Stepping out of the laboratory, Nnenna inhaled deeply, air free of tension, free of questions and invigilators and ticking clocks.
The breath she exhaled felt lighter than it had in days. Examless air, she thought with a small smile.
This was it, the first major step toward skipping grades. And she believed, deep down, that she had done remarkably well.
Only the exams for her remaining three majors stood between her and history.
She made her way along the now familiar corridors, her steps calm, her thoughts finally beginning to slow. The hallways were quieter now, filled only with the distant murmur of other departments still neck deep in their own papers.
She walked toward the Year One Medicine and Surgery exam hall, choosing a quiet shaded spot nearby to wait for her friends.
But now that the adrenaline had faded, her mind began to drift.
For the first time in days, she let herself truly think about what had happened on the training grounds, the day she collapsed.
