Prescribed (The White Coat Series) Read Online Free Page A

myself back up on the scratchy white sheets. 
    “Well that’s unfortunate. Looks like we’ll have to keep you here for even longer.” 
    I feigned a look of distress as I reached over and picked up the tray of faux-gourmet hospital food. The jell-o tried shaking but its stiffness wouldn’t allow it, instead managing only a barely noticeable wiggle under the fluorescent white light. 
    “Sorry, doc, but even if I had multiple stab wounds along with five compound fractures and a crazy sized abdominal abscess, I still wouldn’t stay here longer than three days. Do you remember the food?” 
    I watched as Dr. Matthews chuckled. He looked up from his shiny black iPad and seemed to look through me somehow. It made a small shiver run down the back of my neck and memories of the night before came flooding back. My temperature started to rise as I admired the way his strong legs filled out the pastel green scrubs. 
    “That’s a lot of medical terminology, you studying to become a doctor?” he asked, clearly impressed by my use of big words. I guess that 7:15 class I took on medical terminology did end up paying off. 
    “Yeah well I was. But it just so happens that I now pass out at the sight of blood and the sound of unstoppable wailing, so I’m guessing I may have to reconsider.” I played with the hospital wristband which was slightly cutting off my circulation. I didn’t really want to think about having to reconsider my whole life plan. I had everything laid out pretty well, a timeline that I wasn’t too keen on adjusting. 
    I was supposed to graduate college with my bachelor’s at the age of 22, make my way through the rigorous medical curriculum and become a practicing surgeon by the age of 33. In the interim, I planned on figuring out the situation between Eric and me. We were growing farther apart as each day passed us by and his outbursts were becoming bigger and more frequent. So now I not only had to deal with Eric but I also needed to figure out where my other passion was and somehow break the news to my mother. That was probably the scariest part of this whole mess. 
    My mother was such a gentle, loving, and supportive woman that always wanted the best for me. I was six when my father was sent to jail for armed robbery, and that was when my mother promised me that a better life was just around the corner. She busted her ass working three jobs and sending me to the best schools, always instilling in me a passion for hard work and success. I saw her single-handedly turn our lives upside down in the best possible way. We went from living in a small one-bedroom and cockroach infested apartment to a much nicer two-bedroom apartment with working faucets and only small silverfish that scurried away under the bathroom rug whenever the lights came on. Much nicer than the mutated cockroaches that seemed to hold nightly support group meetings in our cluttered kitchen. 
    I’ll never forget the look on her face when she saw I had been accepted to UCLA. It wasn’t Harvard, but it was a close second. Tears of proud joy streamed down her features as she wrapped me up in one of the tightest hugs I had ever had. I was lucky all my ribs were still intact. Then when she found out I wanted to be a doctor, she immediately thought that I was going to be an incredible surgeon and would never miss a chance to talk about how her daughter was going to save so many lives. 
    Well, so much for that. 
    I knew she wouldn’t show obvious disappointment, but I was scared that deep down she would feel the pains of the broken dreams for her daughter. It hurt me a little, knowing that I was letting her down. I wanted to make her happy, I really did. It just wasn’t something that was even feasible for me at this point. I just did not like being in a surgical room, even if I didn’t pass out.  
    I knew my mother all too well. I knew she already imagined my posh Beverly Hills mansion, only a ten-minute drive away from the