Graduation

Madison: [voiceover] See that New Yorker in the Versace jacket sitting next to the girl in the Chanel jacket that doesn't quite fit in? That's me, Madison Hart

and the brunette sitting next to me is Dr. Zoe Hart, my sister.

Yesterday I took a cab to my job at one of Manhattan's best hospitals. Today, I'm on a bus in the middle of nowhere. But I guess my journey began four years ago when I was watching my sister give her commencement address at our medical school graduation.

"The first time I held a scalpel I was nine..."A young Zoe Hart said as she was standing proudly on that platform being watched by her sister not three feet away.

Madison: [voiceover] My publicist mother complained that we didn't didn't thank her enough at our graduation.

"My dad, Maddy and I snuck off and dissected ours..." Zoe continued her speech.

Madison: [voiceover] Little did I know there was someone in the crowd who liked it...
"Dr. Hart? That was quite a speech." A man told a young Zoe as he approached her. He was an older-looking gentleman, in a blue shirt and a bowtie.

"Thank you?"  Zoe told him a confused look on her face, not knowing who the man was. A hand on her shoulder caused her to turn around, seeing that it was her sister she gave her a quick smile and turned towards the man again.

"My name is Dr. Harley Wilkes. I'm from Bluebell, Alabama." The sisters looked at each other weirdly, wondering why the man was telling them that.

"I have a small private practice there. It's a great town, with great people, and a great place for two young doctors to hone their craft. I'd like to offer you a job." At the end of his pitch, he looked at the two with an unexplainable look in his eyes.

"Uhhh."

"Thanks, that's really flattering...but me and my sister have a plan. After we finish our surgical residency, I'll do a fellowship in thoracics, then I'll go on to become a cardiothoracic surgeon like my dad whilst my sister will be a Neurosurgeon, after doing a Neuro fellowship of course. Our last name's Hart, so it's pre-destined. "Zoe cut her sister off, rattling off to the man.

Your offer is really sweet- thanks, though. Bye." She had a sheepish smile on her face and turned around not paying his offer any mind.

He looked dejected as she walked away from him towards her mother. He then turned to look at the other girl with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but my sister is right, we're just not looking for a GP job so far away from the city." ." She told him apologetically feeling bad, he had come from so far away to offer them a job.

"Why are you offering us a job anyway?" It was weird considering how far Alabama was, and because they were just random graduates.

He turned around to look at her with a look she couldn't figure out.

"Just because dear." He told her cryptically. "If you ever change your mind here's my card."

She took the card from him and looked down at it. The crisp white rectangle bore the inscription: "Henry Wilkis, General Practitioner, Bluebell, Alabama." She glanced up just in time to watch him walk away, her blonde hair waving in the wind.

She walks towards her mother catching only the tail end of her her words, "...Always thinking about himself." but the bitter tone makes it obvious that she's talking about their father.

"He wanted to be here, but he couldn't get out of Germany. Some diplomat needed a pacemaker put in." Zoe excused the their absent parent. Madison's mind raced with conflicting emotions. When she was little, following in her father's footsteps had been one of his biggest dreams for them. Yet, as time passed, they grew apart, drifting without understanding why.

"Is that Katie Couric? Katie!" Candice waved in the distance and already went off.

Madison:[voiceover]And that ladies and gentlemen is one of the reasons why my mother has the attention span of a fly. Despite my mom's 'support', I had it all. The most amazing sister who got what it was like to be a surgeon, too. Unfortunately, her boyfriend, who I dislike very much was going to do his residencies in the hospital where my dad did his and the same where me and Zoe are going to do ours, in the best city in the world- New York. Our plan was right on track-

Madison: [voiceover continues] Well, it's four years later and the plan kinda backfired otherwise we wouldn't be sitting behind a guy who smells like fake cheese and chum.

New York Hospital
Madison: [voiceover continues] First, Zoe got dumped by her amazing (note sarcasm) boyfriend because she liked talking about surgery more than she liked talking about his day. If he truly loved Zoe he would love every single single quirk about her, including her passion for her job. But that's just my opinion.

But my dad taught us that to be a great surgeon, you can't let feelings get in the way. I liked to display my feelings more instead of bottling them up. But Zoe being Zoe keeps the pain inside and only unleashes it when we are alone. She would, because she was a shoo-in for-

"What do you mean I didn't get the cardiothoracic fellowship? No one wanted this more than me! I already did a solo coronary bypass!" Zoe said going after the head surgeon. She didn't understand it, she did everything right.

"Zoe, you have the best hands I've seen in thirty years. But if you want to be a heart surgeon, then you've got to work on your own." The head surgeon said pointing at his own hart.

"But I do cardio five days a week." Was her stubborn response.

"You know what I'm talking about. Last week, you ignored Mrs. Zucker when she asked you to read to her." He told her.

"I'm a surgeon, not a librarian. And Nicholas Sparks? Come on. This morning when that guy came in with Horner's Syndrome, I was the only one who suggested aortic dissection. I saved his life." She didn't understand how any of this had to do with her job, she just wanted to perform heart surgeries.

"Yeah, but do you know his name?" The head surgeon asked her thoroughly.
Zoe had no response to the question, she sighed in frustration.

"I need to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. What do I need to do to get next year's CT spot?"

"You need to learn to see patients as people to help, not puzzles to solve. Be more like your sister, the entire elderly, children and disabled department love her because of her kindness." He said to her thoughtfully."So if you want my recommendation next year, spend the next twelve months as a general practitioner."

"First of all, diarrhea and diaper rash? Ew. Second of all, I will never work in private practice without a specialty. There isn't a single GP job in this whole city." Zoe said disgusting by the idea.

"That may be true, Dr. Hart, but there are other places to practice medicine besides New York." The head surgeon of The New York Hospital told her indecisively before turning around and going back to his job.

Zoe saw her sister giving a little kid with a bandage on his head a lollipop, the kid thanked her with a big smile on his face. She ruffled his hair and responded with a smile too, Zoe knew one thing, if she's gonna make it she's gonna have to fake it till she made it.
—

"Dad- no, I didn't get the fellowship. I know, mom thinks it's like a sign that I should be a hand model or something. You still believe in me though, right? I know, I just have to figure a few things out first, but then look out you're going to have a partner. No, I know it's not that easy, I- okay, you go. I love you, Dad." Zoe said sadly over the phone while Madison was rubbing her back, feeling sorry for her younger sister.

"What am I gonna do," Zoe said exhaustingly, putting her head in her hands. "Well, think of something," Madison said reassuringly. 

Madison:[voiceover] We couldn't think of something. Every fellowship was taken, we had searched the entire city but nothing! Unfortunately for my baby sister, she had put all her eggs in the wrong basket.
Then I saw it, another postcard from Harley, we had been writing to each other for the position for the past four years. I still can't imagine why he would stick around for so long. The speech really must have inspired him.

"Tark twins keep wrestling in poison oak. Real busy. Could use an extra extra talented hand." It read on the card.
After I continuously shoved it in Zoe's face that she needed a job otherwise she wouldn't survive, she sucked up her pride and admitted it.

"Dr. Wilkes? This is Zoe Hart leaving a message. You win. I'm on my way." Zoe said in the voicemail in a defeated tone.

—
This is a revival of this fic. I made it a couple of years ago and I would like to think my writing style has improved since then, so it won't be such an atrocity to read it. Hopefully, there are people interested in this story, it was been a while since this show came out but  I still love it. I hope to hear from you guys.

No beta, we die like Harley Wilkes