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Chapter 3
A week before medical school graduation, Ryan Albright sat at the bar at Barnacle Ben’s, enjoying the last days of freedom before his residency started in San Francisco. Spending time with friends and family before he moved up north meant a lot to him. Luckily, he’d gone to college and medical school right in San Diego, but finding an anesthesia residency in Southern California was impossible. Then a stroke of luck when an opening serendipitously became available at UCSF at the last minute.
“How did that happen?” his friend and medical student cohort Eddie Page asked. “They have a few slots for a lot of applications.”
“Yeah, trust me, I’m still in shock.”
“Well, you must have a guardian angel.”
“Honestly, I’d rather stay down here,” Ryan said, tipping the bottle up. “I hate the thought of starting all over in a foreign land.”
“You don’t know what foreign is. I’m going to Des Moines, okay? It could be worse.”
“You wanted family medicine,” Ryan replied. “Iowa’s where to go for that. Besides, Des Moines is supposed to be a happening place.”
The following weekend, leaving his folks, Ruth and Ed, crying on the curb, Ryan pulled away from the family homestead and headed north on the I-5.
Sharing an apartment with three other residents meant getting cozy fast, but in the land of exorbitant rents, it was the only option. On the first day, he met Caroline Behnig, second-year surgical resident. Everything about Caroline struck Ryan immediately.
She was breathtakingly beautiful with long, curly strawberry blond hair, dimples in the clearest complexion, and huge green eyes. He was immediately attracted, and it took him a bit to pull it together.
“So you’re the newbie,” she said, smiling. “How’d you manage to get a position here?”
“It was a last minute stroke of massive good luck,” Ryan replied. “I was just as shocked as everyone else. They had an unexpected opening, and I was first on the waiting list I didn’t even know I’d made. Then this apartment sort of fell into my lap. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
He couldn’t help staring at her as he talked, with emphasis onlucky.
“Well, just an FYI, we have bad plumbing and bugs, and you have to share a room with me. We have a divider, but I’ll have to walk through your space to get to the door. I’m sorry.”
He stared at her. They were sharing abedroom? It was information the apartment-matching office had failed to share with him. The wordluckyreverberated.
“Cat got your tongue?” she asked, laughing. “It’s always a shock. Hopefully, if it’s a problem for you, something else will open in the lottery, either a girl room for me or another guy room for you. Until then, I’m easy to live with; I don’t leave my clothes all over and never play music or watch television. You won’t find rent like this anywhere else in the city.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” he said uncertainly. “Can I see the room?”
She took him down a narrow hallway, and in a clean space with a partial wall he saw a single bed, neatly made up, with floor-to-ceiling shelving and a desk and chair.
“This is your half,” she said. “We can string up a curtain here so you have privacy when I come through. I won’t be around that much, to tell you the truth. I’m a second-year surgical resident and they’re kicking my ass.”
Sitting on the bed, he bounced up and down a bit, happy that it was firm.
“My former roommate replaced the mattress last year, so at least you know that’s bug-free.”
“Is it really a problem?” he asked, grimacing.
“Big problem. Mice, too. We have to be really careful about crumbs and clean up after meals, etcetera. No food in the bedrooms.”
“You sound like my mother,” he replied, checking her out again. He’d put up with miceandbugs to sleep in the same room with her.
“Your mother was right. Anyway, the bathroom is an issue. There’s only one for the four of us. Since we’re all in the OR, we shower at the hospital when we can. I’ve been showering there except in emergencies, and there’s abundant hot water, unlike here.”
“What year are the other two roommates?”
“Jon’s a third year and Nate’s first year, like you. Both are surgical residents, like me.”
“Thanks. I’ll take the room,” he said. Where else would he go? “I guess I’ll unpack my car.”
With his mind swirling at everything, he thought about Caroline as he went down the three flights of stairs to the street to start unpacking his car. She was so poised and self-confident; that was the first thing he noticed about her after realizing how attracted to her he was. She immediately put him at ease, so he didn’t stutter or put his foot in his mouth one time with her.
