Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Twenty-One

"Doctor Okye  can you tell me why I've elected to use a Frasier stitch rather than staples to close this incision?" Melody asked even as she twisted the silver string into position across the sliced skin.

The young man to her side answered. "Staples don't offer as much freedom of movement during recovery; this does and won't leave as big of scars."

"Correct." She  tied off the suture and examined her work one more time. The wound certainly looked better now than it had originally. Though even with her sutures, the recovery would be slow. Half his liver had been too damaged in the accident to salvage. "Bring him up to post-OP, I'll talk to the family." 

The OR began to move at once as her orders were followed and she stripped out of her surgical gown. The cool air a relief against her sweaty skin as she made her way into the scrub room and let her walls come down. 

The second surgery she'd performed tonight though this was one far easier to her mind. The first had been a tracheotomy and that had been with a knife and empty pen. Far simpler procedure made complicated by a lack of tools. No lasting harm had been done but even now, her hands trembled as she scrubbed out. 

"You should go home," the other attending said to her as they cleaned their hands. His name was Omar but she couldn't recall his last name. "You've done enough here."

"I'm alright." Melody said instantly, her memory flashing back to the numerous bodies piled up n the wreckage. "Besides, I still need to speak to the family."

"I can handle that," the other surgeon replied. "Get some rest. His Majesty already sent a transport for you."

Melody grabbed a towel. "Alright. Will you call me if anything changes in the recovery?" 

"If that's what you would like." He smiled at her and sighed, switching to English. His accent was even thicker than hers. "I studied your father's techniques in medical school. He was a great man." 

"He was brilliant," Melody replied, refusing to agree with that lie. John wasn't a great man. He'd only been a great surgeon. "Thank you Doctor. Good luck tonight."

***

The flight back was short, T'challa said little to her aside from thanking her again for her help in the crash but his gratitude only made her feel guilty. 

The bus crash was like an oasis for Melody. Her two weeks in Wakanda, while incredible had also been lacking. She had missed the hospital, missed the feeling of a scalpel in her hand, missed the chaos of the ER and the way it tested her intelligence and skills as a doctor. Leaping down from the ambulance rig with her patient whom she'd had to interest an emergency trach into she'd finally felt like herself again The return of a piece of herself, the piece that had been missing since arriving in the country. 

Now, even twelve hours after the fact, her limbs aching with tiredness, Melody felt happy. There had been many folks injured in the crash and some had been critical indeed and yet, miraculously no one was had been declared dead. That could change she knew, but for now, to her knowledge it had not. The crash that could've been a catastrophe was not yet one. And part of that was due to her and her abilities as a surgeon. 

Melody smiled tiredly to herself, making her way through the dark building, not wanting to wake anyone up. It was midnight now, possibly afterwards and she didn't want to disturb anyone. Or rather, she didn't want to disturb anyone just yet. Selfish as it was, she was going to go and see James. She knew he was probably asleep by now, knew he needed his rest but it still wasn't enough to stop her. Melody needed to see him; to go home after a long, stressful day. 

She unlocked the door to James's apartment. Though she didn't have a key of her own, he did have an extra one hidden in the potted plant that was in the hallway in case he ever lost his. James had told her about it not long after she'd arrived, in case she ever needed to get into the apartment without him.She expected, as she turned the door for the studio to be dark and quiet. She was only half right. The room was quiet, but it was not dark. James was sitting up at the table and perked up at the sound of her arrival. Melody winced as she caught sight of his face. Though she had been performing a repair on a throat and later helping deal with an influx of trauma to an ER for twelve hours total, he looked more exhausted than she was.