Behind Closed Doors

'She's Back. Again'

All of his belongings were gone. It was as if he never existed. The house too big for one, abandoned by an intern who spent more time at the hospital than home. His shoes were no longer waiting at the bottom of the staircase. The bedroom isolated, unwanted and lonely. The bed cold, too large, too empty. Piper didn't feel welcomed here anymore.

But, from that point on, there weren't any obstacles. She went to bed alone, woke up alone, ate breakfast alone, went to work alone, and went home alone. And she deserved it. The abandonment. Deserved every second. Yet, it was better. Piper wasn't distracted. She was organised, she had time to study, and by the time it was her intern exam, she was prepared. She was confident and she was prepared, and there was nothing stopping her from reaching her potential.

The results of their exam would be revealed in the next few weeks. Piper left the room with a sense of accomplishment, and it felt as if the weight of the year had been lifted from her shoulders. She remembered why she became a doctor, why she loved this career so much and she was glad she chose this sort of future. Because maybe being alone suited her best. Maybe she just wasn't meant to be in a relationship; maybe it was better this way.

Even if she missed Alex.

Piper's mother wasn't too pleased when she discovered the end of Piper and Larry's engagement. The reasons behind it were kept secret. Piper doubted her mother would understand the drug importer girlfriend who she had a brief, but very passionate affair with. Alex had become this invisible woman, somebody who drifted through. It was hard to grasp the idea that they would never meet again, and, in a way, Piper hoped they wouldn't.

Because if Alex reentered her life again, it would only mean bad news.

Her number was in Piper's phone. Piper knew her address. But, it was effortless, what they had finished, and it was effortless. By the end of the month, the doctor discovered she had passed her exam; she was a resident. And by the end of the month, she had stopped thinking about her, thinking about what could have been. She stopped crying for losing what was never hers.

A Year Later (6th November)

'I want to tell you something.'

'Okay...?'

'Can you meet me in the on-call room in twenty minutes?'

'Okay. Wait, Polly, what's going on?'

A smile. 'You'll find out.'

Of course Piper couldn't concentrate after this. Whatever Polly was hiding, it seemed big. She watched as her friend literally skipped down the hall, overjoyed. Piper had to admit, it felt nice to see her look so pleased. It had been a while since anything good had happened. She passed a few wards, up a staircase and towards the area she would meet her interns for rounds. She liked being in charge. No, loved it. Teaching people was wonderful.

Plus, it was satisfying to not be the baby in the hospital anymore. Some were a little timid, nervous, but they were all eager and very keen to learn. Most questions she asked were answered correctly, but there was the odd mistake. On rounds, her interns were respectful to the patient, they knew their stuff. Yet there was one downfall. Being paged for the smallest of things got irritating, especially when it was as simple as placing an IV, or applying stitches.

Piper liked to believe she didn't have a temper.

Except when she was paged during her break, or enjoying a warm bath, or eating her damn dinner. But they were interns, just like she was. Piper was probably as irritating as them. If not, more so. Well, she hoped not. It took a lot of independent work in order for her to get this far. After advising an intern on how to give a patient her medication when she was stubbornly refusing, Piper hurried to the on-call room Polly wanted to meet her in.