Forget chasing boys, Leona chases dreams. Big, beautiful, brain-shaped dreams. At 25, she's already a medical marvel, the sole woman vying for a spot in Shanghai's most elite neurosurgery programme.
The problem? The old-school surgeons there think scalpels belong in men's hands, not manicured ones. Dr Li, her instructor, has a bedside manner colder than a scalpel and twice as sharp. Her family? They'd rather see her wield a spatula than a surgical tool.
But Leona's got a wit sharper than her scalpel and a dream that burns brighter than an operating room light. Buckle up for a hilarious, high-stakes journey as she navigates a labyrinth of prejudice, patient scepticism, and a cutthroat hierarchy. Will she convince Dr Li that brilliance has no gender? Can she prove to the entire hospital that a woman's touch is just as steady (and maybe even more precise!) than a man's? Get ready for some serious face-slapping as Leona rewrites the medical history books, one surgery at a time.
Elliot's partner was his whole world, but after Allan's death, his ghost haunts Elliot's dreams. Everyone tells Elliot to move on, but he isn't sure he can.
*****
It's been a year since the love of Elliot's life, Allan, passed away. Everyone thinks he should have recovered after that much time, but Allan still haunts Elliot every night. He struggles to maintain relationships with his family, and despite a coworkers interest he can't summon up the courage to date. Elliot is living for the past, because to live for the present means he'll have to live with a hole in his heart. But the question Elliot has to face chases him through his monotonous days: is mourning Allan with everything he has truly living?
[[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]