7. Jo
Chapter 7
Jo
Second Year of Medical School
11 Years Ago, January
“ B ut we’re literally always partners, I don’t understand why you hate me,” I whine to Isaac. His dead stare and emotionless blinking is doing nothing to stave off my fear of abandonment, especially after Andrew called this morning and told me he needed a break.
“Jo, I need to branch out a little. Work with some other people,” he remarks, setting his backpack down on the ground next to the physical exam table.
Our instructor, Dr. Zin, takes the microphone and begins, “Okay folks, grab a table and your partner. Please find someone new to work with today to practice on a different body habitus. We will apply the components of the abdominal exam that we discussed in lecture this morning.”
Isaac catches my eye and raises his eyebrows, “See?”
I pout and continue. “So you agree. You hate me.”
Glancing around the practical lab classroom, I find Tessa, my alternative partner when Isaac is sick. She nods and waves me over. At her table, I wrap my stethoscope around my neck and situate myself to begin class.
Dr. Zin begins his lecture on our physical exam procedures.
“We will begin with auscultation. Please make sure that the ear pieces of your stethoscope fit snugly in your ear canals,” he continues. “It is important that you can hear all aspects of the abdomen clearly.” I fiddle with my stethoscope and glance to the opposite side of the room where Isaac sits, still without a partner.
He’s typing something furiously on his phone.
Tessa’s stomach growls loudly enough to catch the attention of half the room, and her face blooms bright red. “Guess we don’t need a stethoscope for everyone,” Dr. Zin says with a chuckle.
Dr. Zin sets us free and students begin to shuffle around, practicing the new skills. The first year of medical school is focused mainly on classroom-based learning, but now that we’re able to put our skills to the test, it’s starting to feel real. I’m actually doing this.
I place my stethoscope on Tessa’s stomach, just above her belly button, and I hear the faint whisper of words, not quite making out what she’s saying with the stethoscope in my ears.
“What?” I say, just a little too loudly.
I pull out one ear piece and see she’s tilting her head to Isaac.
And her.
Victoria Lyon .
God dammit, I knew there was a reason he wanted to work with a new partner today.
The fact that she’s beautiful isn’t even the worst part. She’s genuinely a wonderful person. In fact, last week my computer died in the middle of a microbiology lecture and she sent me all her notes. She might be the nicest human in our cohort.
Ugh.
Class continues, and I can’t help but watch them interact. Isaac says there’s nothing going on, but how could there not be? They make sense together. And I’m going to die alone.
“Jo, why are you walking so damn fast?” I tried to escape the classroom without Isaac following me, but I guess that extra cinnamon roll (or five) that I had for breakfast this morning slowed me down.
“Just gotta pee, that’s all!” I rush down the sidewalk towards the student parking lot, shivering against the bitter January wind.
“Then why didn’t you stop in the building? Planning to relieve yourself in the car?” he asks matter-of-factly.
I grumble some incoherent annoyance at him and head back towards the door of the school building.
I sit down on the toilet seat and rest my elbows on my thighs. I don’t have to pee. But I will sit here for the next 2.5 minutes and hope Isaac goes away.
My attempt at escaping fails and he’s standing directly outside the door to the women’s bathroom.
“What’s going on, Jo?” The look on his face tells me he already knows.
“Did you have a good time with Victoria?” I reposition my book bag on my shoulder. I really should’ve left some of this shit at home.
“Jo,” he rolls his eyes, but grabs my bag off my shoulder and easily slings it over his own. “Dr. Zin literally told us to find new partners. Don’t go getting sassy with me.”
He follows me out towards the parking lot once again, trailing just a few steps behind the entire way.
“How’s Andrew?” he asks with a hint of sarcasm. We don’t talk about Andrew. Eye rolls and absolute disdain are evident every time a message or phone call lights up the screen of my phone. He’s even taken to leaving the room completely.
I spin around on my heel to face him as we reach the back end of my car.
“We’re not talking about him right now!” I spit back at him, my annoyance bubbling up to the surface once more. The on-again, off-again nature of mine and Andrew’s relationship has nothing to do with Isaac. And him bringing it up did nothing to improve the sourness of my current mood. “Why do you always bring him up?” Because he knows how to hit me where it hurts.
“There’s nothing going on with Victoria and me,” he responds. “She just asked if we could be partners today so she could work with a guy. That’s it.”
Nothing’s going on, he says. Relief floods my body, a warm pulsating feeling in my chest, but I tamp it down as far as I possibly can.
I open the passenger door to my car and Isaac throws my backpack onto the front seat. “It’s fine. I must just be hungry or something.” I shake my head and push the car door closed once again. “I might go home and take a nap. I feel a migraine coming on.”
Isaac extends his hand for a fist bump and I wearily meet it with my own fist. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?” He smiles softly and I can’t help but smile back.
“Fine, ya jerk. I’ll see you tomorrow.”