Chapter Text
It was ironic how aware Mel was of her own lack of self awareness. Interoseption was not something she had a particular talent for. Sometimes, it presented itself as not drinking enough water, or having proper meal breaks.
Dr Mel king however, didn't have a problem with these, for she had developed Systems, rules that meant that not noticing she was thirsty or hungry or tired didnt often cause a real problem. Having a System was basically the same as not having a problem with it at all
It wasn't so good, however, when it came to understanding and interpreting the signs that she was unwell.
“Hey, Mel” Trinity, Dr Santos, here, she thought, wheeled the chair back to where Mel was trying to focus and failing, “you uhhhh…you ok”.
The face that Mel usually thought of as confident instead looked…worried? Maybe. It didn't do to cause trouble. And anyway, she was fine, she was sure. Being warm aside. “Oh, im fine”. Mel offered a smile which seemed to cause some easing of the face. Though…perhapse not as much as Mel hoped.
“Uhhuh”. Trinity - Dr Santos, seemed definitely unconvinced. That was…that was not a convinced noise.
“No, i promise, im uhhh” Mel held up an electronic tablet, "I've got to get on with this”, running off to the patient in south 2
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Trinity watched Mel walk away. Was she unsteady on her feet?
“She dose…not look good” said doctor Langdon, leaning over the low wall. God could this man not keep to his own business.
“Yea she seems to think stubbornness is a better part of valor”
“Mmmm” maybe it was her worry but something about the way he made the noise rubbed her the wrong way (altough Frank fucking Langdon could rub her to wrong way most of the time, she considered the man a jackass). “Mmmm?” Trinity replied, with as much sarcasm as she could muster in a small noise
To his credit (grudging) Langdon didn't take the bait “maybe. But i think its something else”
“Car crash, eta 2 mins” yelled Dana
The rest would have to wait as the department became a scramble
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17 mins, one Crike and some pretty good work on everyone's part (even, he admitted to himself, Dr Santos) Frank walked away from trauma 2 to find Mel. Santos’ diagnosis of “stubborn” wasn't, he suspected, quite true.
Yes, Mel was someone who would sometimes push through and then need to take a moment, something that his (3 month) psyche training module made him think was about care giving, but more then that, he had done some reading, and people who were autistic didn't always notice how they were feeling
He found Mel with a patient, tailing off an exam with a med student. Her eyes looked glassy, distracted. “Dr King?”
Mel's face lit up a little, like it did sometimes around him, or Dr Santos, or Dr Al-Hashimi
“Yes?”
Definitely a little glassy. Was her forehead a little pink too?
“Are you…ok?”
“Oh…im fine” she smiled a little more. Frank thought he could see the strings
“You look warm”
“Its just the air con you know” anther smile, a little more strained, but then “farm equipment accident, Air Ambulance and Al-Hashimi pointed at him to go and the thread was lost in the day
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People kept giving Mel Looks. The kind that indicated that perhaps something was wrong. Dana had given her a “everything ok sweetie” twice. Which…was not necessarily an cause for concern. Dana did make sure to take care of everyone, but was perhaps a Sign
Trinity kept shooting her looks and had brought her a bottle off cold water and dropped a “i can cover your patients if you need”
And Frank gave her the kind of scanning eye she considered he normally gave a patient in chairs.
Sitting in the brake room with a can of ginger ale, she did feel quite warm. And her head was perhaps a little bit more difficult then normal. But still, nothing she couldn't work through. She had done it at collage, she had done it with Becca. She could do it here.
Savage. Classy, bougie, ratchet, sassy, moody, nasty
As she got up, left the room, her head did feel perhaps like it was swimming. Was the ED at a 45 degree angle?
“Shit, need a chair, doctor down” came Dana’s call as Mel heard a thump like someone falling over.
Ah. no. it was her