i. wise men say only fools rush in

"Code Red! I repeat, Code Red!"

Helen Cho, who had just recovered from her wounds by her own tissue-growing technology, ran down the hall in her best high heels, digging her phone out of her pocket. Her face was creased in a cross scowl that thinly veiled worn anxiety; behind her, four masked nurses wheeling a stretcher raced through the doorway. In the stretcher lay a certain unconscious young man, his damp silver-streaked hair strewn over his face. Helen could already see blood seeping through the thin cotton sheets covering his body. She set her jaw with apprehension and reluctance, but narrowed her eyes, and pulled the phone out of her pocket. With something akin to exasperation, she pressed the first contact on her speed dial list.

Shaking her phone in an attempt to make it hurry up, she thanked God that there was only two rings before the recipient picked up. Helen ground her teeth in frustration at the sound of that familiar smug, laid-back voice that greeted her and began barking into her device, ignoring any formalities.

"Yes. Yes. No. Now, please. Emergency room, med bay. YES. What? Really? I know. Thanks."

She hung up and nodded at one of the nurses.

"Jamie's on his way."

Helen pressed a cold finger to her temple and hurried onwards, cursing loudly in her head. This was extremely inconvenient. It was a national holiday today and there was nearly nobody in the hospital, much less anyone with the knowledge concerning surgery - except for her, she amended, but then again, she'd just come out of the hospital herself. And then again, there was her close friend who worked under her in Seoul, but she currently had no idea where Anya was.

Oh, she was going to murder Jamie when he got here.

Beside her, some doctor's (Parkman? Linnet? She couldn't recall) intern stumbled over his own feet, his eyes wide with undisguised terror.

"You'll be fine, Aleksander," Helen said, trying to soften her voice, but it only seemed to make him even more agitated. Aleksander Kaiser was a… prodigy, you could say. Not every medical student started working for SHIELD at the age of eighteen, having graduated from the Academy at seventeen. But, as with most geniuses, he was certainly lacking in several departments - one of them being courage.

Not exactly something you should have if you want to become a doctor.

"Yes, thanks, I'm fine," Alek muttered. "Actually, no, scratch that,I feel like I want to throw up."

"Good to know," Helen deadpanned before she could help herself. Stress was making her cynical - she hoped she wasn't the source of Alek's fear. "So do I, in fact."

He shot her a curious glance. 'You get nervous too, Ms. Cho?"

"Helen, it's Helen," she said, waving a hand. "And don't worry. Everyone's like this at their first surgery. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Well, no, actually, it's not my first surgery," Alek squeaked. "Probably my fifteenth? I haven't counted. It's just the blood that bothers me."

"So you decided to become a doctor but you can't stand the sight of blood," Helen said, touching her temples again. "Oh, dear. I didn't sign up for this."

A short, mousy-haired young woman hurried down the hall, the frayed bracelet on her wrist bouncing in agitation as she raced towards Helen: a miraculous feat, as she was wearing three-inch heels. Her white lab coat flapped as she slowed beside them, looking more than a little chagrined. How did she manage to run in those heels? Helen found herself thinking, her mind was drifting to trivial matters. She must be in possession of steel ankles, because no human could actually run in those without permanently crippling themselves.

"Ah, Anya, I see you're here," Helen said in profound relief, dismissing the thought of high heels and running. "At least one other doctor. Four nurses is good, but not enough. Alek, this is my friend Anya. She's one of the best doctors and scientists I know."

"Actually," Alek began timidly.

"But I'm not even officially qualified to be a doctor or a scientist," Anya said. "Except for working under you, because you sort of forced me to." She tripped over her foot and cursed. "Stupid heels."

"Your choice to wear them," Helen said, grinning at her friend. "After all, they do extend your height to the mid late-hundred sixties when you put them on, and you hate looking short."

"Oh, shush," Anya said, flushing red. "And I only help around in your clinic, you know. I'm not certified to work on emergencies. How're you two?"

"Not good," both said at the same time.

"I might throw up," Alek admitted.

"I can't take another life-or-death situation," Helen said.

"Well, orders from SHIELD are orders," Anya said. "Though I wonder why we're going to the emergency room at three hundred miles per hour. Does it matter who asked you to hurry?" She cocked her head, a dimple appearing in her right cheek. "Thor. The blonde one?"

Helen's cheeks flamed. "No. Be quiet."

"Uh," Alek interjected. "I hate to interrupt, but we've got a dying person here."

One of the masked nurses was in the way of Anya's vision, so she couldn't really see who the patient was. She had a pretty good idea how much blood was involved, however; Alek's face was slowly beginning to turn green.

"That's just how me and Helen cope," Anya told him. "Well, actually, it's just me. Helen's cool as a cucumber when she's in the operation room. She never gets nervous, or panicky during the surgery. It's before that she gets fluttery. I'm terrified the entire time, though. So we make sure to make small talk before. Speaking of which, this is your first operation, isn't it? Good luck. You'll need it."

"Anya," Helen chastised.

Anya only gave her a wide grin and ran ahead, white coat flapping madly.

"Sorry," Helen said to the poor intern, who looked even more terrified. "I - she - She's the one who's never bothered about stress or blood during emergencies. So she automatically assumes that everyone's just as worry-free as her. I'll be right next to you the entire time, so calm down. And besides - "

She flicked her glance to her watch.

"The head surgeon here'll arrive soon."

.

.

.

Anya pulled on the pristine white gloves, her loose, curling hair bundled messily into a tight ponytail and her face devoid of fear as she scanned the patient's torso, while the miserable medley of interns and scientists crowded over the stretcher. She played with her bracelet absentmindedly, almost without thinking, as Helen marched into the room, snapping her phone shut.

"One intern, an astronomer, and two writers for a science magazine," Anya reported. Alek trailed in after, his face white as a sheet, but his face resolute. "Four nurses, but they've just graduated. This is going to be tough, Helen."

"I got Jamie on the line," Helen said tightly. "He's on his way, but heaven knows how long he'll take. Oh, I am going to have a long talk with him after this."

"How's the patient?" Alek said timidly, and Anya shrugged, her expression resigned. "I haven't taken a look at him yet, and besides, everyone's trying to look at his condition. Even that astronomer looks a little ill from the blood."

"I'd say he's averagely attractive," Helen suggested. "I mean, not as much as, well, you know. But he's not bad."

"I'm sure she wasn't," Alek began.

"And he'll be dead in a few minutes if Bennett doesn't come right now," Anya said, a flash of anger appearing on her face. "That useless, good-for-nothing excuse for a doctor. I'll kill him with my bare hands. I'll strangle that skinny little neck of his. I'll - "

"Also, a hint," Helen muttered to Alek as Anya began to pace, mumbling inaudible profanities under her breath. "Never make her angry."

"Hint taken," Alek said in a choked voice. "But wait - what do you want with Doctor Bennett? He told me he'd go to Hawaii or something on his day off. There's no way he could get here that quickly."

"Wait a minute, you're Jamie's intern?" Helen began in disbelief, but the sound of feet hurrying down the hall made her stop in her tracks.

The surgery's room was suddenly silenced the door slammed open violently.

Helen sighed with relief and Anya started to speak, but Doctor Jamie Bennett had already entered, running a hand through his hair.

"Am I late?" he offered, giving them a sparkling smile. As usual, not a hair was out of place. His suit and tie looked impeccable, and there wasn't a single speck of dirt on his coat.

Anya proceeded to judo-flip him, roaring furiously. Alek averted his eyes out of respect for his gagging mentor as the enraged girl began to perform the Boston Crab on Jamie.

"Ouch," Helen said, wincing. "I feel sorry for you now. But there's no time - stop it, both of you. Anya, you and I can kill him later. Jamie, we have a severely injured patient. If you two don't move right now - "

She glared at them, and Anya reluctantly got up.

"Out, out, out," Jamie said cheerily, chasing out all the interns and pale-faced people crowding the room. "Sorry. Emergency."

"So let's see this patient," Anya said, dusting off her hands. "How's his - "

Alek moved out of the way and her eyes landed on Quicksilver, widening a fraction before she staggered to the right, her hand pressing against her chest.

"What - how - " she began, brow crinkling. Helen noticed with apprehension that her hands were shaking - Anya never got nervous during any operation, broken bones, vomiting, or pools of blood included. There was one time when a patient with a cut so deep the bone was showing had arrived, and she hadn't even twitched an eye before starting the operation. What was it about this patient that made her so shocked?

"You know this guy?" Jamie said casually.

Anya stuttered, muttering incomprehensibly for several minutes, then gave up, swallowing. Her mouth shook, and there were - tears? - sparkling in her eyes. Alek's worried face grew even more worried as he realized that Anya's face was even paler than his; in fact, she looked -

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Helen said in concern. "Anya? Are you okay?"

"I - I - "

Jamie smiled pleasantly, spinning her around by her shoulders.

"All right, you know what they say about working on patients whom you have emotional ties with," he said brightly, and pink spots appeared on Anya's cheeks.

"Emotional ties?" she sputtered, trying to peel his hands off of her.

"Yes," he said, shoving her out the doorway. "Now go sit down somewhere. As much as we desperately need assistance, I can't have you performing surgery on a patient in critical condition with your hands shaking like that."

"Dr. Bennett," Alek said hesitantly.

"Jamie!" Helen shouted indignantly.

But Jamie only smiled cheerily again, and shut the door with an almighty crash right in Anya's startled face.