Chapter 49 He Also Came
Ethan smiled at Matilda and explained, "I'm here for training too."
He pulled out his student ID and handed it to her.
Matilda looked closely and realized they were in the same program.
"You're... studying integrative medicine too?" she asked.
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, after I left Phoenix City that year, I got into Sanveria Medical School. They have a special Integrative Medicine program that includes acupuncture and herbal therapy, so I focused on that."
Matilda remembered he had mentioned wanting to be a doctor before. It seemed that dream had never changed.
Joy flashed in Ethan's eyes. "Matty, I never expected you'd study medicine too."
Was it because of his influence?
Matilda quickly shook her head. "I just picked it randomly when filling out my college applications."
But Ethan was still happy, his eyes lighting up.
Seeing his expression, Matilda felt uncomfortable. To avoid any misunderstanding, she grabbed her suitcase and headed straight back to her dorm.
......
There were 30 people attending this training program, all key doctors sent by various hospitals. Most were over 35 years old. Young doctors like Matilda and Ethan were rare.
On the first day, they held a brief welcome ceremony in the conference room at Brookford Medical Center, where everyone had to go on stage and introduce themselves.
Beautiful women attract attention anywhere. Even though Matilda dressed low-key, wearing just a touch of lipstick to brighten her complexion, she still drew many eyes.
As soon as she sat down, people around her asked curiously:
"Are you an attending physician or do you have a higher title?"
"What area do you mainly work in?"
"You're so young, how did your hospital choose to send you? Doesn't Harmony Health Center have several senior doctors?"
Matilda felt that while these people seemed friendly, their eyes held some doubt—had she pulled strings to get into this training at such a young age?
Still, she answered everyone's questions gracefully.
Because her answers were professional, people stopped pressing for now.
After the welcome ceremony, classes officially began.
The morning course was on the application of "Acupuncture Protocols for Acute Febrile and Inflammatory Conditions" in modern clinical practice—a fairly advanced part of integrative medicine, especially when combined with traditional acupuncture theory. Although Matilda had studied the basics in college, she lacked practical experience, and with so much time having passed, she'd forgotten a lot.
She struggled to follow and barely understood anything.
Worse, near the end of class, the professor Leonard Morales suddenly called on her: "You there, please stand up and answer the question I just asked."
Matilda stood up and stammered out a few sentences.
Leonard frowned. "How did someone with your level end up in my class? If you perform like this in the next session, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Matilda felt like crying. She'd never been scolded by a teacher in front of everyone during her school years.
After class, everyone else went to the cafeteria for lunch, but she sat alone in the classroom, chewing on her pen.
She was staring blankly at her notebook when someone walked over.
"Matty." Ethan sat down beside her.
"Which part didn't you understand? Want me to explain it to you?"
Matilda glanced at him. She remembered that in middle school, she could never get physics, but later Ethan helped her with problems and it finally clicked.
She let out a cold laugh, gathering her things as she said, "You think you're so great?"
"Matty." Ethan pressed down on her materials, stopping her from packing up. "Are you mad at me for leaving without saying goodbye back then? I had my reasons."
"Let go," Matilda said coldly.
"I won't. I want to help you, just like before."
Matilda was already in a bad mood, and now Ethan was bringing up the past.
After he left that year, she'd been in pain for a long time, feeling she wasn't worth being cherished or loved, that anyone could suddenly leave her.
She simply picked up the water on the desk and splashed it in Ethan's face.
Ethan froze.
Matilda pulled back her materials and said flatly, "Ethan, thanks for helping me back then. If you want payback, you can ask for something material. Don't bring up anything else. I have a boyfriend."
With that, she walked toward the cafeteria with her things.
......
Mornings were spent studying in the conference room, and in the afternoons, students were assigned to various departments at Brookford Medical Center for hands-on practice—after all, real learning comes from doing.
Unfortunately, Matilda was assigned to Leonard's group.
Leonard glanced at her and recognized her as the young doctor he'd scolded that morning. He wasn't impressed.
At the hospital, he mainly worked on combining acupuncture therapy with modern medicine to treat various difficult cases, including some special poisoning cases.
Leonard demonstrated needle techniques on patients while explaining to the students, then had everyone practice themselves.
Matilda still struggled with theory, but once the practical session started, she quickly got into the zone. She loved reading anyway, and much of integrative medicine was interconnected.
Seeing her needle technique wasn't bad, Leonard's attitude softened slightly.
All the doctors who came here for training were capable. Matilda's advantage was her good learning attitude and lack of pretension.
......
Evening.
After a full day of studying, Matilda returned to her dorm.
The dorm conditions were basic—a double room, but with separate closets and desks.
Her roommate was a female doctor in her forties with kids. As soon as she got back to the dorm, she video-called her children, then chatted with her husband, and finally with her mother-in-law.
Matilda didn't really understand this kind of family bond, because she had no one to video call.
Classmates? After graduation, everyone was busy with their own lives, and relationships faded without contact.
Boyfriend? She could call Wentworth, but his number kept being unreachable.
She walked to the balcony and tried calling Wentworth again.
Still unreachable.
It had been over a week. Even if the mission was urgent, shouldn't there be a call to let her know he was safe?
Matilda's heart sank again.
What if he left and never came back?
She started overthinking—imagining Wentworth returning in five years with a beautiful woman, saying his insomnia was cured, this was true love, and asking her to give back her status as his wife; or imagining him injured and losing his memory during a dangerous military mission, seeing her and saying flatly, "Miss, you look familiar. Have we met before?"
Her roommate Sienna pulled her back from her fantasies. "Matty, I bought two fruit teas. Here's one for you."
Matilda snapped out of it and took the tea. "Thanks, Sienna."
Sienna smiled. "Don't mention it. We're away from home, so we should eat and drink well. Sweet things make you feel better."
Seeing Matilda's distracted expression, she asked, "Did Prof. Morales scolding you today get to you? Want me to go over today's key points with you?"
"That'd be great." Matilda couldn't ask for more.
Sienna had graduated from a top medical school and was a real academic. Her explanations were easy to understand.
After finishing, she encouraged Matilda. "You're still young. If you put your heart into it, you can become an expert too."
Matilda smiled. "You too, Sienna."
Sienna laughed heartily. "I don't have such big ambitions. When I have free time, I just want to play with my kids and be a big kid myself."
......
The next morning.
Matilda arrived at the classroom.
Yesterday the instructor said seats would be fixed for this period, with name cards on the desks.
As she reached her seat, she saw a cup of hot coffee on the desk.
Who bought this?