It had been a stressful afternoon, not painfully busy but all of the patients they had treated seemed to require a lot more than had been expected. Rickard had been the most difficult - came in thinking she could be having a miscarriage, turned out she had half a dozen cysts on her kidneys - so Wolfe and Campbell had taken her in to theatre and treated her, while 27 weeks pregnant. Post-op was crammed with Darwin patients, so she had been brought downstairs almost the second the anaesthetist had deemed her fit.
Coming around within the first hour had initially concerned Bernie, it wasn't normal to wake up quite that fast but there seemed to be no harm to her, nor the baby. All that required concern was the erratic state in which she had awoken, anxious about the safety of her foetus and demanding to speak to her family.
"You're going to be fine, Miss Rickard, as is your daughter." Bernie offered reassuringly, moving to stand at the foot of the bed. "The surgery went well, but you will have to be extremely diligent until the baby's born."
"Thank you, Doctor. I don't think you'll ever know how grateful I am." The patient responded enthusiastically, groaning as she shifted achingly. "Is there any way I can show you-?"
"Have a beautiful child and give her a beautiful life, and make me an Evil Queen in one of her bedtime stories." Bernie joked, grinning broadly as she remembered fondly her pregnancies, or at least all of the aspects that she chose to remember. It had been a struggle, as had Marcus, but she loved her children more than anything.
Serena approached the bed with a wide smile, a fresh scrub top on after a patient had conveniently ruined her favourite blouse. She sidled up beside Bernie with a proud look on her face, having left her girlfriend to close up and hurrying off to help Sacha with a disastrously infected bowel. She saw the relief on Bernie's face, for someone who had lost so many, she still struggled to deal with it very well.
"What's your name, Ms Wolfe?" Miss Rickard enquired curiously, an inspired glint in her eye as she gazed down at the bump.
"Berenice, it means 'victorious' in Greek." Bernie swallowed, knowing what the patient was implying and feeling fully aware that she had just shattered yet another patient's dreams. The look of alarm on Miss Rickard's face was apparent, despite her attempts to remain passive, and the pursing of Serena's lips as she held back laughter.
"There's always the middle name." Serena reasoned, maintaining a professional gravitas as the patient lifted her head curiously. "Griselda."
"Oh…" Her tone was uneasy as she avoided eye contact, catching her lip between her teeth momentarily. "And your name?"
"Serena."
Bernie had a familiar sarcasm in her eyes as she forcefully held her expression taut, focusing on the patient's kind intentions. It was apparent that Serena was a much more valid option, and of much greater interest to the mother who smiled widely as she caressed her bump and looked thoughtfully towards her unborn child. Serena reached furtively to run her fingers against Bernie's, her reassuring presence established once against as familiar feminine warmth tingled against the blonde's cool skin.
"I like it…Serena." The patient looked almost enamoured with the idea of it, and Bernie respectfully made a farewell before stalking towards their shared office. Serena was close behind her, suspecting that she wasn't quite as amicable as she seemed to be.
"Bern'," She offered cautiously as she observed the way Bernie flopped against her chair. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips slightly parted as she stared off in an indefinite direction. Tension clung to the walls, enveloping them in a shroud of bitter resentment that held tight the resolute laughter in each woman. "Bern'!"
"Griselda! That was in no way necessary, Serena, in no way!" Bernie exclaimed harshly, glaring across at her. "You are, quite literally, impossible!"
"You're genuinely annoyed, aren't you! I can see it in your eyes, you're going to pretend you're kidding but I can tell that this has genuinely frustrated you!" Serena retorted earnestly, approaching Bernie calmly and leaning against the desk. "It's not like it's personal, you've said it yourself that you'd never call your own child either of your names!"
"That's not the point." The blonde countered sourly, scowling as she tugged at a loose thread in her jeans violently. "You aren't the one who saved her life! Why do you get recognition?!"
Serena arched an eyebrow abjectly, meeting her gaze with a churlish degradation. There was a healthy competition between the pair of them - two strong independent women in one house was always going to lead to a little friendly rivalry - but at times it exceeded expectation and could cause real arguments. Bernie was a perfectionist, always had been, and Serena was irrationally driven in her goals.
"It's not like the name matters! It's going to be you that she's telling the story about - that little girl isn't going to come looking for you one day and find me instead, and just in case that does happen, I'll be sure to send her straight to you! But seriously, since when do you care more about your achievements being recognised? It's pernickety and immature, Bernie, and I expect better from you! We both know that you got all the benefits naturally, so you can't demand all of the nurtural ones too! Do stop whining!"
"Whining?! Me?!" Bernie's tone was shrill, diction failing her as she was driven by her anger. "I don't whine!"
Serena simply scoffed as she thrust her hands expressively towards Bernie and rolled her eyes. Knowing that Bernie would take it personally, Serena skulked somewhat remorsefully and perched upon Bernie's knee. Grazing a gentle kiss against the blonde's temple, her lips upturned as she relented in the knowledge that the dispute would outlive the both of them if she didn't give in now. Bernie tried to maintain her stoic expression for a solid thirty seconds before giving in and wrapping her arms snugly around her girlfriend's midriff.
"You win. Serena Rickard, good lord. The world ought to prepare for the child with that legacy to fulfil!" Bernie teased as she kissed Serena softly, the bitter taste on her lips overshadowed by the brunette's own contentment. Berenice wasn't a name for a baby, they at least could agree upon that.