The Both Of Us

09- Lucia's

NOTE: I had planned to have their flashbacks in past tense and the present in present tense, but it gets confusing and by mid chapter my grammar's all mixed up. So from now on, everything will be in the past tense.

"Well don't you look ravishing?" Lance peaked through the door giving me a once over.

Standing in front of my mirror, I applied last minute touch ups to my face. A white dress hung on my body, with a V-neck that showed just the right amount of cleavage but still not showing too much, with thin straps holding it up. It hugged my body at the right curves and I chose to pair it with a pair of open black heels. 

"Wear the earrings I got you last Christmas, it would complete your look way better than those pearls." said Lance. "Please tell me you had your robes pressed."

"Of course I did." I responded to him and reached for the small jewellery box at the edge of the table. I pulled out the pair of earrings he had given me last Christmas and put it on after removing the faux pearl earrings. Lance was right, most of the time he was. The earrings really did bring the whole look together.

"I feel like a proud mother hen." He said, wiping away invisible tears on his eyes and placing a hand over his heart. "I remember when you were just starting out college. Now look at you, Doctor Williams."

I smiled at his words. That sounded really good to hear. Doctor Williams.

It's been a few weeks since we got back, and I had gotten the news that I was actually going to graduate on time just as the plane landed. To say I was ecstatic was a complete understatement. I was filled with joy, over the moon. I quickly went back to campus to have everything cleared so that I would actually march down the stage.

Lance had gone with me to get a graduation outfit, no, he dragged me to boutiques to get one. I was fully content on just wearing one of my old ones, but he told me that I was going to walk down that stage as a doctor once, so I better look good. I told him no one will be able to see what I was wearing underneath with the robes on. He still insisted anyways.

Today's my graduation day, and in just a few short hours I would be walking down on that stage in my white dress. I know what I'm explaining sounds like a wedding, but for many of us, the happiness we would feel today and on our wedding day- should the heavens allow it, would just be on the same level. 

"Mommy you look good." Holly walked towards Lance and grabbed my graduation cap, putting it on herself. Quickly, I grab my phone and take a quick shot of it.

"Don't mess it up Holly." Lance picked up the robes from the bed and hung it aside. "You do not want your mom's robes to get all wrinkled."

We left the apartment a few minutes later and set off for my graduation. My fingers had been fidgeting all day and I've just been so excited. I never thought this day would come after years of slaving over textbooks, drinking so much coffee that I was almost certain it had replaced my blood, and getting little to no sleep for days. I've spent the last two years in rotation at the hospital, and I can say I have cried more than I expected.

Once we are seated, me with my colleagues and Lance and Holly with the other happy guests, I took a quick scan on the programme that was handed to us when we arrived. After a few more minutes, the school's dean walked on stage and started giving her speech.

Two minutes in and almost everyone in my entire row had their heads low, and I'm sure most had fallen asleep. I know some of them already started with their residency a week after the end of school when their hospitals requested them to, so it did not come as a shock to me when more than half of graduates were exhausted. We were, we still are constantly tired. It's nothing new.