Peanut Butter & Jealousy

Peanut Butter & Jealousy

It's her first day on the job, and this is not how Lauren Bloom wanted Leyla Shinwari to find out about her past dalliances with her friend and colleague Floyd Reynolds.

"Alright, today is the first day of your internship here at New Amsterdam hospital. My name is Dr. Floyd Reynolds, and I am the Deputy Chair of Surgery. Let me know if you have any questions..." Floyd continues his speech for a little while longer, before he sets the medical residents off to work.

One of them seems familiar somehow, even though Reynolds can't seem to place it.

"The patient has a history of COPD, so make sure you secure the airway-" Dr. Shinwari instructs confidently.

Dr. Reynolds keeps a keen eye on this resident, who seems to be performing exceptionally well for her first day as physician.

"Dr. Shinwari, you've got quite the talent," says Dr. Reynolds.

"Thank you, Sir," says Leyla politely.

"May I ask where you studied?" asks Dr. Reynolds curiously.

"Pakistan," says Leyla simply.

"I've got to say, I'm impressed," says Floyd.

"Thank you," says Leyla. "Hold that thought, I've got to get back to my patient-"

Leyla runs off to treat her patient, and Floyd continues to check up on all of the other new residents for the next little while, as he tries to synergize with all of them, and most importantly, stay out of Lauren's way.

"Incoming!" says Lauren with a booming voice, and Dr. Shinwari meets her.

"She's got unequal breath sounds-" says Lauren.

"Oh no, she's going into cardiac arrest. Can we get a crash cart over here!?" cries Leyla.

"Charge to 200!" says Lauren. "Clear!"

"She needs a surgical airway, hand me a crike tray!" says Leyla.

Lauren nods at Leyla, and Leyla steps forward and performs the procedure without even pausing.

As soon as the patient's breath sounds come back clear and equal again, Lauren and Leyla breathe a sigh of relief, and share a warm smile before Lauren is called to another trauma bay, and Leyla begins filling out admission paperwork again.

"She's quite talented," says Dr. Reynolds.

"Yeah," says Dr. Bloom, smiling despite herself.

But they don't get to chat about it any further before the E.D is newly populated with a stack of patients from a nearby bus crash.

It takes several hours to stabilize them all, and before long, everyone is extremely hungry.

"Now I ordered everyone takeout, and it's on the way, but in the meantime, I have a box of peanut butter truffles a patient gave to me the other day, and I'm willing to share them," says Dr. Reynolds. "Just make sure to wash your hands and brush your teeth after, in case of allergies."

"Here, do you want one?" Floyd offers to Leyla.

"Thank you-" says Leyla, as she takes it into her hand, but then swiftly puts it into a napkin, and tries to find a suitable container for it.

"If you don't like it, I can take it back, no need to be polite about it-" says Dr. Reynolds.

"Oh I do want it, I'm just saving it for... Later..." says Leyla, knowing that they are Lauren's favorites, and she'd much prefer to see Lauren's face when she sees it than to eat it herself.