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Back Going Under Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I BIRTH
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. PART II LIFE
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. PART III DEATH
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. FORTY-SIX
  54. FORTY-SEVEN
  55. FORTY-EIGHT
  56. FORTY-NINE
  57. FIFTY
  58. FIFTY-ONE
  59. FIFTY-TWO
  60. FIFTY-THREE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. FIFTY-FIVE
  63. FIFTY-SIX
  64. FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. FIFTY-NINE
  67. SIXTY
  68. EPILOGUE
  69. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We toast: to Mr Waters, to me, to life, and to friends. The things that make it all worthwhile.

‘I feel like we should be saving this champagne for a special night,’ Winnie says. ‘I mean, we’re all in our work clothes and it’s a Tuesday.’

‘We’ve got the party on Saturday,’ Max points out. ‘Heaps of people have RSVPed on Facebook.’

The house party. I’d almost forgotten about it, what with all the drama at work. Every single intern we know is desperate to cut loose after the shock to the system of our new lives as junior doctors.

‘It’ll be morale-raising,’ Max says happily.

‘Or sorrow-drowning,’ I say. ‘I can make my famous punch. It turns an okay night into the best party ever.’

‘Well, I can’t fucking wait,’ Estelle says emphatically. ‘I’m so sick of that fucking hospital, I am going to get as drunk as a human can get.’

Winnie looks concerned. ‘What if I have to take you to emergency?’

Estelle laughs. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Winnie. I’d rather drown in my own vomit than go to that place as a patient. Just help write my eulogy, that’s all I ask.’

‘I’ve heard doctor parties get pretty loose,’ Winnie says doubtfully. ‘One of the girls at work dated a doctor and she said all he ever did was go to work and get high—not simultaneously,’ she adds quickly.

‘It’ll just be some punch and a few laughs,’ I tell her. ‘Everyone is so tired from working such horrible hours it probably won’t even go that late.’

‘Famous last words,’ Estelle says, grinning. ‘Just you wait.’

EIGHT

eight

‘Do you want some coke?’

I stare at the anaesthetics registrar who’s sitting on my bed. In my drunken haze, Tom looks pretty hot. Or does he? I tilt my head. His nose is kind of big, which proves awkward when we’re kissing, but he’s still pretty sexy. Plus, the fact he’s one of those naughty doctors who does drugs and smokes is also quite appealing. I prefer the subversive ones.

‘I’m having some,’ he says casually, pulling a small bag of white powder out of his pocket. ‘Do you have a credit card?’

Did I ever. One thing I’m proving particularly successful at is accumulating multiple lines of credit; banks fall over themselves to offer you loans and credit cards when you become a doctor—they don’t realise how paltry our salaries actually are. Not to worry—with the magic of plastic I can play now and pay later. I wonder why Tom wants it, though. Maybe he carries around a portable EFTPOS machine for when he offers cocaine to people, I speculate. I suppose that’s fair enough; cocaine’s pretty expensive.

My confusion must be obvious. ‘I need it to cut up the lines,’ Tom explains.