Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Many days the ER felt like a giant storm trying to drag her into the pitt of the ocean. Today was one of those days.
Samira had spent the last twenty minutes gathering all the medical supplies that her patient needed. He was in debt, and he couldn’t afford to pay his meds. Her heart ached every time she treated a patient who couldn’t afford medical insurance. For her it didn’t make sense that someone could be denied the medication they needed just because they didn’t have enough money.
However, how could she change the system? The answer was simple; she couldn’t.
All the years she had been a doctor, she had always prioritised her patients. She felt like spending time with them was just fair, considering the time they had to wait until they were able to see a doctor, and the money they had to spend just to get medical attention.
But nobody seemed to think the same as her. Everyone thought she was slow, and that she wasn’t made to work as an emergency doctor because she liked to spend time with patients. “Maybe you should consider psychiatry" The words Robby had told her months ago still hurt.
Still, she discarded those thoughts from her mind, and put on a smile as she approached her patient’s box.
“Mr. Diaz, I have a surprise for you” She said as she opened the curtain from box 3.
Only to find a half-naked Dr. Abbot was staring at her.
“Oh, sorry” She said as she turned, and looked for her patient.
“It’s okay,” he said. Abbot didn't seem to care much about her presence.
“Have you… have you seen my patient? Orlando? Mr. Díaz?”
“Room was empty.”
“Seriously?” Samira exhaled, disappointment settling in her bones.
Dammit. She thought. This wasn’t the first time her efforts of helping someone had failed. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like a failure every time it happened.
Abbot looked at her, and then down at the bag she had dropped on the floor. There was a question written across his eyes. However, Samira had no intention of talking about it. For what, exactly? To be told how stupid this looked? How naive was it for her to believe that she could positively change someone's life? Yeah, no. She was done feeling like an idiot.
She looked at him for the first time, really looked at him. It was then when she realised that he was treating a wound.
“What happened to you?” She asked, confused.
“Oh, a bullet grazed my vest”
“You were shot?” Now she was concerned. Even though she had only worked with Dr. Abbot a few times (like during the Pittfest, a moment that still confused her), she was fond of him. He was less serious than Robby, and definitely less grumpy. He had shared some medical cases from South Korea with her, so they were friends.
Colleagues.
Co-workers.
Something.
“Shot at. Geniuses thought…”
Samira stared at him as he explained. While he talked, he prepared the treatment for his wound. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she had always thought that Dr. Abbot was the coolest. He was so good at his job, and he seemed so nonchalant about it. He didn’t flex it, he just was. And at moments like this, she wished she could be more like him. She wished she could feel as confident as he did.
“Shit… this sucks” She exhaled.
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about me, I’m fine” Of course he was fine. He was always fine. Like nothing affected him.
He didn’t let his emotions control him.
She wasn’t like that.
She wished she could be like that.
“No… It’s my patient.” She started talking. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to see the disappointed look on his face when he realised that she was just a naive resident with impossible hopes. But she couldn’t bring herself to stop talking. She was like a waterfall, once she started talking, the words couldn’t stop dropping from her lips.
“He didn’t have any insurance and he was already in a mountain of medical debt. He couldn't afford any of his meds.”
“Mh… what’s in the bag?” He said, without looking at her.
“Insulin, test strips, electrolyte powder…” She felt more and more stupid for each word she said. “I...I got him everything he needed for home care”
“So uber it to his house.”
He made it sound so simple.
“Is the hospital gonna pay for that?”
“I’ll pay for it”
Something inside her switched. At first she thought she must have heard him wrong. His voice was so raspy that she might have invented everything he just said.
But he had said it.
He had said he would pay for the uber.
He hadn’t told her off for losing time searching for all of this materials instead of seeing another patient. He hadn’t laughed at her. He said he would help her.
The same feeling she felt while they worked together at Pittfest rose on her chest. That feeling of connection, of being seen. No one had ever made her feel like that in the ER. He had been the first one who hadn’t laughed at her ideals. The first one who had made her feel like she cared, like what she was doing had a meaning.
And in the ER, surrounded by Robby, Langdon, and everyone who used to call her “Slow-Mo”, that was the best thing someone had ever made her feel.
She stood up, and grabbed some gloves. She smiled, just a bit. Maybe he wasn’t as carefree as he seemed.
“What are you doing?” He asked, as she approached him.
“What you clearly can’t” She took the cotton bud from his hand, and started treating his wound. His skin was full of freckles that drew constellations across his back.
“Did you make a chart?” She said, gently applying the antibiotic ointment.
“No. This can stay off the books. Don’t need the paperwork from the hospital or the police department.” He said, crossing his arms.
“Okay… Our little secret”