Yoona’s POV

            I had been congratulated many times, and I was proud of myself.  I was being nominated for the Berit awards, and it had been my dream.  I had published a lot of my findings on fetal and pediatric surgery, and because fetal surgery was still a specialty that was still being invented, I was on the top of the list for the nominations. 

            I was very excited.  I wanted to be a prominent surgeon just like how my grandfather reinvented cardiothoracic surgery. 

            “Noona,” Minho hollered.

            I looked behind me to see my younger brother running towards me.  He came to an immediate halt after he reached me.  I’m pretty sure he heard about the news, and I was waiting for him to congratulate me.

            “What?” he asked.

            “Aren’t you going to say something nice to me?” I questioned.

            He rolled his eyes, “Oh, yeah.  I heard you got nominated for the Berit awards.  We all knew it was coming, and we all know that you’re going to win.  I have something to tell you.”

            “Okay,” I nodded.

            “Well, I have two things to tell you.  I was under Dr. Son’s service, and I’m going to tell you that she’s bitter right now.  She’s angry that you got nominated and she didn’t,” Minho informed me.

            I rolled my eyes.  Dr. Ga-in Son was a good surgeon, but she wasn’t excellent.  She hated teaching, and she had no patience.  When it was her turn to teach me, she would just avoid me, and I would end up learning from the other pediatric surgeons.  I read articles that helped me learn more than I would have from her.  I knew she didn’t like me, but I never figured her to be this jealous.

            “Second of all, Dr. Song is going to give her notice for resigning,” Minho stated, “You need to talk to her, noona.  She was the chief resident.  She’s planning on quitting when this term ends.  She wants to give the chief residency to Dr. Jessica Jung, but your friend terrifies me.  She’s going to give the interns a harder time.”

            I looked at him with disbelief.  I guess the incident in Las Vegas had really gotten to her.  She had freaked out during an emergency, and she froze.  She didn’t do anything for the patient, and I had to take over.  I was so frustrated with her that I yelled at her to leave the operation room.

            “I’ll talk to her.  Where is she?” I asked.

            “She’s in room 2 for the on-call rooms,” Minho reported.

~~~~~~~~

            “Dr. Song?” I asked as I pushed the door open. 

            There were two pairs of bunk beds in the on-call room, and it was a little dark.  I saw Victoria on the bottom half of one of the beds, and I could tell that she had been crying.  Her eyes were a little puffy, and her nose was red.  I sat at the foot of the bed and took a deep breath.  I honestly felt guilty for what I did.  I never would have guessed that she was this sensitive.  I had yelled a lot of interns and residents, but the were resilient.  They always went back for more.

            She quickly sat up and wiped her tears away.

            “Hi, Dr. Im.  Congratulations on your nominations.  I’m sure you will win,” she forced a smile.

            “Thank you,” I spoke, “Well, I wanted to see if you’re okay.”

            Victoria assured me, “I am okay.”

            She was lying.  She was saying she was okay when she clearly wasn’t.  I felt guilty about the whole thing, but I had never expected her to take it this hard.  She had to know that the path to success wasn’t always smooth.  I always had people doubting me.  I was told no more than I was told yes.  You just have to keep on trying.

            “You’re a talented surgeon, Dr. Song.  I speak as if I have many more experiences than you,” I lightheartedly laughed.

            “You do.  You’re two years my senior,” she pointed out.

            That was true, but that was only so because I graduated early from medical school.

            “You’re older than me by a year, right?” I asked.

            “Yes, I started medical school a little late because I was saving up for it,” she admitted.

            I sighed, “Listen, Dr. Song.  You have worked hard, and you are very talented.  Your heart is kind, but don’t let the negative things in life hurt you.  You need to take those pains and turn it into experience, okay?  You may think that I had it all when I entered this career.  Only my husband and my brother know my story.  My grandfather left to travel around the world to save lives when I was only sixteen.  My parents died the same year, and I had to take care of my brother with no help.  When I graduated med school, I was almost 24.  My grandfather came back to see what I had gone through, and he felt guilty.  I was never angry with him for leaving when I needed him.  I couldn’t even write to him because he was always moving.  You need to stay strong just like how I learned to.  We both had to work hard for school, and don’t let it go to waste.  Don’t take criticism the wrong way.  Take all those things I tell you and make it an experience.”

            Victoria then burst into tears as I patted her back.  She covered her face with her hands and the tears continued to fall from her face.  Seunghyun had spoken about her and a few of the resident surgeons before.  He said that Victoria was promising, but she was too soft.  She needed to toughen up so that people wouldn’t push her around.

            “I’m sorry that I yelled at you, but I do not regret it.  I want you to take it and learn from it.  It’s tough love, but overall, I don’t think you should quit.  I believe that you will become a great surgeon one day.  If you quit now, what will you be—an office doctor?  You’ll be bored out of your mind, and you’ll miss the operation room.  I know you will,” I told her.

            My beeper began to call for my attention as I pulled it out and saw that I was being called into a patient’s room.

            “I have to go check on my patient, but please think about it.  I think you can do so much for the surgical world,” I advised.

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Victoria’s POV

            She was absolutely breathtaking.  She was beautiful, smart, creative, and now, I could see that she was a good person.  She cared about the surgeons she was teaching and part of me wondered why they hadn’t made her the head of pediatric surgery yet. 

            “I have to go check on my patient, but please think about it.  I think you can do so much for the surgical world,” she encouraged me.

            I saw her smile at me and then she left the room.  I plopped back down on the bed and looked up at the bottom of the top bunk.

            I could see why Dr. Choi had fallen in love with her.  I had to admit that I had this silly crush on him.  Actually a lot of people did.  I knew Ga-in, Krystal, and I thought he was very handsome, and I knew that there was a string of nurses who wanted him for their own.  He had chose Dr. Im, and it was completely understandable.  They challenged each other.  At first, I thought they were a couple made in hell.  Dr. Choi was my mentor, and he was gentle, but he was firm when he needed to.  He was very understanding, but he was also strict with patient care and standards.  I thought Dr. Im would be the opposite.  I thought she would be brilliant like Dr. Choi, but she wouldn’t have his compassion.  I was so wrong.

            “So are you really going to quit?” I suddenly heard a voice.

            I sat up in surprise and accidently hit my head on the bed above me.  I winced in pain as I rubbed the top of my head.  There was someone above me, and I didn’t know anyone was there.  He suddenly jumped off the top bunk and landed on his feet.

            I saw Dr. Horvejkul there with a sleepy look on his face.

            “I tried sleeping, but your cries kept me up,” he informed me.

            “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

            He cleared his throat, “Well, are you going to quit?”

            “Maybe,” I admitted.

            “Well, you’re stupid then.  If Dr. Im advises against it, I would listen to her.  She’s wise for her age, and she sees potential if you have it.  If she says you can do it, then you can.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to speak to you.”

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Seunghyun’s POV

            I had just finished the postop notes I made on a patient that I had just operated on.  The patient was still sleeping, and he was recovering well.  I put down the clipboard full of his information into the slot of the wall, and I was about to leave until I saw Dr. S