Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 15

Grace

"I'm so nervous." I tell Martha right before I am about to enter the room to take my final exam.

It is now Saturday and I had just finished the first round of this morning. Harry had wished me luck multiple times and his words made me feel a little more confident. But now I was going to spend two whole hours inside a room taking my written and practical exam with a doctor and a nurse. It was very intimidating, but I needed to be more confident about my skills.

"You are going to do just fine! We revised everything yesterday and you got all the answers right." Martha was right, I was prepared for this exam. But I did not want to be overly confident because that would only make me fail much faster. "Good luck! You are going to kill it!" My friend gives me one last hug before I knock on the door where I will be taking the test. It will be at the doctor's office, as it is much quieter than the nurse's office, especially now that half of this building collapsed to the ground.

I only have to wait a couple of seconds before the door is opened by a young man. I have never seen him around here, he is wearing a military outfit, but not the usual one that soldiers use, his is different. "Good morning, are you Miss Becker?" He asks looking at a file in his hands, probably with my personal information.

"Yes, Sir." I nod and enter the room when he gives me permission to do so.

"Sit down please." He pulled a chair gesturing for me to sit down on it. I quickly obey sitting down on the wooden chair and he sits on the opposite side of the table. He looks very young, probably in his middle twenties, and he is very handsome as well, with blonde hair and big brown eyes. "My name is Charlie Alton, and I am an army doctor. I will be supervising your exam." He explains which makes sense.

Due to the bombing, we have many more wounded people and some of our staff were hurt and unable to work, unfortunately, so we were also in need of medical personal at the moment. These were dark times for us, but thankfully we received some doctors during the last few days to help us take care of the remaining soldiers and those who were still to come. However, I never thought an army doctor could be this young, I always imagined them as much older people.

"We have to wait for someone to bring your exam because I do not have it." I simply nod resting my hands on top of my lap nervously.

There is an awkward silence floating in the room, but I do not have the courage to start a conversation with him. He is only here to supervise me while I take the test, not to make small talk with me. Besides I need to focus on revising the answers in my head, making sure I still haven't forgotten anything.

"So... You're quite young, aren't you?" He suddenly asks even though I'm sure that information is on the file he is holding between his hands.

"Oh... Yes. I just turned eighteen earlier this week, Sir." I sigh. "If you allow me, you also seem very young to be a doctor." I hope he doesn't think that I am being inconvenient because he was the one who started this conversation. But if he can ask me questions so do I.

"I'm twenty-six actually, and I graduated from medical school two years ago." He explains. "I spent the last year in Africa in a front-line field hospital. Now I got to come home for a few weeks and decided to help in this hospital since many hospitals got bombed lately and need doctors." I nod. "What do you want to do afterward?"

His question surprises me, but I quickly reply. "Well, I would like to serve my country. That is why I am here." I explain as if it was obvious. What would be another reason for me to be here? "I would like to go to the front line and help." I confess while he nods slowly with his head.

"That's good." However, we cannot continue with our conversation because someone knocks on the door bringing my exam in their hands.

You can do this, Grace.