The ones who live hidden in plain sight (A discovery of witches story)

13- Bad Child

Now you're standin' in front of my door-or-or-or

Like none of this happened at all-all-all-all

I guess I'm always gonna be the bad child

By tones and I

Today, day shift in paediatrics. Friday duty tonight, a little dance party for the kids and staff to be honest. Her timetable in a nutshell, in the second year of her speciality: 50% in emergency, 30% paediatrics and 20% PICU (Paediatric ICU). 6 posts in this speciality. With this organisational system, which the administrators were much more familiar with than they were, there is generally always a paediatric specialist in the emergency department.

Depending on the day's assignment, there are three types of typical day. In A&E, there is no tour of the department, only transmissions between shifts. For paediatric cases, there are generally four possibilities:

— return home, admitted to surgery, admitted to paediatrics, PICU or other associate. Finally, other services. Much more autonomy for her, and special teamwork in relation to the other departments needed to get to the end of the shift.

Paediatrics: Assigned to a defined number of cases, in support of emergency needs. Morning and evening rounds with both teams for transition.

PICU: Same principle for the rounds, with an extra visit at 3pm. Honestly, the department she liked least, but it's part of her speciality. More confined and... it's normal receiving the most serious cases after emergency, which means a lot more technique and mortality. No parent wants to see their child admitted to this department. These shifts are always a little more stifling and... All credit to the teams who work there all the time.

She was introduced as being able to speak both emergency doctor and paediatrician, and quickly realised that this was the case. As an emergency doctor, she had the langage (a residency behind her); as a paediatrician, it took a bit longer and there were certain departments that really weren't made for her.

She knew she was lucky to be in that speciality at the time. Emergency medicine did over time determine to be one of her specialties of choice. Emergency medicine or paediatrics, later, the perfect but at the time undeniable duo: emergency pediatric medicine, even more elitist.

At Bristol, her old hospital, as an intern, when the time came to think about her residency vows, she was in surgery and she hated it. Everyone could see that she would never be a surgeon.

One day, she was paged with her attending for severe trauma. In trauma cases, she learned the most and felt the most comfortable, so it was not surprising that it was similar to what she did when she was normally in the emergency department alongside consultations. That day, the patient didn't survive. She stayed downstairs for a while longer to deal with the aftermath, and her desire to go back upstairs to be with the surgical patients was absent. The board was... to put it simply, she just wanted to stay downstairs and help clear it.

—Is surgery really that bad?" laughed the attending, Dr Mckay.

—For me it is. I can't wait to get back to the emergency department.

—I take it this will be one of the choices for residency?

—Yes, emergency or paediatrics. When I think the choice is made the other comes back to attack.

—I work for my side but I hope to see you in emergency medicine and even more so here. I can see that.

—thank you, I smiled, flattered. That would be... Definitely one of the plans.

—In the future, but it's always good to anticipate, emergency pediatric medicine could be a good fit for you.

Chance made him smile, having never discussed the idea with him.