Summary: When you move to Kansas for a fresh start and start working at a hospital in Topeka, you take over the case of one Gertrude Middleton, a 15-years-brain dead patient with no known relatives.
Warnings: a small amount of angst, slight canon divergence if you squint
A/N: Here's one in celebration of the woman who brought Charlie to life. Happy birthday, Felicia Day!
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Trudging through the fluorescent-lit hallway, you yawn widely, dabbing at the water in your eyes with the sleeves of your white lab coat.
"Hey," Jen greets from behind the nurse's station, her smile annoyingly enthusiastic and her maroon-colored scrubs annoyingly bright. "How was your first week?"
"Exhausting," you sigh.
She plucks a clipboard from the desk and hands you the chart. "Good thing you've only got one more."
"Who is it?"
"Room 628. Gertrude Middleton. Car accident resulting in head trauma turned—"
"Turned to PVS," you finish.
She raises her eyebrows. "That was quick for a newbie."
You frown. "I remembered her because I couldn't make heads or tails of why we're still keeping her alive."
"She's been receiving anonymous donations to fund her care," Jen explains, "but as you can see..."
"Persistent vegetative state for fifteen years. She's gone."
Jen nods.
"Any next of kin?" you ask.
"Just a daughter, but I haven't seen her in years. Dr. Buckner didn't even round on her more than once a week. She's had no brain activity in a year."
"Well, I'd like to keep this job, thanks," you remark.
She chuckles. "Suit yourself."
You plod down the hall again until you reach the door with the numbers 628 printed on the label.
Your hand barely grazes the lever of the door knob before you hear a woman's voice piercing the door.
Peering through the narrow window, you see a woman with red hair, the same shade as Gertrude's, perched in a chair, her back to you. She holds a book open in front of her and reads from the pages.
You consider calling security. After all, visiting hours have ended. But you decide that anyone who would take the time to read to a brain-dead woman in such a sweet voice wouldn't do any harm.
