Page 92 of Love Sick

I’ll take teleportation. No more dealing with traffic. No TSA. I could visit Bora Bora at a moment’s notice. And best of all, I could sleep in until the last second.

The fourth candidate is male, and his answer of “invisibility” has me shrinking in my chair. A male gynecologist who wants to be invisible. What a skeeze.

The fifth candidate is a tall man with a cocky smile, who clearly thinks he’s getting a spot.

Lexie throws him off his game when she smiles. “So if you were an STD, which one would you be?”

His face blanks, but he regrows his smile. “HIV.”

All three of us stare at him.

“HIV?” I lift my hand in a confused gesture. “Why?”

He shrugs. “Because it’s basically curable now.”

Lexie shoots him a flat stare. “As opposed to chlamydia, which isactuallycurable.”

The sixth candidate is a small intense woman. Chen combats her intensity with rapid-fire medical knowledge questions which she answers without a hint of hesitation.

Finally, he asks, “What’s the most common STD?”

She smirks and crosses her arms. “Pregnancy.”

Lexie snorts. “You are awesome. Can we give her a spot right now?”

When the seventh candidate enters, trembling, Lexie and I exchange furtive glances.

“Hello.” Dr. Chen smiles and waves at the chair before his desk. “Have a seat.”

She perches in her chair, and stares, wide-eyed.

We introduce ourselves, then ask for basic information—her name and hometown, med school, favorite classes. She gives clipped one-word answers, and Dr. Chen is at a loss. He glances toward me.

I power-on my megawatt smile. “If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?”

Her hands fidget in her lap. “Superpower?”

“Um—” I glance at Lexie. “Yeah, like teleportation, or mind-reading, or whatever.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You don’t—” My shoulders fall. How could I be clearer than that?

Dr. Chen takes over. “Can you describe a vaginal delivery for me?”

The girl freezes, and a sudden rush of tears comes to her eyes. “Uh—”

Oh, this poor girl…

Even I wasn’t this bad at interviewing.

“Okay, so maybe just demonstrate how you would do a delivery.” He takes the TCU Horned Frog plush from his desk and holds it in front of the girl’s face. “Here we go. Where will you place your hands?”

The girl raises her hands, palms out, like the Horned Frog might attack. She sniffs. A tear falls. Lexie and I side-eye each other.

Dr. Chen pauses. “And…what are your hands doing?”

Her gaze darts to her raised hands, then back to Chen.

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