Sisters

11.

 STEPHANIE

After a seven-hour duty at the emergency room, I was more than ready to go to bed in my comfortable bed and forget about all my problems and obligations. I drank another coffee from the vending machine again, struggling with the fatigue that overcame me. After the fourth, I stopped counting them.

I looked at the phone hoping that my annoying sister would accept to take me to the apartment, but she claimed to be busy and wanted to teach me another of her life lessons with this again. I was not to blame because my car broke down, and even less because no car mechanic works on Sundays.

What obligations could she have at five in the morning? All of her high-paying patients schedule surgeries after nine, and besides, today is one of her days off. She certainly doesn't sleep, because she always wakes up at exactly half past five and drinks coffee watching the city from our living room.

If Leo didn't have to travel again for work, all this would be much simpler, and it was stupid for me ask Leo to send his driver to pick me up... I depended on Nicole's good will, which she almost never had.

"Doctor, you have a patient," one of the nurses entered the on-call room with a knock.

"I'll be right there," I said, taking one last sip of my coffee and tossing the cup into the trash can in the corner of the room.

On-call duty has always been the worst and most exhaustive part of my residency, because I never knew what might catch me at the reception. I should have simply chosen dermatology like Lacey. She is on duty once every three months, and besides, she tries new cosmetics half the time...

I ran to the reception, where the head nurse referred me to office number four. I got a minor again who caused some of the fights. I really can't understand these new generations trying to solve all their problems by violence.

"Let me go or you will end up like him...!"

I recognized the voice of the boy shouting at the cop. Why wasn't I surprised to see him again?

The mixed smells of alcohol, men's perfume, and tobacco filled the whole room. It was painful to even stay in it, but as a doctor I had to get used to situations like this.

"Mark, why do I see you again?" I sighed seeing his bloody fists and mutilated pretty face.

"Dr. Stephanie..." he stopped grabbing the policeman and smiled slightly at me.

"Can you leave us alone and take those handcuffs off him?" I asked the policeman culturally, hoping he would accept.

I knew this guy because he was my first patient while I was doing an internship, and that was almost two years ago. I have seen him more often than ever since. He got into trouble at least once a week, and even though he introduced himself as a heartless guy, he had a better soul than most people I've met.

"Doctor, I'm afraid you don't realize how dangerous he really is..."

"Don't worry, the two of us know each other very well, he never made a problem for me, so I don't believe he will start now..." I looked at him pleadingly.

"He pulled a knife on the boy because he annoyed him..."

"I better have killed him right away!" Growled Mark who was still tied up and I shot him a look.

"You can be in front. I'll call you if I feel threatened at any moment," I smiled at the young policeman who was hesitant to listen to me.

"But he's dangerous."