All Chapters of I Woke Up and Walked Away: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

As the second mock exam approached, our homeroom teacher, Ms. Callahan, made an announcement."An alumnus has donated to the school scholarship fund. Whoever places first on this exam will receive a $3,000 scholarship. I hope you'll all take it seriously."I looked up at once.While I was hospitalized with my broken leg, I'd persuaded Mom to get a checkup. But our small town's medical facilities were limited. The doctors had only said she seemed unusually weak.A thorough examination at a major hospital in Aldermere, plus travel and lodging, would cost more than we could easily afford.From the front row, Ronan glanced toward my corner of the classroom and raised his hand."I'll sit this one out, Ms. Callahan. Let someone else have a shot."I tightened my grip on my pen and worked through my practice questions faster.On the day the results were posted, the bulletin board was mobbed.Sienna Krieger had taken first place, half a point ahead of me.Our classmates were impressed

"She looks completely fine! She's smiling! How is that a seriously ill woman?""This is disgusting. Making up a story about her mother being sick to scam donations? Some people have no shame.""Fake fundraisers like this are why nobody trusts crowdfunding anymore. The families who genuinely need help suffer for it.""What's wrong with kids these days? Already running scams in high school? Doesn't she have a conscience?"The comments dragged me straight back into the nightmare of my first life.Someone called out, laughing, "Hey, it's Elara the charity scammer!"My head throbbed. I couldn't stop shaking.When Ms. Callahan saw the state I was in, she excused me and sent me home.I curled up on my bed, pressing my face against my knees.No.Not again.I forced myself back to my desk. I made my hand pick up the pen and worked through one practice exam after another.I was halfway through my fifth set of questions when my phone vibrated.The number was unfamiliar. The area code

Reborn ten years in the past, I'd used the weeks my leg was healing to question the neurologists and brain specialists at the hospital.They referred me to other doctors. I wrote email after email to leading specialists across the country, explaining Mom's symptoms and asking if anyone would review her case.Most of my messages disappeared into silence.Eventually, I'd almost given up.Then, just when I needed a miracle, someone answered.A senior neurologist in Aldermere called me herself."Elara, I hear there's a possibility your mother has a growth in her brain. Why don't you bring her here so we can investigate?"I can help arrange your travel expenses."I held the phone so tightly my fingers ached. For a long time, I couldn't speak.By the next day, Mom and I had packed our bags and boarded a train to Aldermere.As the hospital staff wheeled her into the examination room, my heartbeat seemed to fill the entire corridor.Dr. Ingrid Halvorsen, the physician overseeing her

After graduation, Ronan began acting like the boy I'd once known.He bought a thick stack of medical textbooks and had someone deliver them to me.On the inside cover of each brand-new book, he'd written the same message: "Wishing you a bright future."I sent them all back, untouched.Then he bought two plane tickets to the coast and slipped the confirmation into my mailbox.During our senior year, we'd promised we'd take a trip to the ocean after graduation.He would bring his guitar and play my favorite song for me on the beach.The ocean was still there. But the people who'd made that promise no longer existed.I left the tickets where he'd put them.In September, I rolled my suitcase through the gates of Beacon Medical College.At orientation, we stood in white coats in a crowded auditorium and recited the oath we'd chosen to live by."I will put the health and well-being of my patients first."I will devote myself to easing suffering, preserving life, and honoring the