A small breath escaped Laura's lips as she walked through the main door of the Royal London Hospital. She had graduated from Harvard University's graduate program this past spring, and she was officially beginning her first professional job. She had been dreaming of being a doctor since she was little; doctor appointments were always her favorite places to go.
Strange? Maybe to most, but to her they were everything. She got to study how doctors worked and how she would work in the future. Yet, she had not ended up as a pediatric doctor, a dermatologist, or a chiropractor. She ended up in a hospital, of all places, as an Emergency Room doctor. Prior to entering college, Laura had only stepped into a hospital twice; well, the first time she was pushed into the hospital, if you know what I mean.
She was born a little over one month before her due date and was kept in the Intensive Care Unit for a couple of days after being born. She ended up being alright, but she had nightmares to this day that her future children may be born as early as she was or earlier.
The second time she had been in a hospital was when she tore her ACL and surgery was required. That, up to this point, had been the only surgery she had ever received. How had she injured it? Before tearing her ACL, she had been a stellar football player for her high school. During a match, she went to step forward and something had snapped... which had turned out to be her ACL. After receiving successful surgery, she never stepped on a football pitch again. It reminded her of bad times.
"Can I help you miss?" An English-accented voice broke Laura out of her thoughts.
"Oh, yes. My name is Laura Covington, and I begin my training today," she explained quickly. The receptionist stared her up and down before moving to look at something on her computer.
"It appears you'll be shadowing Dr. Adam Lallana for the next few weeks," the ginger-haired woman states, scoffing to herself. How did a newbie manage to have the privilege of spending more time with that specific doctor than she had in the past two years? Oh, right. Nicole was just a receptionist.
"Which way do I head?"
Nicole let out a loud sigh of disgust. "I hate my job so much. It's so hard," and with a mumble, "newbies are so needy."
"No offense, but you hardly have anything to complain about. You sit behind a desk and answer phones, occasionally filling out paperwork. Try being a doctor. We never know what we're going to see, what we're going to hear, or what we're going to have to do. Your job is a cakewalk compared to mine."
"It's your first day, and the minute I tell my superior what you've just said to me, I swear you'll be-."
"Hey, hey. Let's breathe easy here." Laura stepped back from the desk as a male doctor approached. The tall, dark brown-haired man wore a small smile. On his body were a pair of black scrubs underneath a white doctor's coat.
"I'm not sure she was done insulting me," Nicole replied, sitting back down in her chair. Laura had definitely made her angry because she had stood up, ready to defend herself. The doctor rolled his eyes before chuckling to himself.
"My name is Adam Lallana." He stuck out his hand to meet Laura's.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Laura, Laura Covington," she responded, unsure of whether to smile or not.
"Ah, my shadow for the next few weeks. It's a pleasure to meet you," Adam said. His perfect, white smile grew as they made eye contact. "We can head up to the ER floor, since that's where I work and where you will work."
She followed him to the elevators and knew her big adventure was just up a few floors. As soon as they got off the elevator, they were met with a man in a dark blue suit... a professional suit.
"This is perfect. Laura, this is the boss over all of us,
John Carpenter," Adam introduced the two and watched as they shook hands. He could tell Laura was a little nervous about everything going on.
"The Harvard graduate?" John asked as he became more intrigued with the shorter woman in front of him.
"Yes, sir. I could not imagine a better school to attend," Laura said, trying her best not to fumble her speech.
"It was nice meeting you, and I'm thrilled to have you joining our team," John said, dismissing himself.
"Are you normally this nervous?" Adam asked, glancing at Laura. He chuckled as soon as he could sense she groaned internally.
"No, not usually. This is probably the biggest day of my life." Laura looked back at him, a smile finding its way to her face.
"Bigger than the day you got accepted into Harvard?" Adam spoke. "I would've thought today is the most boring day compared to that."
"Did Harvard reject you?"
"No, no. I did not even apply. I stayed in England for schooling," he responded. "There is one quick thing that John didn't mention, usually he does. This hospital has a very strict 'no dating' policy."
"Um, I guess that's good to know," Laura said. Her tone had come off very confused making Adam stifle a laugh.
"There's a quote out there somewhere that says you're best compatible with your coworkers," he answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"Another funny part about that- two doctors together? They'd never see each other, and their whole relationship would revolve around work."
"I'm glad someone sees it my way." Adam smiled genuinely at her. He was looking forward to training her closely the next few weeks, months even.
