Lincoln Hospital

Chapter Twelve

"God, wasn't that amazing?" Bianca exclaimed as she and Athena exited the OR. They had scrubbed in together on a neurosurgery that had blown both their minds. The surgeon, Dr. Gamble was attempting to remove a tumor in the patients' brain without affecting any of their motor skills. The size of the tumor is what made it a complicated procedure, but Gamble was known to be one of the best in the field and she'd knocked it out of the park. Now they just had to wait and see if the patient still had the use of all of her speech and motor skills when she awoke.

"It was. What a rush, I've never seen an exposed brain before," she admitted. Over the past few days, Bianca had been making more of an effort to connect with her, Sabine and the other interns. She'd been opening up about herself and sharing her dreams of what she wanted for her career as a surgeon. She was the first in her family to graduate high school, let alone becoming a doctor. Shyly, she'd shared how proud she was of herself for not only finishing school, but being accepted into the surgical intern program at Lincoln Hospital. No one in her family had ever done anything remotely close to what she'd accomplished. She hoped to set an example of what they could do if they applied themselves and put in the hard work.

"She let me dissect some of the tumor even! Can you believe that?" Bianca still wasn't over that shock. Usually Athena got chosen for all the awesome opportunities in surgery but this time, it was her and she was on cloud nine about it.

"You earned it, you studied and knew that procedure inside out. It was amazing to see you shine in there, Bianca." Athena told her sincerely. While she would have loved the experience for herself, she recognized that she was given a lot of breaks and special privileges from the residents and attendings'. It felt good to see the same happening for someone else.

They joined the other interns in the locker room, still talking excitedly about the surgery. Dick was changing into his street clothes, Sabine was engrossed in sending a text message, Oscar was his usual quiet self and Clarence grinned at them as they came through the door.

"Oh, look, if it isn't the Wonder Twins," Dick snarled at them, in a particularly nasty mood. The rumor of the day was that he'd received a tongue lashing from the trauma attending for his poor bedside manner and being generally unprepared. He wasn't progressing in the program as quickly as the other interns and his lack of skill was showing with each passing day. There'd been a few weeks there where he'd actually showed promise of being a decent guy, but lately he'd reverted to the same asshole they'd met on the first day.

"Wonder Twins?" Athena repeated, not sure what he was getting at.

"You two think you're hot shit, coming in here bragging about your big surgery, flaunting it in all of our faces." He spread his arms wide to encompass the room. "Especially you, Athena." He pointed at her and took a few steps closer. "You're nothing but a fucking whore who spreads her legs for anyone to get ahead in this game." He was directly in front of her now, seething.

Athena was shocked into silence and just stared at him, unable to form words.

"And don't give me that wide-eyed innocent look. You may have them fooled," he motioned to the other interns again. "But you'll never fool me. I see you for what you really are. A no-good piece of trash that doesn't belong here. Unless of course, you're willing to give me a piece too, just like you were that junkie in the lab? How far'd you let it get with him, huh? I bet—"

He didn't finish his sentence as to everyone's shock, Oscar yanked him away from her and punched him square in the nose. Blood spurted everywhere, spraying Athena's face and shirt as Dick cried out in pain, clutching his surely broken nose and doubling over.

"Don't speak to a lady like that." Oscar said nothing more than those few words before opening the door to the locker room and walking out.

In the meantime, Sabine had gained her feet and stood in front of Dick where he was still moaning and crying out, "My nose!"