AN: Sorry, I would've had this up earlier in the week, but after watching the Supergirl panel at SDCC and the MTV interview I really haven't been in the mood to write for this fandom. I'm really disappointed in the cast, but pleased we at least have Katie in our corner. This seems to becoming a bit of a recurring theme with the CW, doesn't it?
Anyway, this is a little shorter than the other chapters but I wanted to upload something this week just to get back into the rhythm of things. Hope you like Kara being a badass!
It's an experience, sharing an OR with Lena Luthor. Kara's not precisely sure what it is, but there's just something about the general atmosphere in the room that gives off the feeling that she's witnessing a performance, and not just any kind.
"It's a beautiful day to save lives."
It's theatre at its finest and Lena's the conductor of the stage. Everyone's attention is on Dr Luthor, from all the way up to the packed gallery, to the several interns and scrub nurses that fill out the OR and the focus is entirely centred on even the slightest movement of Lena's hands, any adjustment of the instruments. It's a sea of ceil blue against a sterile white background and Kara and Lena are the only ones that stand out from the crowd with their different coloured scrub caps.
Lena's is a dark green, a deep emerald that's only a shade or two darker than her eyes. Kara only knows this because she's caught herself staring at them one too many times in the past three hours, and she couldn't help the comparison. It's the look of utter concentration on Lena's face, the furrowed brow and the narrowed eyes that Kara finds distracting. She should know better than to stare, especially so out in the open where anyone could catch her, but she can't really help it. Lena's is a presence that she's rarely witnessed in the operating room and the way she commands the stage so easily, with barely seven words is something to be admired and respected. It's fascinating and Kara pretends that's the only reason why she's staring so intently at the neurosurgeon.
Lena's barely looked up from her work, but she occasionally spares Kara the odd glance and small smile, as though to make sure Kara's still there. As if Kara would be anywhere else. This is her patient on the table and she made a promise to Mrs Parker, one she intends to keep.
It's quiet in the OR save for the steady beep, beep, beep of the monitors and the slight whoosh of the ventilator with every breath that Henry takes. Some surgeons like to listen to music while they operate, like Alex. Boring classical stuff that's more likely to send Kara to sleep than keep her awake, but Kara knows they each have their own way of dealing with the pressure that they're all holding human lives in their hands. Even the slightest mistake could be catastrophic.
Kara herself likes to talk; she likes to get to know the people around her because it lets her know that she's not alone, that the spotlight isn't solely focused on her. Lena must prefer silence and Kara can see why. While every surgery requires a steady hand, neuro is perhaps the most delicate and every single one of Dr Luthor's movements is precise, from the way her left hand is steadily holding the forceps without even the slightest twitch, to the way her right is slowly digging through tissue in search of the tumour. It's a slow process and Kara's grateful Lena's taking her time.
"Ok, can we adjust the scope a little to the left? Yes, right there. Dr Danvers, would you like to take a look?" The surgical nurse that's been assisting Lena steps aside to give Kara room to move. And that's when she sees it. It's only slightly bigger than a dime and an odd discoloured white. Lena was right; it had shrunk considerably since Henry's last scan from six months ago, but Dr Luthor doesn't need yet another person to add to her already inflated ego so Kara doesn't bother sharing her thoughts.
"Do you think you can get it all?" It's a stupid question, but Kara would really like to hear Lena say it out loud.
"I can get it all," Dr Luthor confirms, smiling. Kara can't see it, but she knows it's there hidden beneath her face mask. "Henry's going to be just fine."
Thank you, Kara mouths to Lena just as everyone in the gallery begins to break out into mild applause. Lena's acknowledging nod is subtle and barely noticeable unless you were specifically looking for it, but Kara can nonetheless feel the beginnings of a radiant smile starting to form. It doesn't take long for Lena to resect and dispose of the tumour and she allows her resident to irrigate the area and close up under the watchful eyes of the two attendings. Dr Olsen does a good a job and performs admirably despite Kara boring holes into the back of his head, almost willing him not to screw up (it works by the way). Lena bumps her shoulder and shoots her a knowing look, something Kara pointedly chooses to ignore and soon enough the two are ferrying Henry back to his room.
They find Mr and Mrs Parker in the waiting room, exchanging anxious glances with one another as they eagerly await news of their son's surgery. They stand up as soon as they spot Dr Danvers and Dr Luthor's approaching figures and there must be something on Kara's face that allows for Mrs Parker's shoulders to slump in relief and lean heavily on her husband for support. Mr Parker remains steadfast, but Kara can see tears glistening in the man's eyes.
"Mr and Mrs Parker," Lena begins, her tone not giving anything away. Kara's tempted to roll her eyes because she's pretty sure her smile is already betraying the good news. "Your son's surgery went incredibly well. Dr Danvers and I managed to remove the entire tumour without any complications. We'll be keeping him under observation for a few days just as a precaution and we'll order another set of scans to be absolutely certain, but with any luck Henry will be cancer free and back to fighting crime in no time."
Lena sidesteps Mrs Parker's hug as she practically launches herself at the two surgeons and wraps Kara in a tight embrace. Kara's taller than the woman by a few inches and the height disparity makes all the difference as she can feel the seemingly never-ending thank yous being mumbled into her shoulder. Lena looks on, amused, but she eagerly shakes Mr Parker's outstretched hand.
"Thank you so much, doctors," he says, tears now streaming freely down his cheeks.
Kara manages to disentangle herself from the sobbing woman long enough to ask, "Would you like to see him? He's still heavily sedated and probably won't wake up for a few hours, but you can sit with him if you'd like."
Kara watches with a smile from the nurses' station in the paeds ward as Mrs Parker strokes her son's hair and the boy's father holds the tiny hand tightly in his. Dr Luthor comes up to the counter.
"Your day going any better?" Lena asks. She's standing across from Kara, on the opposite end of the station and not even looking up from the chart she's filling in, but she's wearing that infernal smirk.
"Much. Lena… Thank you." Lena looks up quizzingly at that, half way through turning a page.
"For what?"
"For not being an ass." At Lena's raised eyebrow, Kara continues. "And for helping with the Parkers. I know you have a busy schedule and you could've just as easily handed this case to one of your fellows."
Lena closes the chart and moves closer to the blonde doctor, their shoulders barely brushing against one another as she leans in. Kara pretend she doesn't subconsciously lean into the touch. "We're friends. I'm nice to my friends." She underlines this with a wink and a not-so-subtle glance at Kara's lips before she hands her chart to Susan and walks off in the direction of the stairwell.
Kara gapes at her, looking back and forth between an amused Susan and the closing double doors. "I take it back, you're still an ass!" she shouts.
Susan shakes her head. McDreamy indeed.
Kara's busy updating Henry Parker's chart when Dr Woods comes bursting through the doors, hands in the air and an angry scowl on his face. He's waiting expectantly for her to say something, but Kara for the life of her really can't bring herself to look at the idiot without giving into the temptation to punch him in the nose.
"Yes? Can I help you, Dr Woods?" Susan wisely walks away, motioning for the other nurses to do the same. The man lets out an angry huff.
"Henry Parker's surgery. Why wasn't I paged? I'm on your service today." Are you-Is he actually… Kara can't believe what she's hearing.
Kara puts down her pen and takes a deep breath. "Dr Woods, I'm going to give you a piece of advice and this is something you probably should've learned on your first day as an intern. I'll do my best to keep it short and not use any big words; I wouldn't want your brain to strain itself too much."
Dr Woods is about to interrupt, but Kara puts her hand up. "Please, let me finish. If an attending pages you for rounds, you answer regardless of whether you think it is beneath you. And you do not blatantly disrespect two attendings, especially when one of them is in the room." Kara looks at her watch. 4:15pm. Right on time. "I'd make my way to the chief's office right about now, Dr Woods. You're off my service, permanently."
Kara goes back to filling in her chart and pretends not to hear the barely muffled swearing as the man stomps away petulantly and sure enough a few seconds later his pager goes off intermittently. Good. Kara can't wait to hear the outcome of that meeting. There's a part of her that think she was too harsh, but then the rest of her remembers what the idiot and his friends said about Alex and then she thinks that she wasn't harsh enough. Hopefully, J'onn fires his sorry ass as well as his friend's because that kind of behaviour really is unacceptable. Cat Grant had been the temporary chief of surgery in Metropolis when Kara had been a resident there and just thinking about what the woman would have done to Dr Woods had he worked under her is enough to make Kara wince and shiver in fear. If Dr Prince was downright scary, Dr Grant was fear itself when pissed off.
Kara puts her pen back down. "You can stop pretending you weren't listening in, Susan. I know you heard every word of that," Kara says, chuckling.
Susan's face is a little sheepish, but she hides it well. "If I could I would bow. I've been waiting for that to happen for a long time."
"I'm surprised no one's done it before. I'm surprised Alex hasn't."
"Dr Woods usually knows better than to say anything in front of the other Dr Danvers. No offence, dear, but he probably thought you'd be an easy target and fall for his charms."
Kara's a little taken aback by that. Is she an easy target? Is that why Dr Luthor flirts with her all the time? Does she think that- No, Kara shakes her head. She'd like to think she had better judgement than that. Besides, she and Lena were friends.
Susan reaches across the counter to squeeze her hand as if following Kara's train of thought. Her soft smile is both understanding and knowing. "Don't mistake his actions for another's. Dr Luthor is smitten with you."
"But we're not- I'm not-"
"Kara, it's fairly obvious."
"Oh." Fuck.
Kara's just about to head towards the attendings' lounge to change when she hears her name being called out. The voice is unfamiliar, but she supposes that doesn't really count for anything since she still hasn't met all of the hospital staff. She's tired and really can't wait for the beer that's practically calling her from across the street and if the texts she's sporadically received from Alex and Maggie throughout the day are any indication, they're also in dire need for a drink.
She plasters a smile on her face and turns to meet the stranger, but from the look on the woman's face Kara can tell this isn't going to be a pleasant conversation. The woman is the same height as Kara, maybe a fraction taller and her hair is a rich brown that reaches past her shoulders in soft waves. Her eyes are dark and they zero in on Kara menacingly.
"Dr Danvers, I presume?" Kara nods, but she's sorely tempted to through her sister under the bus instead.
She tilts her head, regarding the woman curiously. There's something about her that looks familiar.
"Yes, I'm Dr Kara Danvers. How can I help you, ma'am?"
"My name is Rhea Woods of Daxam Inc. I'm on the board here at the hospital, but I'm sure you've met my son, Mon-El?"
"Mon-El? I'm sorry, that name's not familiar."
Rhea sighs, rolling her eyes. "Mon-El is my son's given name, but everyone seems to call him Mike for some unfathomable reason. He's one of your residents."
"Not mine, specifically. In fact, as of today he's been permanently removed from my service," Kara says. There's not point beating around the bush. If Rhea is here talking to her then clearly she's already spoken to J'onn. Kara really does hate the hospital gossip mill.
"So I've heard," Rhea says, a menacing undertone lacing her words. "I've heard Dr J'onzz's version of events, but I'd like to hear yours."
Ok, Kara can see the older woman's not going to back down from this so she holds firm. Kara's in the right in this and she refuses to be pushed around. She crosses her arms across her chest and meets Rhea's eyes head on.
"Mrs Woods-"
"Rhea, please. Mrs Woods is my mother-in-law," Rhea replies absentmindedly.
"Rhea, we're in the business of saving lives. People come to this hospital to get better and they expect a certain level of care, as you can probably imagine. Your son is insubordinate towards his attendings and expects everything to be handed to him on a silver platter. We all work hard to get where we are and I'm sure that you can agree that you yourself didn't become the CEO of a fortune 500 company simply by not doing the work. Dr Woods refused to attend rounds with me today and did not respond to any of my pages. Would you allow that kind of doctor to operate on you?"
Rhea's eyes narrow even further, but Kara doesn't stop there.
"The answer you're looking for is no, you wouldn't. I then overheard your son speaking freely and inappropriately about both myself and my sister to another resident, who, I assure you, is dangerously close to being kicked out of the program. I don't have a grudge against your son. Do I like Dr Woods? No," Kara admits a little begrudgingly, but no one can really blame her for that. "But do I expect all of my residents to do their jobs? Yes, and that's all I have to say on the matter."
Kara doesn't really know what she's expecting the other woman to do because surely, even with all of her influence as a board member, she can't really save her son from this kind of fuck-up. Rhea doesn't say anything else, doesn't even acknowledge Dr Danvers as she storms off in a similar fashion to how her son had done earlier. Kara looks around and she's disappointed to find that their little discussion had attracted quite the curious crowd, with doctors and patients' alike stopping in their tracks. The hospital staff admittedly looks a little taken aback, even a little proud and Kara takes pleasure in that.
Forget the drink, she thinks as her fingertips massage her temple. I just want to go to bed.
As always let me know what you think and again, if you have any suggestions I'll do my best to write them in somehow. Thank you so much for your support, you're all freaking amazing!
