Innocent

Chapter Eighteen

Allison
*Three weeks later*
AN: A certain beloved character shows up in this chapter. Let's just pretend she's around the same age as Allison. Maybe a few years older.

"Hey Cap? Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.
"Sure. What's up kid?" She set her pen down and looked up at me from her paper work.

I walked in and shut the door.
"Look, this is really important to me, and I want you to hear me out and not say anything negative until I'm done, okay?"
"Okay. Go."

"I uh... I wanna go to medical school."
"You want to go to medical school." She said slowly while nodding.
"Yeah. I wanna be a surgeon."
"What happened to wanting to be a fire fighter?" She leaned back in her chair.

"I want that too. But I feel like I could be doing more. I feel like if I become a doctor, and a fire fighter, then I could be saving so many more people. I mean, look at Ben! He was an anesthesiologist, then a surgeon, then a fire fighter."
"Okay."

"Okay? That's it? You're not gonna try to stop me?"
"Allison, I will always support your dreams. No matter what. You're my baby. If you wanna go to med school, then your Mom and I will support you. But I want you to know that the price is gonna have to be all you. We can't afford med school." Maya said.

"Oh I don't need money Maya. I need your support. Cause I got in." I said with a smile.
"Wait, you already got in?"
"Yep. Full ride scholarship baby."
"Holy shit!" She ran over and engulfed me in a hug.
"You're going to medical school!" She exclaimed.
"I'm going to medical school."

*At home*

"Ciao Mom!" I said excitedly as I walked through the door.
"Ciao farfalla. You're very happy today."
"Sit down. I need to talk to you." I moved her to the couch and we sat down.
"You're scaring me." She said.

"Don't worry. Just listen. I want to go to medical school. I want to be a surgeon. I want to do general or trauma or something, I don't know. But I want to be a fire fighter too. I just... I think I can help more people if I do both."

"Really? That's so amazing farfalla. We can start looking at schools right now." She reached for the computer.

"Wait. Here." I handed her my acceptance letter, and she read over it.
"You got into University of Washington medical school?" She gasped.
"Yep. Full ride scholarship." I said with a smile.
"Farfalla! I'm so proud of you!" She wrapped her arms around me and hugged tightly.
"I couldn't have done it without you or Maya. I really couldn't." I told her, feeling a tear run down my face.
"Oh bambina, that was all you. We just helped you realize you could do it. I'm so proud of you." She kissed the top of my head.

"Thank you, Mom." I hugged her tightly.

*Six years later*

"I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule number one: Don't bother sucking up. I already hate you. That's not gonna change. Trauma protocol, phone list, pagers, nurses will page you. You will answer every page at a run. A run! That's rule number two." I picked up my chart and coffee and walked away, my interns scrambling to walk with me.

"Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You're interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop, and don't complain." I opened an on call room door.
"On-call rooms. Attendings hog them. Sleep when you can where you can, which brings me to rule number three." I shut the door and continued walking.
"If I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is dying. Rule four: The dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, you woke me for no reason. We clear?" I turned to face them.

"Uh Doctor Deluca-Bishop? You said five rules. That's only four." One of the interns said.
On cue, my pager went off.
"Rule number five. When I move, you move." I ran to the pit.

"What do we got?" I asked Doctor Bailey as I got gowned up.
"Incoming from a fire. Just a few people. How's your first day of being the new Nazi?" She asked.
"Loving it. Don't tell Maya, but I think I love this job more than the other one." I joked as we ran to the ambulance as it pulled up.

"Fifty six year old male, smoke inhalation, no other visible or obvious injuries." Andy said as she hopped out.
"Thank you Tia. Is everyone staying safe today?" I asked as we took the man from her.
"Sì mija. Kick ass today! I'll see you at the station later." She hopped back in the ambulance and they drove off.

"Okay guys. Since we're not needed down here, I have jobs for all of you. Sims, you grab me some coffee, please. Kim, you're upstairs with Doctor Deluca and Doctor Robbins in OB doing their charts. Be kind to the tiny humans and the tiny human makers. Kingsley, you're in the pit just in case you're needed. And Brooks, you're with me." I stood there as they all stared at me.

"Scatter!" I yelled and they all ran off to do their jobs except for Brooks.
"So, you're a fire fighter too?" She asked.
"You trying to get on my good side, or are you genuinely interested?" I asked as we walked back inside.
"Genuinely interested. I thought about doing it for a while." She shrugged. I see a lot of me in her. I read her file. Foster child, abusive family, smart. She didn't get as lucky as I did though.

"Yes. My sister is the Captain over there. And my Mom works here as an OB. Well, she's not really my Mom. She's my sister's fiancé. But they adopted me when I was a kid, and I've called Doctor Deluca Mom ever since." I said as we took an elevator up.

"Where are we going?" She asked.
"To check on the tiny humans. And to see my lovely Mom." We stepped off the elevator.
"Farfalla! You came to see me." She gave me a hug.
"Sì. Just checking in and seeing how the tiny humans and the tiny human makers are. Mom, this is Doctor Ava Brooks. She's my favorite intern. Brooks, this is my Mom, Doctor Deluca."

"It's nice to meet you Doctor." Brooks shook her hand.
"You as well. It takes a lot for Allison to call someone her favorite. You must've made an impression."
"She's the only competent one out of all my interns." I rolled my eyes.

"Hi babe." My girlfriend walked up and kissed my cheek.
"Hello love. Brooks, this is my girlfriend Doctor Amelia Shepherd. Amy, this is Doctor Brooks. My favorite intern."
"Nice to meet you. I gotta run. Are we going to the station after work?"
"Sì. Ti amo, mio mondo." I said as she ran off.
"I love you too!" She shouted back.

"Need us for anything Mom? If not I'm gonna head back downstairs and see if there's any surgeries I can hop on."
"No farfalla. You can head back down. I'll see you after work. Ti amo."
"Ti amo Mamma."

We stepped back on the elevator.
"You have a lot of family everywhere don't you?" Brooks asked.
"Yep. Just about everyone in here is my honorary Aunt or Uncle. It's the best."