The competition Anna participated in was a joint event held by a dozen hospitals in the city, and it was only held once every two years. As a result, not every intern could get the chance to participate in this.
People could volunteer to participate in this contest, but Nancy was the one who signed Anna up. Nancy defended herself by claiming that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Furthermore, Nancy was confident that Anna could use her intelligence to distinguish herself from other competitors in the competition. That way, Anna could then complete the internship and possibly be promoted.
Finally, Nancy convinced Anna, saying, “You’ve been switching shifts and taking time off a lot lately. You would have been fired if I hadn’t kept it from your superiors!”
On her way to the sight, Anna looked ahead cautiously as the windshield wipers scraped the water mist off the windshield, and then a new one formed soon after. Anna gripped the steering wheel tightly and drove slowly because everything in front of her was a blur.
Ryan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, remained silent while playing with a small toy in front of him. It was a toy in the shape of a puppy, and the spring inside the toy shook whenever the car moved.
“Do you like these little toys?” Ryan asked.
“Tammy bought this for me,” Anna replied.
“Aren’t you going to see Tammy and Matthew off as they leave the country?”
After hearing Ryan’s question, Anna frowned slightly. “Tammy grew up around me, and she’s been taking care of herself since she was five. She’s twelve now, and she grew into an independent girl. Probably, it was because I wasn’t a good mother that she turned out so strong and independent. Also, I did have some things to do, so I couldn’t make it to the airport,” she explained, “and since things have turned out this way, it’s safer for them if I don’t go there to see them off.”
“You’re right,” Ryan said, nodding. He then reached out and touched a stuffed animal’s head on the seat.
“What’s going on with you and Emily? You looked so upset when Wayne mentioned her just now,” Anna asked bluntly, changing the topic.
Ryan then placed the doll in his hands and lay on his back in the seat, staring up at the car’s roof in a daze. He didn’t know where to start with this. After thinking about it for a while, he finally summed it up in one sentence: “Emily is pregnant.”
“Huh?”
Ryan hit the front windshield after Anna slammed on the brakes. He grimaced and covered his brow.
“What’s the problem with that?” Anna asked sternly.
“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that we were both drunk that night and got a little carried away, so we didn’t have time to…” Ryan murmured as his face flushed.
“You don’t have to tell me that! I mean, you and Emily are already preparing for the wedding, aren’t you? She’s pregnant, and of course you know what you should do next, so why are you so depressed?” Anna slapped him hard on the head as she thought he looked like a fool. “Do you have something else in mind?” Anna asked, her face contemptuous.
Ryan shook his head sadly and then took a ring from his jacket pocket. The diamond was large and beautiful, and it looked expensive. But as Ryan held the ring, he felt it was a hot potato.
“It’s not that I’m thinking of something else.”
Anna realized right away what he meant. She slowly started the engine without saying anything and continued on her way to her destination. Ryan explained what happened to Anna on the way.
Two and a half months ago, when Ryan was on a mission, he stopped by Emily’s base and spent a night there. It happened to be their group’s celebration party that day, and they both drank too much. Emily was then pregnant.
And about a month ago, Emily calmly informed Ryan about her pregnancy. Ryan assumed she would marry him next. Out of his expectations, she was appointed to replace her direct superior after he was seriously injured in a covert operation. Her future would be bright as long as she succeeded this time. At this point, any mishaps, including marriage and pregnancy, could ruin her future.
“She thinks having a child isn’t as important as her career,” Ryan said.
“And then?” Anna asked.
“I saw her about a week ago. While we were eating at the restaurant, I hid the ring in the cake, intending to propose to her. But she told me she was planning an abortion. I then completely panicked, grabbed the cake, and left the restaurant,” Ryan said, pausing with a self-deprecating smile.
Anna began to feel a trance and thought about things that happened five years ago when they were all a little younger. At that time, Ryan had yelled in a cafe at his school, “Emily is so rude, I can’t stand her,” Now, five years later, he was looking at a ring and feeling sad.
“Do you want to know what I think, Ryan?”
“Sure,” Ryan said quickly because he could only tell Anna what was on his mind.
“Wayne and I broke up and got back together several times before we got married, and we went through a lot together. Sometimes we didn’t understand each other enough, didn’t trust each other, and weren’t honest with each other. So, we were separated for five years. In fact, if we could have made everything clear back then, we wouldn’t have had to suffer this torture.”
“You and Emily both did nothing wrong. You see, this is the difficulty that you need to go through in your life together. If you can go through it, this will be your memory together. If not, it’s an ordeal. That’s all I have to say. You understand what I mean, right?” Anna said with a smile.
As she turned her head and looked at him, Anna found that Ryan remained silent and appeared to be deep in thought.
Anna didn’t have time to prepare for the competition and wasn’t even sure what the rules were when she arrived there. She and Ryan entered the venue one after the other, both taken aback by the large crowd on stage.
“Is this what you’re wearing?” Nancy asked as she pushed her way through the crowd to Anna.
“What’s the problem with that?” Puzzled, Anna asked.
Anna was dressed in a yellow trench coat, a camel cashmere sweater, and light gray wide-leg pants. She thought her outfit was fashionable and stylish.
Ryan, who was standing behind her, commented, “It’s pretty.”
Hearing their words, Nancy was so angry that she wanted to take off her high heels and strike each of them. She pointed unhappily to the audience seats on stage and said to Ryan, “You, sit up there. I’ll handle the rest for you, Anna.” Nancy then vanished into the crowd.
When she arrived at the competition site, Anna finally realized why Nancy was so angry. She expected it to be a simple written test or interview, and she was surprised by how formal it was.
Surrounded by high-definition cameras, Anna even thought she had accidentally entered a live room at the time. And most of the cameras focused on the competitors on the stage. Like Anna, they had passed the initial round of off-site screening. Unlike Anna, they were all dressed in white coats and stood on the stage politely.
“Why aren’t you wearing a uniform? You cannot participate in the competition.” Anna had just stepped onto the stage when the referee approached her with a solemn expression on his face. He appeared to want to kick her out right away.
Stiffened, Anna smiled at him in embarrassment. Luckily, Nancy rushed in and shoved a white coat into Anna’s hands just as she was about to speak up for herself.
“It’s not even game time yet! And she’s wearing the uniform now,” Nancy crossed her arms and smiled, panting from exhaustion. After the judge walked away, she turned around and took off Anna’s trench coat, saying, “Put on your white coat and act like a doctor!”
While getting dressed, Anna muttered, “You didn’t tell me anything about this competition! Is this a contest or a reality show?”
“The organizers will film the competition and create a promotional video that will be displayed on the official websites of major hospitals. The entire game video will be uploaded to social media, and you can even find previous competition videos online. Do you really care about the competition?” Nancy became enraged.
“Is it too late to care about it now?” Anna asked, shrugging her shoulders.
“You’d better start praying now,” Nancy said, rolling her eyes. She then turned around and walked away.
The competition used a live elimination system; the three people with the highest scores would be able to go to the next round. After a few rounds, Anna became familiar with the situation. At that time, some of the contestants were already eliminated.
The third round of the competition was a two-person quiz. The moderator would divide the contestants into pairs and make them compete in a medical knowledge quiz. The three groups with the lowest scores would eventually be eliminated.
There were only twelve people left on stage at the time. Anna was good at taking quizzes and thought those questions were very easy. She didn’t want to be the winner, but she wasn’t going to be eliminated so soon.
After four rounds, only six people were left on the stage. Anna had no idea how she made it that far, but she was as active as the others and ready to take on a new challenge by the time she realized it.
“The top three competitors will be determined after the next final round. Among these six young people on stage, three of them will be the winners of the eighth Birmingham Medical Intern Knowledge Competition.”
The audience applauded and cheered in response to the moderator’s passionate speech. Then, he slowly announced, “Dr. Cooper from Birmingham hospital will then present the questions to the interns. Please welcome Dr. Cooper!”
Dr. Cooper was a competent, medium-sized man in his fifties. His hair was gray, but he was full of energy. Anna had heard of him because he was a legendary doctor. She had heard that he once set a record by performing twelve surgeries in twenty-one hours. Many people were taken aback by this, while others questioned it.
Nancy had a lot of respect for Dr. Cooper, and she even wanted to meet him after learning that he was planning to return to the United States. However, he declined her invitation because he was busy. So, Nancy shook Ryan beside her as she sat on the audience stage, out of control with excitement.
“Dr. Cooper now spends the majority of his time conducting medical research and rarely performs surgery now. I’m sure everyone here has heard of his miraculous work, though. Dr. Cooper, would you like to share your experience with us today?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.