Chapter Text
Victoria is…particular. That’s not something difficult to figure out about her, and it’s also not something she makes an effort to disguise. She likes what she likes, and she’s okay with that. There’s enough areas of her life where she keeps her head down and her mouth shut, so, perhaps in some desperate attempt to feel even a small sense of rebellion, she’s become quite comfortable making her preferences clear when it comes to the lower stakes stuff.
One of those areas is her go to drink of choice.
She’s ten hours into what has been one of her most difficult shifts in a while, painfully behind on her charting, nursing a headache so bad even the light of the computer screen is making her wince when a low whistle accompanied by a soft knock on the counter in front of her announces Mateo’s presence.
“You look about ready to drop.”
Coming from anyone else, Victoria might bristle - taking it as a subtle jab at her competency, or her place in the ED. Coming from Mateo, she actually smiles. “Yeah. Long day.”
“Two more hours. You’ve got this.”
Squinting up at him, Victoria is suddenly confused. “What are you doing here so early anyways? I thought you were enjoying the dark side.”
Her air quotes around ‘dark side’ earn her a chuckle, and she hates how the sound still fills her stomach with butterflies. It’s been months. Mateo is her friend.
“I’m loving the night shift, no change there. The nurses are having a little baby shower thing for Kim between shifts. She’s worked with both crews. I didn’t wanna miss it.”
Of course he didn’t. Because that’s who Mateo is. Strong, steady, reliable. The kind of coworker who shows up to work two hours early, just to make sure he can celebrate his people.
She must’ve been staring off into space just a little bit too long, because the next thing she knows Mateo is waving a hand in front of her face eyebrows scrunched with worry. “Earth to Dr. J?”
“Sorry! Sorry I’m just…tired,” she finishes lamely. It’s a half truth, but she suspects the dark circles under her eyes do enough to sell it, and sure enough Mateo frowns.
“There’s coffee in the break room. I can grab you a cup.”
Her face must adequately reflect the disgust she feels at the concept of consuming break room coffee, because immediately Mateo’s face morphs into an amused grin. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“You’re sweet to offer!” wrinkling her nose at the thought of the dark sludge that’s been sitting in the pot all day she continues, “that stuff is just…gross.”
“So what is your caffeine infused solution to exhaustion?”
Dana strides in before she gets the chance to answer, pointing at the two of them. “Javadi! Trauma two with Robby. We have an MVC three minutes out. Mateo, stop distracting my med students.”
Scrambling to her feet, Victoria nods slightly frantically. Mateo on the other hand shoots her a relaxed grin. One thing she’s learned over the last several months is that very little phases him. “To be continued, Victoria.”
—
The trauma turns out to be the cherry on top of what was already a terrible day. What looks initially like a concussion and some minor internal bleeding quickly dissolves into too many wrong things to count, and even with the most competent hands in the ED in that room, it doesn’t matter.
They run the code for close to forty minutes, none of them wanting to call TOD on the painfully young teenager on the gurney in front of them, but they’re also all doctors, aqutely aware of when all options have been exhausted, and no one in that room misses the break in Robby’s voice as he announces, “time of death, 5:53pm.”
Peeling off her gloves and gown, Victoria takes a minute to centre herself in the hallway, dangerously close to letting the tears stinging at her eyes spill over, when Perlah gently rubs small circles between her shoulder blades, and the soft fabric of her hijab presses against Victoria’s cheek.
“That was a tough one.”
Swallowing hard she nods, not trusting herself to manage more than a tight, “yeah.”
“There’s something for you at the nurses station. Go, take a few minutes.”
With that Perlah is gone, and Victoria’s curiosity is sufficiently piqued as she makes her way back to her earlier post, breath catching in her throat as she takes in the plastic cup complete with a sticky note on the side.
Dr. J :)
It’s strawberry matcha.
Not just any strawberry matcha either, the trademark blue floral logo on the side of the cup means it’s from The Lark, her favourite coffee shop in the entire city.
That also happens to be all the way across town.
Somehow, in the span of forty minutes, Mateo has not only managed to uncover her favourite drink, but also her preferred place to get it from, and make it appear at the nurses station in the emergency department of PTMC.
She suspects Samira has played a role here, they’ve enjoyed more days off together in the sunshine filled booths of The Lark than she can count. Still, no matter how he’s come by the information Victoria’s chest fills with a ball of warmth at the fact that not only did Mateo care enough to find out, but also to do something about it, simply to try and make her day just a little bit better.
She’s lucky to have him.
Not like that of course. Mateo was clear that very first day all those months ago; he doesn’t date coworkers. While her crush is still very much around, she’s better at internalizing it now. Gone is the breathlessness that used to accompany his very presence. The occasional butterflies are considerably easier to deal with, and their friendship has truly become one of Victoria’s favourite parts of the job.
He’s sweet, and thoughtful, and god this matcha is both delicious, and one of the kindest things someone has done for her in a long time.
Robby appears out of nowhere, much like Dana had earlier, but instead of barking directions at her he offers a nod and a soft, “go home, Victoria.”
There’s technically another 34 minutes left of her shift, but Victoria doesn’t need to be told twice. Gathering her things, she fires off a quick text to Mateo on her way out the door.
Thanks for the matcha :)
—
She’s not expecting it, and yet at the same time Victoria somehow isn’t surprised at all when after that day, the start of every shift that crosses paths with Mateo’s nights comes with a perfectly made strawberry matcha and a sticky note left for her at the nurses station.