Chapter Text
Angela Ziegler was a patient woman.
Many of her former coworkers had teased her endlessly that her name was entirely too on the mark, and she’d waved them off with a laugh. It was nothing. They were all working hard in the ER, and she didn’t need to further stress her nurses by being unreasonable.
She had dealt with a lot in the trauma center in Los Angeles- gunshots, stab wounds, horrific injuries and embarrassed couples who’d gotten pleasure devices stuck in odd places.
She had handled every case under her care with the same unfailing kindness and steady temperament, and when she was transferred to a small local hospital next to an international high school, she was confident she’d be able to keep up to her usual standard.
She was wrong.
She took in a deep breath, trying to go to her happy place. The only thing she could think of was curling up under her desk and drinking an entire bottle of whiskey.
Close enough.
She ironed on her smile again.
“Now, Mr. McCree-”
“Jesse. Jesse Reyes, actually. Sorry ‘bout that. Papers need to get changed.”
“Right. Jesse.” Angela needed to take another breath. In, out. Remember to smile. Papers were the least of her concerns right now.
“....Would you mind explaining to me why there was an arrow in your shoulder?”
He at least had the decency to look sheepish.
“Uh. Bad pickup line.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Well y’see, there’s this guy-”
Angela was practically having an out of body experience. Her soul had retreated to the drawer where she kept the whiskey. But no, this kid was still talking.
“- so I said ‘you make me quiver’ just as he was firing and he missed. I think he mighta even laughed! ‘Cept then everything got a little blurry and painful.”
He looked at her expectantly. She adjusted her clipboard.
“Right.”
She marked down the incident as an accident.
“Well, keep the wound clean and change the bandages every few hours if the bleeding keeps up. There doesn’t seem to be any major tendon damage so just let me know if the pain worsens.”
There’s so much else to add. So many more questions. So many concerns.
“....Head on back to class.”
She watches him go in a blissful sort of disconnection from reality. It doesn’t all come crashing back into place until her radio blares.
Dr. Ziegler! You’re needed in the ER!
“What’s the situation?” She starts away from her office.
Student from the Overwatch High School has severe trauma and shrapnel injuries to his leg, we may have to amputate-
Fantastic.