I stare blankly at Pat. What is she talking about? What do I have to tell her?

"I can't believe I'm the last to find out," she says, raising her hands and putting them behind her head.

"Find out what exactly?" I wish people just said what was on their minds.

"Seriously, everyone is talking about it." The look on her face is a mix between annoyance and confusion as if I just asked her what a syringe was.

"About what? Please, tell me, Pat. I know people are talking about me, but I don't have a clue what's going on." My voice sounds desperate. I'm sick of everyone staring at me, silently whispering and turning away as soon as I catch their gaze. And I can't handle Pat's confusing accusations. It's time for clarity.

Pat shuffles on her feet and clears her throat. She turns her head around a couple of times, as if she wants to make sure we're the only ones in the hallway. "Is it true that you're dating that actor? O come on, what's his name..." She snaps her fingers as if it brings back her memory. "Sam? Dan?"

"Dan." Is this what all the staring was about? I wish someone had asked me instead of all the whispers behind my back.

"So, it's true?" She looks expectantly at me.

My eyes scan the hallway to see if anyone else is near. What does it matter anyway? She just said that everyone is talking about it. I confirm her words with a nod.

"Since when?" Her eyes have this greedy glint in them. She looks like she's indulging the information as if it's some delicacy.

I shift my weight. "A couple of weeks, not that long."

She pokes me in my side and lets out a low whistle. "According to what I saw in that last movie he has quite a nice package or did they digitally enhance it?"

Her blunt question makes me blush.

"You lucky girl!" A wide grin is plastered on her face. "Come on, Elise, don't be ashamed. I can't believe you're even here. I think I wouldn't leave the bedroom if I was dating him."

The smirk on her face betrays what she's thinking and it makes me blush even more. I guess I'm doing something that's beyond blushing and my face must be a reddish shade of purple.

Pat laughs when she sees my uncomfortable face. "You're shy, that's so adorable!"

"Does everyone know about this?" My eyes scan the hallway again. Some people are staring at us, but that might be because Pat's laughter is pretty loud and echoes through the hallway.

Pat thinks carefully before she answers me. "Maybe not everyone. I think the board hasn't heard about it, but that's just a bunch of old men."

I groan. I've been here for only two weeks and now everyone knows me as the girlfriend of some famous actor, not as the intern I am. I wonder what kind of consequences this has.

It was something that I was thinking about when the pictures were made public. I know this was inevitable, someone would have found out eventually. And when I think about it, it actually surprises me they took this long to find out about it.

"Elise, what's going on? Why did you run away?" Tyler has followed me inside.

Pat bounces excitedly on her toes. "Guess who's the hottest person in the gossip machine right now?"

Tyler looks a bit confused. "What's the buzz all about?"

"Our little intern is dating that hot actor." Pat looks really smug now. "And she tried to keep it a secret."

I want to protest and tell them it was never my intention to keep it a secret. On second thought I know she's right. Maybe I would have told them eventually but it's not the first thing I would blurt out in a conversation. 'Lovely weather, isn't it? O, by the way, I'm dating this famous dude.'

A sound that could be a huff leaves his mouth. Tyler slits his eyes a bit. "Is she?"

"O doctor sweet cheeks," Pat says, "Seems like you lost your touch, you're not the talk of the town anymore."

"Shut up, Pat. It's not funny." And then he turns to me. "Are you alright, Elise?"

I don't know what to say. My hands are in the pockets of my white coat, playing with the things I find in them, a pen, a piece of paper.

"It's okay. I'm fine. People need something to talk about and now they're talking about me until they find another subject." I repeat the words that Dan's agent told me not long ago. "It will pass and it's not as if I'm that interesting. People will get used to it."

Maybe I say those last words more to myself than to anyone else. It already feels like it's my own personal mantra. I rub my temple. "It was confusing. People kept staring at me and I didn't know why. I heard them whisper, but I didn't know what they were talking about. I don't think the whispers will be gone now, but at least I know what it's all about."

I feel a hand on my arm. Pat looks at me, one eyebrow quirked up. Tyler is also standing closer than a couple of seconds ago.

"Seriously guys, I'm fine!"

Luckily it's time to go back to my ward before the situation gets more awkward than it already is and I say my goodbyes to Pat and Tyler.

A nurse calls me over when I pass the reception of the ward. There's a phone call for me.

"Hello?" I say. At first, I hear nothing, or better said some static noise and what may be heavy breathing.

"Elise Morgan?" The voice doesn't sound familiar, but if it was, I couldn't tell you. It's modified with a voice changer.

"Yes, who is this?" I don't like this at all. I check the phone to see if I can see the phone number of the caller, but the display says 'unknown'.

At first, I hear more static noise and I'm about to ask again who I'm talking to, but then I hear the weird voice again. It is as if there are several voices in one, high, low, male, female, and their all speaking at the same time.

"You took away everything I had," the unknown person says.

A shiver runs down my spine. I try it again. "Who is this?"

The caller isn't done yet apparently. "Now I will take everything from you."

"Hello? Hello?" I keep yelling the word over and over on the phone, but the person already hung up on me. My hands are shaking. When I put down the phone, the nurse is staring at me.

"Is there something wrong?" The nurse who handed me the phone looks worried. "You look as if you saw a ghost."

"I'm fine," I say, trying to regain my composure. "Did the caller say anything to you? Like his name?"

She shook her head. "No clue. Sorry honey. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I think it was my friends pulling a prank on me," I say, while I forcefully smile, but I don't believe my own words. I don't want them to have another reason to talk about me.

Shakily I walk back to the other interns. I try to keep my mind on the patients, on what's going on in the hospital, but I'm completely distracted. How hard I try to avoid thinking about it, my mind keeps going back to that phone call and the mysterious caller. Who was it and what does he or she want from me?

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