Page 41 of The Callahan Effect

When the carousel stopped, we wandered outside carrying steaming cups of hot chocolate from a small kiosk overlooking the falls. The constant roar of water echoed through the park as the Spokane River crashed over the basalt rocks before continuing westward beneath the bridges. We leaned against the railing without speaking for a while, content to watch the water and the rainbow beginning to form in the early evening mist.

Eventually I broke the silence.

"So...how's medical school going?"

Busy. Fourth year is mostly clinical rotations. I'm usually at the hospital during the day, then studying at night.

"I don't know how you fit everything in."

He shrugged lightly.

Coffee helps.

I laughed.

"I was expecting some deep medical secret."

His thumbs moved again.

That's the secret…Coffee.

"I'll remember that."

We wandered a little farther along the path, hand in hand, before I spoke again.

"Kinesiology's already proving more interesting than I expected. Professor Caroline Jensen spent close to the entire lecture explaining how the body creates efficient movement. I figured we'd be talking muscles and bones. Instead, she had us looking at force generation, balance, joint angles, and how tiny adjustments can completely change athletic performance."

Jack smiled as he read the message.

Sounds like a good professor.

"She is. It made me appreciate just how much goes into becoming an elite skater. I'd always thought it was mostly natural ability."

Jack smiled.

Natural ability helps. Everything else takes work.

"I'm discovering that pretty quickly. I've got to admit, I don't know how you juggle everything."

Jack raised an eyebrow in question.

"The rink. Medical school. Helping your dad. It feels like you've always got somewhere to be."

He smiled before typing.

Some days it feels that way.

"So why do it?"

Because I love all of it.

There wasn't any hesitation. Only certainty.

We strolled through Riverfront Park, neither of us feeling any urgency to reach the parking lot. We exchanged thoughts when there was something worth saying, and the silences between us never felt awkward. Every so often Jack freed one hand long enough to type a reply on his phone before slipping his fingers back through mine.

We compared professors, laughed over impossible reading lists, and discovered we were both still trying to work out how twenty-four hours in a day were supposed to be enough.

My schedule was intimidating with early-morning conditioning, lectures, afternoon practices, workouts, study sessions, and road trips once the regular season began, yet listening to everything expected of fourth-year medical students made my life sound relaxing.