New Dawn (Divine War Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

automatically as she looked at the young doctor, wondering what had just happened, why the seemingly standard operation had taken a turn for the worse. Shaking her head, she hoped that he'd not done anything wrong. She liked him. He was kind to her. Which was more than most male doctors were.
    Maicee quickly removed his stained gloves and mask, revealing the long, slender fingers that made him such a good surgeon. He'd almost fainted the first time his tutor had told him that he had feminine hands, afraid that his secret had been uncovered. But it hadn't, and he remained his male alter ego. It was something he kept hidden deep inside, not even knowing why it had to be hidden, just knowing that it must. Knowing that there was a faint tingling of danger in his spine every time he undressed in private, every time there was a threat of his secret’s being discovered.
    Gods, what was he doing? This was his final exam. Pull yourself together! Secret or no secret, male or female, if you screw this up you're in for another year of study. Get a grip. He pulled on another set of gloves and a face screen, pushing all thoughts of the pitiful voice he'd heard, all thoughts of secrets, all thoughts of anything but the operation at hand, to the far reaches of his mind.
    “Thank you,” he said to Falorni, resuming his place at the patient's side. “Let's repair that colon.”
    Falorni was already handing him the materials he needed, and deftly he closed the accidental incision that he'd created. He relaxed a little as the stitches held, then quickly closed the patient up before glancing at the monitors to his right. Nodding, he saw that the patient's vital signs were stable. He might have screwed up, might have failed, but the patient would make it, and that was the important thing.
    “He's all yours,” Maicee said to the anaesthetist who had assisted him.
    Then, with a sigh of relief, he stepped away from the table and took off his gown. He thanked Falorni for her help and turned to leave the theatre. As he did so, he caught the eye of the expressionless examiner standing in the corner of the room. He let his glance drop to the floor as he exited. God dammit.
    *
    Maicee stared out of the window at the busy streets of Carooine City. Late evening shoppers were bargaining at the markets, their long robes powdered with the dust of the city streets. Leaning his head against the glass, he couldn't get the afternoon's events out of his mind. He could swear that the voice he’d heard was real. Swear that there had been someone else there in the room. But no one else had reacted. No one else had heard what he’d heard. Maybe he was going crazy. Maybe he'd been working too hard. But a surgeon was all he'd ever wanted to be. He knew with sure certainty that he was destined to heal, to save, as surely and as inexplicably as he knew he must hide his female identity. He looked at his reflection in the window. Hollow cheeks, high cheek bones. Long blonde hair, tied back in a queue, as was the fashion. Was he going mad?
    “Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” said a jaunty voice.
    Pulling himself away from the window, Maicee turned to see Benho. Tall, dark, handsome, and very, very charming, Benho was his best friend and had been since Maicee had arrived on Carooine when he was eight years old. They'd completed all their studies together, not falling prey to competitiveness, helping each other out when necessary. And now they had taken their final exams at the same time. Benho was grinning, and Maicee wondered if anything ever fazed his friend.
    “I was definitely sweating in the theatre,” said Maicee in answer to Benho's question. “What did you get?”
    The man came over and gave him a friendly slap on the back. “Appendectomy, dead simple. Think I could have done it with my eyes closed. What about you?”
    Maicee shrugged. “Liver laceration and an iatrogenic colonic tear,” he said, wishing that he didn't have to talk about it but