A/N: Just wanted to say thank to everyone who reviewed and followed/fav'd! I don't know I think this story is fun, it's amazingly fun to write so yeah lol. Here's the next installment!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any characters/songs in this fic. Those you don't recognize are my own.
-B
October, 2014:
"And this, as you've seen when you came in, is the clinic." Mike announces, holding his hand out as you and him walk through the doors into the main clinic area.
Within the hour and a half Mike had showed you the many operation rooms, different floors, all the test labs, MRI room, etc. Last spot was the clinic and your feet were starting to bother you from walking so quickly to keep up with Mike's long quick strides. "So, think you can find your way around a bit better now?" he asks jokingly, nudging your arm.
You chuckle and nod as you both turn around to leave.
"Hey, hey!"
You turn and look over your shoulder, Mike following suit, and widen your eyes at a tall blond man sinking to the floor, trying to hold himself up against the wall.
You and Mike exchange a quick look before you rush over and catch the guy before he collapses completely.
"Chang!" you call, looking at him with wide nervous eyes as he runs over, going to the other side of the man.
"M-my foot." He stutters in fear, looking up at you. You look down at him and he drops further, sinking to the floor. He blinks and looks between you and Mike completely terrified, "I-I can't feel my leg." He gets out and you and Mike exchange looks.
"So, you're…" Noah starts as soon as you and Mike walk into the room.
"We got a case." Mike says and Noah gets up from the chair, going to the whiteboard. You hand Noah a copy of the file and he flips it open while you hand Lopez the original. Mike sits at the front of the table and you lean back against the table, watching Noah pop off the cap of a marker while handing you the copy of the file.
"Daniel Rader." Mike says, "Claimed he his foot was numb before his legs gave out. Couldn't feel either. We drew blood, waiting in the lab."
You look up from the file as Noah writes 'Sudden numbness' on the board, looking at it before looking at all of them.
"What else?"
"That it." Mike shrugs, and you look between them.
"Numbness can be a symptom of hundreds of diagnoses." Dr. Lopez pipes up, giving Mike an unimpressed look. He ignores her and crosses his arms, squinting at the board.
"Well that's all we got to go on." He states and Noah nods, clicking the cap back on the marker.
"Lopez's right," Noah says, glancing at the woman, "It can be anything. Test the blood and talk to the patient." You all nod and Lopez gets up, heading to the door as Mike waits for her. "Was family called in?"
"His fiancée is with him." You say and they all look at you. Noah nods after a beat before pointing to you and Lopez.
"Chang you do the test, Lopez, you and Pierce talk to the patient and the fiancée. See if they can tell you anything. If he's been experiencing anything else that could give us more to go by."
You look from him to Dr. Lopez with wide eyes and she glances at you before nodding at Noah, leaving the room. You jump up to follow her and Mike lightly pats your shoulder before going the opposite way down the hall.
"So, uh…" you start awkwardly, falling in line with Dr. Lopez as you walk down the hall, "What's your actual name?" you ask like a geek. You internally curse yourself when she side glances you before looking back down at the patients file.
"Dr. Lopez is fine." She states and you huff quietly, nodding as she turns a sharp corner. You stumble and pause, looking after her before catching up.
"Well yeah, but, I know Dr. Chang is Mike, and Dr. Puckerman is Noah so…"
"Santana." She says in irritation, closing the file and hitting the down button on the elevator, "Now can we focus?" she asks pointedly, stepping into the elevator.
"That's a pretty name." You say, standing beside her. The doors close and you wait, fidgeting with your hands in front of you while waiting. "So what do you think it is?" you ask.
Santana sighs and gives you a sharp look, leaving the elevator as soon as it opens.
"If you were listening in the office, you would've heard me say it can be anything. We don't have enough symptoms to base our diagnosis." She says. You nod as you follow her and walk into the room after her. You falter at her strict tone with a frown. "Mr. Rader! How are you doing so far? I'm Dr. Lopez." You look at Santana like she's grown two heads at the immediate change in her tone and look at the patient with a reassuring grin, following Santana to the bed side. "This is Dr. Pierce; although I hear you two have already met." She chuckles after holding her hand out towards you. "We were hoping to get some family history, and just talk to you a little more to see if we can pull something to help our diagnosis." She says and you stare at her in amazement. Totally in awe of how she's taking control and so confident.
"Uh, yeah, sure." He nods faintly, furrowing his brows.
"I heard your fiancée is here with you?" she asks and Mr. Rader nods, motioning towards the door.
"Yeah, she just went to grab a coffee I think."
"Great." She smiles quickly, flipping to another page and pulling a pen from her pocket, clicking the end. "Let's start with your mother's side."
"Well that gave us nothing." Santana mumbles to herself as you follow her out of the room. You nod and look at the file in her hands as she writes a few things down, walking away from the room. You keep up with her and semi face her, holding your hands out.
"He said he's been playing a lot of basketball with friends lately, maybe it's a herniated disc." You say, lifting your shoulders. Santana barely casts you a glance, furrowing her brows as she continues to look through the patients file.
"It's not a herniated disc." She states and you huff quietly, sticking your hands in the pockets of your lab coat as she pushes the button for the elevator. "There hasn't been any major changes in…"
"Do you not like me?" you ask suddenly and Santana lifts her gaze, eyeing you head to toe before scoffing and stepping into the elevator. "No, really, have I done something?"
"Does it really matter if you did or didn't?" she asks, closing the file and holding it in front of her, "I'm here to do my job, help my patients, not become your new best friend." She says, glancing at you with a judging eye.
You shift, insulted, and take your hands from your pockets, crossing your arms defensively over your chest instead, "I didn't ask you to be my best friend. We're cohorts; I'm just trying to make conversation."
"Well unless it's about a patient," she begins and you open your mouth, "And not completely idiotic," she gives you a hard pointed stare, "I don't care to hear it." She shrugs simply, stepping out of the elevator and heading to the office.
You step out and watch her go, sighing dejectedly with a hand through your hair.
"What do you got for me?" Noah asks as soon as you walk into the office. You pause, looking from him to Santana as she sinks down into a chair, crossing her legs slowly while flipping open the file.
"Uh…"
"No family history of any illnesses besides the common cold. Majority of his family died from old age; excluding the few traffic accidents. He's not on any medication and there hasn't been any life changes that explain his symptom; he's been eating healthier they say, and he's been going to the gym more. The fiancée had some concern about him pausing randomly during conversations but that may be nothing." Santana informs Noah, tapping her pen lightly against the table.
Noah nods and glances faintly at you before motioning for Mike to go next, folding his arms over his broad chest.
Mike drops his hand from running it through his hair and shrugs, "His blood test was clear."
"Very helpful, Chang." Santana snorts and Mike rolls his eyes.
"Instead of being your usual bitch self, why don't you offer up some brilliant ideas." He says irritated.
"Myxedema." She says simply and Mike lets out a chuckle.
"He hasn't complained of any fatigue or depression. No sensitivity to the…" Mike goes on and Santana glares at him.
"And what's your diagnosis, Chang?" she bites as you watch them go back and forth.
"Demyelination."
"Right, you suggest that right after stating he hasn't experienced fatigue. Another thing he hasn't experienced which is a major symptom of demyelination is paresthesia." She states with a smug grin.
"Okay, enough." Noah tells them and Santana slowly turns her head to send Noah a glare. "So we have numbness." Noah sighs, looking at the whiteboard to the right of him. You shift, standing with your hands in your pockets and watch him tap the tip of the marker against his palm as he thinks. "Have you done an EMG?" he asks, squinting.
"You didn't tell us to do…" Mike begins.
"Do it." He nods, "Stick to the nerve conduction study, we don't need to waste time if it isn't an issue with his nerves. If the test is inconclusive, then run the muscle test."
Santana and Mike nod, getting up and walk around you, leaving the room. You turn to follow when a hand holds you back by your wrist.
You look back at Noah and he lets go, putting his hands on his waist while glancing at his shoes. When he lifts his head you swallow, "Are you feeling okay?" he asks and you frown in confusion.
"I'm fine." You shrug and he nods slowly, running a hand over his head.
"Look I get that it's your first day and our methods take a while to get use to but…Pierce, we're a team. You need to start offering suggestions and giving your input." Noah says, his brows lifted, staring into your eyes. You open your mouth, not sure what to say, disappointed in yourself for just slowing the team down, and close it, nodding firmly. He narrows his eyes faintly, searching your eyes for any sign of doubt and uncertainty, waving you off when he finds nothing.
You give him a nervous smile, turning and walking out of the room with your hand on your forehead.
You watch from the doorway as Mike holds the patient's, Daniel's, arm, helping him carefully sit down in the wheelchair, and look towards Santana explaining what test you were going to be running and what exactly it is.
Daniel looks from Santana to his fiancée, Amy, and gives her a reassuring smile before Mike begins pushing him out of the room. Santana gently places her hand on Amy's bicep, squeezing faintly in reassurance before looking at you and shaking her head, leaving the room. You straighten as she passes and roll your eyes, stepping out.
"Dr. Pierce?"
You pause mid step and spin back around, giving Amy a warm smile.
"Yes?" you ask, stepping closer. You tilt your head as you watch her, waiting patiently, and smile encouragingly when she looks up with a nervous smile.
"I-I thought of something that we didn't mention earlier." She says and your brows lift as you straighten, nodding for her to continue, "I don't know if it will help or anything though."
"Amy, most times when people don't think something can help us, it can." You tell her and she nods with a nervous chuckle. She rubs her arms and you nod for her to go on.
"Well, Daniel proposed four months ago and…" she shifts awkwardly, averting her eyes for a moment, "We've always been quite…active…when it comes to…"
"When it comes to sex." You finish for her, nodding. She grins and nods, chuckling with pink cheeks. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Sex is sex." You chuckle and she gives a genuine smile, her shoulders relaxing.
"Yeah, well…we decided not to take a break until our honeymoon, and then two months ago all of the sudden he just stopped." She says with furrowed brows, looking to the side, "He would always stop before it went further than kissing and…I just don't know why. I mean, it's weird right? And he didn't say we'll just wait for the honeymoon, we just stop and don't talk about it." She sighs.
You bite your lip as you glance up, thinking, and look back at her, giving her a reassuring smile and squeeze of her arm.
"I'll talk with my team. We'll figure out what's wrong." You tell her and she nods with a relieved breath. You chuckle and drop your hand, turning to head to the office. Mike and Santana can handle the EMG themselves, right?
A/N: Review, Follow, Fav! Don't wanna say that the more you review, the faster I'll try to update but... ;) No, no, I'll try anyway.
-B
