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The betting board. It was one of the things that made working in the ED a lot more fun, it was almost like a bonding activity for the staff, guessing what was behind certain situations on the news or what was going on at other hospitals. That was at least the public betting board, the bets that were made without people blinking an eye at them.
Then there was the second betting board, the one that involved a bit more secrecy than the one everyone knew about, but it was also the one where the real money was in the end.
Mohan and Abbot: love confession in ambulance bay (Whitaker) 50$, make out session in supply closet (McKay) 80$, already in situationship (Santos) 70$, had sex once don’t talk about it (Princess) 50$, married by next June (Kim) 20$
Whitaker and Robby: Whitaker one sided (Perlah) 50$, Robby one sided (Shen) 40$, Idiots in love (McKay) 90$, already in a relationship (Princess) 110$, first kiss in supply closet (Ellis) 70$
-> Dana and Santos are BANNED from this bet
Santos and Garcia: toxic situationship (Princess) 100$ -> everyone agrees with Princess on that, except for Emma -> get in a happy healthy relationship, 60$
There was more on that board. It kept changing, moving like some ebbing and flowing eco systems of its own, bets were changed, new ideas were added, people collected wins or bets that were closed because they weren’t leading anywhere.
Still, there was one slot on that board that was a topic of discussion at least once per shift, everyone arguing about what would be the outcome of that bet. It was her relationship status, an R4 all smiles and good mood. The reason the bet had even started was because she kept rejecting advances from everyone that hit on her, may it be coworkers, patients or visitors, every time someone asked her out she denied politely, still smiling brightly. There was a wide range of opinions on that matter, not only from the day shift, but also from the night shift and some of the surgeons that came down for consultation frequently.
Married since med school (Whitaker, Javadi) 90$
Single and happy (Mohan, Santos, Garcia) 150$
Engaged (Shen, Ellis, Abbot) 160$
Dating someone in the hospital (Dana, McKay, Robby, Kiara, Princess, Perlah) 515$
Dating someone outside the hospital (Jesse, Donnie, Kim) 240$
Crushing on someone at the hospital (Larry, Antoine) 130$
….
There were over two pages worth of bets regarding that subject. Ahmmad kept the envelope with the money in a locked drawer at this point. Everyone tried to get some information, tried to see if they were on the right trek, but every time someone asked she would simply smile and shrug, like she knew why they were asking.
The bets shifted significantly for the first time after an incident that none of them would remember as pleasant.
“Okay,” Dana sighed, looking at her with mild worry, the curtain was drawn shut, shielding her from prying eyes. She was still a little shaky, a patient had shoved her against some equipment during a routine check up and probably broken one of her ribs. “Are you okay with lifting your shirt? The new policy-” She nodded, interrupting Dana.
“I know about the new policy of workplace injuries," she sighed, mildly annoyed as she shifted slightly on the bed. She knew that Dana would have to inspect her torso so that if this was to be taken to court as assault charges there was someone to verify the injuries. Theoretically they were also supposed to take pictures of the injuries, however she had vehemently told both Robby and Dana that she did not want that.
Sighing deeply she slipped out of the scrub top first, putting it beside her on the bed. Carefully and with a small wince she lifted the undershirt, the moment it hit the bed and Dana looked at her she could see the older woman’s eyes go wide in horror. At that exact moment she remembered that the state her upper body was in was not normal for most people.
“Sweetheart,” Dana said in a soft tone, averting her eyes from the nurse she shifted uncomfortably again. All over her hips and waist, as well as lower back were hand shaped bruises in various stages of healing as well as bite marks. Flushing slightly she scratched her neck, trying to not make this worse than it already was.
“Who is doing that to you?” Dana said in a gentle tone, at that moment it hit her that this looked like abuse. That the bruises in various healing stages and other marks left on her body would cause distress in someone that did not know where they came from.
“It’s not what it looks like Dana,” she hastily said, trying to stop the nurse from worrying too much, “My boyfriend and I sometimes-” she interrupted herself, wondering how to put it in a way that would not embarrass her even further. Dana’s eyebrow quirked upwards, the worry still evident on her features. Sighing, deciding that any amount of embarrassment was alright if it meant putting Dana’s worry at ease.
“My boyfriend and I are just a bit rough sometimes,” she looked at her hands, hoping that Dana would get the meaning of her words. For a moment there was silence then a quiet chuckle, Dana shook her head.
“You should put that in your medical file,” Dana smirked to herself as she continued checking out the broken rib.
After that the betting board shifted, it didn’t stop, people started betting on who her boyfriend might be. Sometimes specific people, others decided to go for groups of people. The nurses were relentless in their effort to try and find out who she was seeing. Yet she remained quiet about it, deciding that it was after all none of their business.
Firefighter (Whitaker, Javadi, Mohan, Ellis, Shen, Abbot) 625$
EMT (Larry, Antoine, Kirara, Dana) 350$
Nick Barker (Dana, Robby, Princess, Perlah) 520$
Brendon Park (McKay) 60$
Police officer (Garcia, Santos) 130$
….
Leaning against the nurses station she looked at the board, wondering what to take care of next. There were some things that were mildly urgent and could wait a few more minutes if need be and some minor issues that had been waiting for hours. Sighing she reached into her scrub pocket as her phone buzzed multiple times in quick succession.
Is the seventh circle of hell treating you well? (11:43 a.m.)
We got one of your guys just now, what did Robby think by putting that leg into a splint like that? (11:43 a.m.)
Please tell me that it was Robby and not you (11:44 a.m.)
I have lunch for you btw (11:44 a.m.)
The last message made her smile. Quickly glancing around she saw that Robby was lurking nowhere and she typed a quick answer.
Swamped.
Robby’s idea, never saw the patient
Can you bring it down when you have time? I’m pretty sure Robby would kill anyone that as much as tried to get in a bathroom break
She slipped the phone back into the pocket of her scrubs, deciding that she would tackle the minor issues waiting for treatment now, maybe take along one of the med students and handle that as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Many days she wondered if people were not aware of the difference between an urgent care and an emergency room. She had grabbed one of the med students and taken her along to get those things off her plate. It cleared a few beds at least, people finished with the tests and sent home with care instructions, all discharged within an hour.
As she returned to the hub she glanced at the board again. It was not getting any less and slowly started to feel like a fever dream. Grumbling under her breath she decided to take the next best case.
A broken arm in a kid. She took the history, ordered an x-ray and some pain relief after palpating gently and was out of that room again in no time, thinking that she would have to ask one of the nurses to get some of the colourful cast wrappings. As she headed back towards the hub she cursed herself for forgetting to restock the stickers she kept in her scrubs for pedes patients.
It felt like people were pulling her in all different directions. New patients, old patients waiting for a bed upstairs to open up, people needing something. The entire day felt like an uphill battle that would not come to an end soon.
Staring at the chart she typed as quickly as she could, hoping that between patients she would be able to get in some of the charting done at least, especially for the patients that were waiting for a bed upstairs.
“Park, what are you doing here, we didn’t page for an ortho consult,” she heard Robby say, sounding vaguely annoyed with him. Glancing up she couldn’t help but smile as she saw Bredon standing on the other side of the hub.
“I wanted to talk to one of your residents, Robby, relax,” he sounded exhausted, looking at Robby with an expression of mild annoyance.
“Which one of them and why?” Robby questioned, acting like Park would be this relaxed if one of the residents seriously did something wrong. Rolling her eyes slightly she got up from the chair, walking over two of them.
The moment she approached, Brendon's eyes found her, shooting her a slight smile as he turned away from Robby.
“Hey,” she greeted softly, nodding at Robby, though he simply looked between them, slowly circling around the nurses station as he gained distance, still looking at them over the rim of his glasses.
“Hey” Brendon smiled at her, then reached into his scrub pocket, “I also found those on the table, thought you might want them,” he hummed gently, handing her the stickers she had forgotten.
“Thanks,” she gently squeezed his hand after taking the stickers from him, putting them in her scrub pockets. “And my lunch?” she asked, tone joking, though Brendon rolled his eyes slightly before holding up the metal lunch box she always used.
“Didn’t forget it,” he handed her the box as well. Smiling slightly while shaking her head, she tucked it under her arm.
“Thank you, you really are a saint,” she sighed, leaning up and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. With a soft huff, he reached for her hand, squeezing it softly.
“I gotta go back upstairs, need to be in the OR in twenty,” he sighed, shaking his head, like he was greatly disappointed about the entire situation.
“Alright, see you later then,” she bid him goodbye. As he was in the elevator on his way up she went back to the spot she had been occupying, putting her lunch behind the computer without really thinking about the interaction much. Though looking up she could see multiple pairs of eyes on her, all wide and apparently shocked. Smirking to herself she hoped that Cassie would at least give her some of the winnings, deciding to keep quiet about her having met Brendon and her in a coffeeshop about two and a half years ago when the biggest betting board of the Pitt started out for the first time.