Chapter Text
Trinity had gone into the break room for a much needed protein bar and an even more needed Monster. She beelined to the cabinet above the sink, where she had hidden her stash of Clif bars. When she turned away from the cupboard, she was met with dark brown eyes and curls.
“Holy sh… Where did you come from?”
There was a little boy sitting at the table, iPad in hands, staring curiously at her.
“Are you okay? Does someone know you’re here?” Trinity asked, clutching the protein bar and trying to slow her heart rate. She quickly gave him a once over, checking for any scratches or signs of injury. He looked to be around eight years old, with intelligent eyes and long eyelashes. No injuries to be seen, but he had a backpack stowed on the chair next to him.
He nodded. “Can I have one of those?”
Trinity looked down to the protein bar in her hand and snorted. “Right to the point, huh? I dunno, kid. Shouldn’t you not take food from strangers or something?”
The boy looked at her with big brown eyes. “Maman says you should always ask for what you want, or the answer will always be no,” he recited. “Plus, we’re in a hospital. If something happened to me, I think I would be okay. Please?” Trinity swore she saw him bat his eyelashes. She got the feeling this child was hard to say no to.
“Well... These have caffeine in them, so it’s a no-go from me. But I’m sure I can find something else for you around here.” She stuck her head out the door. “Hey Perlah? Can we get this kid a sandwich from the cart?” In a staged whisper, Trinity added, “And who is this? He looks pretty suspicious to me.”
Perlah glanced up from where she was typing. “You know where they are, Santos. That’s Dr. Al-Hashimi’s son.”
Trinity was startled for a moment, but as she looked back at the boy, she was surprised she hadn’t realized it immediately. The similarities were there, and the manner of speaking seemed genetic.
“I’m not suspicious,” the boy piped up. “You’re the one who came in looking for something hidden in the back cupboard.”
“Touche,” Trinity raised her eyebrows. “What kind of sandwich would you like? Any allergies?”
“Turkey, please!”
Trinity shot finger guns at him. “You got it.”
She left the break room, unwrapping her protein bar and sticking half of it in her mouth. She made her way to the sandwich cart, rummaging around the plastic-wrapped sandwiches until she found one that resembled turkey. Sandwich in hand, she spotted Dr. Al-Hashimi standing by the charge nurse station, arms behind her back, examining the board.
Trinity sidled up to Dr. Al-Hashimi. After their disastrous first shift together, Trinity had been trying to find ways to get Al-Hashimi to like her a little better, to make up for how delayed her charting was. Robby had been gone for a week on his sabbatical death ride, and though she hated to admit it, Trinity missed him already. They had the same sense of humor, and he had a way of teaching that showed the more creative ways of problem solving in the ER. “Creative” meaning “badass”, in Trinity’s mind. Dr. Al preferred to do things more by the book, which took longer and resulted in more charting. A lose-lose situation. Still, Trinity was stuck with her for the next three months, and was determined to make… not the most of it; that wasn’t her style, but not the least of it, either.
“Your son looks just like you. He tried to con me out of a protein bar.”
Dr. Al-Hashimi looked like she was holding back a smile. “I trust you didn’t give in, seeing as you are mid-chew?”
“Nah, I’ve got an iron will. It was tough, though. I got this sandwich to give him instead, if that’s cool.”
Dr. Al-Hashimi nodded, her eyes softening a little bit. “Thank you. That’s kind of you to do. Have you gotten the labs back from the girl in North 15?”
A young girl in a dirty soccer uniform covered in grass stains had come in with a broken ankle. When an x-ray was done, multiple other healed fracture lines and breaks had populated on the image, which sent off Trinity’s alarm bells.
“Not yet, but I called down Kiara to come talk to the parents given the extensive bruising on her body and the older breaks we saw on the x-rays.” Trinity glanced over at the parents’ turned backs.
“Dr. Santos, as I mentioned before, I think that may have been a little preemptive. We don’t know the full picture yet,” Dr. Al-Hashimi said.
“Agree to disagree, Dr. Al. My gut is telling me something is off.” Trinity noticed that Dr. Al-Hashimi’s eyes flashed with something when she had said the word “gut.” Unsure, and to try to smooth it over, Trinity added, “So what’s your son doing here? Don’t you know Bring Your Child to Work Day is next week?”
“My ex-husband dropped Hassan off an hour ago. It was unexpected. I don’t make a habit of bringing my son to this type of environment.”
“Ah, deadbeat dad situation? Let me know if you need any help with that, as I’ve got plenty of experience,” Trinity said with a wry smile.
Dr. Al-Hashimi’s gaze sharpened. “His mother had a fall. I would appreciate it if you refrained from jumping to conclusions in the workplace, and in others’ personal lives, Dr. Santos.”
Trinity’s stomach dropped. So much for making a better impression. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she managed to get out. God, you’re so stupid. You always say the wrong thing. “Is she okay?”
Dr. Al-Hashimi held out her hand. Trinity looked at it like it was a dead rat. Did she want to hold her hand? For comfort? That didn’t make any sense. But neither did Dr. Al. Trinity was about to give her her hand when Al-Hashimi gestured towards the sandwich. Right. Trinity wordlessly gave her the sandwich.
“She is doing fine, considering her age. I’m going to give this to Hassan, then get back to work, which I suggest you do as well.” Dr. Al-Hashimi turned and walked towards the break room.
Trinity watched her walk away, a million thoughts and feelings of shame swirling through her mind. Fuck.
Whitaker nudged her shoulder, breaking her out of her thought spiral. When did he get there? Why do people keep popping up out of nowhere? “You good? Do I need to get a crash cart?”
Trinity shook him off. “Whatever, Huckleberry.”
“That looked intense for a sandwich exchange.”
“Yeah, I fucked up, what else is new. C’mon, I need to get some labs back on the patient in North 15.” Trinity was more determined than ever to be right about something.
_____
Trinity was, in fact, not right. The labs showed that the girl presented signs of Type I osteogenesis imperfecta, brittle bone disease, that was exacerbated by her soccer playing. Trinity had to explain to the parents, and more sadly, to the little girl, that she should stop playing soccer if she wanted to go the ER much less frequently.
“There are other low-contact sports,” Trinity said half-heartedly.
“Yeah, do you have any interest in chess?” Whitaker said hopefully.
“Not helping,” Trinity said through gritted teeth.
Worse was Dr. Al’s reaction when Trinity presented her findings. It wasn’t exactly “I told you so,” but Trinity could feel the disappointment radiating from her impeccable posture.
A few hours later, Trinity traipsed back into the break room, figuring she hadn’t gotten her Monster yet. Maybe if she injected it into her veins it would end her misery, one way or another.
Hassan was still there, same place, with a ball of Saran wrap placed neatly next to his iPad.
Trinity grabbed her Monster from the fridge and pulled up a chair next to Hassan, plopping into it with a sigh. “What are you watching?”
“Planet Earth. This one is about the ocean.” Hassan appraised her. “What do you think about the ocean?”
Trinity paused, considering her answer. “I think it’s massive, scary, and full of microplastics.”
Hassan nodded knowingly. “Yeah. That sucks. I like the ocean, though. I’ve only been a couple times. Maman brought me a month ago for a trip. We drove a while but when we got to our hotel it was right on the beach! We only had to go out the back doors and there it was.”
“Did your mom like it too?” Then, Trinity muttered under breath, “Does she like anything?”
Hassan tilted his head. “She liked it. I think the sound of the waves mostly. She said it was peaceful. She let me bury her feet in the sand.”
“Sounds nice.”
“Hassan, I’m so sorry joonam, but I’m going to be here a while longer-” Dr. Al-Hashimi entered the room and stopped short when she saw Trinity and Hassan together.
“I can watch him if you want,” Trinity said without thinking. What the hell are you doing?
Dr. Al-Hashimi’s face seemed to say the same thing. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Not imposing at all,” Trinity’s mouth was moving unbidden. “My shift is over soon. I have plenty of little cousins. I know how to make sure he doesn’t die.”
Dr. Al-Hashimi looked at Hassan. “What do you think azizam?”
He shrugged. “Sure. She knows about microplastics.”
There seemed to be a war going on in Dr. Al-Hashimi’s mind. After a few seconds, she sighed and said, “If it really is okay with you, that would be amazing, Dr. Santos. I promise, only this one time. I’ll give you the house keys when your shift is up.”
Trinity gave her two thumbs up.
What the fuck.