"I hate this job.", I mumbled to myself while getting changed into my working clothes. One final look in the mirror, making an ugly face to express my anger before strutting out into the ER. It was bursting with people, as always. What else would you do on a Saturday, right? I put on my best smile and greeted everyone while making my way to the small and stuffy conference room. You could still smell the kebab we had two nights ago. I shuddered with disgust. "Hey, Emma, you sick? It's freaking hot in here and you're shaking." - "Hey Lars! Nah, don't worry. I just can't stand this damn closet anymore. I feel like little Harry Potter in his cupboard under the stairs!" Lars laughed and sat down next to me. He was one of my favorite colleagues. We went to university together and started working at the same hospital right after. "Why are you here anyway? Didn't you tell me you were going to that concert tonight?", he asked with a confused look on his face. "Do not mention this EVER again.", I said while theatrically threatening him with a pen. "Laura called in sick this morning, so Professor Brown asked me to cover her shift. I could kill her...", I violently stabbed my notebook with the pen to underline my anger. "Aw, I'm sorry, sweetie, I really am. Although it's quite a good deal for me.", Lars said and smirked at me. I hit him in the side and we both chuckled when our senior came in. "I'm glad to see you're starting the shift off in a good mood - you'll need it!", Mrs. Bloom said. If she only knew... We started going over the different wards to see if there were any unstable patients or others that could cause problems during the night. Then we had a look at the patients currently waiting in the ER to prioritize and split them up between Lars and me.
The hours went by as I saw one patient after another. As usual, most of them only had minor injuries which were dealt with rather quickly. It only got exciting once, when two groups of drunken teenagers brought their wounded leaders in after a gang fight. Fortunately, a few stitches and two police officers were enough to get them out of the ER and back in line - at least until the following weekend.
It was around 10.30 p.m. that Lars asked me to take over one of his cabinets. I was just taking care of an elderly lady who had fallen over her slippers this evening and finally decided to call an ambulance after lying on the floor for several hours. "Emma? Where are you?", I heard Lars call. "I'm in here, no. 7!" He put his head through the curtains, gave the old lady a warm smile and turned to me: "Could you please, please, please take over no. 4 for me?", he looked at me with huge puppy eyes. "All my other ones are full, I have 4 people currently on hold after their x-ray and I really need to pee." I laughed. "Run, Forrest, run!" Lars ran off and I turned back to my slightly demented grandma. After giving up on explaining we are not in World War II anymore, I took a sip of water and entered cabinet no. 4. Well, at least that was what I was planning to do...
When I opened the door, I could see a very familiar pair of dark brown eyes, that I was not at all prepared to see. I whispered "Excuse me" so quietly, I could barely hear it myself, and quickly shut the door. Full of shock, I turned my head in every direction to look for Lars but he wasn't there. I slowly started making my way to the restroom and locked the door. I turned on the water and splashed my face with the ice cold heaven that came out the tap. "Calm down, you can do this. He's just a patient, you're just a doctor. It'll be fine.", I told my reflection in the mirror. Trying to breathe in and out as deeply as possible, I slowly shuffled back to the cabinet. I took one last breath and entered the room.
YOU ARE READING
All Fucked Up
FanfictionI was definitely not expecting to see him that night. And when I did, I was sure it was a once in a lifetime encounter. But it turns out I was wrong and not in any way prepared for what was to come.
