CHICAGO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

CHAPTER 1

Chicago was covered in snow that kept on falling. A thick carpet muffled the sound of footsteps, but the city was far from silent. Excitement was the general atmosphere, with Christmas lurking around the corner. It was late at night and the city would have been wrapped in darkness if it hadn’t been for the many flashy neon lights, Christmas decorations…

Chicago Memorial Hospital was no exception. The surroundings had been decorated in a cheerful manner, despite the place being one where people died every day. It was cheerful, because many more people survived every day. As always, it was hard to find a spot on the parking lot that was nearly full. Chicago Memorial Hospital was always busy, anyone working there would never be bored. But sometimes, one has to sit back and think about the past day, think through what happened and try to cope with it.

Doctor Bette Porter’s office was dark. Lights from outside fell into the room, faded, a weaker reflection of their original brightness. Bette Porter herself felt like a weaker reflection of who she really was. Not even her computer screen was casting some light at her desk; for the first time in ages she had turned it off. She was very aware of herself, she was very aware of her body and of her mind. Aware that she was there, alive, healthy and that Daniel Carter was in the morgue, dead, empty.

She sighed and rubbed her temples, willing the tears not to fall. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, a few stray bangs dangling in her neck. Her shift had passed hours ago but she had been incapable to stop working. She had to keep going, the adrenaline rush was the only thing that kept her moving, that kept her from falling into a black hole that was impossible to crawl out of on her own. And she was very much on her own.

Before she could stop it, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but there was nobody to see her. It was an automatic reflex. She had sent her team home for a well-deserved rest, Christmas time was always busy with the loads of snow and the icy roads. A few of them were on call in case a new patient came in. Her team… she cared deeply for all of them. The core of the team had been working together for quite some years now and that was rare in this hospital, where teams changed like a hooker’s underwear. People left to go to quieter places, or because they wanted to settle down, which was close to impossible with a hectic job like this. Young people, fresh from college, came to gain experience and sometimes sticked around.