baker, not Dr. Vidhi Patel or Candidate Vidhi Patel. What are you thinking about?" Sighing heavily, she answered,
"I knew running for the highest office in the nation would mean probing into my life, but somehow leaking hospital records is something I never imagined. It's worrying that whoever did this could go after the personal details of those close to me, like you and my parents."
Pulling her in close, I ran my hand through her hair and reassured her,
"Regardless of the skeletons they unearth, I'm not going anywhere."
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