I Should've Known: Book Two

Hazel

I smile to myself in the mirror we have by the front door. I got new scrubs last week. A burgundy color and light blue ones.

Adam left a few hours ago, but I'm too excited to be bothered about him forgetting that he would wake me up so we can eat breakfast together.

God. If only Madds could see this. If only Madds were working with me.

But she has a baby now. A beautiful baby. He's so adorable and it's so lovely whenever he jumps at my arrival. He has Madds' smile and her eyes, but he got Mateo's hair.

Today, I'll be seeing more babies! These past six months, I have been accelerated into the lecture section of the Gifted program in New Mercy. Now I'm doing the practicals. Everything is going by so fast! It feels like just yesterday I arrived to America for school.

I arrive through the Emergency Room and the first person I see is Dr. Bloom. She gives me her firm smile and says, "Morning, sunshine. You're glowing today."

"I am! I'm working at Maternity Center today."

"Ew. Join Reese. She'll be with you today."

"Great! Thanks!"

I start heading over to where Sarah is at with her new light brown scrubs. But I stop as I hear Dr. Bloom call out to me. I turn and see her give me a more genuine smile. "Don't screw up this year. I mean it."

Deep down, my heart shivers with fear but I only give her a firm nod.

Dr. Phillips is the doctor we find first. She smiles when she recognizes me and says, "It's nice seeing you again, Hazel. How are you?"

"Very good," I say with a smile. "We have Maternity today."

"Great! You guys doing the hospital or clinic today?"

"Clinic," Sarah softly says.

Dr. Phillips smiles as she notices her shyness and gestures at a set of doors at the end of a hall. "Just through those doors. Good luck!"

I lead Sarah through those doors and we enter a quieter world. Sarah quickly catches up with me and says, "She's not going to join us?"

"No," I say. "I guess she's working in the hospital today."

Sarah lets out a shaky breath as she observes a child run past her. I smile at it and look at Grace coming up to us.

"Hey, guys! I hear you two are second-years now in the accelerated program but just started medical school?"

"Yup," Sarah says. "We're kind of lost."

"No, we're not," I say. "We're just waiting to be told what to do."

"Aaron is here today," Grace says with her quiet smile.

"Yes," Sarah says with relief.

Grace does a small chuckle and points at a door. "She's right in there."

We give her a thankful smile and gently walk into a room I immediately start to sense the tension. Dr. Aaron has a sad expression as she sits by a young woman. She's not much older than I am. Probably just a year or two. She has an angry look on her face as she abruptly says, "I don't care. I want an abortion."

Sarah and I freeze at this. The girl barely notices us and Dr. Aaron lets out a soft sigh as she looks at us. Sarah nervously starts to say, "I'm sorry. Should we--"

But Dr. Aaron ignores her and looks back at the patient. "There are more options than that, Jordan. I'm sure we can think of adoption options or--"

"No. I've decided. I want the abortion."