CHAPTER 2

For the last few months, doctor Christina Mary Kennard had been unable to wipe the smile off her face. Of course, her colleagues had noticed how she had changed. Sure, Tina had always been cheerful, kind and compassionate. She had always been incredibly supportive and mentally strong, hearing her patients out when they complained to her about the pain for the hundredth time that day. She always managed to soothe them, never showing any signs her patience was wearing thin. Lately, however, she seemed to be radiating a new sense of strength. As if she could fight the world and win the battle. Colleagues and friends had asked what had happened, but Tina would shrug and smile mysteriously, usually replying: “A girl can’t be in a good mood?” 

The infamous doctor Elizabeth Jane Porter had changed only a little, but enough for the change to be noticed by the staff and even some of her patients. She was still a very severe woman who hardly ever showed her emotions, hardly being the operative word. Unlike the Bette Porter they had always known and feared, the beautiful brunette sometimes showed cracks in her carefully built walls. Sometimes, the tiniest smile would falter at her lips. Dana Fairbanks had even sworn she had seen her cast a tear at one occassion. They put it down to the death of Daniel Carter – everybody knew that he was a special patient to Porter. There was also the fact that requests that would have made Porter shiver in earlier days were now easily given in to. She used to be anal about the rules, but now she seemed to be more flexible.

In the early days of Spring, a beautiful morning put smiles on the faces of a lot of Chicagoans. One of those happy Chicagoans was Tina Kennard. She had met doctor Shane McCutcheon outside of the hospital. Dr McCutcheon was the attending running the Psychiatry department. She had been the one to look out for Tina when she was only an intern. They were chatting away happily as they entered the hospital, drinking the last of their coffees before throwing the polystyrene cups in the nearest bin.

“So, are you going to tell me who it is that’s been putting a smile on your face these past few months?” Shane asked as they headed for the elevators.