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Today’s been rough. Trinity’s worked five shifts in a row, which would have already been bad enough, but she’s been roped into covering into the evening. Crus had some family issue and can’t come in straight away. Santos doesn’t know how to say no to Abbot, so she’s already necked two Red Bulls with another two waiting in her locker. It’s almost 4pm but her day is barely half over.
The extra hours meant she had to postpone her plans with Yolanda by a few hours; they were supposed to get takeout and lie on Santos’s couch with a shitty movie playing on TV. Ever the doting girlfriend, Yolanda was happy to wait at the Santos-Whitaker household until she got off. They could stay up a little past curfew considering they both had the weekend off.
Their one-year anniversary is coming up, and the impending day is making Santos even sappier than she normally is. She’s trying not to give up a single minute with her that isn’t out of her control.
A broken ankle has been taking up most of her afternoon, but the patient was finally discharged and the chart awaits her. Santos is barely ten strides from being able to sit down when Dana grabs her shoulder at the nurses’ station. “D, please, I’ve got so much charting to do.”
Dana peers at her over the top of her glasses with a look that tells Santos she’s not getting out of whatever this is. “I’ve got a sensitive case for you. I need you to look after it. Come with me.”
Santos groans, but she knows Dana doesn’t take these kinds of things lightly. She knows about her history with her coach, about the trial, about her PTSD and how sometimes she sees herself in those little kids. That’s what she assumes the case is, CSA that got to the point of hospitalisation. She follows Dana towards Pedes and stops when she does.
“Ruby Tyler, fifteen. Came in with a fractured eye socket, dislocated shoulder, multiple bruises to her stomach and ribs, and a mild concussion.”
“Jesus.”
“You’re telling me, kid. She’s stable, in okay spirits, all things considered, and is responding well to pain meds. I need you to take a look at the fracture, assess her ribs, make sure her shoulder is set properly and go from there. She doesn’t need a trauma room ‘cause there’s nothing life-threatening.”
“Okay,” Santos says, absorbing the information. “Are you sure? That seems pretty all-around. Especially for a kid.”
“McKay did the initial exam but she’s had to help with the MVA that just came in. She signed off on it, you’re good to go.”
“Parents?”
“That’s the issue.” Dana takes her glasses off and hangs them around her neck, giving Santos a look she knows very well. It’s one that she knows signals bad news. “We’re treating this as a domestic violence case. Kid didn’t say much, but she said enough to tell us that.”
Santos’s stomach drops. She hasn’t attended to a lot of DV cases, partly by choice, but even one is too many. Her head moves a little to the door of Central 11 before turning back to Dana. “Is there a motive? How did she get here?”
“She didn’t say. But she asked for a female doctor. And I think a neighbour heard the commotion and brought her in.”
“Okay.” Santos smooths her half-ponytail and rolls her shoulders. “Anything else I should know?”
“Chart’s updated, meds are logged. Just be yourself, okay? I trust you with this.”
Santos nods, clutching her stethoscope like a lifeline. “Thanks, D. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t.” Dana pats her on the arm before shuffling back to the hub. With another glance towards the door, she steadies herself and walks towards it.
Even before entering, she notices the lights are off. Standard practice for their more vulnerable patients. Those with a reason to be scared. She thinks of herself, all those years ago, sitting in police stations and examination rooms with sharp fluorescent lighting giving her a headache. Shaking the memory away, she unlocks the door as carefully as she can and enters.
Ruby Tyler is sitting up and awake. Her hands clutch the guardrails with a ferocity she hasn’t seen since some guy came in with a Pirates home run ball. There’s a massive shiner around her left eye, consistent with the diagnosis of a fractured eye socket, and her shoulder is propped in a sling. But above all, Trinity notices she looks tired.
She lifts her head up when Santos approaches the bed. Her mouth is drawn in a straight line and the blonde hair that frames her face is matted with a little bit of blood. Santos feels her stomach drop as she takes everything in. What kind of parent could assault their daughter like this? Her brain goes straight to anger, but she schools her face into one of concern as she scans her badge on the monitor.
“Hi, Ruby, my name’s Dr Santos. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.” Santos’s lips upturn slightly. She glances back at Ruby, noticing it took a bit of effort to get the words out.
“Well, that’s why I’m here. To get you sorted out.” She grabs the roller chair from the side of the room and drags it over so she’s sitting next to Ruby, eyes level. Going through Dana’s instructions in her head, she decides to start from the top. “I’ve been told you’re a little concussed. Do you know today’s date?”
“August 15th, 2027.”
“Perfect. Do you know where you are?”
“Uh, Pittsburgh. I heard someone say a trauma centre?”
“That’s right, Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Do you know who the president is?”
“I wish I didn’t.”
Trinity responds with a laugh. “You and me both, sister.” She snaps a pair of gloves on and reaches for her penlight. “Do you mind if I touch your face? I need to look at your pupils and assess your eye socket.”
Ruby nods and Santos lightly cradles her jaw as she shines the light into her eyes. Pupils look okay, nothing worse than a normal head injury. She takes a look at the eye socket next. “I’m gonna press down a little, you tell me if it hurts, okay?” Her thumbs dig into the areas where the bruising is worst, and Ruby flinches with each pass. She hesitates for a second before continuing, until she finally winces in pain. “Is that the worst spot?”
“Yeah,” she mumbles. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s your job to tell me when it hurts, that’s what I wanna know.” Her heart pangs at the apology, knowing it might be normal for her to be reprimanded for little things. She’s desperate to know what happened, but her doctor brain tells her to push through with the physical exam first. “I take it you haven’t had scans yet?”
“No. The doctor before had to go but she said I will soon.”
“That’s right, Dr McKay had to deal with a car crash, but I’m more fun. Don’t tell her I said that, though.” She earns herself a tiny smile from Ruby and she chalks it down as a win. “I’ll send orders for a CT. Have you had one before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s basically a big donut that we’ll put you through to see how bad the fracture in your eye socket is. I know it probably feels pretty rough, but it’s a bone that often looks worse than it is. And considering you’ve got no issues with your vision, it might just be a tiny break. That’s what we’re hoping for.” Ruby nods, and Santos removes her hands from her face. “How is your shoulder?”
“Sore. Dr McKay had to put it back into place.”
“She’s great at that. Do you mind if I take the sling off and touch the area around it?” At her nod, she slips it off and starts poking around. If Ruby’s hisses are enough to go by, it’s still pretty tender. “Can you lift it up for me? Straight like you’re hailing a cab?”
Ruby tries, but she can’t get it up fully; she’s at maybe 75-80% capacity. “Okay, put it down now. Can you try to your side, like you’re waving?” Same thing, almost there. “Alright, back down for me now. I’m gonna order a CT. The dislocation looks like it’s set properly, but I think you might have a rotator cuff injury. That’s this guy here,” she points to the spot on her own body, “which helps you move your arm. You watch football?”
“Not really.”
“Me neither, but my roommate’s from Nebraska, so he loves it. Apparently it’s a big quarterback injury. You weren’t throwing a Hail Mary, were you?”
“No,” Ruby mutters, turning away a little. Santos softens, placing a hand on her non-injured shoulder.
“Sorry, bad joke. We’re almost done with the physical exam. Can I take a look at your ribs now?” Ruby nods again, so she unclips the gown to the side and peels it open. There’s a smattering of bruises around her ribcage and stomach, all nasty-looking. It takes all Santos has not to grimace as bile rises in her throat. Instead, she reaches a hand out and pokes at the worst looking one. Ruby squirms and bites her lip. “Pain on a scale of 1-10?”
“Um, is 10 like the worst pain I’ve felt today?”
“Sure, let’s go with that if it’s easier for you to conceptualise.”
“Then maybe a six. Or a seven.”
“Do the kids still laugh at that?”
“Oh my god,” Ruby rolls her eyes. “That’s old now.”
“Aw damn, I liked that one.” Santos pokes at the next bruise along. “What about this?”
“A little lower, maybe a five.”
“Okay.” They repeat the process for the others in the vicinity before Trinity moves her hands up to her ribs. “And here?”
“The lowest so far. Around a three-and-a-half.”
“Sure.” She leans over to note that in the chart before looking back at Ruby. “I’m gonna ask for one more CT on your ribs to rule out any breaks. I know Dr McKay didn’t have time to get you up there, so I want to be thorough while I’ve got you. Does that sound okay?”
“Okay,” Ruby nods. She sinks back into herself a little, and Santos notices immediately.
“One last thing, I’m going to page the surgery team. I know a great surgeon, and I’ll get her to come down and take a look at you. That doesn’t mean you’ll need surgery, I just want to make sure everything can heal by itself.”
Ruby nods the affirmative but doesn’t say anything else. Trinity grabs her pager and shoots a message to Yolanda, asking her to come down as soon as she can. She adds that it’s a “personal favour,” something that normally buys her a little more time and grace.
“That’s the physical exam done, unless there’s anywhere else that feels sore?” Ruby shakes her head, and Santos flings her gloves into the bin before she swallows. The next part is the hardest. It always is.
“So, Ruby.” She clears her throat and clutches her stethoscope. “I need to ask you a couple of questions now, okay? Anything you say to me that’s irrelevant to your medical records will stay between us. It’s standard when a minor comes into the hospital with injuries like yours.” She takes a deep, steadying breath. “How did you get these injuries?”
Ruby tenses. It’s obvious, her whole body seizing up as she takes in Santos’s question. She taps her fingers on the bed while her eyes dart around the room. “My dad,” she says quietly.
The air gets sucked out of the room as Santos sits with her answer. “Okay. You don’t have to tell me more than that, but for your safety, I’d really like to know. It’s your choice, I promise.”
Ruby nods. Trinity watches her take a second to collect herself before continuing. “I, um. I was at home. With my mom and my dad. My younger brother was at his friend’s house. I don’t know why—” she chokes up, hand flying to her mouth.
“It’s okay, we’ve got time.” She’s right, it’s slowing down, and Abbot had also come in early to cover Crus. She goes to reach a hand out before remembering she’s obviously been through some sort of trauma. “Can I put my hand on your leg?”
Ruby nods, taking a deep breath that crackles with the sound of unshed tears. Trinity places a comforting hand just above her knee, and Ruby visibly settles. “I was at the dining table, my mom was in the kitchen and my dad was watching something on TV. I’ve been wanting to say it for weeks. Months. I’m not sure. They go to church and stuff but I mean, I didn’t think it was this bad.”
A pit opens up in Trinity’s stomach, but she doesn’t interrupt. “I decided it was time. I asked them both to come into the living room. And, I, uh. I came out to them. As a lesbian. Woah, that feels good to say.”
Santos feels tears prick at her eyes but she tries her best to force them back, instead nodding at Ruby and rubbing her thumb over her knee. “That’s hard. I’m proud of you.”
Ruby side-eyes her not unkindly. Santos doesn’t expect her to say anything to that, and she doesn’t. “Then, um. My mom left the room. Didn’t say anything. My dad walked up to me and—he—” she pauses, letting a few tears fall. “He punched me in the face first. Then my stomach and my ribs. Then when I—I tried to—to fight back—”
Santos stands up and grabs the box of tissues from the shelf on the wall. Wordlessly, she passes them to Ruby, who takes one and blows her nose before wiping her eyes with a second. “You’re safe here.”
Ruby acknowledges her with a nod and continues. “I tried to hit him back but he grabbed my arm and yanked it. I don’t really remember much after that. Just running out of the house and to my neighbour. She brought me here.”
Santos watches a few more tears fall and feels one of her own slip past her defences. She looks at Ruby, really, truly looks at her. Her 15 years don’t show on her face, minus the massive bruise. Her blue eyes shine from the tears, but on a normal day Santos wants to think they’d maybe be mischievous, or kind. Her hands shake where they grip the bedsheets, and Santos takes hers off her thigh to grab one in her own. At the contact, Ruby bristles, before looking down at their joined hands and sighing. “I know it doesn’t seem it right now, but you are so brave. They don’t deserve you if that’s how they react.”
“How did your parents react?”
Trinity jerks her head back, eyebrows raised in confusion. “What?”
“I can see the sticker on your badge, I’m not stupid. I noticed it the second you walked in.”
Santos looks down at her badge, where a tiny lesbian flag sticker rests under her name. It’s genuinely minuscule, maybe a centimetre by a half. She remembers putting it on only a couple of months ago when the hospital administration had decided to go woke for Pride Month. It would have been a lovely gesture if all the doctors were mouse-sized, considering you need a microscope to see them, but she never would have guessed it would come in handy like this. “Okay, eagle-eyes. Jeez. I forgot that was there.”
“I mean, I also have a gaydar.”
Santos laughs at that, throwing her head back in a genuine show of chuckling. “What tipped you off?”
“Am I allowed to say everything?”
“Nope.”
“Fine, your tattoos then.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” She looks down at her forearm, left to the open by her underscrubs, and lands on the new lavender piece she got on the top of her wrist to match with Yolanda’s about a month ago. She smiles at the thought of her girlfriend before remembering she has a question to answer. “They were kinda weird about it. I grew up Catholic, and my dad’s side of the family is from the Philippines. I came out to them when I was 17, I think. I had a lot of shit go on in high school, and I think they just saw it as another thing to happen to me. They told me they loved me and all that but every time I see them we act like it never happened. It made telling them about my girlfriend real awkward.”
Ruby’s eyes light up as soon as she says the word. “You have a girlfriend?”
Trinity softens, smiling at the teenager. She’d been meaning to wait until Yolanda came down to drop that information but it slipped out. This would probably be an ethically grey situation most times, but she’s happy to make an exception for her. “I do.”
“What’s her name?”
“Yolanda.”
“That’s a pretty name. How did you meet?”
“Right here, in the Pitt. It was my first day of residency and she was flirting with me so hard. Then we were trying to do this procedure, and I dropped a scalpel in her foot, but she still asked me out afterwards. My rizz must be off the charts.” That gets a laugh from Ruby. “We kinda had a situationship for a while, but we’ve been together officially for almost a year. The anniversary is in about two weeks.”
“Wow,” Ruby says, eyes looking into the distance. “Is she pretty? Do you have a photo?”
“Well,” Santos replies, glancing at the door. “You’re actually gonna meet her soon. She’s a surgery fellow here, and I asked her to come down and take a look at you. She’s the best surgeon in the whole hospital.” She looks around as if to check for anyone listening before turning back to Ruby. “If you see a scary-looking lady by the last name of either Shamsi or Walsh, don’t tell them I said that.”
Ruby giggles through her continuing tears. “I won’t, I promise.”
Santos smiles before squeezing her hand. “I’m here to tell you it gets better. The world is full of people who will hate you for who you love. But there are more people out there who love you for who you are. Do you have anyone like that you can think of?”
“My friends at school know, and my neighbour does now too. My aunt will be okay, I think. I play soccer, and they should be okay with it.”
“Oh, trust me, they will be. Imagine doing gymnastics. I competed in college and I’d always have one teammate who thought I was in love with her. Massive egos, gymnasts. Anyway, sorry, I’m getting distracted. Point is that for every piece of shit in the world, there’s someone in your camp. And, from the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry that your family fell in the first group. But I’ve discovered that you can choose your family. I never thought I’d be sharing my apartment with a Midwestern farm boy and dating a hot surgeon, but life throws you some crazy curveballs.”
“What did you just call me?” A new voice enters the fray; one she knows better than her own. Ruby’s eyes dart to the doorway and Trinity turns around to be greeted by her girlfriend looking like a vision in wrinkled scrubs. Exhaustion shows on her face; she must have consulted on the MVA. But she’s as beautiful as ever.
“Hello,” Trinity says, caught. “We were just chatting.”
“Interesting choice of words, Dr Santos.” Yolanda raises an eyebrow at her before walking towards her side of the bed, settling in at the head of the bed. “My name is Dr Yolanda Garcia, I’m a trauma surgery fellow upstairs. I take it you’re Ruby?”
“Yep,” she says with a grin, “that’s me. Dr Santos was just telling me about you.”
“Oh, was she now?” She hits Santos with another eyebrow raise, face curious. Trinity rolls her eyes and stands up.
“We’ll be right back, Ruby. Promise.” Grabbing Yolanda’s bicep, she opens the door and darts outside, standing just outside the frame. Yolanda closes it behind her and stands across from her, eyebrow raised curiously.
“Care to tell me why you’ve told this patient our whole personal life?”
“I promise it was relevant, babe. She got punched up by her dad after coming out and I was trying to explain to her that, you know, it gets better.”
“Oh.” Garcia’s features shift into something scarier, but Trinity knows it’s not aimed at her. “I see. All the injuries are from her father?”
“Yep.”
“Did you need to do a pelvic exam?”
“No. McKay cleared that.”
“Okay. And you’re alright?”
Trinity shrugs. “For now.”
Garcia chews her lip, deep in thought. “That poor girl. Let’s get back in there. I’m glad you told her. Sorry for being a little prickly.”
“Don’t stress,” Trinity says with a grin, resisting the urge to lean up and kiss her cheek. “I was trying to wait ‘till you got there but she clocked my shit first.”
“I’m not surprised. It’s really not that difficult to tell with you.”
Trinity swats at her bicep while Garcia laughs. With a roll of her eyes, she opens the door back up and steps back inside, her girlfriend trailing her. Ruby’s head snaps up as soon as they’re past the curtain, a small smile on her face. “Okay, back to it,” Santos says. “Just had a little trouble in paradise.”
Ruby laughs as Yolanda shakes her head. “Dr Santos, can you get her chart up?”
“Damn, full name.” She glances at Ruby, who laughs again. Mission successful. Tapping her badge, she pulls the chart up and looks back to Yolanda.
“Thank you, Trinity.”
“That’s a pretty name,” Ruby interjects, and both women smile at her.
“It’s my favourite,” Yolanda says with her arms crossed. The glee on Ruby’s face will be enough to carry Santos through awful shifts for the rest of time.
“Back to work,” Santos says. “What do you need to see?”
“Have you sent for CT?”
“Yep, they know she’s coming. Head, shoulder, ribs. Checking for orbital fracture, rotator cuff damage, correct shoulder reduction, and broken ribs.”
“Good. Anything else I should know before potential surgery, Dr Santos?”
She turns in her spinny chair and looks at Ruby. “When was the last time you ate or drank?”
“Maybe three hours ago? Around lunchtime.”
“Not too bad.” Garcia nods.
“We’ll keep you off digestion until after the CTs come back just in case we do need to operate.” Garcia addresses Ruby directly, squatting down so their eyes are level. “To be honest with you, Ruby, I doubt you’ll need surgery. The biggest concern is your eye socket, but they often fix themselves. Dr Santos is very thorough and likes to make sure all her bases are covered. You got lucky.”
Santos looks at Garcia, a dopey smile on her face. She catches herself quickly, but not quick enough to hide the expression from Ruby, who smiles just as wide as she had when they make eye contact. Yolanda notices their silent interaction and whips her head towards Santos. “Are you conversing behind my back?”
“I’d never,” Santos gasps, hand over her chest. “Ruby, on the other hand…”
Ruby laughs and her smile is the largest she’s seen yet. Even Garcia can’t help her expression, and she straightens to seemingly avoid having to deal with them. “I’m going to leave you two for now. Trin, call me if anything worrying comes back, okay? On my phone, not my pager. I’ll see it quicker.”
“Will do.” Her heart still flutters every time Yolanda calls her that, but she pushes it down and looks back to Ruby as Garcia does the same.
“You’re in great hands, I promise. It was lovely to meet you, and if I don’t see you again I wish you all the best for your recovery and your future.” With a nod to Ruby, she starts walking out of the room.
Trinity knows her girlfriend. She knows that she flaunts their relationship in front of med students and interns, makes snarky comments about Whitaker rooted in a deep mutual understanding, and jokes about the tamer aspects of their sex life to their close friends. One thing she never does is talk about it front of patients; at least those awake and alert. So, when she pauses, Trinity chalks it up as her doing something on her phone. Instead, she starts talking.
“Trin, babe, do you want Indian tonight or Thai? I was leaning towards Indian, cause Farm Boy is away and he can never handle vindaloo. Oh, and I washed your pyjamas from last weekend, they’re in the car with your tote. I’ll bring them over tonight.”
Santos sits there, hand clutching her badge where it’s frozen halfway to the monitor, mouth open in shock. She looks her girlfriend in the eyes and sees her ever so slightly jerk her head towards Ruby with a glint in her eye. With a disbelieving shake of her head, she replies. “Indian is great. You know my order. And I’d kill for some ice cream from that place a couple doors down if you’re offering.”
“Ugh,” Garcia jests, looking back at Ruby. “She’s so demanding. It’s so difficult being the breadwinner.”
“That’s a bold claim.”
“Am I wrong?”
“No,” Trinity says with a mock sigh, visibly slumping her shoulders. “I guess not. Go away now.”
“Careful, or I won’t buy you dinner.”
“See you later, Dr Garcia!”
Yolanda shakes her head before offering one last wave to Ruby and stepping out. The room is quiet for a second before Trinity leans forward and slumps her head on the monitor desk. “Oh my god,” she mumbles against the surface, “she’s so fucking annoying.” When Ruby doesn’t reply, she looks up and sees a shellshocked expression on her face which quickly turns into one of absolute glee.
“You guys are so cute,” she mutters, turning to look Trinity in the eyes.
“I guess,” Santos replies, shaking her head. “Here’s some life advice: make sure your future girlfriend is a nice woman with a good job. I got lucky and managed to snag one of them.”
“Hey, surgery’s a good job.”
“That’s the one I got.” Ruby laughs and Trinity can’t help the smile that creeps across her face. She looks back at the chart before addressing Ruby. “I reckon it’s time to get you up to CT. It won’t take long, and—you know what, give me two seconds. I’m not going anywhere.” Trinity stands up and exits the room before grabbing her phone and calling Dana.
“Go for Dana.”
“Hey, it’s Santos. Is there anything crazy happening out there right now?”
“Not really,” comes the slightly distracted reply. “MVA is taken care off and in surgery. Why?”
“Do you mind if I accompany Ruby up to the CT and back? It shouldn’t be too long.”
“That’s okay, Santos,” Dana replies. She can almost see her pinching the bridge of her nose. “Just don’t stay up there too long. There’s capable hands that can bring her back down. I’ll give you a buzz if there’s any emergencies, okay?”
“Thank you, D. I owe you one.”
“Sure, sure. Did you find out why she’s here?”
“Yeah, um. Came out to her parents and the father beat her up.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus. The poor kid. You doin’ okay?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Just worried about her. That’s why I wanna go up.”
“No worries, then. Come find me once you’re done with her.”
“Will do. Thanks, Dana.”
“Anytime, kid.” The line goes dark and Trinity pockets her phone before walking back in.
“Good news,” she starts, flinging back the curtain and addressing Ruby. “I’m allowed to come up to CT with you. I’ll take you up on the bed and sit with you while we wait.”
Ruby looks shy and tucks her chin to her chest. “I don’t want to take you away from your job.”
“No, you’re not. I was just on the phone with my charge nurse, and she said I’m all good to come up. My job right now is to make sure you’re healing.”
At that, Ruby nods, and Santos moves to put the guardrails up before undoing the brakes and wheeling her out of the room. It doesn’t take long to get to the elevator, and it comes as soon as she presses the button. Once they’re in, Ruby glances up at her nervously. “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re a lesbian.”
“Great question,” Trinity cocks her head as the floors continue to go up. “I think a part of me always knew. I got into gymnastics cause I thought the girls who did it were just so cool.” The elevator dings and Santos wheels her out before continuing. “Then when I was about 12, Glee came out. Santana was my favourite character. When she and Brittany started their whole thing I kinda realised that was an option. I definitely knew I was a lesbian around your age, but it took me a while to muster up the courage to tell my family.”
“I love Glee. Santana’s my favourite character, too.”
“Happens to the best of us. You know, when I told my girlfriend that, she said I was predictable as hell.”
Ruby giggles. “She kinda reminds me of Santana.”
Santos pauses as they approach the CT room. Oh my god. She almost hates herself for never having made the connection. “Holy shit, you’re right. I’m dating my gay awakening.”
That draws another laugh from Ruby as Santos pushes the door open. She makes small talk with the technician as they prepare Ruby, and the actual scans take no time at all. They make their way back down to the Pitt quickly and, once they’re back in Central 11, Santos scans her badge and gets the images up on the screen. “Okay, Ruby. It all looks really good. Obviously not the fact you’re injured, but they’re about as bad as we thought they were, if not a little better.”
Ruby sighs, her body visibly releasing some tension. “That’s good.”
“It absolutely is. Your eye socket will heal by itself, your ribs aren’t broken, and your shoulder reduced perfectly. I’ll be sure to thank Dr McKay. Your rotator cuff is a little damaged, see there,” she points to a line on the screen, “that’s a partial tear, which means under 50% of the muscle is torn. That normally means about two months to heal. It’s not great, but it’s also far preferable to having a full tear which would’ve needed surgery.”
“Will I be able to play soccer?”
“Maybe? What position do you play? When does the season start?”
“I’m a winger. It starts in three weeks.”
Trinity crosses her arms. “Probably not for at least six weeks from now. We need your eye socket to heal first. You don’t want to take a ball to that or else it’ll get way worse. As for your shoulder, you’ll be out of the sling in about four weeks, so you’ll need a little time after that to strengthen it back up. Does your team have a physio?”
“Yeah. I’ve seen her in the clinic a couple of times.”
“Perfect. We’ll send off a referral for a few sessions.”
Ruby looks downcast as she says that. “How would I pay for that? How am I paying for this?”
“Because this is a physician referral, it’ll be covered fully by your insurance.”
“What if my parents took me off?”
“We have a fantastic social worker here, Kiara. Those questions are probably for her, I’m sorry. But I’ll call her down and she can have a chat to you, okay?”
Ruby nods, and Santos takes that as her queue to keep going. “I’m gonna send you home with a few prescriptions for your pain and a cream for the bruises. You’re also taking that sling with you and one of our crazy-good icepacks that you’ll want to be using on your face and shoulder as much as possible. Do you have any family members you can call?”
“Yeah, my aunt. My mom’s sister. They don’t talk anymore since she married a black guy. He’s super cool.”
“What the fuck?”
“Runs in the family, I guess.”
Trinity nods, disbelieving. This poor kid. “Okay. I can call her for you? You don’t need to leave now; in fact, we’ll probably put you in a bed upstairs overnight. But she’ll want to know and Kiara will want to talk to her.”
“Sure. My phone is on that chair.” Trinity grabs it and stands next to Ruby so she can unlock it, before opening her contacts and getting her to type the name in. Her aunt picks up on the third ring.
“Ruby! Hi! How are you?”
“Hello, ma’am, my name is Dr Trinity Santos and I’m a physician at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.”
“What? Where’s Ruby?”
“She’s here, with me. But she wanted us to give you a call to let you know she’s here and is getting treatment for some injuries she sustained at the hands of her father.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“I wish I wasn’t. I’ll let you tell her the full story but it would be great if you could get here soon.”
“Of course, absolutely. I’m only a few minutes away, anyway. Tell her I’ll be there soon?”
“Absolutely. If you head to the visitor entrance of the emergency department they’ll be able to get you in.”
“Thank you so much, Dr Santos. I’m Josie.”
“Lovely to meet you, Josie. We’ll see you soon.” She hangs up and looks back to Ruby. “She’s on her way. Anything you need in the meantime?”
“Maybe some water?”
“Oh, for sure. Let me grab some from outside. Do you want a sandwich?”
“Um, what are the options?”
“Do you like ham?”
“Oh, yes please. Ham and cheese?”
“Coming right up.” She dashes to the food cart just outside and grabs a bottle of water and a sandwich before darting back in. “Here. Lucky you didn’t need surgery. Oh, that reminds me.” She gets her phone out and, deciding she can’t be bothered to text, rings Yolanda.
“Everything okay?” she says in lieu of greeting.
“Yeah, the CTs came back really good. No surgery necessary.”
“Perfect.” Trinity hears her rub a hand over her face. “I’ll come down and say goodbye to her when I clock out.”
“Sounds good. See you later, Yola.”
“Bye, Trin. Thanks for the update.”
“No worries.”
She hangs up and faces Ruby, who has another massive grin on her face. “Was that your girlfriend?”
“The trauma surgeon fellow, yes,” she gives Ruby a pointed look, making her laugh. “Just letting her know you don’t need surgery.”
“I’m kinda sad, I wanted to see her again.”
“She said she’ll come down and say bye when she clocks out.” The smile on Ruby’s face is priceless. “Your aunt should be here any minute. I’m gonna sit here and get some charting done, if that’s okay? Saves me from having to leave and getting a different case. I can hide here with you.”
Ruby nods, and Santos swipes her badge to finish her chart. She adds the CT findings and her thought process to the end of the chart, attaching the images and cleaning up some of her earlier documentation. Barely ten minutes pass before the door opens in a flurry and a middle-aged woman rushes in.
“Oh, Rubes,” she sighs, making a beeline for the bed. “What happened, baby? I’m so sorry.”
Ruby starts crying the second her aunt engulfs her in a hug. Santos feels her own heart crack as she watches them reunite, Ruby’s small body shaking with sobs. “Ow,” she says quietly, a hand coming up to her face.
“Careful,” Santos reminds her, “you don’t want to make that one any worse.”
At that, Josie turns and looks at her with sharp eyes. “Are you Dr Santos?”
“That’s me.”
“What happened?”
Santos looks at Ruby. “Do you want to tell her?”
“I don’t—” she hiccups before taking a big breath. “Can you?”
“Of course.” She stands up from the chair and takes her spot on the other side of the bed. “Ruby came to us with an orbital fracture, which is just behind her eye, a dislocated shoulder, a torn rotator cuff and bruising around her ribs and stomach. My colleague, Dr McKay, reduced the shoulder successfully. We’ve just been up for CT scans which told us that nothing needs surgery. She’ll be in the sling for about four weeks for her rotator cuff, which should take around two months to heal, and her eye socket is on a similar trajectory.”
“Okay,” Josie nods, her hand soothing on Ruby’s shoulder. “How did this happen?”
Santos checks with Ruby first, who lifts her head and steadies herself. “I, um. I told Mom and Dad I’m a lesbian.”
“Oh, darling,” Josie engulfs her in another hug, holding onto her for dear life. “I’m so sorry. But I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Josie,” she replies, muffled against her shoulder. She looks almost peaceful for the first time since she Santos walked through the door. “Can you tell her the rest, Dr Santos?”
“Of course.” Josie releases her but keeps a hold on her shoulder and hand. “Ruby told me her mother walked away and her father swung at her face first and made contact. That was followed by him punching her stomach and ribs before dislocating her shoulder when she tried to fight back.”
Josie looks positively angry. Her thumb rubs mindless patterns into Ruby’s shoulder as she stares at Santos. “Right. How did she get here?”
“The Phillips from down the road drove me. I managed to get out and find them.”
“You could’ve called me,” her aunt mutters, running a hand through her hair.
“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t wanna bother you.”
“You could never bother me. Where are they now?”
“Mr Phillips went to talk to Dad, I think. That’s what he said. And Mrs Phillips went down to the police station.”
“Okay, good. I’ll get their numbers off you later.” Josie looks back at Santos. “What’s the plan?”
“Well, she’s responding really well to the pain medication and she’s due for another round in about an hour. We’ve got her on an IV drip, in her arm there, to replenish her fluids for the moment. We’ll have to keep her overnight for monitoring but she’s free to leave tomorrow.”
“You’ll come home with me,” Josie says, leaving no room for argument. “You can stay in the spare room. Jamal won’t mind. He misses you. So do the kids.”
Ruby stars to tear up again as she leans into Josie. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You shouldn’t have to be in this position anyway.” She looks back at Santos, who had been watching their interaction. “Thank you for taking care of her, Dr Santos.”
She clutches her stethoscope and gives them both a smile. “It was my pleasure.”
“Guess what,” Ruby conspiratorially whispers to her aunt, and Santos laughs as she realises what she’s about to say, “Dr Santos is a lesbian too.”
“Is she?” Josie laughs as she looks at Santos apologetically.
“Yeah, and her girlfriend works here.”
“Wow,” she says with a laugh. “You guys really got chatting, huh?”
Santos returns the chuckle and shrugs her shoulders. “She’s a good kid.”
“She is.”
“Alright,” Santos says, giving Ruby a once-over. “I’m gonna leave you guys to it. I’m on till late tonight, so I’ll pop back in before I leave. They should have a bed upstairs ready for you by about eight or nine. I know it’s a bit of a wait, sorry. There’s a button behind you that you can call for a nurse to come in. Feel free to ask them for me if you want to, okay?” She pauses for a second, looking at Ruby. The poor girl had had an awful day and has a long fight ahead of her. Normally, she’d never do what she’s about to, but she feels she can make an exception for her. “Pass me your phone?”
Ruby hands it over, unlocked, and Santos finds the contacts app before opening a new contact and putting her name and number in. “I’ve put my phone number in here. It’s lowkey very unethical to do that, so please use it sparingly, but if you ever need me you can give me a call or a text. Okay?”
Both their faces soften as she hands the phone back over with a smile. “Thank you, Dr Santos,” Ruby says, “that means a lot.”
“Anytime. Dr Garcia should come down here within the hour, she gets off at seven. She’ll know if you get moved before then so don’t stress if you do. Any other questions from either of you?”
Josie looks at Ruby, who shakes her head. “No, that’s it, Dr Santos. Thank you again. For everything.” The look in her eyes tells Santos she’s not just thanking her for the physical exam.
“Of course. I’ll see you guys later.” With a nod towards both women, she exits the room and makes a beeline for the elevator. She calls for level 3 and takes a steadying breath, clutching her stethoscope in an attempt to ground herself. As soon as the lift stops, she rushes out the door and towards Garcia’s office.
Once she became a fellow, they gave her a better office with a window that looks over the park across the road. Her degrees hang on one wall along with a couple of family photos. A few photos line her desk, including one of them together someone took at last year’s staff Christmas party. In it, their arms are wrapped around each other and they’re staring into each other’s eyes mid-conversation. It’s Trinity’s favourite photo of them, so she’d got it specially printed so Yolanda could have it in her office. Apparently it caused quite the stir amongst the trauma surgery attendings. There’s a plant or two hanging around that Yolanda waters on a tight schedule. She’s made it her own in the year or so she’s occupied it, and Trinity loves coming up for a chat whenever she can.
Today, she really just needs a shoulder to lean on.
She knocks on the door, pushing through when she hears the muffled “come in!” Yolanda sits at the desk in her scrubs, typing up a post-op note. Her new glasses sit on her nose; Trinity had been a massive fan when she came home wearing them a few weeks ago. They’re for reading only, but every time she wears them Santos gets dizzy.
Yolanda turns around with a smile. “Hi, baby,” she says, quiet. “How are you doing.”
Trinity puts a hand on her chest and takes a deep breath. “Not great.”
“Ruby?”
“Yeah.”
“Here,” she stands from her desk and moves to the small couch in the corner. “Sit with me for a minute.”
Santos follows, sitting next to her and letting her throw an arm around her shoulders before flinging her own around her waist. She tucks her face into the crook of her neck and lets a few tears slip out. “God,” she mutters, almost unintelligible against her skin, “that poor girl.”
“I know, cariño.” A soothing hand runs over her hair. “It sucks.”
“Yeah. How could a parent do that to their own child just because of who they love?”
Yolanda lets that sit for a minute, continuing to stroke her hair and rub circles over her wrist. It grounds Trinity, and the tears stop falling as she breathes against her neck. “Some people are cruel. It’s our job to make sure they don’t win.”
Trinity sucks in a breath and nods. “Yeah. As doctors, and as queer people, I think.”
“You’re right. I’m really glad you told her about us.”
“I seriously wasn’t going to until after asking you.”
At her assertion, Yolanda chuckles. “You told me that already, babe. But it’s okay, some of us just have a really bad case of gay face.”
“Hmph. You’re the one in love with said gay face.”
Yolanda hums, and Trinity can feel the smile on her face as she kisses the crown of her head. “You got me there.”
They sit in silence for a little longer, Trinity’s arm thrown around Yolanda’s waist and her head rising and falling with her breath. Knowing she can come up here and decompress when the opportunity arises is the best part of her job.
The worst part of her job rears its ugly head soon enough.
Her phone buzzes, and she groans as she fishes it out of her pocket. It’s Dana again. “Everything okay, D?”
“Peachy. Just wondering when you’re coming back down from the surgery floor?”
“How’d you know I was up here?”
“I didn’t. Educated guess.”
“Ha ha, funny. I’ll come back down now.”
“Good, we’ve got a trauma incoming, ETA 4 minutes. We’ll need you on the case, Dr Santos.”
“What would you do without me?”
“Oh, we’d be just fine.”
“Love the confidence, D.”
“Get your ass back here, Santos. You can canoodle later.”
“Sir, yes sir. See you soon.” She hangs up before sighing into Yolanda’s neck. “They need me back.”
“Last I checked you’re still on the clock, so don’t complain.”
“Whatever,” she says with a smile before standing up to stretch. “Make sure you go and check on her before you leave. She’s expecting you.”
“I will.” Yolanda tilts her head up from where she is on the couch; Trinity knows exactly what she’s asking for. She bends down and kisses her lightly, hand coming up to cup her jaw before they separate. “I’ll see you at home, baby. Good luck with the trauma.”
“I might see you down there.”
“True,” Yolanda replies with a chuckle. “Go, you don’t want Dana on your back.”
“Don’t worry, I’m her favourite child.”
“Oh my god, go!”
Santos leaves the office with one last look back and a blown kiss before running down the stairs. As soon as she’s back in the Pitt, the trauma arrives and she’s swept up in helping the new patient.
It’s half-past nine when Crus finally shows up with a calm apology and a promise to ever cover for Santos if she needs it. She shakes him off before leaving him with a dap-up and a promise to catch up on their next shift. The short walk to her locker feels like a mile, and she swaps her scrub top for a Penguins tee she’d taken from Yolanda’s closet before freeing her hair from its tie and running a hand through it. Her badge is still on her scrub top, so she unclips it and puts it in her pocket to prevent accidentally running it through the wash (again).
She makes her way back to the hub to check on Ruby’s location. They’ve moved her to a bed in the recovery ward, so she treks up the stairs to level 2. The doors merge into one until she finds Room R14. The door is ajar but she knocks anyway. When there’s no response, she pushes it open and walks inside.
Ruby is asleep on the bed, her hand clutching her aunt’s, who has her nose in her phone and is furiously typing something one-handed. At the visitor, she looks up, her face changing into a grateful expression. “Dr Santos,” she says, looking down at their joined hands, “I’d stand up, but…”
“No, don’t worry.” She lowers her volume and walks towards her. “How is she doing?”
“Good, she’s been asleep for an hour, maybe. Do you want me to wake her up?”
“I mean, if you think she’ll be able to get back to—”
Josie is already shaking her niece awake. “Ruby. There’s someone here to see you.”
Her eyes blink open and adjust to the low light before landing on Santos. “Dr Trinity,” she mumbles, still waking up. “I knew you’d come back.”
“Hey, why the lack of faith?” Ruby laughs a little before clutching her stomach, obviously in a little pain. Santos grimaces and rounds the bed to check her chart. She’s due for medicine in about two hours. Maybe she can mention to the nurses up here that she needs some for breakthrough pain.
“How was the end of your shift?”
“Oh, you know. Had to save some guy’s life cause he thought it’d be a great idea to dig a hole in his backyard without checking for underground powerlines first. He’s in the PACU somewhere. Did you get to talk to Kiara?”
“She came in before, what a lovely woman. She’s happy for Ruby to live with me for now and she said she’ll be in touch with issues like school and insurance.”
“Okay, awesome.”
Ruby smiles up at Santos. “Dr Garcia came in before. She’s so cool.”
Trinity hums in agreement. “She is. Hopefully she got naan with our dinner. Might be grounds for a breakup if she didn’t.”
Ruby clutches her chest in mock outrage. “Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t worry. That’s not on the cards.” She glances to Josie who’s watching her niece with so much admiration it makes her heart hurt. “I’m off tomorrow, but I want you to let me know when you’re out of here, okay? Also, I forgot to mention before, but you’ll probably need a follow-up appointment for your rotator cuff and eye socket in about two weeks.”
“The nurses said something about that too.” Josie pulls out her phone. “I put it in my calendar.”
“Okay, perfect. I’ll be working every weekday that week. If you go down to the ED reception and tell them you’re here to see me for a follow-up they’ll let you through. I might not be available straight away but I’ll do my best, yeah?”
“Sounds great,” Josie answers, rubbing Ruby’s shoulder. “We can’t thank you enough for all your help.”
“Again, my pleasure.” She grabs the strap of her backpack and adjusts it over her back. “It was really nice to meet you guys. The circumstances suck, but it’ll get better. I promise.”
“Thanks, Dr Trinity,” Ruby says with a smile. “Thanks for your phone number.”
“Don’t abuse the privilege,” she grins, pointing at Ruby, “you’re lucky.”
They say their goodbyes before Trinity walks out of the room and towards her car. Without hesitating, she picks up her phone and dials her girlfriend.
“Hi baby,” she picks up after one ring, “done for the day?”
“Yep. Do you want me to get anything on my way home?”
“Nope. Just excited to see you.”
Trinity is so glad she’s not here to see the giddy smile she’s sporting right now. “Me too.”
“Ruby okay?”
“Yeah. We can chat when I’m home, but she seemed alright. I told them to come in for a follow-up soon.”
“Okay. Good. I’m glad she’s doing better.”
“God, me too. Poor girl. Okay, I’m getting in the car now so I’ll see you very soon.”
“I’ll put your dinner in the microwave. You know, it’s really hot in here.” Santos hears rustling down the line. “I think I might need to take my shirt off to cool down. What do you think, Dr Santos? Is that physician-approved?”
Trinity starts the car and straps in at the pace of an F1 driver. “What do I think? I think I’m gonna be the proud owner of many new speeding tickets by the time I’m home.”
“We can’t have that, I better put it back on.”
“Don’t you dare, Garcia.”
“Fighting words.” She laughs down the line, a sound that never fails to hit Trinity in the chest. “Drive safe. I love you.”
“Fine, if you say so. I love you too.”
“But not too safe. I’m so lonely on this big couch and I need my big, strong girlfriend to warm me up.”
“You know the way to my heart. See you soon.”
“Bye, Trin.” She hangs up and puts the car into drive before flooring it and racing home.
Unfortunately, her dinner was cold by the time she was ready to eat. Oh well. It can’t hurt to microwave it again.