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Even if at first Santos had hesitated at the idea of becoming a pediatrician, keeping as far away from that field as possible and avoiding getting too involved in cases with young patients, in the end it had been inevitable when it came time to choose her path. There was nothing that calmed her more than soothing a baby with a diaper rash or handing a lollipop to a brave little girl after a vaccine. It also helped that most parents were kind and grateful to her, as if she had saved thousands of lives.
After some time in the field, she had come to understand that maybe she was not making the greatest sacrifice, but she was saving the most important life in the world to those people.
Her patients were adorable and surprisingly well behaved. Even when a child felt scared, Santos always took the time to reassure them that everything would be okay. She had rarely encountered a rude child, something Trinity usually blamed on the parents since children were completely influenceable.
It helped to have the support of Whitaker, her roommate and best friend, who had always encouraged her to pursue pediatrics after seeing her put bandages on scraped knees and sing Frozen songs to a frightened toddler clutching an Olaf plush.
She had stopped fighting that. In fact, she felt comfortable now. With her own clinic room, managing her schedule, sharing breakfast with Dennis, and heading home with drawings from her patients that she would stick on the fridge with ridiculous magnets.
So when this morning began calmly after she had eaten some avocado and egg toast courtesy of Whitaker! She was not surprised at all to see a mother rushing in with her child, visibly alarmed. Trinity knew too well how to handle this situation without losing her composure.
“Good morning, I’m Doctor Santos,” she introduced, tapping her pen lightly against her clipboard, ready to start writing. “May I have the patient’s name and yours?”
The mother blinked quickly before finding her voice. “I’m… I’m Yolanda García, and this is my son Joaquin.”
As soon as he was mentioned, the little boy dressed as Spiderman peeked out from behind her legs.
“Oh… hey,” Trinity greeted softly, tilting her head slightly to meet his big brown eyes. “Do you want to take a seat?”
The child scratched at the skin on his arms before asking his mother for help climbing onto the exam table. Trinity immediately noted the visible rash spreading along his neck.
“God… he was scratching all over his body when I got home,” Yolanda explained, running a hand through her loose black curls. “He… he stayed with my mother today. I had work, so…”
Santos nodded slowly, stepping closer to her patient. “Spiderboy, would you mind lifting the front part for me?”
Joaquin first looked at Yolanda, who gave a small nod that encouraged him to lift his costume, revealing irritated skin covered in hives.
“Do you know if he was outside playing?” Trinity asked, placing her stethoscope gently against his chest. “Or maybe he ate something different?” she added, thinking it through.
“Take a deep breath for me, okay?” Trinity murmured softly to him.
Yolanda scratched the back of her neck, letting out a quiet huff before answering. “No, no… he was inside. My mother hates anyone touching her plants.” She paused, thinking. “And as far as I know, he ate what I told her, right?”
Her brown eyes fixed on her son, identical to hers.
“Grandma made brownies for dessert,” Joaquin mentioned, lowering his shirt as he noticed Trinity stepping back.
“Brownies?” Yolanda frowned, immediately digging through her purse.
Trinity chose not to interfere, focusing instead on grabbing a wooden tongue depressor after noticing his breathing was normal.
“Could you open your mouth a little for me, please?” she asked gently, giving him a small wink to reassure him it would not hurt. “Just say ahh, okay?”
Joaquin hesitated but obeyed, allowing her to check his tongue and throat. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she noticed no swelling inside his mouth.
“Thank you, Spiderboy,” she murmured, setting the object aside and picking up her pen again.
The possibilities for a diagnosis narrowed with every observation. Normal breathing. A throat that only seemed slightly irritated. Itchy hives spreading across the skin.
“It had nuts,” Yolanda announced, slipping her phone back into her reddish leather purse. “The brownies had nuts, I can’t believe it”.
Trinity raised an eyebrow slightly. Could that be the missing piece?
“Oh, Joaco is allergic to nuts,” Yolanda added, sitting beside her son.
With that final detail, everything clicked into place. Santos allowed herself a small smile, briefly distracted by the tenderness of Garcia running her fingers through her son’s curls as he leaned into her touch.
“Well, then it’s nothing more serious than an allergic reaction,” Trinity explained, already writing a prescription. “We’ll give him an antihistamine. It will calm the itching in less than an hour, and by tomorrow morning the hives should be gone.”
She noticed Yolanda’s shoulders relax immediately as she let out a breath.
“Thank you so much,” she said softly, her genuine smile making Trinity feel unexpectedly shy.
“No problem… and you can come back if it worsens, with vomiting, difficulty breathing, or…” Trinity began, but Yolanda’s calm, firm voice cut in.
“Or if his face or lips swell. I know.” She finished for her.
Trinity simply nodded with a small smile.
“… yeah,” Yolanda murmured suddenly, catching her attention. “I know I can seem… strict.”
“Oh, no, not at all,” Trinity replied quickly.
Joaquin was too busy wrapping his arms around his mother’s neck, asking to be picked up. Yolanda stood from the exam table, lifting him effortlessly.
“It’s just the two of us, and it feels like no one takes it seriously. Not even my own mother,” Yolanda admitted, rolling her eyes. “How do you forget your own grandson’s allergies, you know?”
“Hard to forgive,” Trinity commented, crossing her arms lightly.
For a few seconds, they simply looked at each other. Greenish eyes meeting brown ones. Trinity felt a quiet breath leave her as she noticed a loose curl falling over Yolanda’s forehead.
This could not be happening. She could not be having a moment like this at work. Get a grip, she told herself.
“I don’t know why I said that,” Yolanda added, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Sorry… it’s all the stress.”
“I understand. Kids are hard to take care of…” Trinity assured her, tearing the prescription from her pad and handing it over. “… trust me. I see cases every day”.
“Oh, tell me about it. Five years old is the worst age. It’s like they’re trying to test their own survival.” Yolanda laughed softly as she tucked the paper into her bag. “Right?”
Trinity let out a small giggle. “But they’re adorable.”
Yolanda nodded, giving her a half smirk. “They are…”
Santos lifted her hand to wave goodbye as she saw García approaching the doorway. She turned away, lightly biting her lip as she pretended to organize something that was already perfectly in place.
“Hey…”
She looked up immediately to find Yolanda leaning against the doorframe, a now sleeping Spiderman in her strong arms. Was it inappropriate to notice someone’s biceps while they were holding their child? Trinity hoped not.
“I know this is totally… inappropriate, but…” Yolanda started, exhaling before continuing, “do you think you could give me your number?”
Trinity had to resist the instinct to point at herself, her cheeks already hurting from the way she was smiling.
“Yeah, of course,” she replied quickly, then rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s not inappropriate at all. It’s fine, you know, if he eats nuts again and…” She trailed off, biting her tongue. “… sure”.
Yolanda raised both eyebrows slightly, holding out her phone. Trinity had not even noticed when she took it out, but she accepted it without hesitation, typing in her number.
“For medical emergencies,” she added as she handed it back.
“For sure”. Yolanda winked. “Goodbye, Doctor Santos.”
And then she turned and finally left.
Trinity sat down on the exam table, blinking slowly with her mouth slightly open as she tried to process what had just happened.
She had given her number to a patient’s mother. To the most attractive woman she had seen in years. Who had made the first move. Who was definitely going to text her.
“Fuck…” she whispered under her breath, resisting the urge to check her phone when only minutes had passed.
For the rest of the day, Santos did her best to focus. From helping a newborn with colic to treating a mild ear infection that finally stopped a little girl from crying in pain, she kept her mind occupied.
Of course, when it was time to close her office, she turned her phone on to text Whitaker that she was on her way home and wanted pizza for dinner. Instead, she found a notification that was definitely not from her best friend.
Trinity pressed her phone against her chest, a soft smile spreading across her face.
Well… maybe she had always wanted to be a stepmom, right?