PROLOGUE

"You absolutely have to go!" exclaimed the pretty black-haired girl in a doctor's coat. One hand was tucked in the wide pocket at the front of the coat while the other danced around the air with each word she spoke.

Mikayla ran a hand over her face wearily. Her partner, Anna, was at it again. Anna was her closest friend and confidant, and beyond that, she was her business partner.

Anna was a gorgeous woman and brilliant doctor who stood out everywhere she went. People often joked that if she ever got tired of being a doctor, she could easily make a career switch and go into modelling.

She always laughed it off as ridiculous, but it was true for anyone who had eyes to see. With her long legs and arms and slim, fit body, she would look amazing on some runway or on the cover of some magazine.

Even now, with her lustrous black hair tied up in a ponytail and her body cocooned inside the lab coat, anyone could see that she was gorgeous.

They met in medical school and became good friends during their time there. After graduation, they both got jobs at the same General Hospital which helped to strengthen their bond and cement their friendship.

They became so close, they were practically sisters and that helped them transition into what they were now, partners... of the business kind, not the sexual kind despite what some people thought.

Through the several trials and problems of medical school and working under different kinds of bosses, they managed to hold out because of the promise they made to each other to start their own practice where they wouldn't have to answer to anyone.

Years later, on Mikayla's thirtieth birthday, they finally got that dream off the ground with some good credit scores and sound financial decisions. They finally opened the MikAnna Hospital.

Thanks to some unexpected turn of fate, the Hospital gained fame and they were able to attract some good investors. The rest, they say, is history. They'd even employed more doctors.

There were now almost twenty doctors working at the Hospital and triple the amount of nurses. The Hospital was doing much better than they'd ever hoped and as with everything else, that came with its bad sides.

One of such bad sides was the invitation sitting on her desk. They had become famous, and their hospital with it. The result was that they soon began attracting investors who were willing to put down a ton of money.

That money went towards buying good equipment they wouldn't have dreamt of having in ten to twenty years, if not more and also providing free and cheaper healthcare to their patients. But with the Hospital's fame came some expectations. For example, the fact that they were now expected to attend certain kinds of social events.

Mikayla would rather not attend such events. In fact, she averred it with a passion for several deep-rooted reasons but to appease their investors, she often had to put aside her personal feelings and attend.

But Anna was the opposite. She loved these events and basked in them. Every opportunity to attend one was like a Christmas gift to her, and she absolutely refused to go without Mikayla at her side.

"It's literally for a good cause," Anna said in a scandalized voice that cried that she couldn't believe her friend would even consider not going; like it was the worst thing she'd ever heard.

Mikayla sighed. "It's always for a good cause," she reminded her friend. Every single event was to raise money for some big world and health issue, and every single time her friend made the same argument. This particular one was for...she took a peak at the invite...cancer.

"My presence or absence at the event wouldn't make any difference in whether a cure is discovered for cancer or not," she pointed out, just like she did for every other cause.

And just like Anne did each time, she rolled her eyes and said, "It certainly can't hurt. Plus you know the investors like to see us at these things. This is our opportunity to give back to them."

Mikayla sighed. She often wondered if when you fell within a particular ballpark of the upper economic echelons, you were immediately strong-armed into holding these kinds of events. She found them tedious at best.

Sadly, the set of people who could afford to dump several hundreds of dollars into their Hospital were the same ones who hosted these events. To not go would be an unimaginable slight, or so Anne believed.

Sometimes at those parties, there were so many more important people that no one seemed to notice them anyway. She doubted they would be missed if they didn't show up to one once in a while but try convincing Anne of that.

But Anna always insisted that they attend each one. Mikayla, knowing her friend, knew that her motives weren't exactly pure. It wasn't out of the goodness of her heart and her empathy for those suffering from one debilitating disease or the next that kept her going back

No, it was her astonishing love of parties and rubbing shoulders with the rich and mighty; two things that Mikayla hated and wanted nothing to do with.

How many times had she kept Mikayla awake in the night with wild imaginations of catching some billionaire's attention and being swept away in a wave of romance and wealth? Too many times to count.

Sadly, so far, that hadn't happened. The only thing the men she'd met so far wanted from her was sex. So again they spent many nights bemoaning the rich, playboy, f*ckboys of the world.

Mikayla didn't care for any of the things her friends wanted. In fact, she made sure to stay out of situations where such a thing could occur. The last thing she wanted was to catch anyone's attention. Hell, she didn't even even date regularly.

But Mikayla had always had a soft spot for her friend so each and every time, such an issue came up, Anna had succeeded in dragging her to the events after all. Even now, the smile on Anna's face said that she knew her friend was already getting tired of arguing and would give in soon.

As one final feeble attempt to get Anna to let her be, Mikayla tried one last tactic, "Why don't you go by yourself this time? Maybe without me there, you'll have a better chance of fulfilling your dream."

As expected, Anna simply rolled her eyes. "Nice try. You're coming with me." There was a beeping sound and Anna and Mikayla both scrambled to find their beepers. "It's mine." Anna waved her beeper. "I have to go. Pick out something nice to wear!" She called over her shoulder as she rushed out of Mikayla's office.

"Ugh," Mikayla groaned and flopped face down on her desk. Maybe she should have just continued working at the General Hospital instead. Running a private Hospital was starting to feel like a pain in the ass.

"No, that's not true," Mikayla corrected herself. She loved her job. She loved treating her patients. She loved making the Hospital a safe space for the workers and patients. She loved everything about her job... except this.

Maybe she should be thankful. Most people didn't even get to do what they loved. She did. Attending a few fundraisers here and there should be a small price to pay.

She just had to do as she had always done; not draw any attention to herself. Pop in, shake a few hands, smile here and there, take some pictures and exit at the closest window of opportunity.

"I can do this," she psyched herself up. "I can her through this. It's only a couple of hours. Medical school was so much harder than this, Mikayla. Working at the General Hospital, now that was a doozy. This is nothing compared to that. Just keep your cool and power through it."

Just as she was completing her affirmations, the door opened and one of her nurses on duty, Kim, stuck her head in. "Shall I call in the next patient, Dr. Wall?" She asked.

As always, Mikayla winced at that name. No matter how many times she'd tried to get Kim to call her by her name, the lady simply refused. Kim was the nurse who'd been with them the longest; their first hire at the Hospital.

After all these years, she still maintained the highest levels of professionalism in dealing with Mikayla despite her best efforts to be more cordial with her. Five years down the line, Mikayla had accepted fate and left it to the woman to address her as she preferred.

Mikayla had almost completely forgotten about her patients waiting outside since Anna barged in earlier, waving the invitation in the air like a winning lottery ticket. Her partner must have given the order to hold all patients while she was in.

Mikayla straightened in her chair and adjusted her white coat. It was time to work. No time for dilly-dallying or worrying over the event. Her duty first and foremost was to her patients and she took that very seriously.

"Yes, Kim. Please let them in," she directed.