The surgery didn’t take me more than an hour, and we were on our way out of the hospital's main entrance by seven-thirty in the evening.“What’s the plan?” I asked as we walked past the parking lot heading away from Madison Avenue to Riverside Boulevard walking towards E 99th St.“We go home to change, and join the girls at Sapphire nightclub,” Ashley said, “They want us to watch them perform, before giving us a few pointers. And tomorrow we go shopping!”“It’s a good thing tomorrow is Saturday, I am beat!” I said, sounding like I felt -- tired.“Thank you, Estie for doing this,” Ashley said and I waved her off.“We need something fun for a change anyway,” Ameera said.“Are you saying our lives are boring, Doctor Ameera?” I said in theatrical shock. She giggled and rolled her eyes.“Our lives are a boring routine, Doctor Roberts, we are in dire need of an adventure,” she said with a sigh.About ten minutes later we were already at our apartment building. We chatted animatedly as we he
“It is nice to officially meet you all,” Anna said, the Hispanic beauty placed her hands on her ample hips and openly assessed us.“Wait till I tell my mum, we have doctors working at the strip club now,” Tamika said, taking us all in. Ashley quickly made a sound to negate the claim.“Just like I said, my friends are involved because they want to help me and it’s only going to be a one-time thing,” Ashley explained in a rush, letting out an awkward laugh.“That’s all they all say,” Tamika replied, throwing Ashley a skeptical glance.“Ignore Tamika, she is messing with you,” Anna said and cut her eyes at her friend. She responded with a raised eyebrow. Ameera shared a look with me. “I already told my boss about you and he has something huge coming up you might be interested in, but he would like to see what you can do before he can hire you three for the gig.”“And since we are to train you, and serve as agents, we get a 20% cut, aside from Bobby’s 30% of course,” Tamika interjected.“
We all watched as the girls left the stage and another lone figure came out. She wore a black leather bodysuit with a matching mask, holding a horsewhip. I smiled. She reminded me of Catwoman. The mask covered almost all of her face and I wondered if, like us, she was someone who wanted to be incognito or just one of her acts. I watched with interest as she moved about, sinuously, slowly snapping the whip with expertise. Then she began to pull down her front zipper exposing her full chest, narrow waist, and wide hips. When she stepped out of the bodysuit she was completely naked. The boys went wild, but not once did she disturb her mask. It was riveting and I watched till the very end. Anna and Tamika came back up to get us and took us to a private room for practice. And like the private box, it looked like a place where a wealthy client would enjoy a striptease all alone. “Do you think they allow the girls to go further than just showing off their goods?” Ashley asked evidently we
The girls and I spent the better part of the following day shopping, but when it came to what to wear for the upcoming gig, I chose a black leather bodysuit with a matching knee-length boot and mask. The others waited to see me in it before rushing to pick theirs. The three of us adorned similar attire and stood in front of the boutique mirror, admiring ourselves then we exchanged satisfied grins, turned to the shop attendant, and chorused, “We will take these.”We later joined Anna and Tamika at a Pole dancing dance and fitness center somewhere along West 27th Street and spent a few hours having a crash course on strength-building exercises before braving choreographed moves. We were also taught aerial hoops with Anna and Tamika showing us the step-by-step moves. And at every chance I got, I sketched the detailed moves in steps, and thus when it was my time to show what I had learned for the day. I let out a deep breath and let my memory guard my every move. When the instructor gave
Ever since I walked through the doors of Memorial Hospital, I had done everything I could to prove I was going to be a formidable contender in the surgical world, and of course the next best Surgeon in the entire country -- if not the world. I had taken every chance I could to assist top surgeons in major surgeries, ensuring they knew I was dependable and would have their back in any difficult cases or the very worst of scenarios. And that–-I trust–-had made Cole, who was the head of my department, assign me solo cases that someone at my level shouldn’t be handling. And thus it was quite worrying when I ducked each time a nurse called out to me or even approached me. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, I wasn’t overly surprised to see Cole glowering down at me at the cafeteria. “A word, Doctor Roberts?” he said as soon as I bravely raised my eyes to meet him. I nodded in resignation and he took the seat opposite mine. “Hey,” I said with forced bravado. “What’s going on?” he asked, arching his thi
The Friday we were supposed to have the gig came faster than I expected. It was as if the days rushed by just so the universe could have a good laugh at my expense. I had just one surgery for the day and two assists and decided to join Ameera and Ashley with the other interns volunteering at the free clinic east of the building. We had decided to close early and head home to have a short nap before the car Bobby promised to send arrived to pick us up with Anna and Tamika. I recalled there used to be three of them. I wondered what happened to the third girl. As soon as I peered inside Ameera's consultation room she exclaimed, “A-ha! Just the right person we need right now! Bennedith, meet Doctor Roberts. She is one of the best surgeons in New York and could quickly help us with your appendicitis—” She introduced me and I plastered a smile on my face as I proceeded into the room, watching the middle-aged man fidget on the consultation bed. A frown pulled the skin on my forehead as I s
Ashley maintained her bright smile and then realized we were not buying it. She let out a sigh, with her shoulders drooping a bit as if deflated. Her lovely eyes held mine with earnestness. “If we are discovered by anyone in our circle we will never live it down … and my parents will … literally…” she paused and made a slash sign across her throat. I busted out laughing and gave her a playful push on the shoulder.“And I thought I was the only chicken in the group,” I said, flapping my arms. She grinned. “But you are so good. It would be a shame to back out,” Ameera said.“We have our masks, ladies. We just have to remember never to take it off, no matter what,” I said.“Of course!” Ashley said.“We are doctors and we survived Med school. This would be a piece of cake!” I said. But then my treacherous mind began to cook up all the things that could go wrong. “I have a Ruger LCP. It's small and concealable. I’m taking it with me … just in case,” Ameera said. “My God, Ameera, stop s
With all the test results Ameera requested for Bennedith, I already knew where the Appendix was, right at the lower abdomen to the right corner of his stomach. I deftly made an incision about three inches over the area, examining the surrounding area of the appendix, making sure there were no other problems that I needed to deal with. And I thought the patient was quite lucky to have come in at the time he did, the appendix was ready to rapture. I freed the appendix from its mesenteric attachment to the colon, cut out the appendix, and sewed over the hole in the colon. But before I sewed the incision I said, “Irrigation.” and a nurse stepped over to pour gentamicin-saline over the area I had worked on, to clean the area, making sure there were no bubbles and cleaning the debris left by the surgery. The extra precaution was to prevent Intra-abdominal abscesses or any kind of infection after the surgery. When she stepped back I closed the incision. I checked the time on the wall clock