“Ready for class?” Gemma asks, greeting me at the door of the science building.
“Yes,” I agree with gusto. This morning we were spending the first few hours listening intently to our professor's lecture about whatever part of the body we’d be dissecting that afternoon and then after lunch, we’d get to the practical work. I cannot wait to see what it’s really like inside the human body.
Not only that, but according to Charming Charlie, these kinds of labs help us decide if we want to go into the surgical or medical field. It all depends on how we react to cutting open another person. I haven’t truly given it much thought but I guess it’s now or never.
Holding the door open for Gemma, I walk into the expansive lecture hall. All the cohorts take classes together so it’ll be easy for me to get lost in a sea of med students. As much as I like to stand out, sometimes it’s easier to fade into the background and just observe. That’s what I intend to do in these lectures. I don’t need to be top of my class, number one question answerer. I just need to take it all in and learn as much as I can.
Gemma and I sit in the middle of the last row of seats, close enough to the door so we don’t get stuck in a stampede after class and far enough from the front so we won’t be asked any questions. I do a quick scan of the room for Nico but don’t see him, letting out an annoyed sigh of relief. I don’t want my entire life here to be looking around the corner for Nico. I need to shake this guy as soon as possible.
The professor introduces himself at the front of the room and the crowd quiets to silence. We’re all in the same boat. Our first med school class. You can hear a pin drop from how much we are silently listening to whatever this man says.
“Welcome to Physiology One. I am Dr. Phillips. I’ll be your lecturer for this course.”
For the next three and a half hours, all you can hear is Dr. Phillips talking and keyboards clacking. He doesn’t ask many questions but rather offers a lot of information that we all are hankering to write down and osmosis into our brains. It’s not until my butt starts to tingle a bit that I realize I haven’t stood up in hours and now the class seems to be wrapping up.
“Alright, folks. That’s a lot to take in for now. Grab some lunch. Take a nap. You’ll see each other again in your anatomy lab at one.”
The shuffling starts as students pack up their laptops and head toward the door. Because of our prime seating location, Gemma and I hit the hallway first and head immediately toward the cafeteria.
“I cannot believe how much information I just stuffed into my brain and it’s only the first class. How am I supposed to remember all this?” Gemma asks, grabbing a tray and some day-old looking salad from the fridge.
“Studying, studying, and oh yeah, studying,” I reply, opting for the veggie plate with Mediterranean hummus. After we pay for our food, we wander over to a spare table in the corner of the room. It seems like everyone who was at that lecture is also now here in the cafeteria. Seems like I’ll be spending a lot of my time with the same people for the next few years.
And still no Nico? Maybe he dropped out! What an amazing turn of events that would be.But then you’d have to stop fake dating Arden. I shoved that intrusive thought way into the back of my brain where it belongs.
Even though we had an hour and a half break before our next class, Gemma and I were both eager to soak up more of what we just learned so after scarfing down our food, we spent the rest of the hour quizzing each other back and forth about the components of a feedback loop.
Science never tasted so good.
Chapter Fourteen
Danika
Theanatomylabisset up like a giant hospital room with thirty or so cadavers lining the walls. I’ve never seen so many dead people in one place and for a second I wonder if I can do this. But the moment of panic ends the minute I put the gloves on. I’m here to learn how to save lives so that one day I can be like the amazing doctors that took care of my grandma. I can cut up a few dead bodies in the meantime.
As we walk in, we notice that each cadaver has a piece of paper taped to the wall above it with a list of four to five names. Gemma and I walk and she immediately finds her name along with four random others.
“Bummer,” she says with a shrug before joining her team.
I continue to walk, anxiously searching the walls for the nameDanika Freeman. I’m getting closer and closer to the end of the room and still not seeing my name. The panic in me starts to rise. Did they forget about me? Am I in the wrong room? I slow my pace as I come to the very last cadaver on the left side of the floor and immediate relief floods through me.
Cadaver No. 31
Danika Freeman
I breathe a sigh of relief as I step closer to the cadaver. I seem to be the first of my group to arrive, no doubt the rest are worrying just as I was. Putting on my coat and gloves, I take in the rest of the list.
Paige Golden
Carter Holsten
My gut lurches, threatening to catapult my lunch back up my throat.
Nico Sanchez
“No way! We’re in the same group!” A cheerful voice breaks me from my momentary despair. A couple walks up to the station, hand in hand, looking ever the picture of young love.
“That’s awesome, babe!” The man kisses the girl on the cheek as they walk closer to me. Glancing back at the four names on the list, I cannot control the groan that’s released from my throat.