Moving along with House and Wilson, it was soon our turn to board the bus, not without first, of course, storing our luggage in the special compartment on the side of the vehicle.
Watching as the bus driver, who was also the one organizing the luggage, turned out to be an older man. "I'll lift it for you," I said, embarrassed, lifting my suitcase with little effort.
Surprisingly noticing my luggage only then, House whistled with exaggerated surprise. "You know we're only going for two days, right?" he asked, smiling broadly.
"I know, yes," I replied seriously.
"Good... unless, you're not planning to run away, right?" added House, pretending to be worried, "because, Houston is still in the United States," he explained slowly.
Shaking my head, I clicked my tongue, showing exaggerated disappointment. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, pretending to be worried, "that joke was terrible," I added.
Since the day before, House had been exuding a strange lethargic feeling, something he maintained even while we were standing in line. I had no idea why he was acting that way, but it wasn't hard to guess it had something to do with the senator and whatever conversation they'd had.
Whatever the real reason was, I'd hardly find out. "You're right, I need to do better," said House, snapping his fingers, disappointed in himself.
Being the last of the three of us to hand over his luggage. "Don't encourage him," murmured Dr. Wilson, exasperated.
Thanking the driver, at least Wilson and I boarded the bus.
With half the seats already occupied, the interior of the vehicle oddly felt like a school bus; the groups of people were clearly based purely on their positions at the hospital which, again, divided them into hierarchies like a school bus. At least from the few I recognized; there were the administrators, among them Dr. Cuddy, the cardiothoracic surgeons, the cardiologists, the doctors who were just using the trip as a short vacation, the residents, and finally, the senior students.
House and Wilson, as could be expected, chose seats together, leaving me to my own luck.
"Go sit with the weird kids," said House, pointing to the back of the bus where the senior students were sitting.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one noticing the similarities.
Ignoring House and taking advantage of the fact that the bus was still half empty, I took a window seat, hoping no one would sit beside me and make the trip uncomfortable.
It wasn't that I didn't want to sit with the students or someone I didn't know, but if I could avoid it, all the better.
It didn't take long for the bus to be almost completely full and, fortunately for me, the only two people who could have made my trip uncomfortable, Chase and Foreman, decided, like House and Wilson, to sit together, leaving the seat next to me surprisingly empty until almost the end.
Strangely, even though I was more or less hoping not to have a stranger sitting beside me for the two-hour trip, the fact that no one chose to sit next to me made me feel slightly excluded. Fortunately, being the second to last to board the bus, apparently arriving late, Cameron scanned the empty seats, smiling when she saw me.
Taking the seat next to me. "I was worried, I thought I'd have to sit next to some cardio guy, or worse, a student," whispered Cameron jokingly.
Raising an eyebrow, I silently judged the doctor for a moment. "Technically, I'm a student too," I said, feigning moral superiority, after all, I had been thinking the same thing not long ago.
Raising one of her hands. "I didn't mean it like that-" said Cameron quickly, trying to defend herself.
"I'm kidding," I interrupted, amused.
Exhaling dramatically, annoyed, Cameron rolled her eyes. "Are you nervous?" she asked a moment later, shifting the topic of conversation.
At first, only House and Dr. Cuddy knew about my presentation, but after my mom found out, it didn't take long before the nurses knew too, and as fast as the speed of sound allowed, the rest of the hospital found out. Basically, overnight, everyone knew.
Pressing my lips slightly, I shook my head. "Frankly, no," I replied.
Nodding, surprised. "I remember the first time I presented outside of university," said Cameron, "I was so nervous and for a moment I forgot part of my information," she added, sighing.
Cameron's story continued and after that we changed topics several times, from stories about her time in medical school to my last date with Diane. Obviously ignoring more... private topics.
And just like that, the little more than two-hour trip to Houston passed quickly.
The city, being a modern metropolis in the state, was just as I remembered from my last trip, full of light and cars despite the hour, and unlike Medford, with dozens if not hundreds of buildings over five stories tall, one of them the hotel where we'd be staying, apparently the same one as every year, right next to the convention center where the event would be held.
When the bus came to a complete stop right in front of the hotel doors, it didn't take long for everyone to get off, finding the hotel staff helping the bus driver unload the luggage. It was clear that after years of receiving doctors for the congress, the hotel had a whole system in place for handling groups.
Taking my suitcase, which one of the hotel bellboys pulled out of the compartment with effort. "Thanks," I said, slightly embarrassed.
Unlike my heavy rolling suitcase, she was carrying only a medium-sized bag. "Wow, planning to move in here?" asked Cameron, surprised at the sight of my suitcase.
Closing my eyes tightly for a second. "I like to be prepared," I explained, walking toward the hotel doors. I had no intention of revealing that it had been my mother who packed for me.
Laughing quietly, Cameron walked behind me; she didn't need to say anything, it was embarrassing enough on its own.
Opening the door for us with a broad smile on his face. "Welcome," said the hotel doorman.
Thanking him, we entered the lobby, which was packed with people in suits talking and laughing among themselves, only a few carrying luggage, surely doctors from all over the country making or maintaining connections.
Stopping beside me, surely also taking in the scene before us. "Welcome to Toby's club," said Cameron with a touch of distaste in her voice.
And I didn't blame her; even though the lobby was packed with people, the number of women, not hotel employees, paled dramatically compared to the number of men. In fact, aside from Dr. Cuddy and Cameron, the number of female doctors present could be counted on the fingers of my hands.
Raising my eyebrows. "Why do you say that?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
Shaking her head, amused. "You're going to fit in perfectly here," she said sarcastically.
Before I could test Cameron's statement, behind us, through the same door we had entered not long ago, Dr. Cuddy appeared, dragging her own luggage. "Ah, PJ," she said, smiling when she saw me, "how was your trip?"
"Great," I replied cordially.
"I'm glad," said the woman with relief, "you can get your room key at the front desk, you just need to show an ID," she added, suddenly stopping at the last word, "do you have an ID with you?" she asked quickly a moment later, apparently having forgotten that I was a minor.
Nodding slightly. "My license," I replied.
"Ah yeah, that works," said the woman, relieved, "well, you should do your check-in quickly so I can start introducing you to some people," she added, smiling at a couple of doctors in the distance.
Smiling a little awkwardly. "Sounds good," I said.
I didn't really mind meeting experienced doctors in their field in fact, I knew it was very important to make connections, but thanks to Dr. Thomas's party, I knew it could be very tiring.
"All right, I'll see you in a moment then," said the woman, walking directly toward a group of older doctors, her expression immediately changing to the same professional one I had seen on other occasions.
When Dr. Cuddy was far enough away. "My trip was good too," murmured Cameron ironically, "told you, you'll fit in perfectly," she added, playfully pushing my arm.
There was a small line in front of the reception desk, which, thanks to the receptionist's quick work, moved along smoothly. In no time, it was Cameron's turn and then mine.
Always maintaining a professional smile. "Good evening, sorry for the wait," said the receptionist, "check out," she added, opening her registry book.
"Uhm no, check in," I replied, puzzled, as I took out my wallet.
It was quite obvious that the woman assumed that because of my age I wasn't with the rest of the adults.
Surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry, we're completely booked," said the woman, "there's the national cardiology convention," she added, gesturing toward the rest of the lobby.
Yup.
Handing my license to the woman. "I'm actually part of the convention," I said calmly.
Reading the information on my license, possibly focusing on my date of birth, the woman for a fraction of a second doubted the truth of my words, looking at me with suspicion.
Noticing the seriousness on my face, and maybe realizing she had stood still for a moment without doing anything. "Oh my- I'm sorry," she said visibly embarrassed, snapping out of her daze, urgently flipping the page of her registry book, "Patrick John... here you are," she added immediately, surprised.
Apparently, she still didn't fully believe what she was seeing, as she checked my name twice on both the official document and in her registry book. Fortunately, she accepted reality relatively quickly, closing her registry book and turning to look at the wall behind her, covered with numbered keys.
With a key in her hand and embarrassment clearly on her face. "I'm sorry, I just assumed that-" the receptionist was trying to explain.
Sighing, I shook my head, calmly raising my hands. "Don't worry," I said, interrupting her, "I completely understand," I added, smiling in amusement.
Grateful for my words, the woman sighed in relief. "Then allow me to welcome you to the Hilton Hotel," she said as she extended her hand, giving me my room key and my driver's license a moment later, "you can call the lobby from the phone in your room by dialing zero, and breakfast starts at seven in the morning."
"Thank you," I said, still holding the key and license in my hand, taking my suitcase again to move away.
Before I could get much farther, intending to finally drop off my luggage in my room. "PJ, come here," said Dr. Cuddy, making me stop.
The woman was still surrounded by a couple of doctors, all of whom were studying me with interest.
Smiling stiffly at the doctor, I nodded, changing my direction toward where she was, not without first looking around for Cameron, who fortunately was with her own group of colleagues, apparently finding some acquaintances.
Relieved that I hadn't rudely left Cameron on her own, I reached Dr. Cuddy, who was smiling at me oddly, like a proud mother.
Gently holding my shoulder, the doctor guided me to stand in front of her, a bit in the center of the strange circle of older doctors, there wasn't a single one under fifty. "Gentlemen, this is PJ Duncan, the brilliant mind I was telling you about," said Dr. Cuddy, and even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was smiling broadly behind me.
And so it began.
Reminding me of Dr. Thomas's party, the questions came immediately after the doctors recovered from their moment of surprise upon seeing my age.
When a doctor met me after hearing of my achievements from someone else, either Dr. Thomas or Dr. Cuddy at that moment, one of two things happened: I was either received with curious surprise, being congratulated for my knowledge at my age, or with absolute skepticism, and that's when the questions came. I highly doubted there were tests as difficult as some of the questions the more skeptical ones asked in an attempt to trap me in some kind of trick.
While chatting with the relatively small group of doctors, more and more began to join in, quickly increasing the number of questions I was answering.
Since that day at Dr. Thomas's party, introducing myself and keeping a conversation with new people had become surprisingly much easier. Using everything House had taught me about reading people, I could study their reactions to my words, and without realizing it, I quickly became the center of laughter caused by me.
"And then Dr. House told the patient, 'sir, you can keep your pants on,'" I said, immediately causing the doctors to burst out laughing.
I had told a completely made-up story just to test what I had achieved. I didn't know if it was some kind of group psychological effect or something similar, but it was fun.
Before I could say anything else, someone came up beside me, laughing falsely as he placed a hand on my shoulder. The smell of his cologne and the tone of his voice immediately told me who it was.
Smiling almost predatorily. "PJ," said Vogler, who had somehow discreetly made his way through all the doctors who had been surrounding me. "I was looking for you," he added, in what was clearly a lie.
Smiling stiffly at the man. "I'm here," I murmured, my displeasure poorly hidden.
Not seeing the annoyance in my eyes, or simply choosing to ignore it. "I see," murmured the man, smiling broadly at everyone around us with what was obviously a business smile. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" he asked a moment later, as if joking.
No.
It wasn't hard to see why Vogler was there. Aside from the presentation of the drug, he would use the convention to make contacts that could benefit him, and I wouldn't be his way of getting them.
Unfortunately, Dr. Cuddy, who was beside me, didn't share that sentiment. "This is Edward Vogler, a major contributor to our hospital," said the woman with a smile fixed on her face, a smile that to anyone else might seem genuine, but I could see was fake and uncomfortable.
"He's also the owner of Eastbrook Pharmaceuticals," I added, raising my eyebrows, causing a couple of snorts from my 'audience.'
Patting my shoulder. "But more importantly, I see myself as something of a guardian to this brilliant young man," declared Vogler, completely shameless.
I hate him.
Continuing what seemed to be his tactic to steal the spotlight. "What were you talking about?" he asked a moment later, falsely interested.
Changing my stiff, fake smile. "Oh, doctor stuff, I wouldn't want to bore you with that, sir," I said calmly, my underlying meaning clear.
He wouldn't understand.
My words caused a couple of the older doctors in the group to quietly snort, clearly understanding.
Losing his smile for a second, Vogler nodded. "You're right, I don't understand much about medicine," the man said carelessly, "that's why I pay many millions of dollars to people who do," he added jokingly, causing a few people to laugh with him.
I couldn't stand being there under the man's arm any longer. Checking my watch, pretending to be surprised. "Oh my- look at the time," I said, discreetly removing Vogler's arm from my shoulder, "it's been a pleasure chatting with all of you, but it's my bedtime, after all, I'm still a kid," I joked, this time causing everyone to laugh.
Smiling while staring directly at Vogler, who was also laughing, I grabbed my suitcase handle. "Excuse me," I said to everyone, without taking my eyes off Vogler, who coldly stared back at me with a fake smile.
With little trouble, I slipped out of the group of people, receiving handshakes and promises of future talks along the way, practically escaping from Vogler and his attempts to use me.
While waiting for the elevator, I glanced back at the spot I had just left, noticing how the group that had gathered had significantly shrunk after I left, leaving only Vogler, Dr. Cuddy, and a few other doctors who stayed to chat.
From the way Vogler occasionally shot me irritated looks, it was clear that my disappearing act and my 'lack of respect' hadn't been taken very well.
---
Author Thoughts:
As always, I'm not American, not a doctor, not a fighter, not Magnus Carlsen, not Michael Phelps, not Arsene Lupin, not McLovin, not Elliot, not Capone and not Tiger Woods.
Another chapter has passed, so new thanks are in order. I would like to especially thank:
11332223
RandomPasserby96
Victor_Venegas
I think that's all. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.
Thank you for reading! :D
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