Angel Eyes
Original Character Cast
Sophia Bush as Melinda "Mel" Nevin
Merritt Patterson as Christina "Chris"/"Chrissy" Mercer
Austin Nichols as Lucas "Luke" Brooks
Sun crept over the Atlanta horizon as a young woman jogged around the corner, her brunette ponytail bouncing between her shoulder blades. She came upon her house and stepped through the threshold, taking out her earbuds and gulping down a glass of water. Her phone alarm sounded with the notification 'Year three residency' and a smile crept across her lips.
The shower turned on and steam soon began to fill the bathroom as Melinda stripped out of her workout attire and stepped under the warm water, lathering herself with coconut scented body wash as her country music station played through the Bluetooth speaker. After washing her hair with tropical scented shampoo and conditioner, she turned the water off and stepped out, wrapping a grey towel around herself.
Love and Theft's 'Angel Eyes' played through the speaker as Melinda fluffed out her damp hair, clasping her black and red bra before grabbing her scrubs and tossing them into her duffle bag with a Georgia Tech logo on the side.
"There's a little bit of devil in her angel eyes. She's a little bit of heaven with a wild side. Got a rebel heart a country mile wide. There's a little bit of devil in her angel eyes."
Mel zipped up her dark skinny jeans that hugged her hips perfectly. Her cell vibrated on her dresser with a text from one of her fellow residents Christina who had a skull emoji next to her contact name, 'Third year! Time to break some bones and interns!' followed by a skull and grinning devil emoji.
The brunette laughed and texted back, 'Lol, looking forward to it. See ya later' followed by a black heart emoji and hit send. She grabbed a tight, leopard print tank top from her dresser and slipped it on, the hem reaching above her belly button and showing off the tattoo she had on her lower back; a tribal patterned heart with outstretched wings on both sides.
She sat on her sky blue bedspread and slipped on her black ankle boots, another text coming her way, this time from Conrad, 'Year three starts now. You ready, Pretty Girl?'.
Melinda smiled and texted back, 'You know it.' followed by a grinning cat emoji and hit send. She clicked off her cell and dropped it in her purse. She pulled a portion of her hair into a ponytail and let the rest fall over her shoulders, applying her makeup. Various framed photographs lined her dresser, end tables, and vanity table. Smaller pictures were stuck in the edges of her vanity mirror. Pictures of her with an older blonde and light brunette female, others of her with another brunette, both of them in scrubs and white coats, and a couple of her with an older male with brown/blonde hair and a light beard.
Melinda pulled her sleek, black '63 Mercury Comet into a free parking spot in front of Chastain Park Memorial Hospital and cut the engine. With a smile across her ruby red lips, she stepped out and strutted through the doors, seeing the new group of bright-eyed interns gathered together in the lobby.
"How many do you think will wash out by the end of the year?" Christina asked, joining her friend as they eyed the newbies. Her dark brown curls cascaded down the back of her white lab coat.
"Hmm, I'm gonna say five at least within six months." Melinda wagered with a grin. The two residents shared a laugh and headed up the stairs towards the locker room to change into their scrubs.
"I wonder if any of those newbies have a strong enough stomach for Ortho." Chris muttered as she slid out of her leather skirt and into a pair of blue scrub pants. "I've got a double fracture repair with Kit in a couple hours and was gonna take my intern right into the O.R. to get a front row seat."
"The last time you did that, the poor kid passed out cold before she could even drill into the bone." Melinda reminded, tying the drawstring of her grey scrub pants.
"I know!" Chris laughed, smoothing out her scrub top. "It was fucking hilarious." She fluffed out her curls and shrugged her white coat back on; her name and specialty sewn in blue thread on the left side.
"I swear you were dropped on your head as a child." Melinda rolled her eyes and shrugged off her leather jacket, hanging it up in her locker.
"That would explain so much." chided a raspy male voice, belonging to the resident who stepped between the two females. "You can be very psychotic at times Chris."
"Bite me, Conrad." Chris scoffed, draping her stethoscope around her neck and shooting her fellow resident a glare.
Conrad Hawkins just smirked and turned his attention to Melinda, catching sight of a new tattoo on the back of her right shoulder, "New ink?" he guessed, arching his eyebrow.
"Yep." Melinda answered, her hazel eyes meeting his honey brown ones. "Healed enough to be seen by all, or the lucky few." She chuckled, grabbing her scrub top from her duffle.
Conrad stepped over and brushed the rest of Melinda's hair out of the way to he could get a better look. A full moon colored in silver and purple shading with a large red-eyed raven perched on a branch, which was connected to the word 'Nevermore' written in gothic style calligraphy under the image. He ran his thumb down the raven's wing, feeling the raised skin of the scar she sustained a year ago. "Beautiful."
"Thanks." Melinda smiled at her friend and slid on her top, pulling it tight and fixing her hair back to how it was.
Christina cleared her throat and shut her locker, "Well, I'm outta here, gonna go break some interns. See ya guys later." She flashed a smile and walked out.
"Speaking of, you know who your intern is this year?" Mel asked, shutting her locker door and facing her friend.
Conrad scoffed and shrugged on his scrub top, "Some top-of-his-class Harvard grad." he answered, tucking his stethoscope in the back pocket of his pants.
"Oh lord." Mel shook her head, already feeling a little bit sorry for the intern. She's known Conrad Hawkins for three years and knows what he's willing to do and what rules he's willing to break, because she's learned to do the same, but not to the drastic extent as her best friend. "I'm not gonna tell ya to go easy, because let's face it, nothing about you is easy." The brunette stated, shrugging on her white coat and draping her stethoscope around her neck. "Just don't traumatize him or make him cry."
"Hey, if he can't handle how it is, then he doesn't deserve to be here." Conrad defended, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Whatever." Mel smirked. Her pager buzzed in her coat pocket, reminding her of a surgery she's scheduled to assist. "I've got a pediatric splenectomy with Luke. Perfect time to see which interns got the stomach for this."
"You mean perfect time for you to show off." Conrad corrected with a smile.
The younger brunette shrugged, "That too." she giggled. "See ya." Melinda winked and brushed past him. Conrad leaned against the lockers and watched her leave, his smile widening, "See ya, Pretty Girl."
Melinda led a group of four new interns to the observation area above the O.R., "Alright, sit here and pay attention. You may think you know everything there is to know about surgery, but truth, it's different once your elbow deep inside someone's body cavity." she stated, her chestnut brown hair pulled into a ponytail and clipped back off her neck. "This may be a routine splenectomy, but even the most routine surgeries can have complications. Take notes and try not to vomit."
With that, she left the interns in the viewing room and headed to wash up and scrub in. Waiting for her was the surgeon she was assisting, Dr. Lucas Brooks, dressed in navy blue scrubs with a black scrub cap on his head. "You ready Mel?" he asked, watching his resident remove her jewelry and tie her scrub cap and surgical mask.
"You know it. I've got some interns in the viewing area." she answered, finishing her wash up.
"Well, let's take this opportunity to teach them." Luke suggested, pushing against the door with his back and stepping into the operating room. A pair of scrub nurses helped him and his resident scrub in and stepped aside so they could approach the patient and begin the procedure.
"Ten blade, please Jessica." Luke asked, turning to one of the nurses, who handed him the instrument.
After the operation, Luke took the time to instruct the interns on post-operative patient care and show them around the pediatric floor while Melinda went to the nurses station on a different floor to visit her sister.
"How'd the surgery go?" Nicolette asked, resting her knuckles against her chin as she glanced up.
"Great." Melinda answered, leaning against the desk. "One of the four interns that were watching had to leave and ended up puking in the bathroom. Weakling." she scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"The real thing is ten times worse than reading about it." Nic shook her head and went back to updating some patient information on her computer. She grabbed the second coffee to-go cup on her desk and handed it to the brunette doctor. "Figured you'd need this."
"God bless you sis." Mel sighed, taking a swig of coffee. "So, I noticed you didn't come home last night." She arched her eyebrow and glanced at the blonde nurse practitioner. "At Luke's again?"
"Yeah, so what?" Nic shrugged, meeting her younger sister's eyes.
"So what?" Melinda repeated. "That's the fourth time this month. Things getting pretty serious with you two?" She prided, taking another sip of coffee.
Nic rolled her eyes and looked back to her screen, and her expression fell when she saw that a patient had died in the O.R. the previous night, "Damn."
"What?" Mel asked, holding her coffee cup to her lips.
"Conrad's appendectomy patient died on the table last night." the nurse answered.
"What!" Mel slid around the desk and stood behind her sister, looking at the records for herself. "Who the hell operated on him?" She skimmed over the record and her jaw dropped when she read the name and she sighed heavily, "Conrad's gonna kill him."
"Should I call him up here and tell him, or...?" Nic started to ask, but was cut off when an intern came up to the desk asking for a new resident. "He's impossible. And I need someone else, like, now." the intern groaned, shaking his head. Nic and Mel exchanged a glance before coming to the conclusion that Conrad was the resident he was complaining about.
"Okay, listen here..." Melinda cleared her throat, stepping back around the desk and looking the intern in the eye, her own catching the name on his badge, "...Devon. Let's say your driving down the highway and all of a sudden, you hear a rattle. So you take it to a mechanic and he's kind, polite, eager to help. For two days, he runs every test in the book, then calls and says it's gonna set you back a thousand bucks." She rested her hand on her hip and shrugged her shoulders. "So you max out your credit card and on your drive home, same rattle."
Devon blinked in confusion, wondering where the female resident was going with the analogy, but before he could ask something, she continued. "Or, you take your car to a another mechanic who's rude, dismissive, arrogant, but he tightens a bolt, fixes the rattle, charges you five bucks. Problem solved."
"This is nothing like that." Devon shook his head.
"Duh, because your car can't end up dead as a doornail." Melinda scoffed, taking a long swig of her coffee before tossing it in the trashcan. "Watch and learn, because Conrad's the guy who tightens the bolt." She slapped the intern's shoulder, casting a glance back to Nic, "I'll tell him about the patient." she informed, her pager vibrating in her coat pocket, calling her to the E.R.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Melinda saw just how packed it was and why Irving had paged for her assistance. Ambulances were lined up outside the automatic doors and EMTs were wheeling in patients. Mel caught sight of a young boy strapped to a gurney with a worried mother by his side and she ran right towards them. "Ten year old male, knocked off his bike by a car, possible wrist fracture."
"Yeah, and possible internal injuries." Melinda added, steering the gurney into an open trauma bay. "I need an ultrasound and an IV line. And page Dr. Mercer and Dr. Brooks." she glanced back at the E.R. nurse, who nodded and grabbed what was needed.
"Mommy, it hurts." the young boy whined, holding his right arm over his abdomen and struggling to catch his breath while the EMTs, nurses, and doctor transferred him from the gurney to a bed.
"I'm here sweetie." the older woman comforted, stroking her child's blonde curls.
Melinda listened to the child's heart and lungs, "Heart sounds good, but I'm not getting any breath sounds on the right side." she informed while Nurse Hundley set up the IV. Mel used the ultrasound machine and noticed blood in the child's abdominal cavity.
"Talk to me, Mel." Dr. Brooks instructed, running in and standing opposite his resident.
"Blood in the abdomen, unequal breath sounds, possible collapsed lung." Melinda stated, glancing to Nurse Hundley, "I need a chest tube kit to help reinflate the lung."
Lucas checked the child's eyes, "Pupils are even and reactive, but we'll need a CT to know the extent of the damage." he informed calmly as he pulled up the bed's guard rails. "Let's get him up to imaging. Nurse Hundley, can you please escort his mother to the waiting room?"
"Yes, Dr. Brooks." the older, African American nurse nodded, gently taking the mother's hand while the two doctors wheeled the bed towards the elevators.
Melinda glanced across the E.R. and saw that Conrad and his intern, Devon, were running a code on a collapsed drug-addict. Devon had succeeded in restarting the female's heart, but she was down for so long that she was brain-dead and had to be put on a ventilator in the ICU.
"Luke, I have to tell Conrad something about one of his patients. I'll meet you in imaging?" the brunette looked to her attending and he gave a nod of approval. "Thanks."
Melinda took a deep breath and sighed, running up to her friend while Luke took their. "Conrad." she called out, stopping in front of him. A few loose strands of hair had fallen in her face when she came to a halt.
"What's the matter, Pretty Girl?" Conrad asked, tucking the strands of hair behind her ear, his knuckles brushing down her cheek.
"Your appendectomy patient who had surgery last night." Melinda began, and Conrad nodded in understanding, "Well, he's dead."
The internist's face fell, "What the hell happened?" he pressed, his hand dropping from the brunette's cheek, their eyes remaining locked with one another's.
"HODAD happened." Melinda stated with a heavy sigh and an arched eyebrow. Hearing that, Conrad's jaw clenched and he headed right for the elevator to confront the surgeon who killed his patient, the very surgeon who's face was on the side of the hospital and who was the Chief of Surgery as well.
Passing the time while she waited for Luke to page her about their patient's surgery, Melinda waited in a different O.R. where the top surgical resident, Mina Okafor, was working on the Titian, a robotic surgical tool the hospital would be using for select surgeries. Mel pulled her hair back into a ponytail and clipped it back before tying on her navy blue scrub cap that had a grinning, cartoon yellow jacket on one side.
"Serious complications may occur, up to and including death." Conrad read from the Titian's manual. "Individual surgical results may vary."
"I've trained for months to do this." Mina stated, continuing to work with the machine. "Results will not vary."
"Yeah, 'til Bell gets his hands on it." Melinda scoffed, hopping up onto one of the metal tables in front of the window.
The Nigerian surgeon rolled her eyes, "Over my dead body." she muttered.
"I'm sure HODAD could manage that." Conrad chuckled, entering the room and leaning against the same table Melinda was sitting on.
Mina continued to work with the machine, not missing a single beat, while continuing the conversation with her two fellow residents. "I heard a nurse call him HODAD. What does it stand for?"
Conrad and Melinda exchanged a glance a smile, "Hands of Death and Destruction." they answered in unison, chuckling afterwards.
"Does that mean everyone knows about his complication rate?" Mina arched her eyebrow.
"All the nurses, some of the doctors." Conrad answered, crossing his ankles and his arms. "The ones who pay attention."
"But none of the patients. They're clueless." Melinda added, tapping the metal under her fingertips, glancing up at the screen where Dr. Bell's press conference regarding the Titian was being broadcasted. "Which is the only reason he's still here." she shook her head.
"Mina's got the best hands in the business, but Bell's still the most requested surgeon in the hospital." Conrad groaned.
"Because he's the Chief of Surgery." Melinda reminded, elbowing the male in the ribs. "Which, in the eyes of the public, means he's the best surgeon in the hospital."
Conrad pulled out his cellphone and pulled up the yelp reviews for all the doctors at Chastain, "Bell's also got glowing reviews and five stars." he shook his head.
"Curious, how many does Mina have?" Mel asked, scooting over and resting her chin on Conrad's shoulder so she could read the reviews.
"I don't care." Mina stated, not even bothering to humor her colleagues.
"One star." Conrad answered, pulling the review up. "Steer clear of Dr. Okafor. She told me my uterus sucked." Melinda laughed, her body leaning closer into Conrad's. "Wow." she sighed, wiping her eye with her knuckle.
"It did suck." Mina defended, looking back over her shoulder at the other two residents.
Melinda's pager buzzed in her scrub pocket, "That's my cue." She jumped off the table, facing her colleagues. "Mina, it's a good thing your focus is surgery because your bedside manner sucks." she flashed a smile and spun on her heels, running to the O.R. suite where Luke was waiting.
As the day was drawing to a close, Devon stood by the ICU window, staring at the girl hooked up to the vent, knowing full well she would never wake up. Conrad walked up to his intern and folded his arms over his chest, "You probably had this ideal version of how your first day would go, and it included saving every life you could." he stated. "But, nothing about medicine is ideal, it's harsh, and sometimes cruel. Med school can only prepare you for the bare minimum of what you'll face."
"Like being tossed into the deep end of water when you've barely learned to swim." Devon sighed, shaking his head.
"Something like that. It's how you adapt in the moment that really matters." Conrad patted his shoulder. "Come with me." He motioned for Devon to follow him, which he did, right to the elevator.
"Where are we going?" the Indian male asked.
Conrad hit one of the buttons and the elevator doors closed, "I'm gonna show you someone who was thrown into the deep end and adapted quickly." he answered. "Someone you can learn a lot from."
The elevator doors opened to the O.R. floor and the two men stepped out and headed to one of the viewing rooms. Conrad leaned against the window and looked down, seeing Melinda working on the kid from the E.R. earlier. Blood splattered the blue gown she wore over scrubs and her gloves were also stained red.
"Dr. Nevin?" Devon questioned, glancing to his supervisor resident.
Conrad nodded, "Not even a month into our intern year and a kid, around eight, came into the E.R. after a car accident and was rushed right into the O.R." he informed. "We were understaffed that day and Dr. Brooks needed an extra set of hands, so Melinda volunteered. to help, and surgery was never one of her focus." Conrad kept his eyes on the brunette as she carefully yet quickly, sutured up a bleeding artery, stabilizing the patient.
"So, what happened to the kid?" Devon asked, glancing to his resident.
"Oh, he made it." Conrad answered, his eyes still on Melinda as she helped Luke repair a laceration to the child's liver. "He actually sent her a card last year as a thank you. He now plays in a children's soccer league. All thanks to Melinda. And now, she's adding Pediatric and Trauma surgery to her residency rotations, on top of E.R. and Pediatric medicine."
The young intern's eyes widened at the impressive resume of the resident in the O.R., "How does she manage that?"
"An IQ of 217 and the ability to recall everything she's learned in incredible detail." Conrad answered. "She's gonna be one of the best here at Chastain. You could learn a lot from Melinda Nevin." He glanced to his intern and patted his shoulder, "Go check on Lilly, then find an on-call rooms and get some rest."
Devon nodded and left the viewing area, while Conrad stayed put, leaning against the glass with his arms folded over his chest, watching as the surgery finished up. One of the scrub nurses said something to Melinda which made her look up, and her eyes met his and he smiled. Even with the surgical mask covering most of her face, Conrad could tell Melinda was smiling back, just from the warm glow in her eyes.
Lucas and Melinda wheeled the bed out of the operating room and saw Conrad waiting by the elevators. "You did great Mel, I'll take it from here. You take a break, you've earned it." He smiled and patted her hand.
"Thanks Luke." Melinda returned the smile and stopped in her tracks, watching as the patient was wheeled into the elevator and the doors closed behind them.
Conrad started slow clapping as he walked up to his friend, a permanent smile on his face, "Another successful surgery in the books, Dr. Nevin." he praised, pulling her in for a hug, which she returned with a sigh and leaned against his chest.
"Thanks, but it was touch and go there for a while." Melinda sighed, stepping back and sitting on one of the benches. She pulled off her scrub cap and took out her clip, her ponytail draping over her shoulder. "He's gonna be in the ICU for at least a week, and another month of physical therapy." She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her.
"But, he's alive. You saved him." Conrad reminded, laying his cheek against her hair. "Good job, Pretty Girl." he placed a soft kiss against her temple and lightly squeezed her shoulder. "I think I know something to cheer you up."
Melinda looked up and arched her brow, "And what would that be?" she asked.
"Lilly's here and she asked to see you." he answered with a smile. "She likes your company almost as much as mine. What do you say?"
"How could I say no to one of our favorite patients?" Melinda chuckled, jumping to her feet, pulling Conrad up with her. "Let's go."
The two residents stepped onto the floor and immediately heard the commotion coming from Lilly's room. They rushed in to see Nic and Devon on either side of the bed, prepping for a central line, and Conrad saw how nervous his intern was. "Go on, do it." he encouraged, standing back with his hands on his hips. "You heard me."
"Conrad, seriously?" Nic questioned, glancing from the male resident to her sister.
"She's right." Devon agreed. "You should do it, not me."
"Then why are you here?" Conrad shrugged. "Premed, med school, MCATs. Was that just for fun?" He closed the distance between him and Devon, their eyes locking. "Come on. Be a doctor, or go be something else."
The monitor started beeping, alerting everyone to Lilly's detonating condition. "Pressure's 70/30 and dropping fast." Melinda alerted, looking from the monitor to Lilly, fisting the guard rails at the edge of the bed.
Devon took a deep breath to calm his nerves and made a small incision under Lilly's collarbone, and then inserted the IV tube. "Keep going." Conrad encouraged, "So far, you haven't killed her."
Melinda shot him a glance from the other side of the bed and rolled her eyes. "Start at five micrograms. Titrate up as needed." Devon instructed, glancing to Nic.
"What next?" Conrad pressed, keeping his composure and watching the rest of the nerves leave his intern.
"When her pressure levels out, wean her off the norepi and then drown her in fluids." Devon answered, standing tall and staring his resident in the eye.
A grin spread across Conrad's lips. "Congratulations." he slapped his hand on Devon's shoulder, "We just busted your cherry."
Mel just shook her head and watched as Conrad left the room, "Hell of a day." she muttered, glancing to her sister and lightly nudging her side.
The next morning, doners and staff sat in the large conference room and watched as Bell's surgery was streamed live right before them. Nic walked in and took an empty seat between Melinda and Luke, "Tell me this isn't happening." she muttered, brushing some hair from her face.
"Oh, it's happening." Lucas confirmed, leaning back in his chair and resting his hand over Nic's.
"The man is insane." Melinda shook her head. "His ego is so big he'd rather show how he's the best rather than face the harsh truth."
From beside her, Conrad just shrugged his shoulders, "Only upside is this should be a career-ender." he noted, resting his arm on the back of Mel's chair.
As the surgery went underway, the three doctors and lone nurse were actually shocked at how smooth it was going. Melinda and Nic exchanged a glance with one another before looking back to the operation, "That's not possible." the brunette muttered.
"No way Bell got that flawless overnight." Luke shook his head.
"I'll be right back." Conrad whispered the Melinda, bracing his hand on her shoulder as he got to his feet and headed out.
Five minutes later, Melinda's cell vibrated in her pocket with a text from Conrad, 'It's Mina.'. Mel tapped Nic's leg with the toe of her shoe and showed her sister the text, and the blonde nurse rolled her eyes. Melinda also showed Luke the message and he just shook his head.
Towards the end of her shift, Melinda rounded on her patients from the day, her last visit being to the ICU where her surgery patient was resting comfortably and seemed to be on the mend. His mother sat vigilant by the bedside while the father was going over payment details with Luke. Mel ordered the next round of post-operative lab work and leaned against the nurse's station desk.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement in the room of Chloe Goddard and walked over to get a closer look. Through the small window on the door, she saw Conrad standing by the ventilator with his hand on the switch, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. Melinda turned her back and gently knocked on the door, glancing over her shoulder and meeting Conrad's eyes. She flashed him a warm smile and walked away, the ICU doors closing behind her.
