Dr. Andrews

foot note: I used my original peace from Anti-Social Drinking Game for this, and took it further

”Dr. Andrews.” A man in a black suit politely greeted as they encountered at the reception. She nodded bluntly as a reply and gave her coat to a man who collected them from the guests. Jessica Andrews had arrived to the fund raising party that she had tried to get out of. They were raising money to get new equipment for the hospitals, especially for the children’s ward. Jessica’s heels sunk into the red carpet of the luxurious hotel lobby. The man who had greeted her was one of her colleagues. Actually, he was her boss, the man who had made her come here tonight. And she would recent him for that for the rest of her life. It was like an operation “socialize the anti-social” for them. And by them she meant her boss and rest of the higher staff. Well, the truth was they just wanted the best of staff to represent them there that night. They had sure collected a good party for themselves: there were people from chief of surgery to the owners of the hospital building. Jessica looked around. In her party there were strangely only men, she was the only one possessing breasts (unless you count the obese investor, Mr Bernard). One of the party members seemed to know this very well since he couldn’t stop staring at her breasts. She rolled her eyes. Another thing she noticed was that the press was buzzing around. Camera lights were flashing spontaneously. It wasn’t really a surprise. Many of the guests were high profile. Reporters were asking questions from the guests. She even spotted someone reporting for New York Times.

Jessica sighed and straightened her elegant black dress that she usually wore to any party. It highlighted her feminine form and was quite open from the back. She remembered the day she had bought it. Shopping for dresses wasn’t her thought of having fun time and she had pretty much allowed the sales woman to decide what she should take. Now she would wear it as long as she could so she didn’t have to experience shopping in expensive boutiques again for a long time. The rest of her party started to move towards the hall where the fund raising took place, and she followed like a graceful shadow. The hall was filled with round tables that all had an elegant setting. The stage was cleared; there were only three chairs and a microphone on it. It was calmer in there than in the reception. Only few camera lights were flashing anymore and reporters who were there as guests while working, were calmly asking questions, without shouting. Jessica glanced around at the hall and then she finally spotted something that didn’t make her want to die. It was the bar. The promised land of proper booze. She made a mental note to hit it as soon as possible.

“Hello Dr. Callahan, Dr. Andrews.” Suddenly Jessica heard a man greet. She shifted her eyes from the bar to a man who was now standing in front of her and her colleague. The rest of the party had seemed to take a seat at the table reserved to them already. “Mr. White.” Jessica greeted dryly shaking his hand and then watched Callahan do the same. Jessica stared down at Mr. White. He was short and bald, not to mention he was almost as wide as he was tall. They had encountered at several parties and she had pretty much been forced to talk to him because he happened to be one of the filthy rich people who sponsored the hospital Jessica worked for. She really despised that man. Not that she would like anyone else there but he really was somewhat a pain in the ass for her. The way he looked at her with his tiny, beady eyes from under his thick, black eyebrows that were already turning grey, made her very uncomfortable. He looked like he would have wanted to eat her like he gobbled those crab cakes the waiters were offering all around. White was talking to Callahan, he said a few words to Jessica too but she wasn’t listening. She saw his lips move but she couldn’t hear the empty words he spat out. She glanced at his greasy lips. He sure had had more than one crab cake. A couple walked to them now and joined the conversation taking sips from their champagne glasses. All the empty pleasantries were exchanged.

Jessica silently slipped away from the crowd and walked away. There would still be time before the fund raising would really start. She made her way towards the bar avoiding hitting the fancy guests or waiters who were running around like ants. Jessica took a seat at the bar feeling relief to get away from people. People usually stayed away from bars since they were served on the floor. Jessica let out a sigh of relief and fixed her hair slightly. It was up on an elegant, wavy pony tail, only few wavy locks of auburn hair were left to frame her face. “Whiskey. Double.” She ordered, laying her hands on the counter, figuring she really needed at least some alcohol in her blood to survive through the party that was filled with snooty, pretentious people. The bartender hit the first shot in front of her and she gulped it down immediately. The second shot was already in front of her but she didn’t drink that one right away. Jessica threw a glance at the table area where she saw her party having a pleasant conversation with some other people. She shook her head. And to imagine they had tried to get her to go up on the stage to make a speech. She was the last person fitting to do that. She was not a people person. “Idiots.” She muttered turning back to face the bar. The second shot of whiskey was starting to look really good.

Jessica fondled the glass with her delicate fingers and just as she was about to pick it up and pour the drink down her throat, she was interrupted. A woman in a bright red dress entered the bar. Her long red hair was hanging free, landing on her bare shoulders like a silky scarf. She stood there for a while but the bartender paid no attention to her. He was occupied with something. Jessica didn't look up from her drink but observed her surroundings from the corner other eye. This woman. She wore a bright red dress. She allowed her hair hang free. She didn't want to go unnoticed like Jessica. This woman faced the world with her head up. After a few seconds she left the bar. She had not spoken out a word. It was strange, but Jessica dismissed it. "Hey, could I have this dance?" She suddenly heard from behind her. She turned and saw the head of surgery, Tony Lombard, offering his hand to her. Jessica stared at it like it had been a foreign object. She had not even realized there was music. "I'm not a dancer." She got out, feeling her mouth get dry. "C'mon." He insisted with his boyish grin decorating his lips. This man was known as a persistent person, that's why he was the head of surgery, not the other guy applying for the position. Jessica sighed and quickly poured her drink down her throat. She coughed as it gave a bit of a punch. "Fine, let's go." She muttered getting up from the stool, grabbing Tony's arm.

They joined the dance floor. Tony was a good dancer, it probably helped a lot when he was trying to get laid. Jessica just moved along. She was never the best dancer. She always felt uncomfortable at the dance floor. She felt like everyone was staring at her. It was her life goal to avoid situations like that. She just wanted to live her life, doing her job, without being the topic of a conversation by some rich old men looking for a trophy wife. "See? You are a dancer. I knew it." Tony suddenly spoke with a smile. Jessica didn't reply, she looked over his shoulder with a dull expression. She saw the back of the woman in a red dress. She was dancing too but Jessica couldn't see with who. She now looked up at Tony's deep brown eyes. " I'm a doctor. Not a dancer, Tony." The party from their table were glancing at them. They probably couldn't believe Jessica was on the dance floor. This would spark a lot of rumors for sure. She should have just stayed home.

Suddenly the woman in a red dress turned to face her direction. Jessica's eyes widened and she stepped back, making Tony confused. Jessica froze to her feet. She just stared at the woman. This woman looked exactly like her. This woman had Jessica's face. Tony turned to look behind him to see what his paralyzed dancing partner was staring at. "What Jess?" Jessica opened her mouth but was left gasping like a fish on dry land. She couldn't get words out of her mouth. Why didn't Tony seem surprise? Didn't he see this clone who was beaming at her. The doppelgänger winked her and she just didn't know what to do or say. She looked down at her hands that Tony was still holding. Something was really wrong. Her hands were melting to his. She couldn't tell where her hand ended and his begun. She let go of Tony's hold and stared at her white palms. Somehow it felt difficult to look at them, it was hard to focus her eyes. She was dizzy. Her skin flickered oddly, like she had been a mere hologram. She raised her hand carefully and laid it on Tony's chest. The problem was that her hand went through his chest, melting into her. Jessica's breathing got heavy. She was scared. What was this? What was happening to her?

Tony observed his colleague. First of all he had no idea what Jessica had been staring at but now she seemed oddly intrigued bu her hands. Then she gently pressed her hand against her chest. Tony frowned. "Jess? What's wrong?" The usually calm woman raised her look into his eyes and he saw the horror in her face. She was gasping like she had been panicking but he had no idea why. Did she use drugs? Had someone drugged her? He saw no reason why she was reacting like this. She took a step back from him. Something in her movement seemed odd.

Tony was deforming right in front of her. Jessica couldn't see his face anymore. He looked blurred. He was like a pile of waving pixels. His speech didn't make any sense to her. It sounded like a dog barking in slow motion. It was a low voice that she couldn't understand or fully comprehend. The room was spinning around her. It didn't look like a room anymore. It was a pile of wavy pixels like tony was. Jessica's body felt strangely light. It was like she had been floating. It was a magnificent sensation that took away her fear. Suddenly she just didn't care. She looked around and the pixels seemed unimportant. She felt no worry. People didn't make her worried, her work she couldn't even remember. What was her name? She had no idea. What is "name"? Then it all went black.


" Worms will enjoy gnawing on her 800$ dress."
" Don't you think they'll change her?"
" What would they make her wear? That's her only dress."
" Man, don't speak with that tone when..."
" Her family gets here? She has no living relatives."
"...I was going to say Tony. And the chief."
" She wasted her life. I don't think I saw her smile, ever."
" Just because you didn't see her smile it doesn't mean she never--"



Tony: "She smiled when she died."