Jennifer indicated she’d gotten the message. Leaving the cubicle, she walked back to his office. She sat down in his side chair and lifted the envelope up to the overhead light to see if she could make out what the note said. She knew it was like cheating herself, but she couldn’t help it.

Neil showed up in just a few minutes. “Well, did you get Columbia?” he asked.

“I haven’t opened it yet. I’m superstitious. I wanted to do it in your presence.”

“Silly woman! You’re going to get what you want.”

“I wish I were as confident as you are.”

“Well, open it!”

Taking a deep breath, Jennifer ravished the envelope, rudely yanked out the note, opened it, and then cheered. She threw the note into the air and let it waft down to the floor.

“See!” Neil said. “Columbia is lucky to have you.” He bent down and picked up the note, glancing at it in the process. He did a double take, shocked. It said “UCLA Medical Center Department of Surgery.”

Neil switched from confusedly regarding the note to looking into Jennifer’s eyes. “What is this?” he sputtered.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. I changed my order of preference. I realized I didn’t want to leave now that we’re just getting to know each other, but don’t worry, there’s no pressure.”

Neil reached out, grabbed Jennifer in a bear hug, and by rocking back lifted her off the ground. “I’m thrilled,” he said. “And you know what? You’re never going to regret it.”

AUGUST 5, 2008
WEDNESDAY, 6:20 P.M.
LOS ANGELES, USA

Jennifer Hernandez was so excited she had trouble standing in one place. She was pacing outside customs in the arrival area of Los Angeles International Airport. In just a few minutes she’d witness the culmination of months of effort on her part, along with the aid of a number of other people.

“It’s hard to imagine that Veena Chandra is about to walk out that door,” Neil McCulgan commented. He’d driven Jennifer to the airport.

“There had been a number of times when I was convinced it wasn’t going to happen,” Jennifer agreed. Almost from the day Jennifer and Neil had returned from India, Jennifer had mounted a crusade to convince UCLA to grant Veena a medical-school scholarship, and the U.S. government to grant a student visa. It was not easy, especially since both institutions initially refused even to consider her application.

At first the biggest hurdle had been Veena’s involvement in the Nurses International criminal trial, but that had been ultimately resolved when Veena and the other nurses had been granted immunity by turning state’s evidence and testifying against Cal Morgan, Durell Williams, Santana Ramos, and Petra Danderoff.