Chapter Text
The rain fell softly against the windows, typical of an English morning, and grey light filtered through the wide windows of the hospital hall. Camille walked briskly through the familiar corridors, still wrapped up in her coat, her hair slightly damp from the light rain she hadn't taken the time to avoid. She flashed a smile at a few colleagues in white coats.
Last year of core training. The word sounded almost unreal in her head. Last. Everything was about to change. The letters were arriving little by little, for the specialities, successful or not. Soon it would be for the students she had seen pass through in her four years here.
— Mail for you," said Mary, a laughing nurse, handing her two thick cream envelopes.
Camille stopped, her eyes widening a little. She took them mechanically, her heart already racing.
Two letters.
She immediately recognised the letterheads. The names of the hospitals came to her like two soft but firm hammer blows: Manchester. Bristol.
— Is it time? asked Mary, smiling gently, as if sharing a secret.
Camille nodded silently, at a loss for words. It was too soon.
— Yes, peadiatric emergency medicine, both. If it's all no's, it's a bad start to the shift," she joked, trying to alleviate the anxiety already twisting in her stomach.
— Speciality letters? What are you waiting for?" came a male voice from behind her.
Henry McKay, in his white lab coat and coffee in hand, approached at a leisurely pace. He was calm, as always, his eyes crinkled with an amused half— smile.
She nodded, the letters still in her hands.
— I don't know, they arrived fast.
— Better than waiting until the end of the shift to find out?
— No. She took a deep breath, then, murmuring more to herself: "Here we go.
She walked away, the letters clutched to her chest, as if her future could vanish in a gust of wind.
In the quiet of the break room, she changed quickly, then sat down, her hands trembling a little. The familiar smell of cold coffee and disinfectant wafted through the air.
She chose at random. Manchester.
She opened the letter slowly, tearing open the envelope carefully. The beginning, banal, then....
Her gaze fell on the central paragraph. Accepted. The word was there. Right there.
A muffled joy escaped her lips. She leapt to her feet, knocking over her chair.
She leapt to her feet, knocking over her chair.
— Yes!" she breathed. A frank, almost childish laugh escaped her. No matter what, she had a position, in the speciality of her dreams.
There was still one job left. She opened Bristol, even more excited.
Her eyes ran over the text. Accepted. She blinked. Then read it again. Twice. Three times.
Her hands were shaking. She hurried out of the room, letters in hand.
— Two yes!" she shouted to the whole team, who were still waiting for her near the post office.
— TWO YES !" she repeated, louder this time, unable to contain her huge smile.
The congratulations came from all sides.
— Bristol and Manchester? said Dr McKay as he approached. Well done!
— I can't believe I've been accepted!" she breathed, almost flushed with emotion.
— I can," he replied simply. They're the lucky ones to have you.
She laughed, shaking with feverish joy.
— There were less than ten places! she added, still stunned.
The next few hours passed in a blur of happiness. The adrenalin of the shift, the warmth of her colleagues, the whispered congratulations between patients.
Around midday, she was called back to the rest room. She was in for a surprise.
Cupcakes, a bottle of fizzy juice, and an improvised banner with an inflated latex glove and ‘CONGRATS’ written in marker.
— Do you know when you'll have some answers?" she finally asked another doctor from her year, biting into a cookie.
— Soon," she replied. I know, even though I shouldn't, that it's accepted here... but I want to move.
— Yes, I understand. The wait will soon be over.
— You're all set. You've got favourites.
— Bristol's high on the list.
— Do you want to go out and celebrate tonight?" suggested another colleague.
Camille smiled.
— Not the original plan, but... yes!
The day stretched on, but the euphoria clung to her like a second skin.
At the end of her shift, she was putting her things away when Henry McKay came to find her, still calm as ever.
— Remember to come round, if you have time, when you've left," he said.
— I haven't left yet," she replied softly.
A comfortable silence settled between them.
— I can't wait to see even more developments for you," he said at last, his arms folded and a discreet smile on his face.
— I can't wait either. Four years here, after all...
— I still remember when you were learning the bases," he says with a twinkle in his eye.
She laughed, memories flooding back.
— Oh, the beginning of the road and all there is to learn!