Author's Note: This a fanfiction written as a tribute to the character Frieda Petrenko and the astonishingly talented actress who portrayed her, Olga Fedorí, as in last week's episode of "Holby City", Frieda left the hospital. I would like to commend the creators of the marvellous BBC show for their ingenuity in writing the show and fully disclaim myself from trying to claim any backstory or character which was seen on the show. I would like to apologise in advance if my lack of talent at Slavic names falls short of anyone's expectations. Hope you enjoy this story!
Chapter 1 – Family News
AAU was buzzing today and no one was working harder than me. I swear all other doctors in this department had taken a break. The place was heaving with sick people, all calling out "Doctor, Doctor!" It would have been a nice change if one of them had just told a joke afterwards...
Mr. Hemingway was supposed to be running the place, but he and Eddi were off in the wet lab together, doing God knows what. I was running around like a maniac quick as a bullet, going from patient to patient. Suddenly, I heard the loud bang of the doors as they parted, allowing a team of paramedics through, pushing a gurney with a bloody mess of a girl on it. I looked at Marie-Claire with a questioning expression, as I had not been told of any emergency cases making their way onto AAU.
She merely shrugged and said in her heavy Irish brogue, "Dr. Petrenko, thirty one year old man, fell from some scaffolding onto a spiked fence. Internal bleed, fractured ribs and left tibia and suspected puncture of the left lung on entry." I rolled my eyes at this information that should have been told to me much earlier, but that was AAU for you! I went over to the paramedics and listened intently as they listed all of the patient's stats and medical information. My ears picked up on the words "bleeding out", "went into VF on transit" and "no personal information". Great! Not only was I supposed to save this man's life, I also had to play detective and try to find out who he was – bloody typical!
My attention was quickly diverted from the scaffolding man's case, as a nurse on the station called, "Frieda, phone call for you!"
I shook my head. As if I could just leave this man, bleeding all over the floor and go to the nurse's station to start a phone call, but I had to yell over all the hustle and bustle of AAU to be heard, "Ask who it is! Then, tell them I am very busy and to call back when I am old lady!" My sarcasm helped me get through the small things that annoyed me daily, such as nurses who couldn't see that the doctor was busy and use their own initiative to block a call.
I returned to patching up the scaffolding guy when a minute later, the same nurse called out again, saying, "Frieda, it's your mother! She says it's urgent!" Mama! Of course, it was my mama. She said she would call, but I didn't think she would call the hospital phone and it could not have come at a worse time.
I turned annoyed to the nurse brandishing the phone at me, and brandished my own gloved hands, which were now red with blood, at her, and said, "I am sorry," I hesitated while I glanced at her name tag, "Josephine Briers, but you can see that I am very busy...now, as much as I love my dear mama, if I don't do the job which pays for my mama's car, my patient," I gestured at the pale man lying in front of me, "you see this man, here, is going to die." I took a breath, "So, please tell my mama that her amazing, talented, gifted doctor of a daughter will call back later!"
The day continued with the same level of stress and urgent cases, so by the time I could sit down and dial my number in Kiev, it was already late.
My mother was so happy that I called her back that she spent the first few minutes on the phone just shouting, "Frieda, Frieda, oh, Frieda!" which I was delighted to hear at first, but after a few minutes, I was becoming bored. She gave the phone to my older sister, Sonaya because apparently she had some news. I thought she must have passed some exam or gotten promoted or something like that. So, when I heard that she was getting married in only a month, I sat up in the chair, which at Holby meant that I nearly fell off it.
I asked her in Ukrainian if she was serious and said it was so soon, but before she could reply, my mama had already reclaimed the handset. My mama told me that while I had leave over Easter, I would come back in April for my older sister's wedding. She said that I would not come alone, though.
When I heard this, I became agitated, as my mother had been trying to make my match for years, as she had with my sister also, but that clearly had worked so my mama could now focus on finding me a man, but it sounded like she already had someone in mind...I knew I was not going to like this.
Once the conversation was over and she had told me who she wanted me to bring to my sister's wedding, I was in shock! Michael, Michael Spence – I do not think so! No way was I inviting him of all people home over Easter – I would rather ask scaffolding man and he would have to be in a wheelchair and on a drip the whole time. My mother had called him 'that nice American doctor', which annoyed me, as other than calling him an American, my mother was way off the mark.
Sure, I liked, even respected Mr. Spence, but he chased after girls half his age, like that awful Lulu girl and he got into trouble because that plastics thing about the dodgy implants had gone down, just before he came to Kiev. Would I ever use the word 'nice' to describe Michael Spence? On some days...I suppose.
Speak of the Devil, he's just walked into AAU when he was supposed to be here all day but instead he went to hide in HolbyCare. Typical! He saw me sitting at the nurse's station, "Hey, Petrenko, what'd I miss?" he asked in his annoying Florida accent.
I glared at him fiercely through my heavily kohled eyes but smiled at him, "Oh, nothing much, just about ten people who thanks to me did not die on my ward and Mr. Hemingway and Eddi were gone most of the day, so you guys all owe me big time for covering for your collective asses."
He smiled at my use of his phrase, and raised his hands batting me down, "All right, Petrenko, all right. So, you did good today and you're right, we do owe you big time, so drinks on me at the bar in...half an hour?" He sighed, looking unusually bothered, when usually he swanned about the place with a happy go lucky, arrogant as hell attitude, "To be honest, I could sure use a drink right now."
I frowned, "Why? What is the problem?"
He let out a frustrated groan, "Ugh...it's my ex-wife, who not only gets £3000 in maintenance from me but never lets me see my kids. Ric sees them more than I do, for Christ's sakes! Now, they were meant to spend Easter with me, but Annaliese has decided to take them with her to New Zealand for her conference instead!"
I felt sorry for the guy. The entire hospital knew about his wife and Ric Griffin and how Michael never saw his kids, but I did feel bad that he had to spend his holiday alone, as he would probably drink it away, so I did something I wouldn't have predicted in a million years.
"Hey," Michael looked up from the paperwork he was skimming through on the desk, "My mama called today and she remembers you – the 'nice American doctor' – and she said she wanted me to ask you if you would like to come back to Kiev with me." I cautiously looked at him, wondering what his answer would be.
"Petrenko...you serious, or are you making this up cos you feel sorry for me?" he asked, always hesitant to believe that someone wanted to help.
I shook my head, "No, she honestly wants you to come, see, my older sister is getting married, so she would like you to be...the guest of honour." I knew that would appeal to his conceited side, and in an instant I could see his answer, transparent on his face.
With a charismatic smile, he asked, "When do we leave?"
