Page 6 of Dr. Attending

Here we go again.

I have no idea why my brother insists on making these types of jabs. We each have more money than we know what to do with thanks to our dad’s medical device invention, so it doesn’t really matter who lives where. But Parker has always been someone who thrives on control, and our sister is the one beast that he could never quite tame.

“You’re right,” Claire mocks, placing her hand over her heart. “You’re such a saint for letting me live in your overpriced condo that’s already paid off. A true giver. Let’s call up the Pope, and ask him to anoint you with holy water for all of your good deeds.”

Parker rolls his midnight-blue eyes, the same shade as mine. “Now that I have the house in Sandy Springs, the condo isn’t necessary anymore. All it would take is a single call to my realtor, and I could have it sold tomorrow.”

Cassidy shoots him a look filled with absolute horror, and it makes me smile because there’s no doubt in my mind that he will be hearing about this later.

“You wouldn’t,” Claire says, narrowing her gaze in challenge.

Parker leans forward with a teasing grin. “Keep calling Beau mybrother, and I might get the itch to liquify some assets.”

Claire snarls and lurches forward. “And I might get the itch to rip your eyeballs out.”

***

Icrack open a fresh can of Alani Witch’s Brew and lean against the island, waiting for Parker to finish meticulously wiping down the kitchen counters.

Cassidy insisted that she needed to watch a reality TV show with Claire after dinner to give my brother and me some time alone to catch up.Apparently, he’s been acting weird for the past few days, and my sister-in-law thinks that if he’s going to open up to anyone, it’s going to be me. Clearly, she isn’t as well versed on our sibling dynamics as she thinks because emotional conversations aren’t something we do.

“When’s your Step 1, again?”

Case in point.

Rather than daring to ask about my personal life, my brother chooses to bring up medical school board exams instead.

“I think October,” I answer with a forced shrug, trying to pretend that it’s not the one thing on my mind every second of the day. “Why?”

I’m sure Parker thinks that this is an easy conversation because he graduated at the top of his class and never struggled with anything academically. But I would rather rip out all of my eyelashes than talk about this—that’s how burnt out I am right now.

My brother shoots me a weird look from across the kitchen. “Just curious if anything else has changed since I took it. I still don’t understand how you’re supposed to differentiate yourself for residency when they’re making all of the exams pass-fail.”

I roll my eyes because I’ve heard that comment a million times from my ultra-competitive classmates.

There are a total of three board exams during medical school. Step 1 is taken after you complete the lecture-based portion of your education. In the past, you would receive a grade like any other traditional standardized test, but a few years ago they transitioned to a pass-fail system with the hope that it would reduce stress and alleviate burnout.

It didn’t—it simply transferred the stress to other things.

Now that everyone ends up with the same score, there’s more pressure placed on grades and research because you have to find a way to differentiate yourself from your cohort. If I had the mental capacity to care about something I have no power to change, I would argue that it actually made the situation worse.

But I don’t. So I just suffer with the rest of the second years, hoping that everything will work itself out.

“Well,” I huff, “it’s a good thing you don’t have to worry about it, then, P.”

“True. But that doesn’t mean it’s not stupid,” Parker grumbles, turning to place Claire’s leftovers in the stainless steel fridge.

My sister’s fluffy orange cat rubs up against my bare leg, and I smile down at him because it’s like he knew I needed the distraction. I scoop him into my arms and straighten, appreciating the soothing vibrations of his purrs against my chest.

“Claire.” I turn toward the living room as I stroke her cat’s oversized ear. “Can I take this love muffin out on the balcony with us?”

Claire waves her hand above the top of the white sectional. “Yeah, whatever, just don’t bore Frosty to death with your stupid doctor talk.”

I glance back at Parker to see if he’s ready.

He grabs a beer from the fridge and mutters something about how it’s still hot outside, but he’d rather do anything else other than watch the blind dating show currently playing on the television.

On my way out, Cassidy mouths the words “Thank you” at me.

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