Chapter Text
It wasn't meant to happen this way.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. If Samira Mohan was being completely honest, it wasn't meant to happen at all. There was no way to prepare for something like this—seeing your mother's name on the emergency room board on a boring Monday night. And especially not when she was meant to be across the country with her new boyfriend.
But such was her luck at the moment.
"Huh."
Her stomach roiled at the sight of her mother's name. Of course, it had to belong to someone else, because there was no possible way . . .
"See something interesting?" Shen asked over her shoulder. "I'm tired of stomach aches and back pain. Give me something good."
Samira nodded in his direction, her eyes never moving from the board. Shen stood there quietly waiting for her to say something.
"Yeah. Well, no," she stumbled, her mind still processing the name. "It's just that there's a woman in Twelve with my my mom's name."
"Really?" Shen perked up and followed her finger to the name. "You sure it isn't her?"
"Haven't checked. She's supposed to be on a Vineyard tour in Napa Valley right now. It can't be—"
"Heads up, Dr. Mohan." Lena's voice cut through Samira's thoughts. "The woman in Twelve says she knows you. You might want to check in on her."
"Seriously?"
Lena nodded, already moving on to the patient in Fourteen as another couple of nurses followed after her. Shen was still standing next to her, the iced coffee in his hand dripping onto the floor, which was usually enough to make her nerves bad. But her mind was elsewhere today, peering over her shoulder to the room where her mother might be getting care from another doctor rather than her.
"Go check it out," Shen offered. "Things are slow now, anyway. Looks like she's in good hands, though. I think Abbot's in there."
"What?"
Oh, no. Oh, god, please no.
Samira's cheeks turned hot as she began walking over. Shen was still talking, though she couldn't hear anything besides her heart pounding in her chest. How could this be happening? In all her time living in Pittsburgh, Amma had never once visited.
And they'd talked four days ago! About California and the romantic getaway Rahul had planned for her and that things were getting serious between them and reminding Samira that her biological clock was ticking, always ticking.
Samira, who was no stranger to Amma's deep obsession with love and marriage, had not thought about relationships since her last one broke down in college. She was too busy, after all, with residency and planning for a future fellowship God-knows-where, to get caught up in a whirlwind romance (or even a just-okay one). Men, though nice to look at and sometimes a much-needed distraction from medicine, were at the bottom of the totem pole of priorities.
Nevertheless, Amma was persistent. And Samira, who had tired of the same dead-end conversation being rehashed over and over again months ago, had done something terribly, awfully, stupid to shut her up.
She'd lied. It had seemed innocent enough at the time, a fib that no one would ever need to know about. Because Amma hated Pittsburgh, apparently, and had no plans of ever visiting her only daughter there. And Jack Abbot was single—widowed, she'd found out after the fact, and it sent of twinge of guilt through her at the thought of what he'd think—which made it totally not crossing any lines, right? It wasn't like saying she was dating Langdon, whose wife and daughters certainly wouldn't be thrilled by the rouse.
Her mind was racing, though it seemed her body was moving in slow motion. Down the hall to the room that had seemed so close minutes ago. The longer it took, the more Amma could say to Dr. Abbot, who would undoubtedly look at her strangely just in time for Samira to enter the room and be forced to confess her sins to everyone.
The door was open, the curtains pulled shut. She grabbed them haphazardly and pulled, hoping beyond hope to see anyone else in the bed.
"Amma?"
The gods were cruel. And here she'd thought night shift had things easy. No one had mentioned it was 'Bring Your Mom to Work Day,' when she signed up for the shift last week.
"Mira!" Amma said with a smile that reminded her of her own childhood.
She took half a second to assess the situation. Amma was laying in the bed, a neck brace stabilizing her spine and her leg elevated under ice. Beside her in a chair was Rahul, whom Samira had only ever seen in pictures before. He was tall and thin, so unlike her father's short and stout frame. But he had the same bright eyes as Appa, and he was holding Amma's good arm just as lovingly as she imagined her father might in this situation.
It calmed her, just slightly, though the idea of seeing a man beside Appa holding Amma's hand was still unnerving.
Beside her, Abbot stood looking over the chart. He'd looked at her with an odd grin when she entered the room, though now it was clear he was giving her space to be both doctor and daughter. She'd have to deal with him in a moment. Now, she was worried about Amma.
"What happened?" she asked quickly.
"Car accident, Mira," Amma said. "Just a fender bender. Rahul hit the gas instead of the breaks on accident. It was a rental car, you know."
"But you said you were in Napa," she argued, walking around the bed to check her vitals. "You told me on Thursday that—"
"I lied."
"You . . . what? Why?"
Amma exchanged a glance with Rahul, who was keeping to himself.
"I wanted to see you," she said plainly. "You haven't come home in a while and I missed you. Rahul does have a romantic trip planned for us, though, don't you worry."
Samira grimaced inwardly as Amma gave her a cheeky look.
"We're flying out tomorrow morning," she explained. "We had our flight switched to leave from Pittsburgh International. And now that you've got a boyfriend—"
Samira choked as Amma turned her attention back to Jack and waved at him once more. She didn't dare follow suit, knowing if she met Dr. Abbot's eyes, she might just melt into the floor.
"Amma," she said sternly, "you can't just ambush me like this at work."
"We weren't trying to!" she argued. "He didn't crash the car on purpose."
"Crash the car? You said it was a fender bender."
"We were going to wait outside for your shift to end."
"I work until 6am. You can't just—"
"If I may?"
Dr. Abbot's voice cut them both off in an instant. Samira turned to face him, heat creeping up her neck and into her face as she locked eyes on him for the first time that night. His expression was gentle and warm, if not a tad confused. Amma was quiet now, also, though Samira could see her smiling at him all the same.
"I hate to interrupt this . . . moment, but I'm sorry to say you won't be flying any time soon. You need time to rest and heal, and flying would be too strenuous on your neck and leg." He turned his attention to Samira now and nodded. "Can I have a word outside?"
Shit. This was bad.
"Yeah, sure," she said, her voice barely level.
As she moved to follow him out, she noticed that he stood back for a second to tell them it was nice to meet them 'finally.' What was that supposed to mean?
He shut the door behind them, giving Samira a moment to breath and scan her surroundings. Thankfully, no one was around, though she could see Lena watching them from the Nurses' Station.
Jack began walking them both toward an empty room two doors down, and although she'd known him for a few years now and knew that Abbot was far less intimidating than Robby, she couldn't help but feel like she was being led to the principal's office. If nothing else, this was going to be awkward.
"Your mother seems nice," he said quietly when they were alone, his tone one of slight amusement that did not go unnoticed. "Though, I think she might be slightly confused about your love life."
He cocked an eyebrow at her, probably waiting for her to give a reasonable explanation for this. And, if she'd had any time to think about it before now, maybe she could've mustered something good. But the truth was the only thing coursing through her brain right now, and if she didn't come clean in the next few seconds, she might just collapse right then and there. It would be just as embarrassing.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Abbot. It was a stupid lie, and I don't know why I even did it. It was so unprofessional and immature and grossly negligent, and I'd understand if you want to report me to—"
"Dr. Mohan, please," he said gently, reaching out to grab her arm. "Just slow down."
She took a breath and pushed her hair out of her face. She hadn't meant to word vomit like that, exactly, but now there was no taking it back. When she'd calmed down enough to keep from hyperventilating, she looked down and noticed that his hand was still touching her bicep. He gave it a soft squeeze before releasing her and backing away a few steps.
"You told her we were dating?"
It wasn't accusatory or sharp, and for a moment she wasn't sure why'd she'd expected it to be. This was Abbot, after all, not Robby. She'd never seen him so much as raise his voice at any of the residents or nurses in all their shared shifts, not even during the PittFest shooting.
"I . . . yes, I did. Only because she was after me to find a man and 'settle down,' whatever that means. I got tired of the third degree every time she called, so I told her I was seeing a coworker. When she asked about who it was, I said your name."
She paused to take another breath, looking up at him cautiously, as if his gentle demeanor might shift at any moment.
"Not because I like you or anything," she added quickly with a nervous laugh. "Just because we'd just worked a shift together—remember, the thoroactomy on that teenager last November during the snow storm? Anyway, I was exhausted and yours was the first name that came to mind."
Another brief pause. Dr. Abbot was watching her closely, and she was keenly aware of how awkward this entire situation must be for him. If she'd ever suspected something like this would happen, she'd never have done it in the first place.
"So, she thinks we've been dating for—six months?"
"Um, yes, I guess so."
He nodded, the corners of his lips turning up slightly.
"Must be getting serious then."
She was flushed again, and there was really no hiding it anymore. Still, he pretended not to notice.
"And you two talk about me? Regularly?"
Absolutley mortifying.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Abbot," she said quietly, her eyes averted once more. "This is so unlike me. Really. I've just been under a lot of pressure lately, and I was desperate to get her off my back about the relationship thing."
"It's fine, Dr. Mohan."
She looked up at him again, eyes wide. He was perfectly calm, arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the wall.
"You aren't upset?"
"I would've appreciated a fair warning," he quipped with a grin. "Can't say I wasn't a little taken aback when she demanded a hug after introducing myself."
"Oh, god."
"And I hadn't gotten the third degree like that since I met Annie's mom back when we were teenagers."
He said it so lightly that it caught her off guard. She'd never known him to talk about his wife, and this wasn't exactly the best time to be hearing about her for the first time.
"You're kidding," she said, hiding her face in her hands. "What did she ask?"
"Just the usual—are you treating my daughter well? Do you love her? What are your plans for the future?" He stopped to meet her eyes again. "You know, the fun stuff."
"I swear, if I could dissolve into thin air—"
"You want me to play along until she leaves?"
For a moment, she thought she'd misheard him. As the silence stretched out between them, the question hanging in the air like a loaded gun, she slowly met his gaze and saw that, without a doubt, he'd said it.
"You don't have to do that."
"I think I might," he said. "Unless you want to tell her we broke up in the span of—" he stopped to check his watch—"Ten minutes."
"Or I could tell her the truth," she offered. "That I lied and you just went along with it to save face."
"Is that what you want to do?" he asked softly with a shrug. "X-Rays aren't back yet, but this looks like nothing more than some good rest and relaxation will get her back in shape. She'll only need to be here for a few days, maybe a week at the most. I'd say she'll be safe to fly by next week."
He was clearly being serious, though Samira was having a hard time processing the offer. What reason did he have to do this? He didn't owe her anything, nor would it be convenient to keep up this story. And it could very well hurt his career if anyone they worked with found out espicially Gloria. Knowing the way gossip spread around PTMC—and that's to say, like a wildfire—they'd almost surely be found out.
"You don't have to," she said, unable to think of anything else that was remotely sensible. Of course, words would fail her right now.
"I know that," he answered. "I'm asking if you want me to."
"Why?"
He took a moment before shrugging, looking away for the first time in a while.
"You're a good doctor. Better than good, really. I've got a lot of respect for you. And I know what it's like to feel the pressure from all sides. I just . . . want to help."
Could it be so simple? No taunting, no guilt, just an offer to assist in her time of need? Okay, maybe that was a stretch, seeing how she could easily tell the truth and save them both the hassle. But Amma would be so disappointed, and it had been nice these past few months just spouting off a few made-up stories here and there about dates they were going on to appease her.
Still, it couldn't go on forever, could it? But maybe just for another week . . .
"If you're sure about this," she said slowly. "I'd—well, I'd really appreciate it."
"Then it's settled," he said with a smile as his beeper went off. "We should probably get back out there before anyone notices."
"Right," she said as he opened the door and they walked back toward the trauma bay.
"Let's meet up when we get a chance to discuss the details," he said, continuing when she shot him a look. "Of us, I mean. You've got to fill me in on what we've been up to the last six months."
"Clearly," she said with a smile, though her pulse was steadily rising. "Um, maybe you should avoid seeing her in the meantime."
He nodded. "Lunch later? Cafeteria, maybe?"
"Sure. Good idea."
An ambulance was driving up as they reentered the fold. They both sprung into action, and as she passed her mother's room and half-glanced in her direction, she steeled her nerves for what was to come. She wasn't some great liar by any means. And an actor, she was not, either.
She could only hope Dr. Abbot was if they were going to pull this off.