AN: So this is my first story, and I got the idea from ER and Miami Medical ...Thank you to my amazing beta SarenRose, you're the Mac to my Fleetwood and the Grill to my Wool. Disclaimer or whatever: I do not own these characters, I just took them out to play :)
P.S. AN: This is only the first chapter! Please leave me your reviews and tell me what you think and hopefully more chapters will be added soon!
The loud shrill of the alarm clock going off at five in the morning ripped Regina Mills out of a blissful sleep. Not a single ounce of light was peering through the curtains. Ugh, it should be illegal to rise before the sun does. But then again, she was a doctor, and doctors don't have the time to sleep while there are lives at stake, especially when it's their first day on the job. Regina was eager to start her first day of work in this new city. Working at Miami Medical had been a complete disaster, and to say the least she was ecstatic to be 1,300 miles away in Chicago. Regina crawled from the comfort of her bed and padded her way into the bathroom. Quietly, she switched on the tap and waited until the water was steaming before she splashed a handful onto her face. It was mornings like these—where the grogginess of being woken before the rest of world could be washed away with a little bit of soap and water—that she loved most. In a short amount of time she had peeled off her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and was sporting her ever-so-stylish, green scrubs and a hint of makeup. After marching her way down the street and one uneventful ride on the L, Regina was finally standing in front of Storybrooke Medical Center. She took a deep breath and walked into the entrance.
The hospital was abuzz with noise: phones ringing, paper being shuffled, sickly people coughing and sneezing. Glancing around, Regina headed towards the first official person she saw: a blonde woman clad in scrubs sitting behind the desk.
"Take a clipboard, fill out your info, and we'll be with you as soon as we can," the woman said without even looking up.
"Oh, um…I'm actually the new ER doctor? Today is my first day?" Regina replied hesitantly.
The blonde woman looked up, the words Lydia RN etched into her nametag,"Oh, my apologies! You're Regina Mills, correct?" she asked.
"Yes, that's me!"
"Great! Let me show you to the break room where your locker is!"
And with that, Lydia guided Regina to the designated break room- a small room near the desk area. Two walls had lockers lined up against it, another wall had a small counter with two coffee pots (clearly a popular beverage for doctors and nurses), and the fourth wall had a couch. The center of the room had a small table, and sitting in one of the four chairs around it was a man. Regina almost didn't even see him behind the ginormous stack of medical files that hid him from view. He was too engrossed in his work to notice the two women, so Regina focused her attention back on Lydia. The nurse handed Regina a magnet strip with "Mills" imprinted on it.
"Here, pick whichever locker doesn't have a name on it, put your things in it and meet me back at the desk area."
Regina surveyed the lockers and found a vacant one in between the names "Locksley" and "Blanchard". Slapping the magnet on the top, she quickly placed her things in it.
"So, you're our newest member, huh?" said the man behind the files suddenly, startling her. He chuckled, "Sorry for startling you. Welcome to Storybrooke, I'm sure you'll love it here!"
"Thank you. I'm Regina Mills, by the way."
"Nice to meet you…Robin Locksley." He extended his hand, and she took it.
They exchanged smiles as she headed out of the door and back to the desk.
Lydia spotted Regina heading to the desk and began, "Okay, Dr. Mills! Here is your lab coat. Now before you clock in, let me introduce you to some of our staff!"
Regina put on the lab coat as Lydia started pointing at various staff members.
Pointing at a woman with a dark pixie cut, Lydia said, "This here is Dr. Mary Margaret Blanchard!" Mary Margaret smiled and waved in response before ducking into a room titled "Exam Room 1."
Next were two men, one named Neal, who was shorter, with dark hair and the shadow of a mustache above his lip. The other was named David; he had short blonde hair and was taller than his coworker.
Lydia continued to ramble off names. There was a heavy-set black woman named Haleh, and an Asian woman named Lily, and on it went until she was finally done with all the people in the room.
"It'll take you a few days but I'm sure you'll have everyone's names remembered in no time! Now, the clock-in machine is right over there. Here's your time card," Lydia said, "And here's some patients for you! You can see which exam rooms are open if you look at our board. Make sure to write down if you have someone in a room." Lydia handed her three clipboards and a card, and Regina swiped herself in, her day finally beginning.
A week later, Regina was finally memorizing everyone's names and things were moving more swiftly. The ER was pretty quiet until about eight at night, when the loud wailing of approaching sirens and the doors bursting open grabbed her attention. She and that guy, Locksley, ran to the EMTs. They ran along side the gurney that held a badly burned little girl as they listened to the EMT state the girl's age and what had happened to her. The patient was in horrible shape, the burns had charred most of her skin and a second EMT had an oxygen mask over her mouth. They wheeled her into one of the big rooms and nurses rushed in to assist. Regina intubated her and Robin began to bandage the burns. They both tried to assess the situation as best as they could, but the girl began to go downhill…fast. The machines she was now hooked up to started to beep like crazy.
"She's in v-fib!" Haleh shouted.
Other nurses quickly brought in the defibrillator and Regina grabbed the paddles.
"Charge to 250!" Regina commanded. Robin and the other nurses took their hands off the patient. "Clear!" rang out through the air as she tried shocking the little girl back to life… unsuccessfully.
"Regina I thin-" Robin began.
"Charge to 300!" she ignored him.
As the electrical currents became stronger and stronger, nothing changed. The monitors continued to let out a cacophonous beep.
"Dr. Mills!" Robin shouted, "If you go any higher, you are going to do more harm than good! She's too small, her body can't take it."
"No! We have to do something! She's just a kid, she can't die!"
"We've done everything we can! There's no use in prolonging her pain," he tried to make her understand.
Regina's head fell, and she breathed a heavy sigh.
"Call it, Mills."
"Time of death- 8:14pm," Regina ripped off her gloves and threw them across the room.
The nurses took off the bag valve mask and took out the tube that was helping the girl breathe.
Robin switched off the machines, which caused the room to go into an eerie silence.
Finally after a few moments, he spoke, "Is this the first patient you've lost?"
"Yes." She replied, deflated.
Ah, that would explain it.
"This is my second. I know how you feel, but unfortunately we cannot save them all," he said, trying to make her feel just a little less sad. "What time do you get off?"
"8:30," she replied.
"Me too! How about we go to Sherwood Tavern for some drinks. I think it'll make you feel better."
Maybe a whiskey on the rocks would make her feel a little bit better.
"Alright," she agreed.
"Meet you at the desk at 8:30?" he asked.
"Sounds good!"
