Shooting Stars

CHAPTER 9

Aria woke to the shrill sound of her pager vibrating against the thin mattress beneath her.

For one disoriented second, she didn't know where she was.

The on-call room was dim, the air stale with that strange hospital stillness that never really felt like rest, just a pause between disasters. Her neck ached. One arm had gone numb under her, and the blanket twisted around her waist smelled faintly of detergent and hospital soap.

Then she looked up.

Alex was asleep in the top bunk above her, one arm hanging over the edge, breathing slow and deep in the kind of exhaustion that only came after too many hours on your feet and too little sleep to make up for it.

Aria smiled to herself before she could help it.

There was something stupidly endearing about Alex asleep. Maybe because it was the only time he ever looked completely unguarded. No sarcasm. No attitude. No sharp edges. Just sleep-rumpled hair, half a frown still on his face like even unconscious he expected the world to annoy him, and one long leg nearly hanging off the bed.

Her pager went off again.

Aria groaned and reached up, grabbing his arm and yanking.

Alex jerked so suddenly he nearly rolled straight out of the bunk.

"What the hell was that for?" he snapped, blinking down at her like she'd lost her mind.

Aria was already swinging her legs off the bed. "We're being paged. Get your lazy ass up, we've got to go."

Alex dropped his head back against the pillow dramatically. "No."

She narrowed her eyes. "Alex."

"I'm serious. Tell them I died."

Aria reached up and shoved at his leg this time. "Get up."

He groaned, rolled over, and tried to bury his face in the pillow.

Aria stood, crossed her arms, and waited exactly one second before grabbing the edge of the mattress and shaking it hard enough to make him curse.

"You are the most irritating person I've ever met," he muttered, finally dragging himself upright.

"And yet," Aria said, already heading for the door, "you still chose to sleep in the bunk above me."

"That was for strategic reasons."

She glanced back. "What strategic reasons?"

Alex shoved a hand through his hair and stumbled after her. "I don't know. Better lighting. Less murder."

Aria laughed under her breath as they headed out into the corridor together, both of them looking wrecked, both of them moving on instinct more than energy.

It felt oddly normal.

Too normal, maybe.

But Aria didn't let herself think about that too hard.

⸻

The ER was already moving when they got there.

Aria barely had time to pull on gloves before she was in with Mark and Meredith, while Derek reviewed scans nearby. The patient — Jennifer — sat on the bed pale, shaken, and still trying to process the fact that she'd been clawed by a bear on what was probably meant to be one of the happiest weekends of her life.

"CT is clear," Derek said, studying the scans.

"But it's deep," Mark added, inspecting the laceration along Jennifer's scalp. "That bear clawed you good."