Chapter Text
Samira walked the newest group of Med Students around the ED, darting around patients in the hall and doctors on thin ice, a tablet in hand to dissect each room in her quick walkthrough. The group of students was larger this quarter than it was in the previous, half of them were being moved to night shift before they even had a chance to get to know the place because they just didn't have the room for that many students on day shift.
She didn't want to pick favorites, she knew half of them wouldn't make it out of R1 even if they showed promise now, but she couldn't help the excitement and pride she felt when one of her unconsciously preferred students spoke up about a patient. One of them, a small blonde named Lucy, showed such incredible promise it made her emotional. Not many people shared her energy, but Lucy did.
Other students, specifically Adrian Collins – no relation to Dr. Collins – left her with a sour taste in her mouth. Knowledge of problems, no empathy for patients, quickly rushing through the issues and sending them on their way without so much as a sticky note of after-care instructions.
She led the group of students back towards the Hub where Dana was talking to Robby and Langdon, Abbot leaning against a desk just within earshot but not close enough that they'd try to talk to him. Samira furrowed her brows, why is he still here?
She pulled her phone out of her pocket as she returned the tablet, ready to hand off the med students: 1:46PM. She slid her phone back into her pocket then presented the group to her superior.
“Dr. Robby, I think we're done handholding.”
The three in conversation turned to Samira, Langdon grinned proudly as if he wasn't an R4 a few weeks ago, as if his new Attending status somehow grants him permission to look at her like a baby sister. She didn't actually mind it, he was doing well and that was something she was proud of.
“Great work, Dr. Mohan.” Robby circled the Hub and stood in front of the students, subtly tapping her out of the group so she could relax. It was a pretty quiet day for The Pitt, but she was still drained from all the walkaround and teaching and answering questions that should be common sense. She pulled up a chair next to Dana and sat down without any further care for the group that Robby was now leading away.
Samira kicked her feet up on the chair behind where Dana stood, she received an up-down look, then Dana returned to whatever she was doing before conversation took over. Langdon stood right beside her, towering, but he blocked some of the harsh light on her left so she couldn't complain much.
“You got a straggler,” he stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded towards a student left standing in front of the hub. Samira immediately dropped her feet and stood up, regaining her professionalism.
A dirty blond with curls, the third Whitaker doppelganger to enter the hospital this quarter. He didn't talk much during the walkthrough. She thinks his name is Randall, but it could be Andrew. She smiled, “Sorry, I didn't realize–”
“It's.. It's okay, I just…” He looked at his feet, “You're incredible…” he slowly looked up at her through the fallen strands of hair. “You're really good at picking up what the patients need instantly. I was wondering if maybe I could shadow you today instead of Dr. Robby?”
She didn't notice the additional looming figure until he was right behind her, she didn't have to look to know he had his hands in his pockets and his head half-cocked to the side away from her. She let out a long exhale, slightly humored, slightly annoyed.
“I don't mind,” she lifted and dropped her shoulders, then sat back down in her chair without acknowledging Dr. Abbot. “However, I haven't eaten anything so I might be a little boring for the next fifteen.”
The smile that grew on Whitaker the Third's face was one of a schoolboy; innocent and full of excitement. This was who Abbot wanted a better look at? She hid the humor behind a friendly smile, knowing if she showed any signs of actual amusement, she might scare the student off.
“You could follow me while she eats,” Langdon offered, moving his head as a gesture to follow him anyway. The student eagerly moved behind him as he walked off towards South 17.
Samira returned her feet to Dana's chair as she was handed a granola bar from the designated Mama Bear of the ED. Abbot still stood with his hands in his pockets right next to her, though now he was at her knees instead of over her shoulder.
“Who was that?” He asked Dana, refusing to acknowledge her just as much as she refused to acknowledge him.
“One of the new med students,” Dana answered as if he actually didn't know.
Samira stifled a giggle. “You remember what it was like being a new student, don't you, Dr. Abbot?”
“I remember shadowing an angry old man,” he moved to straighten his head, not taking his eyes off the spot where the student previously stood.
“That makes so much sense,” Samira said through a bite of granola, her tone fully deadpan but the moment her sentence was finished she smiled.
Abbot looked over at her, narrowed eyes, then to Dana, “They get younger every year.”
“I think you're just getting older,” Dana lightly hit him in the chest with a clipboard to tease him, then walked off.
He twisted his mouth to the side and nodded, then moved his focus to Samira below him. “He likes you.”
“I'm a good doctor,” she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through texts she'd already read.
“He likes you.”
“He just met me,” she eyed up at him, then dropped them back to her screen. “I think you're being a little possessive.” She took another bite of granola.
He lifted his shoulders, held them there for a beat, then dropped them. No argument. She was pleased with that.
“Students have a habit of finding interest in their superiors. Just don't lead him on.” He turned to leave as her mouth hung open.
She watched him walk off in the same direction Dana went, considered following and decided against it. That was a conversation for later. Instead, she continued to reread old texts and finished her breakfast.