𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙸𝚃 𝙰𝙵𝙵𝙰𝙸𝚁𝚂 - 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚈'𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙰𝚃𝙾𝙼𝚈

𝟷𝟷

S1 E8

Angie made a distinct point of avoiding Preston's gaze as they slipped out of Esther's room to speak to her parents. When the pair left and it was just Preston and Angie side-by-side at the nurse's station again, Angie kept her eyes firmly ahead, staring at nothing as Preston's eyes began to burn into the side of her face.

"So..." Angie drew out anxiously, fingers drumming on the counter. "Something tells me we're still not going the reconstructive route?"

Preston's eye roll was palpable, and he moved around so he was standing in front of Angie, forcing her to look at him. That scowl had reappeared on his lips, and Angie sighed internally, trying to brace herself.

"We are going to give Miss Friedman a bit of breathing room," Preston began slowly. "And then you are going to go in there and do whatever it takes to get her into surgery." His voice left no room for questioning, but Angie frowned all the same.

"And what, exactly, does 'whatever it takes' entail?" she asked cautiously.

Preston pursed his lips briefly. "It entails utilizing the trust she has placed in you and convincing her that this is not the time or the place for her youthful convictions and delusions of grandeur—"

"So you want me to manipulate her?" Angie cut in, her frown beginning to harden into a scowl that rivaled Preston's. He stared back, just as irritated.

"It's not manipulation, Dr. Hansley."

"You're asking me to take the trust a patient has placed and use it to goad and lure her into a surgery she has clearly stated she does not want. What would you call that?"

"I would call it being a doctor. I would call it acknowledging that she is a child—"

"And children still have voices, Preston! They have opinions and they have consent, and they have a right to freely give both. Just because she's not 18, it doesn't mean she can't know what she does and doesn't want."

"Except she doesn't know what she wants!" Preston snapped. "Her judgement is clouded and it is up to us to help her see reason and explain all the ways this surgery is the best option for her."

"But it's not the best option, and we both know it!" Angie shot back immediately, and Preston rolled his eyes as they circled back to their original argument. "You can't ask me to go in there and lie to that girl—"

"It's not lying, it's saving a life!"

"It's lying when the only reason we're not doing the more efficient method is because you don't know how!"

The words spilled out furiously before she could think twice about them. Angie very nearly cringed and took them back, but cringing and backtracking would imply that she was wrong.

Preston's face fell briefly, then cemented into a look of cold fury and authority. A look that Preston only ever reserved for the most insolent and frustrating interns.

Angie's stomach churned at the scornful stare, but she forced herself to look impassive, holding his stare. Behind the station, nurses looked on warily, bouncing back and forth between Angie and Preston.

"Because I know you," Preston began, quiet and lethal. "I am going to chalk all of this up to an isolated incident. I am going to assume this was all just a slip of the tongue and I am going to let you walk away and get yourself together. You may come find me when you are ready to be a doctor again." He turned on his heel and disappeared, leaving Angie by herself and seething.

She swallowed the urge to chase Preston down and cuss him out until he cried, resolving herself to a roll of her shoulders as she avoided the gazes of worried nurses. "I'm going to walk away," she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. "I am an adult at an adult job and adults walk away."