AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A lot of people dream of careers in the medical field,” Dr. Berger said. “That doesn’t mean they’re right for it. This job takes a lot of skill and a lot of hard work, and not everyone has what it takes.”
“Well, I do have what it takes,” Emily said stubbornly.
He peered at her. “Why do you want to be a doctor?”
“What?”
“What’s your reason for being here? Everyone has a reason — something that makes them want to pursue this line of work. No one gets into it by accident. It’s too difficult for that. So tell me, what bringsyouhere?”
She opened her mouth, thinking she was going to tell him — and then closed it.
The story was too personal, and given the way things had been going between the two of them, she simply didn’t feel ready to share it. Not yet.
“It’s what I’ve always pictured myself doing,” she said simply.
“If you’re in this for the money, you may as well quit now.”
“I’m not in it for the money.” She was stung. “And that’s the second hurtful assumption you’ve made about me, Dr. Berger. I know I made a mistake today, and I take accountability for that. But that doesn’t mean you can just assume I’m careless and not up to the job. I appreciate you holding me responsible for being late today, but I don’t want you to think I’m someone I’m not. I’m not just here because I want to make money. I want to help people. I would do this job even if it paid next to nothing.”
Dr. Berger studied her. Emily had the feeling he was trying to decide whether or not he believed her.
“You may as well know something right now,” he told her. “Something I told the rest of the group before you arrived.”
“All right.”
“With every new intake, at the end of the first three months, I cut half of my intern class,” he said. “The ones who make the cut go on training with me, but the others have to leave this hospital and find somewhere else to get their training. This is a prestigious place to intern, and I have a long list every year of candidates who want to study under me.”
“I know I was lucky to be chosen.” Emily felt uneasy. “You’re saying that in three months…”
“I’m saying that in three months, you might be finished here,” Dr. Berger said. “And I’m saying that if I were making the decision today, you would be one of the interns I cut.”
Emily felt sick. She had always known something like this was a possibility, of course — interns got cut. That was a reality of training for this career. But she hadn’t imagined that Dr. Berger would go into the year planning to cut half of his interns. She had assumed it would happen to those who didn’t keep up with their workload or proved not to have an aptitude for medicine. This seemed far too harsh.
But what could she do? She couldn’t tell Dr. Berger that she thought his policy was too harsh — she might as well say that she was worried she would be one of the interns who got cut, and that wasn’t what she needed to show him. She needed him to see that she was confident this wouldn’t affect her. She wanted him to feel that she believed that even if he cut all of the interns except one, she would be the one to survive.
On a good day, she might have genuinely felt like that. Today she was having a bit of trouble finding her way to those feelings.
“Thank you for letting me know,” she said eventually. It seemed like the only thing she could possibly say in response to what he had told her.
But she felt as if he had put a target on her back.
“That’s all,” he said. “That’s why I had you stop by. I wanted to make sure you heard that from me.”
“Consider me informed,” Emily said.
“Good,” Dr. Berger said. “Make sure you’re on time tomorrow, please.”
He didn’t have to worry about that. After what had happened today, Emily knew she wasn’t going to take any more chances. If anything, she’d be showing up an hour early tomorrow, just to make sure that nothing like this happened again.
The first thing Emily noticed when she arrived at work the following day was that Dr. Berger was already there — and he didn’t look as if he had just arrived, either.
Of course, it was normal for doctors to work strange hours. But it made her wonder. He hadn’t looked as if he was going home any time soon when she’d left last night. Was it possible he had been here all night? She’d heard stories about what a workaholic he was…
Sara came up alongside her. “We’re supposed to shadow Dr. Nash today,” she said.
“We’re not with Dr. Berger?”
“He’s got the group split into three. He’s only taking a third of the interns.” Sara pointed to a list posted on the wall.
