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'welcome back!',
I heard people yell as I walked into the Attendings lounge to see everyone welcoming me back,
'Aw thank you everyone',
I said being greeted with a thousand hugs, everyone slowly left to get back to there jobs. Mark stood in the corner of the room not make eye contact or speaking to me until everyone had left,
'so welcome back I guess',
Mark said to me, I smiled at him slightly,
'yeah I'm back',
I said to him awkwardly as before I went on leave I ended, he looked at me confused,
'so are you going to explain why you went on a leave of absence for three months and didn't tell anyone where you were going nor contacted anyone even though we all deeply care for you and even might love you',
Mark said to me, I looked at him slightly shocked at what he had said and how blunt he was. I slowly nodded my head at him,
'M-Mark I-',
I stuttered out before stopping myself taking a deep breath, I looked Mark directly in the eyes,
'I went on leave because I had an organ transplant Mark',
I said to him, the colour in his face disappeared and began to look at me more confused then he had been before,
'sorry you are just going to have to run through this all for me because I-I don't understand',
Mark said to me. I nodded my head at him understanding where he was coming from,
'I went out of state to receive an organ transplant; I have lupus, I've had it since I was young. I keep my diagnosis a secret because I don't need other people to worry about me and I don't need other people to be keep me from doing what I love just because of my chronic illness'.
