Rebirth Into My Second Chance

I snatched the milk, muttered a quick "thanks," and headed back to my room.

Staring at the milk, a flood of emotions washed over me. My previous life's milk trauma was deep-seated; even now, the thought of drinking it made me uneasy.

I tossed it into the fridge and laid down to sleep. Tomorrow was my first day reporting to the ER.

When morning came, I sprang out of bed, quickly freshened up, grabbed a slice of toast but left the milk untouched. As I opened the door, I bumped into Max on his way out. Our conversation was minimal as always.

We shared an elevator ride in silence. He headed to the basement, and I got off at the ground floor.

I thought that would be the extent of our interaction, but fate had other plans. Arriving at the hospital, I learned that Max, or Dr. Hilton as he was known professionally, was to be my mentor.

The nurse who greeted me patted my shoulder sympathetically. "In the whole of Crestview Metropolis, Dr. Hilton is the top in general and surgical medicine. But you're brave, Claire. You're his first intern ever. Usually, no one dares to intern under him. They call Dr. Hilton the Reaper because wherever he goes, even death seems to think twice. But he's known for being quite distant and expects nothing but the best, both in medicine and in life."

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

"Dr. Hilton never takes interns," she continued. "But this time, an academy member from your university called him up, asking him to take on some interns, and after looking at the list, he chose you."

So he knew I was coming

and he even saved me when I fainted that

cold, distant image others painted of him

on his office door, and he simply said, "Come

surprised. He just pointed to

he went right back to scrutinizing some

but it was my first time watching

documents were

he seemed to be crunching some data. He kept at it, focused on his

for over an

if he was this meticulous when he autopsied my body in my previous life, searching for DNA evidence with the same

office was precisely organized, everything at a 45-degree angle, even his

took a sip of water, he finally addressed me, "The school sent you to intern? What

off guard, I managed to say, "I was top of my class in

moment before saying, "This