Dr. Kendall Crowns

It was in the back corner of one section.

I shared a wall with one person, and I had a neighbor across from me and one above me.

Behind my apartment was a tree-covered hill that blocked out the sun, so that wasn't really a neighbor unless you count the feral cats and raccoons.

In the years that I lived there, my neighbor across from me was non-existent.

I saw her only once.

She, too, was a medical student, but a little further along than me.

She was a great neighbor, never there, kept to herself.

When she was there, she was always quiet.

During my first semester of school, my upstairs neighbor was also very quiet.

He was in his final year of school, and he was never there as well, and I never heard him except maybe once or twice.

And because my apartment was so quiet, I studied there a lot.

It was convenient, I could get snacks, I could nap, and occasionally watch TV, and I developed quite a routine.

I went home for Christmas that year, and when I returned, I had a new upstairs neighbor.

I still remember his name, but because he isn't dead, maybe.

I'll refer to him as Lane.

Lane and I started medical school together.

My class size was 175 students, which is a big group of people, and you were always busy.

And due to that, I knew who he was, but I didn't know him.

And his last name was also further down the alphabet than mine.

And that meant we had no interaction in labs or clinical rotations.