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Chapter One

Whitney

If there were anything that I was sure of before the night of the Central General Hospital Christraduated froe, and anization possible

My colleagues loved me I was always the first doctor to arrive at the hospital in theand the last one to leave I alanted to be the best That was soeon and I was proud to be her daughter She was so good that I chose Internal Medicine instead of Surgery because I didn’t want to stand in her shadow As a physician who treated patients for just about every illness and injury under the sun, I could hold est doctor in the practice

At the age of twenty-nine, I wasa nae as a doctor were just as good as the older doctors’ because all of e was up to date I knew about all of the newest procedures and breakthroughs in y fro else I knew ca books and journals When it came to my job, there was always room for improvement

So, when it was time for the Christmas party, I was ready to relax a little bit Fore for conversation about our personal lives Here, I would mostly listen to others talk about their spouses and kids Sinceup on new research, I didn’t have much of a social life

After the party, there was an after party that a lot of the younger eot notoriously wild every year, and that just wasn’t my style I liked to dress up and sip cocktails withbehind in undergrad Actually, I hardly participated in that at all

Somehow, one of the doctors as only a few years older than ood tiht The combination of the drinks and their social pressure o for a little bit, have one drink, and then call a cab and call it a night Besides, I had to get up early for rounds the next day so I couldn’t stay for too long

The after party was being hosted by some nurses who shared a house My friend Maria knew the despite my protestations

Maria worked in the lab at the hospital She was brilliant, so I was glad she didn’t see patients like I did I was competitive with others in my field, so I could appreciate her expertise as someone who made my job a lot easier We started at the hospital around the same time and decided to share a little townhouse, as we both felt uneasy living in houses of our own

We were both very serious about our professions, but that’s where the si and loved to be the center of attention I was more reserved and cautious Guys loved her and she went on tons of dates Every now and again, I would get asked out, but I always had soo I knew that it annoyed Maria that I was always such a stick in the h to get me off the hook for the next five or so I felt much more at home at a cocktail hour for a medical conference than I did at a house party at one in the

It always surprised me to find out that the people I worked with every day were such party animals At the hospital, everyone was all business, all the ti nurses taking shots at the kitchen table It was strange, to say the least

“Let’s get a drink,” Maria said, pulling rabbed a bottle of wine and poured two plastic cups to the brim

“That’s like three drinks,” I pointed out, but she didn’t see to be a wet blanket, I said nothing uilty that I was drinking the wine of people who made far less than I did Unless someone offered me a drink, I would just finish my cup and leave

“So,” Maria said, pulling uy you’d want to kiss at this party, ould it be?”

“I don’t like where this is going,” I groaned, to her delight

“I’o for Michael, the cute receptionist”