I say nothing. She takes this as her cue to continue speaking.

"Stitching up gun shot victims isn’t the only thing you could be doing. There are a lot of opportunities out there."

I stare her down for a few moments. "You seem very interested in my career choice."

She nods her head. "I am."

I give her an odd look. "Why is that?"

She flashes me a light smile. "I’m Paula Carlin. I contacted you a few weeks ago about a job."

I laugh. "If I remember correctly I told you it wasn’t going to happen."

"Why not? You said yourself that you didn’t like stitching up gun shot victims. The job I’m offering is so far from that…. You went to medical school and focused on reparative surgery, how the hell someone with your talent ended up in an ER dealing with gun shot victims is a mystery to me. This could be a great opportunity for you. Working in a huge private practice helping the people who really need it."

I chose my next words carefully. "If your practice is so huge then why do you need me?"

A chuckle leaves her lips. "I don’t need you… but it would be nice to have someone as talented as you to on my team."

I shake my head. "Your arm, is it numb yet?" She shakes her head yes. I step forward and grab my instruments off of the tray.

She continues speaking to me as I work. "Why do you insist on wasting your talent?"

"I’m not wasting anything."

"Yeah because spending your time stitching up small cuts isn’t a waste of time."

I stop my actions for a brief moment. "Even if I wanted to leave I couldn’t… I’m under contract."

A glint of happiness washes over her features. "My daughter, she’s a lawyer. There are always ways to get around things like this."

I continue working. "I can’t just pick up and leave."

"You could, what’s holding you back? Your not married and you have no family in the area. What’s keeping you here?"

I finish my work on her arm with ease. I take a few steps away from her and place my used materials in the designated bin.

"You’ll need to have them removed in two weeks."

She nods her head and hops off of the chair. I keep my eyes locked on her as she snaps open her purse. She hands me a white card.

"When your ready to deal with some real medicine give me a call." I stare down at the car while she continues to speak. "In the right setting you could change a lot of people’s lives for the better."

I stand there dumbfounded as I watch her exit the room.