The weeks flew by far too quickly.  When Ilaria was in nursing school, it always felt like the weeks leading up to big exams dragged on for ages, and studying seemed to take forever.  Now, she had only four weeks to prepare for the biggest exams of her life, and they seemed to go by in a flash.

The very day she got the letter with her exam dates, Joe sent her straight home from the Midas Air offices and insisted she take the time off to prepare.  During the days, Ilaria worked at the clinic, studying between patients.  In the afternoons, she would sequester herself in the operating room and practice her surgical skills on animal carcasses she purchased from a local butcher. Her nights were usually spent in her room at the clinic, pouring over books and references; though sometimes she would take a change of scenery and occupy a corner booth at Hot Shots to study.  The hours were long and arduous, but well worth it to Ilaria.  Her dream was finally within her grasp.

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Ilaria awoke before the sun rose on the first morning of the exams. With a cup of hot coffee, she sat at the small table in the kitchen with a leather-bound book open before her; her journal from nursing school. Reading her own words from so many years ago further stoked the fire that had always burned inside of her to become a doctor.  She had followed her dream to America, and found so much more than she thought she would. With a smile, she thought how excited her younger self would have been to know what lay ahead.

Del Rossi arrived at the clinic with Joe at seven-thirty to give her a ride to the University. His presence was exactly the calming force she needed to quell the nerves and anxiousness that had built up to form a heavy knot in her stomach.  Hand-in-hand, they walked through the doors of the Perleman School of Medicine.  Hand-in-hand, just as they had approached everything in the months since Adonis and Santoro became Adontoro. Before leaving, Joe put a gentle hand to her cheek and kissed her.

"I'd wish you luck, but you don't need it. Go get your dream, Major."

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The written part of the licensing exam began promptly at nine and lasted until 1 p.m.  There was a short break for lunch, and then the five hours of practicals began.  At 8:30 p.m., Ilaria arrived at the Dockside Inn, kissed Joe, and fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep in his bed.  

At 6 the next morning, she was back at the School of Medicine for the board certification exams.  She'd taken a lot of time to consider what she wanted to specialize in, and had finally settled on two- General Surgery and Trauma Surgery; both would serve her well in her work for the crew and the airline. The GS exam came first, and Ilaria clearly came out on top in her testing group. After lunch was the TS exam, which was taken privately with a surgeon rather than in a group. It took every ounce of energy Ilaria had, and by the end she felt as if she'd recalled every single lesson she'd ever been taught, and every single word from every book she'd had to read. 

When the TS exam was finished, Ilaria went from dead tired to absolutely full of energy. She took a cab back to the clinic, showered and put on Joe's favorite green dress, and went the airport to grab her lover for a late dinner at Dante's.

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Now, the time seemed to drag on.  She'd been told it would take at least a week for all of the scores to be compiled.  Rather than spend her time being anxious about it, Ilaria poured herself into her work at Midas; training new employees and doing practice flights with a couple of the new pilots. Certainly, there was a moment of breathless anticipation when she'd come into her office to see a pile of mail, but she tried not to think about it much more than that.

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It was a Tuesday afternoon.  Joe and Ilaria were in his office going over the new requirements for tail numbers for all the aircraft.  It was a tedious process, but had to be done.  There was a soft knock at the door before Maime walked in holding a large, letter sized envelope.

"Miss Santoro, this just arrived for you by courier."

Ilaria looked at the envelope and swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.  She stood and took the envelope from Maime, then turned to face Joe, who had also stood.  Sure enough, the return address was from the University of Philadelphia.  For a moment, she had a flash back to the dozens of letters denying her entrance to medical schools from coast to coast.  She remembered arguing with her father about whether a woman should be a doctor or not.  So many things had tried to block her path; but the moment of truth had arrived.

With trembling hands, she loosened the seal and reached inside.

Dear Miss Santoro,

I am very pleased to inform you that your scores on the Licensing and Board examinations have surpassed the requirements for the National Medical Licensing Board, as well as the Boards of General Surgery and Trauma Surgery.  Additionally, your previous educational and work experiences have been credited with the University of Philadelphia's Perleman School of Medicine.

Therefore, it is with greatest pleasure that I hereby confer upon you the degree of Medical Doctor, with all the rights and privileges therein. You are now fully licensed by the State of Philadelphia, the National Board of General Surgery, and the United States Board of Trauma Surgeons.  

Enclosed, you will find your degree and certifications.  It has been a pleasure seeing you through this process, Dr. Santoro. Please keep in touch.  I would really like to have you come and speak to the students some time.

Sincerely,

Richard Morris
Dean, Perleman School of Medicine
University of Philadelphia 

It wasn’t long ago that   Ilaria_Santoro had proven her capabilities performing surgical procedures to Rosaleen.  In this thing of ours sometimes you need someone you can count on to be able to handle thing in complete confidence and urgency.   If it wasn’t for her extraordinary talents we could have found ourselves in a world of trouble, maybe even losing one of ours. 

We know the long process it took her to become a licensed physician and we are extremely proud of her.

Rosaleen rushed to send her a telegram.

Congratulations  Ilaria_Santoro on receiving your degree of Medical Doctor. 

Talk to you soon, Rosaleen.