"When did we call for a psych consult?" Bernie asked as she looked at the older blonde sitting on the corner of one of their younger patient's bed. She was talking intently with the young woman, and Bernie could tell that there was a real rapport between the two, even without hearing what was being discussed.
"Jasmine called her down, when she noticed the cutting marks on Ms Becker's upper thigh. I agreed with her assessment, and Doctor Brooks came down as quickly as she could."
Bernie nodded as she reached out and closed her hand around Serena's upper arm. "Do you know much about her? I've seen her talking to Hanssen in Pulses, and they seem to be on friendly terms, but there's just never been the opportunity for me to get to know her."
Serena looked up and shrugged, the corner of her mouth ticking up in a small smirk. "I may have had a conversation or two with her."
She tried not to feel jealous, but she couldn't help the small thrum of possessiveness that ran through her as she fixed her gaze on Doctor Brooks once more. And it was a good thing that she did happen to look up in that moment, since it was in time to see their patient pull out a small paring knife and jab it repeatedly into the soft flesh of the woman's abdomen. Bright red blood blossomed out on her blouse, and Bernie dropped the folder she was holding as her training kicked in and she ran over to the bed, Serena hot at her heels, yelling for Fletch and Ollie.
Ric was the first one who made it to their side, however, and he snatched the knife from the young woman's hand as Fletch began to wrestle the woman's arms into restraints. While that was going on in the background, an orderly hurriedly ran over to them with a trolley, and Ollie helped her lift Doctor Brooks onto it as Serena began to unbutton her blouse in order to take a closer look at the wounds.
"I think one of these might have nicked an artery," she murmured as she glanced up at Bernie. "We need to get her into surgery, now."
Bernie nodded and waved Ollie off, knowing that she and Serena could handle this together. Jasmine, though, seemed to have other things in mind as she followed them into theatre, scrubbing in alongside them as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. "I don't believe we need another pair of hands here, Doctor Burrows," she said gruffly, and Jasmine shook her head violently.
"She's helped me out, so much, in the last few months. At least let me observe?"
This was a new facet to the young woman, and from the look Serena shot Jasmine, she hadn't known that, either. "That will be fine, Jasmine. I'm certain Doctor Brooks would like to know there's a friendly face watching over her," Serena replied as she finished up, allowing the nurse to help her into her gown before striding into theatre, Jasmine close at her heels.
Bernie trailed after them, nodding to the anesthetist before focusing in on the surgery at hand. Serena had been right, the patient had nicked an artery in the attack, and as she opened the abdomen to see what other damage had been done, she gasped a little to see the C-section scar so similar to her own. "I didn't know that she had children," she murmured lowly, meeting Jasmine's eye for the answer to a question she hadn't known to ask.
"She doesn't," was the quick reply from the young woman's lips, and Bernie frowned with suspicion as she and Serena worked on repairing the damage done.
"Doctor Burrows, I'd like for you to go to Mister Hanssen and dig into her personnel file. You need to contact her family and inform them of what has occurred. And before you say that you want to stay here, this is more important right now."
Jasmine made a displeased face as she got up from the stool she was sitting on, making her way over to the door before giving Doctor Brooks one last look. "I don't know what you're getting at, Bernie," Serena said as she hastily repaired the artery before moving on to repairing the liver damage.
"There's something decidedly hinky about the fact that she clearly has had children at some point in her life, and yet Jasmine has no idea that such children exist."
"Maybe she was a surrogate at some point in her life. Or put the child up for adoption. There doesn't have to be a nefarious plot behind every seeming inconsistency in a life."
Bernie shrugged a little as she helped Serena to finish up the surgeries, and then they were closing her up. "I think that I know that, but still, I'll feel better when we know more about her past from Hanssen. Ever since that whole business with Rossini, I just like to know as much as possible about my colleagues." Serena gave her a small smile as they wheeled Doctor Brooks into recovery, letting one of the nurses redress her in a hospital gown as they left the room.
"Ah, good, I was just about to come find you both. Doctor Burrows said that there was an incident with Doctor Brooks?"
They looked up at Hanssen in tandem, and Bernie gave him a short nod, starting to guide him over to their office. "Yes, she was stabbed multiple times by a patient. I'm assuming that we'll be required to fill out an incident report with the police?"
There was a short pause before Hanssen gestured towards the lift. "I feel that it would be more appropriate for us to discuss this in a more private setting, Ms Wolfe. Are you coming, too, Serena?"
Her partner nodded and together they trooped over to the lift, waiting for it to arrive. "Why this level of secrecy, Henrik? Is it really warranted?" Serena asked as they slipped inside.
"Unfortunately, yes. Mister Griffin already contacted the local police, however, you will not be dealing with them directly." As Bernie watched, his jaw tightened subtly, and she once more felt like there was something more to this whole situation than just a simple stabbing. But what could it possibly be? As they stepped out of the elevator car and trailed after Hanssen, she took hold of Serena's hand, threading their fingers together as she tried to work out this mystery that surrounded Doctor Brooks.
"Well, here we are, Henrik. Care to fill us in?" Serena asked as she led Bernie over to the low couch that was in the CEO's office, taking a seat and tugging Bernie down next to her.
"We're just waiting on one more person. He should be here in thirty minutes or so, as long as the winds behave themselves."
Bernie frowned deeply, no longer hiding her glare from the man. "Just what the hell is going on? Why all this secrecy? Just tell us so that we can move on with our shifts!"
"Things are a bit too delicate to just blurt this out. First, I need to ensure that you will be able to know certain things about Doctor Brooks' past, and that will require the approval of Mister Easter. As I said, he should arrive in the hour, and until then, we wait. Can I get you any water?" Bernie shook her head violently, feeling the ground beneath her feet start to shift as the realization that there was more to the quiet doctor than any of them had ever known.