Fair question. She didn't often tell people about the fact that she used to be a doctor, because usually it wasn't pertinent, and usually she didn't want to have exactly this conversation. With John, though, it was of course entirely appropriate, even necessary, to let him know that commonality. And seeing as he was going to be with her for a long time (assuming they worked well together, and that nothing happened to either of them), this conversation was bound to happen eventually regardless.

"I was a surgeon," she began, facing him. "I was performing an operation on a man's injured calf. A sports injury, totally routine. Except that he had endocarditis. I should have recognized the symptoms, had him tested, but I didn't, and he stroked out. Died on the table."

She takes a breath, glances away.

"It was my fault he died. I was... suspended. But at the end of my suspension, I just... I couldn't do it anymore. Even the thought of picking up a scalpel made me freeze. So I let my license lapsed, and I moved on. I'm an addiction counselor now, working with recovering addicts."