Cold As Ice

Chapter 4

Allie settled back into her chair at the nurse's station, pulling out her New York Times crossword puzzle book. For a few blessed moments, all of the maternity ward's patients were resting and comfortable. Mandy was sitting across from Allie, leafing through a Cosmo magazine absentmindedly, her trademark bright pink scrubs a welcome jolt of color in the dimly lit hall. The clock on the wall behind her read 1:57 am.

Allie stifled a yawn, readjusting her posture slightly to try and avoid slouching and giving into sleep. It had been a while since she'd worked overnights, and her internal clock was still adjusting.

"So, how you liking it here Allie?" Mandy asked idly.

Allie smiled back at her, a genuine grin. "I love it, so far," she replied. It had been a long time since she'd been able to say that about a job, she realized, and she'd forgotten what it was like to work somewhere and not be looking over one shoulder or waiting for the other shoe to drop. For reasons Allie couldn't quite name, she hadn't been worried about having an episode since coming to Forks.

Allie had been struggling with inexplicable episodes of amnesia since she was about 17. She'd managed to get through school without telling anyone, replying on copied notes from classmates who thought she'd simply overslept a lab or lecture and the goodwill of her professors when she told them she'd had a medical event. That tactic had worked, for a while, until the episodes took a turn around her 23rd birthday. Before then, one of Allie's episodes had lasted only a few hours, a half day at most. Until one time she'd woken up four days later sitting at an international gate in the JFK airport about to get on a flight to Rome.

After that, Allie's episodes had gotten longer and more unpredictable. And, unsurprisingly, Allie's bosses weren't as sympathetic to her vague excuses of medical events, and even her most kindhearted coworkers couldn't cover for her for days on end, not in her field.

But somehow, since coming to Forks, Allie hadn't had even a hint of an episode, which was unusual for her. As long as she could remember, there was a constant buzzing in the back of her mind, like some sort of pent-up energy always threatening to break loose. Right before each of her episodes, Allie could feel the buzzing intensify. But here in Forks, the buzzing was so dim as to be unnoticeable most days. Allie felt she could finally breathe, relax, again. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she'd felt like that.

"You worked ED yet?" Mandy asked, jerking her head towards the elevator. The emergency department, like in most hospitals, was on the ground floor for easy access to the street where ambulances dropped off the truly urgent patients.

Allie shook her head. She didn't mind the ED, but she was still working her way through the final phases of her onboarding and training, and she wasn't surprised that her scheduling manager wasn't putting her on the heavier rotations - like ED and NICU - just yet.

"Ah, well, that'll change then," Mandy smirked, returning her attention to Cosmo. Allie chuckled. She liked Mandy's bluntness. She reminded Allie of many other experienced nurses she'd met: no-nonsense, calm in any situation, and always more than a little jaded. Mandy had the respect of the doctors at Forks General, Allie could tell, because they all sought her input and none of them questioned her.

"I uhm... I haven't seen that guy from my interview, the head doctor, in a while?" Allie hoped her tone was casual enough not to arouse Mandy's suspicions.

"Oh honey, please, you don't have to pretend that you don't remember who Carlisle is," Mandy sniggered, winking at Allie from around the cover of her magazine. Allie felt herself flush in a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. It was unusual - and felt a shade disrespectful - to call an MD by their first name in such a familiar way.