Chapter 8 Heartache

"Good morning, Michelle. Have you had breakfast?" Myles raised the takeaway bag in his hand and asked with a smile, "Would you like some?"

"No, thanks. I've eaten," Michelle said with a smile as she walked into the dressing room. She wanted to get changed and go to Nadia to report back from leave. Just right after she opened her locker, she heard Nina complaining outside.

"Myles, why didn't you ask me? You always do this. You only asked Michelle if she had breakfast, but you never asked me." Nina put on an aggrieved expression and pouted. Her tone was full of dissatisfaction.

Myles just chuckled, "Nina, I saw you having breakfast with the new doctor of the radiology department just now. Don't you need to lose weight? Do you really want to have another meal?"

"Fuck off! That was really a low blow!" Nina hated being mentioned about her weight the most. She was indeed a little, uh... Plump... She wasn't as slender as Michelle. When the two of them stood together, they would always be compared by those ignorant people. Their judgemental attitude had always dealt a devastating blow to her self-esteem. She just had a thicker build. Why did everyone always think she needed to lose weight?

Myles had always been a gentleman through and through. There was always a decent smile on his fair face. His eyes were especially clear and captivating-they seemed to have the power to instantly calm those who felt ill at ease. Michelle used to tease him, saying that he was really stupid to choose the most arduous department in the hospital when he could've gone to the pediatric department to coax those children. But aside from smiling, Myles never came up with other responses to her teasing.

Later, Michelle learned from Nina that when Myles was still in college, he lost his beloved girlfriend in a car accident. His girlfriend was sent to the hospital but passed away nonetheless. She didn't receive treatment in time due to a lack of staff in the emergency department. What happened seemed to leave a deep wound in him. After he graduated, he applied to stay in the emergency department, and it'd been five years since then. Although people dying due to lack of medics was nothing unusual, Michelle wasn't sure she could make the same decision as Myles if it happened to her.

When Michelle recalled the phone call she got from Jared last night, she immediately felt her heart ache. How long had it been since she last felt this kind of pain? Ever since he went abroad three years ago, she'd never experienced it. Now that he had come back, she had to feel this pain again, didn't she?

'Jared, what should I do?'

With a long sigh, Michelle pulled herself together, proceeded to put on her white robe, and made her way to Nadia's office. When she passed by, both Nina and Myles cast an encouraging look at her. She knew how much they hoped she could stay with them at the front line to save people. As a matter of fact, she had the same hope.

Nadia was a woman in her fifties. It was said that she had a rather strange, harsh temper because she never had a man in her life. Her harsh, strict nature made the people in the hospital nickname her "The Empress." After graduating from college, Michelle was assigned to work as an intern under Nadia, who was in charge of assigning workers to every department in the hospital. Now that Michelle had finished her internship, she naturally had to report to her mentor.

"Michelle, you've done a very good job. The directors of all departments are satisfied with your performance." Nadia poured a cup of tea for Michelle and took the opposite seat. She was very satisfied with Michelle, who always worked hard, had an excellent academic performance, and was, all in all, a rare talent.

"Thank you, ma'am." Michelle took the cup and sipped the tea slowly, trying to savor the taste.

"Your performance has been excellent, so the hospital has decided to keep you. The emergency department is really short of people. You'll stay there first. If there is a good position in the future, I'll assign it to you." Nadia was very satisfied with Michelle's modesty. The more she looked at Michelle, the more satisfied she felt.