THE YOUNGER YEARS - BACKGROUND STORY TO GIRL IN THE MIST

THE INTERNSHIP

SEVEN MONTHS LATER 1981...

Julian was lucky enough to get his internship at a teaching hospital in Pasadena. They were a group of interns on their first day at the hospital, trying to find their way around the patients and learning how to cope with emergencies. They all stood around like lost little sheep in E.R. when a quirky young doctor in her thirties grabbed Julian by his arm. "Okay, everyone, curly locks are mine. Hands off."

Julian looked at her confused and frowned. "You're going to call me curly locks?"

"Well, there's the curly hair, so until I figure out what your real name is I guess that's what I'm going to call you. I can't call you eyebrows now can I?"

Julian self consciously rubbed his eyebrows with his fingertips and bowed his head down in an effort to let his bangs cover them up. "The name's Julian. Julian Rodriguez."

She looked at him concerned. "Relax, there's nothing wrong with your eyebrows."

"Yeah right...you mean my owlbrows."

"Never mind...Okay, so Dr. Rodriguez it'll be then. I'm Dr. Amber Slattery...welcome to the Pasadena Medical Center. I hope you'll enjoy working with me as your resident. Now let's get this clear...there are rules. You do as I say...no matter what. If a patient comes into E.R. you call me. If a patient is already admitted and is busy dying, you call me. I'm the one calling the shots here, you're here to learn and observe and do as I tell you to. If you consider anything above your pay grade and I ask you to do it, you do it. No excuses. Understood?"

"Understood ma'am..."

"And it's doctor to you, not ma'am. Let's go and see our first patient. Come with me."

He tagged along after her to E.R. and when she opened the curtains there sat a Chinese woman on the bed who could not speak a word of English. She held out her hand to Amber displaying a partially severed finger barely intact. "Dr. Rodriguez..." He stepped closer to look at the patient's injury and felt his stomach turn into a knot. He swallowed to keep the contents of his previous meal down and just stared at the woman's hand in shock, not hearing a word Amber was saying. "Dr. Rodriguez..." He looked at her startled. "Sutures please."

He watched as she injected the finger with local anesthetics and closed his eyes for a moment. "I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"Just don't get sick here. Sutures Rodriguez..." He shakily handed her the sutures. "You're going to have to get used to this. This isn't med school anymore. Here you're dealing with the real deal. There's gonna be a lot of blood and wounds and horrible stuff you're going to have to deal with and get used to. If you can't handle a little blood, it's best you get out now and find another career."

"A little blood, that's not a little blood..."

"Oh believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg."

"Oh, dear..."

"Unless of course, you become a GP who sits in his office all day prescribing meds. At least you can still call yourself a doctor, but where's the fun in that? It's your call."

He watched as she stitched up the woman's finger, still feeling nauseous until she handed her over to him. "You do the last bit of sutures."