Chapter Text
July 6th, 2026 – 4:32 AM, the Javadi/Shamsi Household
Victoria had to bribe Trinity to keep her birthday under wraps, it was bad enough that Trinity told Princess – who told Perlah and Donnie – and Dennis. It was cute that he knew she is a Cancer… Regardless, she hates her birthday, it is a reminder that she is so much younger than those around her, a reminder that she is only now turning 21. So her she was, eye patches under her eyes, hair still messy from sleep, half dressed, the day before her birthday packing up the bribe, containers of her father’s butter chicken, chicken biryani, masala dosa, and a bottle of lassi.
Her father has made this for her birthday since she was small, he typically would make it for her on the actual day, but after the cluster that was the fourth, between the internet blackout and Victoria’s fight with her mother, he decided to make it on his day off on Sunday. He was nice enough to make plenty of extra, more like bad at preplanning portion sizes, but at least it made bribing easier. click. The final container shut, she takes the pastel sticky note and a pen she found and started to label the containers, she made sure to add any major allergens to the labels, she didn’t think Trinity or Den- Whitaker had any allergies, but she would hate to be wrong. Victoria smiled thinking of Dennis. Victoria had stayed up for a large part of last night researching PTMC’s emergency psychiatry department, after Whitaker mentioned it, she couldn’t stop thinking of it, he really was a genius.
“Hello sweetheart, your up early. Is everything okay?” Victoria’s father popped around the corner. As Raymond makes his way over, he sees the containers out on the counter, “Honey, are you planning on feeding the whole ED?”
Victoria finishes the final sticky note and looks up at her father, “Yes everything is okay dad, I promised one of my friends from work some food… they have never tried their food and got a little jealous when I was bragging about you.” Victoria was really hoping her dad didn’t pick up on the lie, she didn’t want her father to question the story, because if he did, her mother definitely would, and Victoria really couldn’t handle any more from her mother at the moment.
“Oh honey, that’s so sweet, well, I did make a lot, any I don’t think we would have eaten it all anyway, okay. Do you want to borrow one of my lunch boxes and frozen ice packs so it stays good for your drive in?” Perfect, Victoria really does love that her dad doesn’t pry. With a head nod from Victoria, Raymond reaches on one of the taller cabinets to grab a sleek, tan Yeti cooler.
“Thanks dad, I really appreciate it, and you and mom remember that I am studying at my friends tomorrow night after my shift? Doctor Santos and Whitaker.” Victoria rushes out while reaching for the ice packs in the back of the freezer. While Victoria was able to contain Trinity, her and Dennis did agree that she had to do something, so they decided that Victoria and Mel should come over after their shift and study, which Trinity jokingly called drinking games and pizza, citing that her birthday is on a Tuesday, so they can go out a different night. Its not that Victoria hated the idea, but she was stressed that it would get back to her parents, who have been hounding her to set up a day to celerbrate.
“Ah yes, studying, is that what the kids are calling it these days?” He father muses. Crap…
“Dad – I know its boring, but I really -”
“Honey, I get it, I won’t say anything, your mom and I have but a lot of pressure on you, you deserve a birthday doing what you want. Don’t tell I said that obviously…” He whispered, even though they both no Eileen Shamsi was not in the room, but in fact across the house getting ready for her shift. Raymond had always doted on Victoria, she was a daddy’s girl through and through.
“Thanks dad, but really I am going to be with Santos and Whitaker, they live together and have agreed to hold my study session,” Victoria grins. Slowly Victoria takes the cooler from her father and gently places each container in there. Once she has it fully packed, she places next to her brown backpack, her water bottle and her keys. “Well dad, I need to finish getting ready, you don’t work today, do you?” She turned and saw her father slowly working his way over to the espresso maker he treated himself to a few years ago.
“I wasn’t supposed to, but Jennings’ son was feeling sick, you know the one you watched for us when you were younger, and we needed a senior attending on today, so here I am,”
“Oh, that’s awful, hopefully its just a summer cold”
“Probably, any how, go get ready honey, you should try to leave before your mother, she will ask more question than me about that cooler, I love you honey!” Victoria really did love her dad
“Love you byeee!” Victoria ran upstairs to her room, closes the door and stops in front of her vanity. Staring back at her is a much more tired version of herself than she was 11 months ago, at that point she had completed her OBGYN and pediatrics rotation.
She wasn’t well rested per say, but not as tired as she is now. Yet, she liked the person in the mirror, she is making friends, she is able to stand up to her mother (well, kind of, bit progress), and she has a specialty in mind that doesn’t make her completely regret going into medicine (thanks to Dennis). Looking across her room to her night stand, she sees that time, 5:02, crap, she needs to get a move on before her mother comes down from her room. Quickly, she removes the eye patches from under her eyes, tossing them in her trash can, and grabs her brush. She already had her scrub pants on, just needing to put on her undershirt, scrub top, and grab a hoodie. Victoria grabs her small pouch full of make up - not that she goes to work in a full beat, but she does where some, mainly so she doesn’t look dead – and grabs her overnight tote bag she packed the night previous. Trinity told her that she could spend the night, mainly to prevent her mother from seeing her drunk, or seeing Victoria in general if she was honest with herself. After securing her light blue undershirt and scrubs tucked in, she grabs her hoodie from the back of her vanity’s chair, a soft, pastel blue hoodie. While Victoria normally wore pinks and purples, she got this hoodie the other day as a pre-birthday gift for herself and has been wanting to wear it.
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After finishing getting ready, Victoria bounds down the stairs with her bags in hand, “Good morning mom and dad, I have to head to my shift early, remember, I will be home late tonight and won’t be home tomorrow! Love you bye!” Victoria yells to the house at general hoping to miss her mother, knowing she has a narrow window before her mother comes down at 5:30.
“Bye honey, in case I don’t see you, I love you and happy early birthday!” Her father calls from the kitche
“Victoria, are you sure you can’t study another night, it is-” Her mother starts.
“No mom, that was the day that worked well with everyone. Remember, we discussed that on Sunday we would do dinner! I really have to go!” Victoria slings her backpack on to her back, pulls the cooler to her, and hooks her keys in her fingers. She would have grabbed her water bottle, but lack of extra hands and fear her mother would see the cooler, she ran out of the house, not missing her father glance and wave.
Only when she got to her car did she see her dad placed a breakfast sandwich and banana in her bag, with a smile, she started her car to head to PTMC.
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