This Will Only Hurt a Little Bit (A Short Story)

This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers.

They meet at the scene of a car accident. When Simon arrives, Jay is already playing the part of the hero, a part that Simon had hoped to claim for himself. Soon after their fateful introduction, Simon builds a successful career as a surgeon—then he discovers Jay with another man and, after a drinking binge, makes a big, fatal mistake on the operating table.

Barred from practicing medicine, Simon finds himself working as a receptionist at an upscale hotel. When a car crash outside the hotel forces him to reopen his unhealed mental wounds, he tries to diagnose the irreversible error that ended his career—and to recapture a role that’s long since passed him by.