Bedside Manner (Law x Reader)

01. Assault Any Other Attendings?

"If you were just going to disregard my opinion, why the hell did you ask for it?" 

Law's ears perked up at the familiar voice, gaze lifting from the chart in his hand. A shadow fell over his features as he frowned. Of course it was you. It was always you, wasn't it? Spirited... No, as irritating as ever. 

You tore the cap off your head, facemask dangling off an ear as your chest heaved. There was a large stain of blood splashed across your abdomen. You must have begun hounding the attending the second the surgery ended, not bothering to properly scrub out. 

"It would've been a success! They didn't--" 

The attending remained indifferent, not so much as looking at you as you ranted breathlessly. He continued to move through the corridor, greeting the occasional colleague or answering another resident's question. Growing frustrated with being ignored, you reached out and took hold of their arm as you yanked them around to face you. 

The scowl on the man's face alone would have been enough to halt anyone else. Not you though. 

"You're done, l/n." The man roughly reclaimed his arm. "Get cleaned up and go home." 

You brought your hand close to your chest, blinking up at the attending, stunned. You took a step towards him.

"But I--" 

He held up a hand. 

"Go. Home." 

A smirk graced Law's lips as he watched the scene unfold. It always served as good entertainment to watch you get knocked down a peg. You were so headstrong, it was infuriating. The young doctor had to wonder why the chief of surgery even put up with you. 

As though you could feel his steely gaze, your head whipped around in his direction. You were absolutely fuming. He could nearly see smoke rolling from your flared nostrils like some exaggerated cartoon. 

"Don't you have rounds to do?" You spat. "Bastard." 

You stormed past, roughly shoving your shoulder into his and knocking him off balance. You didn't need to look back to know he was glaring after you. 

You slipped off your soiled top as soon as you stepped into the locker room, crumpling it into a ball. The walk through the halls had helped to calm you down. To an extent. Every time your mind drifted back to the surgery or the smug look on Trafalgar's face, the anger started to return. 

"I don't understand why he keeps bringing me in on surgeries." You grunted, throwing your locker open. "Barely lets me assist, doesn't listen. How the hell am I supposed to become a renowned surgeon?" 

You could feel the hot tears pricking at the corners of your eyes as you slipped into your dark tank top. The stress of the day was finally boiling over. With another huff, you haphazardly slung a backpack over your shoulder. 

You bit back the rest of your aggravation as a couple of other residents entered the room. They were so engrossed in their own conversation that they didn't take notice of you as they passed. 

It was all for the better. The last thing you needed was for someone to catch you crying by the lockers.

"Did you hear about that storm rolling in?" The woman questioned in disbelief.  "They're saying that it's going to be the worst we've seen in almost thirty years!" 

-

"Hold the elevator!" 

You hurried towards the closing doors, narrowly slipping inside the metal box. Your ankle got caught on the way in, scraping against them. You muttered a curse, favoring the leg as you waited for the sting to subside.

You could feel the weight of someone else's presence behind you, but kept your eyes forward. The tears from before resurfaced. You'd only been a resident for a little over a year and this had proven to be the toughest day you'd had. So far anyway. 

You lost the patient, got sent home early. What made it worse was that you were certain that if the attending had gone with your suggestion, that the patient would have survived. Your grip tightened on the strap of your bag. 

"Assualt any other attendings, l/n-ya?"

The smug tone had you seeing red. 

"It's been a long fucking day, Trafalgar." There was an edge to your voice as turned your head enough to watch him out of the corner of your eye. 

Cool as ever, the young doctor was looking right at you without a hint of shame. You imagined he was still salty about that little shove from earlier. You rolled your eyes. 

"If you keep it up, you'll lose your residency." 

"There's other hospitals." 

"But none held as high in regard." He pointed out. "It'll be a stain on your record if you lose your place here. You'll be lucky to be hired by a small time clinic." 

You ground your teeth, shifting your weight from one foot to the other.

How long did it take to get to the main level?

You eyed the red letters above the doors as they counted down, agonizingly slow. It pissed you off that he was right. 

New World Medical Center had a reputation like no other. Patients would travel from every corner of the world just to receive care from the doctors within these walls. Nothing could make or break your career quicker than a position here. 

Your eyebrow twitched when the man scoffed. 

"What's your problem?" You snapped, turning to face him fully, only to fall face first into the wall when the elevator jolted to a stop. 

Law smirked in amusement, his trained eyes following your hand as you rubbed your nose. You could feel a burn radiating across your cheekbones as the seconds dragged on.

"That's just great." 

"Calm down, l/n-ya. It'll start back up again in a moment."