28. BLAKE
BLAKE
“Who wants to play a game?” The stack of papers hit the conference table with a sharp crack, silencing the whispered speculations.
Eight interns jolted in their chairs, the smell of hospital-grade coffee and nervous sweat hanging in the air while the fluorescent lights cast shadows under their eager eyes. Eyes that followed my every move like they were watching a cobra about to strike.
“A game, sir?” Martinez’s voice cracked.
“Call it a competition.” I circled the table. “I need help with a case.”
The air sparked with sudden attention.
“Have a bit of a medical mystery on my hands,” I continued, noting how their spines straightened at my tone. “And I need to solve it as soon as possible. The patient is a close friend of mine.”
Eight heads snapped up so fast that I thought I heard cervical vertebrae crack.
“Yes, I have friends. Despite hospital rumors, I don’t actually freeze people with my gaze.”
“A close friend?” Rhet, perpetually testing my patience, wiggled his eyebrows like a cartoon villain. “That why the rumor mill says you were smiling at a patient?”
The normal me would’ve kicked his sorry ass out just to maintain order, but Tessa needed his irritatingly brilliant mind on this.
“Stop trying to impress the other interns,” I snarled. “I saw you practicing your confident-doctor walk in the parking lot at 6 a.m.”
Rhet’s face went from cocky to corpse pale in record time.
“Now.” I tapped the papers. “This patient …” I watched their expressions shift from amusement to focused intensity.
“Her heart stopped beating in our ER. Healthy hearts don’t just quit without reason.
There’s an underlying condition here, hiding behind a year of seemingly unrelated symptoms. And if we don’t crack this …
” I let the silence stretch, heavy and meaningful. “She might die.”
I had to swallow the bile that came up every time that thought thundered through me.
What if Tessa was dying? Contrary to popular belief, there were plenty of things that could kill a person that were hard to diagnose, and one look at Tessa, you could see the toll this mystery thing was doing to her body. Almost like it was eating her from the inside out.
“The winner gets to be more than just another clipboard-carrying lab scout.”
Time to dangle the real prize.
“Solve this …” I paused, letting the tension build. “And you’ll present the case at Grand Rounds.”
Grand Rounds was an event where medical cases were presented to hospital leadership, attendings, and peers. It was rare for interns to get this chance. Rarer still for them to be invited.
The room fell so quiet that you could hear the hum of the fluorescent lights.
“Let me be clear what that means. You’ll have every department head, every attending physician in this hospital, watching you break down one of the most fascinating cases I’ve seen in my career.
Presenting will boost your reputation within the hospital.
Every department head will know your name.
” I pressed my fingers to the files in front of me.
“But that’s not all. The intern who cracks this becomes my apprentice for a week. ”
A sharp intake of breath from two interns heightened the anticipation in the space.
“That means no more fetching labs or typing notes. For seven days, you’ll be doing real medicine. Hands-on experience you can’t get anywhere else. I’ll teach you everything I know: every trick, every technique, every shortcut I’ve learned in my years of practice.”
I watched skepticism transform into raw hunger in their eyes. Some were already pulling out their notepads, pens hovering eagerly over paper. Others sat perfectly still, as if afraid any movement might cost them their shot.
Now we were getting somewhere.
“Who’s interested?”
Every hand shot up like they were spring-loaded.
“Oh, and one more detail.” I leaned my palms on the table. “Every department head has this case too. Different rewards, same race. But they’re drowning in meetings and paperwork while you’ve got fresh knowledge and hungry minds.”
“We’re competing with department heads?”
“Terrified?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Good. Fear makes you sharp. Beat them, and your name becomes legend in these halls.” I checked my watch. “Clock’s ticking. Shall we begin?”
The sound of frantically flipping papers filled the room. Eight minds racing against time, against each other, against the hospital elite.
Perfect.
Game on.