February 20 2021
The pager went off just as AJ was finishing a consult.
*15-year-old female, GSW to the head. ETA: 5 minutes.
Her heart clenched. A kid.
She barely had time to breathe before she was storming into the trauma bay, interns already scrambling into gowns and gloves.
AJ -Webber, airway. Adams, IV access. Jones, if you so much as blink wrong, I'm throwing you out.
The girl was wheeled in, blood everywhere, her mother screaming behind the gurney. AJ shoved the chaos into the background and focused. *Survive. Always focus on survive.*
But the truth was written on the scans minutes later. The bullet had shredded too much. Even with her skills, there was no saving her.
She broke the news herself. Sat with the mother, held her shaking hands, ignored the ache in her back and the sharp pull low in her stomach.
AJ - I'm so sorry
AJ whispered.
AJ - We did everything we could.
The woman sobbed into her arms. And AJ held her, feeling the tiny flutter of her own baby inside her.
---
Later, in the locker room, AJ sat on the bench, trying to catch her breath. Her scrubs were streaked with blood, her hands trembling.
Camilla, sharp-eyed as always, spotted her.
Camilla- You okay, boss?
AJ forced a smirk.
AJ - I'm fine. Just interns making me lose hair.
But Camilla didn't buy it. She never did.
Camilla -That wasn't just an intern disaster today. That was a kid.
AJ swallowed hard.
AJ - I hate telling parents there's nothing we can do.
Camilla reached out, squeezed her shoulder.
Camilla- Yeah. But you do it anyway. That's what makes you good.
AJ smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Because inside, she was thinking of her daughter at home, and the baby she hadn't told anyone about yet. And how fragile life really was.
---
The next day, chaos struck again—this time, Gabriel dropped a tray of sterile instruments mid-surgery, and AJ nearly blew a fuse.
But halfway through shouting, she felt a sharp cramp. She froze, one hand instinctively going to her stomach.
Dave caught it. Camilla caught it. The interns—thankfully—were too busy panicking about the surgery to notice.
Dave- You okay?
Dave whispered under his mask.
AJ straightened, forcing steel into her voice.
AJ - I'm fine. Focus.
But her body betrayed her. She was *not* fine. And the cracks in her armor were starting to show.
---
