I'LL HAUNT YOU

CHAPTER ONE - FIRST MEETING

"Were you listening?"

Clarice Jones's stone-bitter voice conquered the hallway, as she saw one of the practitioners' medicine was looking behind the window glass. Mark Stein got startled by an unfriendly tone or likely to be sound as his summons to his death note. He was twisting up his full attention to Clarice.

"I'm sorry."

Mark bowed his head as he instantly apologized to Clarice, one of the senior physicians who probably will take him under her supervision, doing specialty training in this hospital for one year.

"A very first day on a proper field, and minds already are wandering around?!" Clarice barked, shooting the death glares at the golden-haired guy.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Jones. It won't happen again. I promise," plead Mark, within his sincere heart. Apologized for his mindless averting attention—because of a distraction.

"You. Follow me."

Clarice stepped ahead with her heels, not waiting up for anyone or even the summoned guy, Mark. Mark extremely obviously confused, glancing at his other colleague from the group, and reared back to Gideon, searching for an absolute reason he was being summoned. Gideon only smiled.

"I am not waiting until you register your brain," said Clarice, turning around to look at stupefied Mark.

"You better not make it into her bad list then."

Gideon recommended, giving a brief nod and glancing over his shoulder to look at Clarice. She had already gone far by now.

"I better catch her up now. I'll go first before I lose her then," said Mark, quickly striding over to be ahead of Clarice. Thanks to Mark's tallest and firm figure, as his legs were longer than hers, he could compete easily with her steps, running after her quickly until he was next to her. After a few moments, he glanced back, looking at the previous place as if the same distraction would be there all over again. And there wasn't any weird presence for certain. He left from there confusingly.

Have I imagined things? Mark thought.

***

Mark squeezed his temples by shutting his eyes close, sitting on a swivel chair in front of his desk, taking a brief rest for a while. On the first day, Doctor Clarice Jones already had done much to his headaches. Long way to go... sigh—

"Rough start?" Someone appeared to sit beside Mark, asking before him. His senior, Gideon Halt, welcomed his sight when he opened his eyes. A skinny guy whose height was almost as tall as him. Gideon went to medical school as well. The guy already had his license upon completion of a residency. He shook his head, responding with a shrug.

"You can tell me, Mark. I probably know how much Clarice's pests could go living up to, believe me," said Gideon amusingly, leaning back to the swivel chair, but his gazes were looking forward to Mark.

"Nothing to worry about yet. And it was indeed my fault that I hadn't paid attention to Doctor Jones's briefs this morning."

Gideon clicked his tongue, sighing at Mark's response, knowing better when not to poke into something fruitless. So he casually stood from the seat and left. He knew Mark was hardly a responsive guy, so as everyone had been saying about him in medical school. This guy certainly had a reputation.

"Well, anyway, you can always come to me if there's anything you want to ask. Or if anything is bothering you, all the way to your practice here. Just pop up at my door then. I'm simply looking out for my juniors. That's all." Gideon stated, patting Mark's shoulder before he was leaving a staff room for all the medical practice in this hospital.