Rose ~ (hs)

4

*Rose's POV*

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I groan in annoyance at the sound of my alarm. God, I feel like death. When walking to the bathroom to get ready for my shift, I trip on one of my heels from last night. I don't even recognize myself in the mirror; I really look like shit. My make up is all smudged, mascara is smeared down my cheek and my skin is tearstained. I guess I feel asleep crying late last night. I pop three Advil into my mouth and swallow before jumping into the shower.

"It's complicated. We're complicated." His words keep ringing through my mind.  My phone keeps ringing but I ignore it as I finish up in the shower to get my scrubs on. I brush my teeth, gargle with mouthwash and braid my hair to keep it out of my face. My second alarm goes off, signaling that I only have twenty minutes until my shift starts. I grab a granola bar for my morning commute on the public transit bus.

The bus ride is rather long today, but in reality it's the same length as it always is. My brain just thinks that it's longer because I'm still upset from the final words of our conversation last night. I buy a coffee for me and I grab a second one for my attending, just to start the day right.

"Keep the change, thanks." The barista nods in gratitude before she puts my change in the tip jar. There's no time to wait for the elevator today so I rush up to our locker room using the stairs. I put on my white lab coat with my stethoscope, making sure to pin on my badge before running out the door to meet my general surgery resident.

"Payne!" He stops in his tracks and turns around to wait for me. "Caramel cappuccino with cinnamon."

I hand over the coffee to Liam, he takes it with a smile on his face.

"My favorite, thank you Collins." We wait in the hallway for everyone else in my class to meet us in silence; it's not awkward but slightly comfortable.

"Ready to scrub in today?" I nod and smile while taking the final sip of my coffee, before throwing it out. Yes, I drink coffee fast; we're not technically supposed to have any liquids when we go through our rounds. Normally I have another hour or so because I wake up early to do extra research or to catch up on a patient from a previous day, but I was running a little behind today.

"Rounds, let's go!" The last few students that are late every single morning come running over to our usual meeting spot. We enter through the doorway to the room of our first patient.

"Who would like to present?" Dr. Payne asks us. This is the room of a patient that Kyla and Symmone scrubbed in on yesterday for cardio-thoracic.

"Neal Hampton, 65. Was seen yesterday for an emergency coronary artery bypass. Dr. Irwin performed the cabbage with success. No complications during surgery, patient was monitored for cholesterol, troponin and a general CBC. Glucose levels were also monitored because Mr. Hampton is also a Type II diabetic."

"Neal, how are we feeling today?" Dr. Irwin makes his appearance thorough the door.

"I'm feeling great today, never felt better." He smiles at the doctor and we all leave to the next patient, mine.

"Okay, who's next to present?" I exchange looks with my other partner, Mark. He nods to me. I look over to our patient in the bed.

"Elaine Stevens, 41, came in yesterday by ambulance following a multi-car accident on the highway. Brain function and activity was severely compromised due to multiple spinal fractures and a puncture wound to the lumbar area of the spine. Dr. Hemmings repaired all of the four spinal fractures with a posterior approach on her arrival after a MRI and CT scan. The puncture wound was plugged and Dr. Hemmings determined to was best to post-pone that part of the surgery; it was more pressing to stabilize the spine from the fractures. CRP and leukocytes were monitored overnight as well as hourly brain activity tests. Brain function remains minimal but still present. Dr. Hemmings will work to repair the puncture wound in the next few days. "