"Ugh," I groan quietly to myself, wiping the spilt, freshly-made coffee stain on my light blue scrubs.
"Sorry!" Yells the girl who bumped into me, hustling past me with a group of doctors, pushing a stretcher.
"First day? You'll get used to it." I hear a voice behind me. I turn around to see the woman who manned the small breakfast stand from which I'd just bought my coffee, holding a napkin out to me.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks. I didn't think coffee was going to be the first thing a surgical intern would have to wipe off her scrubs." I said lightheartedly, still rubbing the stain with the napkin.
She smiled and laughed lightly, and then I said, "I have to get back, but thanks for the coffee...and the napkin."
"No problem, have a good one!"
—
Once I got back to my station in the ambulance bay in the back of the hospital, I was met with the sight of doctors, interns, and a few EMT's hurriedly moving about.
Surprised, I looked around at the newly-blossoming chaos.
"Well, don't just stand there, Y/L/N, get a move on!" My resident yelled over to me, and I hustled over to the ambulance that had just pulled up.
"Female, 19 years old. GSW to the right upper femoral area, no excess bleed from the artery, some blood from the surrounding area, but possible bone trauma to the femur, acetabulum, and ischial body. Heart rate 45 bpm, breaths quiet but ste-" Spat one of the EMT's quickly, and the other two unloaded the stretcher at warp speed.
"It's okay, we got it from here- she's a regular. Billie, what a surprise. What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Interrupted the resident, rolling her eyes but placing her hand on the side of the stretcher for support.
I gasped when I saw the young girl on the stretcher. Covered in tattoos, with a few nicely-placed piercings, she was absolutely beautiful. She looked pale, her silver hair flowing out behind her head on the pillow, and had a large bandage wrapped around her upper thigh, across which a steady rouge was forming.
"Actually, I'm 20 next week." Said the girl breathily, cracking as much a smile as she could in so much pain, then wincing.
"Yeah, yeah Billie, we know. What do we do first, Y/L/N?" Quizzed my chief resident, looking concernedly down at the girl.
A bit thrown off guard that she knew the girl lying on the stretcher, I thought for a few seconds, then said, "Uh, stop the bleeding, most important. Hook her up to blood, sedate her, remove the bullet. Careful watch on the femoral artery. Steady watch over heart rate and breath sounds." I looked upwards in thought, trying to see if I'd remembered everything.
"Gotta smart one here." Said Billie, with difficulty.
The resident looked at you approvingly. "Good work, Y/N. Let's go people, let's go!"
—
That night, hours after the surgery, I was making rounds and decided to stop in and check on the girl. I couldn't stop thinking about her; even though it might have been because this was my first surgery, I felt it was something more. She was so beautiful, and I just wanted to make sure she was okay.
As I got to her room, I took a breath and knocked lightly on the open door.
"Come in." I heard a sweet, tired voice say.
"How are you feeling...," I took a quick peek at her chart, "...Billie?"
"Great, except for the bullet that was in my leg this morning." She said smoothly, a smile tracing her full lips.
"Alright, I'm just going to check on your vitals and redress your wound, then I'll be outta here. Is there anything I can get you right now?" I asked, trying not to stare as she bit her lip slowly, thinking.
"Nah, nothing right now. Thanks though, gorgeous." She said to me. While checking her heart monitor and the like, I could barely concentrate; Billie watched me as I did so, toying with her lip ring. "You're new, I haven't seen you here before." She said inquisitively.
"First day. So, how'd you get that bullet in your leg, anyway? If you don't mind me asking." I said, filling the silence, my eyes trained on replacing the bloody bandage on her thigh.
"So you wanna play 20 questions? Happens." She said standoffishly. She winced as I brushed over a tender part near the wound. When I said nothing, but furrowed my brow a bit, she sighed exasperatedly, and continued.
"My job is dangerous. I'm part of something you don't understand. Like you heard her say, I'm a regular here. I move things for people, and when I don't deliver, they get mad. Or, like this time, I get caught in the crossfire." Glancing down at her newly-sewn thigh, she scoffed and muttered, "I just got this done, and they fucked it up.", referring to the rose tattoo on her upper thigh.
I'm intimidated, but not scared away. I stand up, finished with the bandage, and idle silently for a few moments. "You're lucky the tattoo is the only thing they fucked up. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope I don't see you here again." I smiled slightly, and began to walk out, when I heard her tut.
I paused, and turned back around. "Yes?" I said, slightly annoyed at her cocky attitude (but slightly intrigued).
"Oh nothing. Just hate to see you leave, like watching you go, that's all." She said, cocking an eyebrow for a moment.
I blushed unwillingly, taken aback by her forwardness. I shook my head and walked out...kind of excited to see her in tomorrow morning's rounds.
—
New book, Ch. 1 material? Idk...
