Chapter Text
Carlisle pulls the car into the parking lot of Pittsburg Trauma Medical Centre, navigating towards the area for staff parking. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Kennedy?” Carlisle quickly glances at his daughter sitting in the passenger seat. “Emergency Rooms are another beast, more chaotic since you last worked in one, and it’s okay if you’re not ready.” Kennedy returns Carlisle’s nervous glance with a reassuring smile.
“I’m sure,” She responds, her voice a gentle tone, one similar to Carlisle’s. “I can handle seeing and being around blood a lot better than the last time I was in an emergency room.” Carlisle lets out a breath as he pulls into an empty parking spot, putting a staff parking permit onto the dash. The two get out of the car, Carlisle watching Kennedy as she looks around the parking lot.
“Just let me know if you need a break or if you need to leave.” Carlisle looks at Kennedy, a proud but nervous look on his face. “You know, I’m proud of you, and I always will be, no matter what happens today.” Kennedy returns his smile, and the two walk into the building together. Following instructions Carlisle wrote in his notepad, the two make it to the security room without any issues, picking up their ID badges and being instructed where and how to clock in for their shift. As the two start to head down to the emergency room, Kennedy looks at her photo on her ID badge, her white hair framing her pale face, and her green eyes capturing her attention. To her, her face looks too perfect, in an almost inhuman fashion.
“You ready, kiddo?” Carlisle asks once more, breaking Kennedy’s train of thought as he starts to clock in. Kennedy looks up at him and holds back a laugh, clocking in after him.
“I’m really starting to wonder if the question should be, are you ready for me to be working in an emergency room? You seem much more nervous about me being here than I am.” Carlisle lets out an embarrassed chuckle and squeezes her shoulder for his reassurance as the two walk to the locker room.
“You know I just want to keep you safe,” He says fondly. The two look around and find their designated lockers next to each other, opening them up and putting their bags away. Carlisle closes his locker, looking over and seeing Kennedy struggling to clip her ID badge in a comfortable and optimal spot. With a smile, Carlisle silently takes the badge from her and starts affixing it to her scrubs. “Remember, this badge has an RFID chip in it, which will let you access what you need, in accordance with what the hospital lets you have access to. He takes a step back and gives her a once-over, a proud smile on his face. “It will let you traverse the halls, get new scrubs and medications from the ADC. Try not to lose it.” Kennedy takes a breath and nods. The two walk into the busy Emergency Department, the sounds hitting their ears.
“Alright everybody, gather round,” Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch calls out, and the available staff in the ER move to form a group around the main nurses’ station, also known as ‘the hub’. “Today is a new day, and we have two new doctors joining us down here in The Pitt.” His hand gestures towards Carlisle and Kennedy, who look too perfect among the other doctors. “This is Doctor Carlisle Ross and Doctor Kennedy Ross. Make sure to give them a hand when needed to help them learn how we do things around here. And let’s do our best to see our patients quickly and get them moving through our hospital, but also give them the best level of care.” As Robby continues his announcement, everyone takes a moment to look at the two new doctors. “Alright,” Robby sighs, starting to wrap up. “Go see your patients; call me if you need me.” The staff disperse, going back to their duties, while Carlisle and Kennedy move to approach Robby.
“Welcome to The Pitt,” Robby says, giving the two a nod and a handshake. “Glad to have you both with us, and I hope you are quick learners, as you will be thrown into the deep end here.” Carlisle smiles and looks up at the patient board, while Kennedy looks around the ER. “Dr Ross…” He trails off and rubs his hands as he sees both Carlisle and Kennedy look at him. “Right, uh…”
“You can call me Dr Mason,” Kennedy immediately suggests. “It’s what Da-Carlisle and I have used in the past to avoid confusion. It’s my mother’s maiden name.” Robby lets out a breath and nods, accepting the suggestion.
“Alright then. Dr Mason, I’ll have you find your way to South 15 and help one of our senior residents, Dr Langdon, and have you stay with him today. And Dr. Ross, there’s a trauma arriving in just a few minutes, I’ll have you work with me.” Kennedy smiles and nods, saying a quick goodbye to Carlisle before following the signs to South 15.
“Is Kennedy your daughter?” Robby asks as the two men walk towards the ambulance bay. “When did she go to medical school?” Carlisle chuckles before responding.
“Kennedy is my daughter. She was sixteen when she started medical school. From a very young age she showed high academic potential and a drive to learn, which only got stronger as she got older. She got accepted into an advanced degree program with Oxford, graduated with Honours and did her foundational training. Last year she finished her specialty training right before her twenty-fifth birthday and is now doing a residency programme here to have the rights to be a doctor here in the States.” Robby’s eyebrows raise as he whistles in admiration.
“That is very impressive. I’m sure the two of you will fit in well with us here in The Pitt. Most of our medical students are around her age, so I’m sure there will be some friendships with mild jealousy there. I hope she’s ready to be called a student doctor a lot.” Carlisle chuckles, and as he goes to respond, a pair of paramedics walk into the ambulance bay with a male patient on the gurney.
“This is 70-year-old Richard Simpson.” One of the paramedics starts explaining, and Carlisle and Robby fall in line with them. “Was reading the morning paper this morning when he started having chest pain and feeling short of breath. Has been steadily tachycardic with a heart rate of 140.” Robby directs them all to the open trauma room as handover continues. After transferring Mr Simpsons, Robby is silently surprised at how efficiently Carlisle is working to attach the appropriate monitors and grab the correct equipment, as if he’s been working in the Pitt for years. The two work together stabilising the patient and getting him ready for cardiology.
“Just to satisfy my curiosity,” Robby says as he starts charting. “How long have you been a doctor, and how much of that has been in an emergency room? The suits upstairs didn’t think to tell me anything about you or Dr Mason and I did not expect someone as experienced as you seem to be.”
“I’ve been practising medicine for a long time,” Carlisle answers, remaining vague but not enough to cause Robby to be suspicious. “Like Kennedy, I became a doctor quite early, and once I became fully licensed, I started travelling. I stopped once she was born.” As orderlies come to transport Mr Simpson the two walk out of the trauma room and sanitise their hands. “You’re a great doctor yourself Dr Robinavitch, I can see myself and Kennedy learning a lot from you.”
“You are very humble,” Robby responds with a chuckle, his face reflecting his disbelief. “And please, call me Robby. Everybody here does.” Carlislie nods, and the two return to the patient board to find a new patient.
—
“Good work, that looks great,” Dr Frank Langdon says as Kennedy finishes suturing a laceration in a young woman’s arm. “What year of medical school are you in? I didn’t hear Robby say anything about that.” Kennedy holds back a laugh as she starts to bandage the fully stitched-closed wound. “I’m not a medical student. I’m a fully qualified doctor,” She responds. “I finished my general practise specialisation last year, and while I work on my residency to become a fully legal doctor here in the States I’m considering finding a programme to specialise in emergency medicine.” Frank raises his eyebrows and nods.
“Impressive,” Frank responds. “I think our med students will be quite jealous of you.” Kennedy stands up and discards the used medical supplies, a soft smile and humble smile on her face, another attribute she’s learned from Carlisle. “I’ll go sort out Mrs. Robinson’s discharge papers and grab supplies for her to take home if you can discuss wound care?” Kennedy nods, and Frank leaves. He stops by the nurses station and gets the attention of the charge nurse, Dana Evans.
“Hey Dana, did you hear that our young new addition is already a fully qualified doctor?” Dana looks up at him with her eyebrows raised.
“You’re shitting me.” Frank shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. “You’ve got to be kidding. She looks like twenty years old, there’s no way she could be a fully qualified doctor already.” Frank sighs and signs into one of the computers and starts to fill out the discharge papers for Mrs Robinson.
“She mentioned that she finished general practice specialisation last year and is considering an emergency medicine specialisation while she’s finishing her residency to work here in the states. Seems we may have an older Javadi on our hands,” Dana laughs. “Well, not quite, but you get my point.” Frank finishes up the papers and prints them out, and gathers some at-home wound care supplies, heading back into the room where Kennedy is sitting with Mrs Robinson, explaining how to take care of her stitches.
“Ah,” Kennedy says without turning to look at Frank, which catches him off guard that she seemingly knows it’s him without turning to look at him. “Dr. Langdon here has the discharge papers, which have similar instructions to what I told you, and some supplies for you to be able to change your dressing at home. Come back in here in a few days for a review, or sooner if you start getting those symptoms I was telling you about.” Mrs Robinson nods and takes the package from Frank, thanking the two doctors before walking out. Frank turns to look at Kennedy with a confused expression when she starts stripping the bed.
“Helping the assistants and techs with cleaning and redoing the room is a small task for doctors I think we could all do,” Kennedy explains as she catches Frank’s confused expression. “A few seconds to strip the bed and throw away our waste and it reduces the time they need to redo the room, which makes them more efficient but also allows us to see more patients.” Frank’s expression softens into a smile.
“How considerate of you, and you have a very good point,” He says, starting to help her with a quick tidy. “After this, try to get as much charting done on Mrs Robinson as you can, since we could get another patient any minute and it’s difficult to keep up.”
“I already did my charting for Mrs. Robinson. I did it as I was explaining the symptoms of infection to look out for before I sat down to discuss wound care with her.” Frank blinks, before shaking my head. “Dr. Ross has instilled a lot of habits in me,” She explains trying not to giggle as the two head out of the room to look at the patient board.
“No kidding,” Frank mumbles. “Did he help you with getting into school early?” Kennedy’s smile fades from her face before she responds.
“No. I’m not a nepo baby. I earned my place in Oxford and my placements. We just prefer to work together, which is why we both applied to work here.” Frank nods, offering an apologetic smile.
“Where are you and Dr Ross from?” He asks, trying to change the subject, not wanting to push her further. It seemingly works, as Kennedy’s smile returns to her face.
“Carlisle is from Eastern Estonia, though his family moved to England when he was about ten, where he met my mother. I was born in London, and we relocated to Oxford so I could go to university. Carlisle got the ability to work in America a long time ago, and I got accepted into the residency programme I told you about. Earning the government’s trust to be able to work in the country on my own.” The two share a laugh on newfound understanding as Dana shooed them away to go see more patients before she banished them to triage.
“That’s Dana,” Frank explains as the two start walking towards their next patient. “She’s the charge nurse. She seems tough, but she’s soft on the inside.”
“Like a marshmallow,” Kennedy unintentionally mumbles, causing Frank to laugh. “Oh, I did not mean to say that out loud,” Frank shrugs her off.
“Don’t apologise. It’s the truth anyway; just don’t let her hear you saying that about her.” He winks before the two walk into the patient’s room.