Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I took a step forward onto the first plank and grabbed the horizontal wires placed either side of my head.
“All those years ago when you first considered training to be a doctor, did you always know you’d get to this point?” Parker asked.
“What, staring into the jaws of death?”
As I took the next step, I realized I was only about a meter above the ground—for now. A broken toe was the most likely scenario if I fell and the safety harness didn’t do its job. I took the next few steps more confidently, and found it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The slats were a comfortable distance apart. We weren’t too high up and things felt pretty sturdy—the same way I might have described my life after getting on my feet again following a rough few years. I had a job, a roof over my head, cereal in the cupboard, and milk in the fridge.
I stepped up onto the next platform and turned as Parker started on the other end of the bridge.
“You okay?” I asked her as she reached me.
“I will be when we’re done here.” She grinned up at me. “But at least you’re thinking about your imminent death rather than starting work.”
“Every cloud has a silver lining,” I said. She knew that I hated that phrase because it was total rubbish. Every cloud didn’t have a silver lining. When a door closed another one didn’t magically open, and I wanted nothing to do with any ill winds. I hated those kinds of platitudes. I liked reality. And reality was that life was hard. And to get anything in this life took hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.
“Okay, onto the next,” I said, following the arrows. “This one looks a little higher but not too bad.” The slats on the next bridge were arranged in a more haphazard way—some crossed, some small, some big. With a little more confidence, I stepped across the bridge and my threatening panic attack receded slightly. That was until I was just about to step up to the platform and the entire bridge started to shake.
I screamed.
Had the metal ropes holding my harness clip fallen down? I turned my head—it was just Parker stepping onto the bridge before I’d finished.
“Is that safe? Us both being on the bridge at one time?” I asked the instructor right in front of me.
He offered his hand and I took it, letting him hoist me up onto the platform. “It’s perfectly safe. A hundred people on this bridge at the same time would be perfectly safe.”
I wasn’t sure a hundred people would fit, but I wasn’t going to be one of a hundred that went on that bridge to find out.
“Next, you need to use that climbing wall to reach the platform above and commando crawl across the net to the next platform.”
I bent my head so I could see where he was pointing. About five meters above us, the next section was not only higher, but you weren’t upright. People were crawling over a rope net, forced to look down. “Who designed this thing? Sadists?”
“Some people like to push themselves,” Parker said, coming up behind me. “Like you. You’re always pushing yourself to do better.”
“The difference is I like to push myself at a desk in front of a computer. There’s no mortality risk involved.” I grabbed onto the pebble-shaped blue plastic holds on the climbing wall and started my ascent.
“Then dinner on Saturday night should be right up your street.”
I groaned. “Noooo.”
“It’s dinner. And it will be hellishly distracting. I’ve seen a photo. You’re not going to be able to look at anything else or think about anything else while you’re sitting opposite this guy. Also, your arse looks fantastic from down here. You need to show it off more.”
I reached the top of the climbing wall and inelegantly pulled myself up onto the platform. I rolled to safety and just lay there on my back, wondering if there was an easy exit and whether Parker would forgive me if I abandoned her. “This, for the record, is a terrible place for a date.”
“Saturday night is in a restaurant. With chairs and everything. And although there’s a lovely view, there’s a lift. No harnesses required.”
“Sounds like all my dreams come true. But no. I’m not going on a date. The last thing I want to do is get involved with anyone at the moment. I’m about to start as a foundation doctor at one of the best hospitals in the country. I don’t want to be distracted from Monday. I want to be completely and utterly focused on my job. It’s going to be difficult enough to just survive the next two years without trying to keep a relationship alive.”
“You’re going to be just fine.”