Invisible String

Chapter 2: The Very First Page

It was Elizabeth's turn to sigh. She didn't get scolded, but she certainly seemed to have annoyed her even more. But one thing that she had learned very soon into her academic journey, was to be confident in her decisions.

She approached the nurses' station and approached a dark haired girl that was typing something into the computers.

"Hey, it's Camilla, right?" she tried to remember when she was introduced to the nurses on that floor a few days ago, and smiled when the woman confirmed that she had got it right. "Great. Do you think you can page Mr. Beckett from room 163 his surgeon to do a quick eval? And page me when they come?"

"Sure."

"Great, thank you." She smiled at the nurse. Then, she mumbled, more to herself than to anyone. "I'm not about to be the idiot who got someone sicker on her first day."

🦷

"You rest some, Mrs. Feldman. I will be checking on you later, okay?" She tried to smile in a reassuring way. Taking her gloves out and throwing them into the trash, Elizabeth left the patient's room. She looked at her watch and saw that it was past 4 p.m.

"Should I go eat something or should I go update some more charts?" she whispered to herself. "I could take the charts with me down to the cafeteria." That seemed like a nice enough idea for her, so she grabbed the tablet and prepared to make her trip to get the most gigantic cup of iced coffee she could when a woman walked up to her. She was dressed in a very stylish two-piece, her hair styled into short twists. It took her a second to realize the woman was going in her direction.

"Dr. Halstead, hello. I'm Mrs. Goodwin, director of patient and medical services here at Med. I thought I would come to personally see how you're doing on your first day. It was a surprise to see your name among the applicants to our program."

She wondered what her so-called surprise meant. Elizabeth already knew that around there no one seemed to know that Will and Jay had a younger sister, but she debated with herself if Mrs. Goodwin was trying to say something else. Maybe they thought that she hoped to have leverage with her brother already working here.

Which was not the case, obviously. She was just being practical. Med had one of the best residency programs in the country.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Goodwin."

"Dr. Bautista and your teacher, Dr. Reid of the Missouri Dental School spoke very highly of you, Dr. Halstead. We were very impressed." Mrs. Goodwin mentioned the reference letters Elizabeth had sent with her application. She would be forever grateful for Dr. Bautista, her boss at the clinic she worked on and a brilliant woman, and even more brilliant endodontist, someone who specializes in root canal treatments. She was the one who pushed Elizabeth into pursuing this residency when she was doubting herself.

"They really inspired me into the professional I am today. I'm very happy to be working here."

"I'm sure that you are going to be a great addition to our staff. If you need anything, just let me know."

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Goodwin. Will spoke so much about you. Only good things."

Goodwin chuckled. "Oh, I doubt that." She paused. "I'll leave you to your business now." She recollected everytime Will told her about getting in trouble with the administration, but she wasn't lying about Will's admiration for Goodwin.

Her quest for a meal, even a crappy one, got interrupted again shortly after Goodwin had left. Dr. Rhodes appeared, looking around as if he was looking for someone. Then, his eyes landed on her.

"Dr. Halstead, hey. The nurses said you wanted me to check on a patient."

Elizabeth blinked twice, trying to remember when she had paged Rhodes.