Page 12 of The Interns

If circumstances were different, Reed would crack open a beer and plop down on his couch to tell him how this new internship had him feeling outclassed and questioning whether he actually had what it took to be the kind of district attorney this town needed, but he’d save that for another day. “Yeah, I don’t know about that, but I was fortunate to learn a lot from my big brother.”

“Speaking of big brothers, Nate called me the other night. Did he reach out to you?”

Nathaniel was the oldest of the three Stanton brothers, and still something of a legend in the town. Valedictorian of his high school class, quarterback of the state championship winning high school football team, prom king, and an Eagle Scout to top it off. There wasn’t a day that went by that somebody didn’t ask how Nate was doing, and Reed always had to give a generic “well, thanks for asking” because he simply didn’t know.

Nate left for college in Illinois when Reed was just five years old. After that he was on to medical school in Oregon where he stayed to practice emergency medicine, so he never made it home for holidays because of his work schedule. Since he was only a few years older than Emmett, they had time to form some kind of relationship, but Reed hardly knew his older brother at all.

“He’s thinking about moving home.”

“Seriously?”

“That’s what he said. Apparently one of the big hospitals in Atlanta wants to reopen the old Carter County General Hospital that shuttered a few years ago, and they need an ER doc. I’m havin’ trouble believing it myself.”

“That’d be somethin’.” Reed had pretty much written off any chance of having a relationship with his oldest brother at this point, never mind having all three of them in the same town together again. He’d welcome it, of course, but it would almost be like starting from scratch. Last his brother knew, Reed was commandeering the TV to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and playing T-ball every Saturday morning. “I bet mom and dad are thrilled.”

“I’m not sure if they know, so just keep it between you and me. It’d crush them if it fell through.”

“I won’t say a word,” Reed promised.

Reed stuck around for another hour to help Emmett and Cammie finish up the bulk of the packing before heading home to brush up on criminal law before tomorrow morning. He wanted to start day three on the best foot possible.

5

Maya

“What is wrong with me?”

Darby looked up from the box of fancy leftovers from Maya’s lunch in front of her and begrudgingly opened her mouth to speak instead of devouring the piece of steak she had just pierced with her fork.

“Are you asking to be psychoanalyzed or is this a rhetorical question?”

Maya grinned. “Both?”

As a psychiatrist-in-training, the line between friend and therapist was often blurred, especially while sitting in an empty hospital cafeteria at nine-thirty at night. With Darby in her scrubs and Maya sitting in the booth, back against the wall and legs across the seat, like she was laid on the couch at her shrink’s office, it was just too easy.

“Wanna talk it out? You usually have pretty good insight.”

She exhaled and relaxed into the wall. “Where to start? So we know that I’m the type A, only daughter of high achieving parents.” Darby laughed at this non-revelation. “I think I’ve just put so much work into getting this associateship and so much weight in what it means for my future that to have it go off the rails like this…well, it’s kind of making me feel like my future plans are going off the rails which makes me panic and do dumb things like ask my coworker if he has a girlfriend. At a bar. After knowing him for all of a day and a half. I am serious and focused, but this isn’t me.”

“That’s a good start. Also good is this steak, by the way,” Darby interjected. “Thanks for sharing.”

“No problem,” she said of the short walk across downtown from her office to the hospital for an impromptu late dinner date.

“Transference,” Darby said after swallowing a bite.

“What’s that?” Maya asked.

“You’re upset with your boss for changing the rules of your associateship, but you can’t and don’t want to be mad at him, so you’re transferring those feelings onto your co-worker.”

Maya chewed on her bottom lip as she mulled it over. “That sounds like some seriously misguided behavior.”

“It’s human behavior,” Darby said matter of factly. “You just recognize it and try to do better.”

“Yeah, I think I need to settle down. And start fresh. Again.” Maya dropped her head in her hands, realizing how silly it was.

“Third day’s the charm, right?” Darby asked. “Maybe once you get to know him, he’ll end up being your legal soulmate.”

“He can’t be. He doesn’t want to practice intellectual property law. He’s a criminal law guy.”

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