A Weekend with Dr. Ramsey

The Library

As the afternoon sun lazily drifted through Charlotte Greene's windows, it framed the world in a golden daze. The calming of Charlie's anxiety was more than a lull of a storm, it was a rallying cry. The ethics hearing was her chance to prove something Charlie allowed herself to forget in the whirlwind of scandal and betrayal – she was a good doctor. She didn't join Edenbrook's staff for prestige and ego. She joined to become a competent doctor and deliver the best care for her patients. Her patients deserved a doctor that would fight for them, and Charlie damn well deserved to fight for herself, too.

It was as if this revelation electrified the world around her. Boston was energized with a new sense of optimism that made Charlie feel like she could take on the world, not just Declan Nash and Big Pharma. The birds chirped with a new sense of approval, and her upcoming fight uphill no longer felt like a death march.

Brunch may have invigorated Charlie, but hours of alcohol and carbs lulled everyone else to sleep. At least four people were asleep back in her apartment, including Elijah, Sienna, and Kyra, as they slept off their food-comas. The fourth was a very drunk Bryce passed out on the sofa after one too many celebratory toasts to Charlie's weekend escapades. Jackie, the only remaining occupant to resist a nap, relied on her inherent badassery to stay energized to research for Charlie's ethics hearing.

Armed with copious amounts of caffeine and her trusty library card, Charlie easily crept out of her apartment without waking a soul and even made it to the subway station in time to take the next train. Already cueing up a new Raleigh Carrera album for her study session, Charlie caught a glimpse at the time.

1:02 pm.

Enough time to research at the library and still swing by Ethan's apartment.

Ethan Ramsey. She's going to see Ethan Ramsey.

The thought alone was jarring, and the name now formed a complex image in her mind. He was the man who spent a year pushing her away, the mentor who challenged her, and the man whose kiss still marked her skin.

By now, it should have felt real, yet the two nights in his apartment still felt like a world of its own, one where dreams shattered reality. Instinctively, her optimism was limited by a healthy dose of skepticism, but it was becoming increasingly hard to contain. Despite her best efforts, Charlie couldn't shed the rose-tinted glasses now shading her world in hues of excitement and hope. Charlie was dangerously close to falling over the edge into something she'd always considered an abyss, but now at the edge, it seemed like a paradise.

The enigmatic man consumed her thoughts for the rest of her commute to the library, rendering her a smiling fool as she strolled through the bookshelves. Collecting every book she could find on medical malpractice and ethics, Charlie had amassed a significant pile by the time she settled at a long desk in a more secluded part of the library. Already deep into Raleigh Carrera's album, Charlie had worked up quite a beat and was already slipping into a state of academic focus.

For a moment, everything was perfect – she had supportive friends, a future with Ethan Ramsey, and a chance at redemption.

And then it all went to hell.

Weeks later, Charlie would recognize this as the moment where everything changed. She would find humor in how naïve she'd been on that sunny afternoon, unaware that a world-altering event would rewrite her future.

But now, Charlie wouldn't know that.

Now, Charlie knew just one thing – that she was looking at Landry Olsen and that she wanted to punch him.

The sight of her former friend knocked the air out of her chest, and Charlie nearly stumbled back out of pure shock. Only a few days ago, the man in front of her had been a trusted confidant and daily companion, but his presence no longer brought the reassuring familiarity of friendship. After confessing to his betrayal, Landry at least had the decency to retreat to the shadows of Charlie's life, vacating their apartment and straying from their daily rituals to avoid an encounter. Over the weekend, he'd morphed into a villainous monster hiding in the dark alleys of Charlie's mind. He morphed the face of treachery and disloyalty, so much so that Charlie nearly forgot that he was more than just a monster in her bad dreams.