Carte blanche

Jenny's current internship would last for about five months and she had to combine it with research to write her thesis on. So, aside from the hours at the hospital, she also needed to put in hours to write her thesis after finishing her shift. As if all of this wasn't enough to handle, she had been crazy enough to offer help to a professor at her department with his research as well. She really liked this professor and he had taught her a lot. Since she liked his subject matter and she didn't know when an opportunity like this would present itself again, she wanted to say yes to his request no sooner than he had asked it but kept herself in check long enough to consult Jason first. She had given him quite a scare when she had overworked herself last time and her helping here would mean spending less time at home with him and helping out with Charlie. So, she felt it was only fair that he had a say in the matter.

Lucky for her, he had a hard time saying no to her and hearing in her voice how much she wanted to do this, he conceded after he made her promise that she would stop the moment it would affect her health or their home life. Since it was only for two months, her final months at the hospital, he figured he would let her have a proper fulfilling experience during her last moments as a student before she would be sucked into the world of the working adults. After those months, once this internship ends, she too would be finally done. The end to her long, six year road, would start with a nice long summer break, which she of course would be spending with Jason and Charlie and then her working days as a real doctor would start.

Right now Jenny was halfway through her internship, which meant that the work with the professor would start in just two short weeks. She had already picked the hospital where she wanted to work at after graduation after her first month here, so all she had to do now was get through the remaining days of her internship and enjoy them as much as she could. And one way of doing so was the research on the new heart valve procedure that she was helping the professor with. This research, no matter the results, would further increase her reputation as an outstanding doctor to be and one to keep an eye on. Though this wasn't the reason she chose to participate, it certainly didn't hurt either as it would throw even more opportunities to learn and improve herself her way. Even more so than her situation now.

After the summer she would be joining Harry at his family's hospital. Though there were more prestigious hospitals that offered her a place but this place had offered her the best secondary employment conditions. One of the most important being the large amount of freedom and free time compared to what most young doctors get. With their offer, she wouldn't have to give up any more time with Charlie and Jason than a life as a doctor requires. Certainly not more than the hours she had put in on a weekly basis as a student. Plus, she would be working alongside her good friend AND she was promised great development possibilities that would benefit her career as a doctor enormously. So, all in all, she had plenty to look forward to. But currently all that fun madness was keeping her from visiting a very close friend, causing her quite some worry.

She wasn't alone in her predicament. The same went for Harry, who hadn't been able to visit their friends either as he was so swamped in coming down the home stretch as well. Fortunately, their friends were understanding of their struggles and only said that as long as they make sure to be there for the birth, they would forgive them for everything that they would miss out on until then. With that message in mind, both Jenny and Harry had been able to get through the months so far and it had allowed them to put their full focus on those remaining few weeks. ]

But although these words had caused the worries to fade, that didn't mean the guilt went away as well. As they were pouring all their energy into finishing up what remained of their time as struggling students, the idea of being the only ones who have yet to visit kept gnawing on the back of their minds. So, after using the carte blanche they had been handed by Nick and Elizabeth for months, the two of them used one of their rare breaks together as a time to think of a plan to at least get them a gift. They also decided that while they would use whatever free time they had to pick out a few gifts, while they would ask their significant others to do whatever they could to make up for their slack in keeping their friends updated on them and vice versa.

They had also handed them the task of placing at least one visit to Nick and Elizabeth before the birth of their twins on behalf of the both of them, where they could hand them the gift once they had found it. Where Julia happily obliged with this request, Jason was less enthusiastic about this disguised baby shower he was asked to attend. But like the doting husband that he was, they both knew that he would do it anyways.