Sidewalks.

The sidewalks of city streets; the sidewalks of any city; your city, mine. But not of any streets. Not the sidewalks of the manicured boulevards, the wide tree-bordered avenues. Not the sidewalks which lie, relatively immaculate, before the doorsteps of the rich; not those lightly trodden upon by eighteen-dollar, bench-made shoes, desecrated by the crass, if functional behavior, of leashed and high-hat dogs; nor yet the sidewalks decorated by the spotless uniforms of Generalissimos in the Doorman’s Army. Not these.

Just sidewalks, over which the same sky arches, but a sky made vocal with the hoarse shriek of the hurtling L’s, just sidewalks built on a common soil beneath which, like as not, the clamorous mole, the subway, weaves and burrows its vocal path. Just sidewalks, littered with paper, with casual garbage, marked with the pressure of countless feet, hurrying feet, feet which go unshod, feet protected against heat and cold by the makeshift leathers of the poor. Sidewalks, endless highways, leading to birth, to death, to success and to failure; leading to the cold, crowded windings of city rivers, leading out to freer, wider areas, leading — back…

I’ve made my decision, thought Betty Eaton, and it’s the only self-respecting choice I can make. Two years of love and hope were erased when Betty decided not to marry Hal, who wanted a full-time wife, not a “lady doctor.” Betty wanted to be wife and doctor. But perhaps she could not have everything. Forced to choose, she chose medicine.

The demands of medical school give Betty few hours to think about the painful break with Hal. Soon she makes close ties with students, interns and teachers, all dedicated to the business of saving lives. Lectures and lab work give way to examining real patients. Slowly, fulfillingly, Betty evolves from classroom student to almost-doctor: alert and skilled during long nights on the emergency wards, quick and capable as a key member of a surgery team, triumphant as she helps deliver a baby. At the same time, her relationships with people seem to flower. She discovers that some men want to marry women doctors. She even comes to understand and resolve her battle with the over-critical, steel-eyed Chief of Medical Services, Dr. Axworth — “The Ax.”

Finally, as Dr. Betty Eaton she is ready for the responsibility of internship and residency at General Hospital, a pulsating medical center in New York City. Still, something is missing. Her sister is married, her friends are marrying and Betty cannot forget her dream: blending marriage and medicine. When she meets Jack Gage, she senses that her dream is at hand. Fulfilling it becomes her greatest challenge. Can she fairly divide her time between Jack and her career? Will he understand that when the lights go on in the operating room at three in the morning, she must be there? Will his family and friends accept a new doctor — and a woman at that — in their small Massachusetts community? Betty struggles to meet the challenge with honesty, femininity and a devotion to both her chosen professions: being wife and being a family doctor.

What did this handsome surgeon, old enough to be her father, want of her? Did he expect her to be more than a devoted assistant?

Attractive Patricia Lloyd, R.N., had two problems — both of them doctors.

Dr. Jeffrey Wayne was handsome, mature and mysteriously drawn to Patricia, beyond the call of duty.

Dr. Bill Gregory was young, very much in love and intensely jealous.

Caught between the two, Patricia found her personal emotions — and professional duty — in sudden and grave danger.

Grim duty forced Rietta to leave the life she loved — and face probable heartache.

Rietta Mendall, R.N., was perfectly happy. She was, in fact, in the middle of counting her blessings — her interesting work, her comfortable apartment — when tragedy struck. Her brother’s teenage son was in trouble, and Rietta’s help was needed. And when such a need existed, Rietta could not place her own happiness first.

She knew that her brother’s troubles would clear up in time. But her own way of life was drastically altered. To support herself now, she worked as a visiting nurse serving the trailer community. Her patients’ problems became her problems…and multiplied rapidly. Then romance beckoned…and Rietta knew it was the one problem she might not be able to solve!

Could she extricate herself from deep involvement in a romantic triangle before it damaged her nursing career?

An accident emergency brought Tracey Talbot, R.N. from vacation pleasures to a hospital operating room, as a surgical nurse for the handsome young Dr. Shan Malone.

This emergency operation brought her more than she had expected to find at the small ranch community, where she was visiting her aunt prior to beginning her nursing career. It brought her the anguish of a romantic triangle.

Win or lose, she knew the battle of love could mean the end of her nursing career.