The Heart of This House
I can see you struggling
Boy, don't hurt your brain
Thinking what you're gonna say
'Cause everything's a game
(Brain - Banks)
Chapter 8 - Boy, Don't Hurt Your Brain
"What did I do to deserve this?" Naomi grinned as Matt Casey walked into the ER with coffees and a bag of pastries.
He held it out of her reach, "Who says this is for you?"
Smirking, she put down her patient file and leant against the nurse's station, "Funny. Give me the coffee."
He handed over her lifeline, before pulling her into a hug, "Ready for lunch?"
"Maggie," Naomi called, "I'm taking a break, okay?
Maggie waved her approval before rolling her eyes at the three nurses who were swooning over the Truck Lieutenant, "Ladies, pull yourselves together."
The younger Darden and Casey had a standing lunch date every month away from the firehouse and usually away from the hospital, but with her fiancé and wedding details monopolising all of her free time, she'd begged him to visit her at work. Taking advantage of the rare good weather, Naomi and Matt sat out on the roof terrace.
Naomi gasped excitedly as he handed over the paper bag, "You got me a bear claw? My hero…"
Matt watched silently as Naomi drank, or more accurately inhaled, her coffee, her eyes closed, "Rough shift?"
"Long shift," she corrected, forcing her eyes back open, "There's a stomach bug making its way around the interns so we're short staffed. I feel like I haven't left this building in three days."
"Oh so that explains why we've all had to suffer through your brother's cooking."
She tried to stifle her laughter, "Isn't that what you have candidates for?"
"Otis managed to burn spaghetti the last time we let him cook." Matt frowned, "And it's not like any of us have the slightest shred of culinary talent."
"How's Hallie?"
Matt sighed, shrugging, "She's okay, I guess."
"You guys still fighting about the baby thing?"
He seemed taken aback, "How'd you know about… Never mind, you know everything,"
"I have my ways," She reached over and squeezed his hand, "Just give her time Matt, she'll come around."
"Will she?" He snapped back, so Naomi held her hands up in defence
"Don't jump down my throat… I… I get where she's coming from. I'm working hundred hour weeks at the moment; I barely have time to keep my hair clean. Bringing a child into the mix, especially with your jobs; I can understand her hesitation."
"Are you and Harrison going to have kids?"
"The monster-in-law has a schedule for my uterus… Yes, I'm having kids… You'll be Uncle Matty by the end of next year."
"And you're okay with that?"
The wind picked up her hair and whipped the curls around her face, so she looked away poignantly. She was trying to hide the wave of emotion that swept over her without warning, "I guess I'm going to have to be…"
"Naomi, I'm only going to ask you this once and then I'll leave it, I promise. It's me asking, not Severide, not your brother…"
"Matt," she interrupted, "I'm sure I want to marry Harrison…"
"Okay then…" He scooted closer to her and kissed her temple, "I'm really proud of you, kiddo."
xxx
"Hey, Naomi, letter came for you while you were out." April held the letter out to the doctor over the desk and began nattering away about something Dr. Arata had said to her, but Naomi wasn't listening.
The hospital seal was on the envelope and her hands were shaking as she ripped it open,
" FOA: Dr. Naomi Isabella Darden
Chicago Gaffney Medical Centre
Dear Dr Darden,
We are very pleased, on behalf of Chicago Gaffney Medical Centre and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, to offer you a position as a Surgical Fellow... "
"Holy crap…" Naomi stared at the letter in disbelief, reading and re-reading every line to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.
"Sweetie, what's wrong…" April stood up, concern painted on her face
She shrieked excitedly, "I got it…"
"You got what?"
"The Trauma Fellowship… They've set a date for my meeting!"
"Gimme that…" April grabbed the letter back from her friend, showing it to Natalie,
"Oh my god... NAOMI!" The girls squealed and ran around the desk to hug their friend. Naomi bounced excitedly, trying to hold back another shriek.
"Ladies, this is a hospital – not a sorority."
Naomi almost tripped over her feet to show Maggie her letter. It was the senior nurse's turn to shriek.
"I'm sorry, I thought you said this wasn't a sorority."
"Shut up and come here!" Naomi allowed Maggie to throw her arms around her and squeeze tightly, "I am so proud of you Naomi…The thought of you going off to Lakeshore was just too much for me,"
"Maggie… Can't… Breathe." Maggie released her grip slightly, but kept her arm around Naomi.
"So, when is it?"
"Uhhhh…. Two weeks before the wedding…"
"Ohhhh…" The chorus of excitement and caution swept around the group.
"How do you think Harrison's going to take it?"
"Probably better than he would've taken Seattle."
"Seattle?"
"Yeah, do you remember I did a month out there a few years ago with that Army doctor who was just something else? He tried to convince me to stay out there but I told him my heart was in Chicago." Naomi was now thankful that her application had been turned down, although she'd been disappointed at the time.
"And you applied for a fellowship out there? God, you would've hated Seattle; the weather is crap out there."
"The weather is crap in Chicago." She quipped back.
Their laughs were interrupted by the phone ringing and Maggie's voice cut through the excited chatter, "Ladies, we've got incoming – I need these beds cleared; building site collapsed… Dr Darden, you're up…"
"How many victims?"
"Unknown at the moment although they've notified all trauma centres in Chicago."
"Okay, get Arata and page any interns that are in the building and have Neuro and Cardio on stand-by."
"No need to 'get Arata', I'm right here… I hear congratulations are in order, Dr Darden," The Head of Trauma emerged from the exam room where she suspected he'd been hiding from their overeager class of interns.
"Thank you,"
"Let's see how you handle yourself today and then you and me will have a conversation about your fellowship,"
"You want me to…"
"Yes, run the E.R. Let's see how you cope with the pressure."
Naomi had to remind herself not to grin as the first ambulance arrived and the team sprang into action.
xxx
Naomi had the last victim from the accident and was the last resident on the E.R floor. It had been a hectic few hours and everyone else was in surgery. She'd had an intern pass out because of the godforsaken flu that was sweeping her hospital and it was down to Naomi and her least favourite intern of the bunch. Her victim had a brain bleed and his stats were falling faster than she could control the problems, "Get me Dr Willhite,"
"Dr Willhite is in surgery," She could've kicked her intern, but tried to remain calm.
"Then get me anyone from Neuro…"
"They're all out with the stomach bug… or in the O.R…"
She checked her patient's eye, "Dammit, his pupil's blown. I'm going to have to do this here… Get Wilhite on the phone and tell him that I need to drill some burr holes…"
"You can't do that in the ER!"
"I'm going to have to; I need to relieve the pressure in this man's brain or he is going to die… Now you can sit there and tell me what I can and can't do in my E.R or you can get Dr. Willhite on the damn phone and actually learn some medicine today!"
Maggie held the phone up to Naomi's ear, "Okay, Alec – my patient has a depressed skull fracture and an intracranial bleed and he's not going to last the elevator ride up to the O.R… I need to release the pressure and seeing as you're not here, tell me how to do it."
"Are you sure about this, Naomi? I can be down there in a few minutes…"
"This guy doesn't have a few minutes, Alec; I just need you to talk me through this."
"Bet you wish you'd spent more time hanging out in Neuro with me…"
"Shut up and help me."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Dr Darden?" Maggie asked, knowing that Naomi wasn't the biggest fan of neurosurgery.
She smiled, testing her drill, trying to re-familiarise herself with its power, "It's like riding a bike, except it's a drill and a man's brain…"
"You ready Naomi?"
She let out a huge breath, "Yeah… let's do this."
"Do you remember where to drill?"
"On the side where the first pupil blew, it's three fingers in from the ear and three fingers up, right?"
"Are you asking me or telling me, Dr. Darden?"
"Telling."
"Good, now keep telling me how to do it."
"I hate neuro…" she muttered under her breath, before continuing.
When her patient was stable enough to transport, Naomi ran him up to the O.R where Alec Willhite was waiting for her.
"Naomi, do you want to scrub in?"
She looked down at her shaking hands, "I'm going to sit this one out…"
"Hey, take a minute, and then scrub in. He's your save."
She nodded, shaking out the tremor and staring into the O.R, "You did a good job, Dr Darden. That man is going to live because of you… So, take a deep breath, scrub in and come do some emergency neurosurgery."
Xxx
"It's days like today that I am so glad that I stuck it out in Med School."
The girls were sat on the floor of Naomi's living room, going through some of her boxes. Naomi had decided that it was time for her to actually move into Harrison's apartment and her mother had dropped some of her childhood boxes off, something about decluttering and a book she'd read. Gabby and Leslie had offered to help, or rather Naomi had bribed them with dinner and several bottles of wine and they were now knee-deep in old photo albums.
"Oh yeah?"
"I got to drill burr holes into my patient's skull and he's going to be completely fine."
"Okay, way to make me jealous…"
"There's nothing stopping you Gabby…. Sign up for some pre-Med classes." Naomi thumbed through her graduation photos, stopping briefly at the one of her and the boys.
"What and end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt? No thank you."
"Why do you think I'm marrying a millionaire?" Naomi stopped to take in the mortified faces that were staring back at her, "I'm kidding…"
"Did Severide take you to your prom?" Gabby held up the framed photo of Naomi in a pale pink dress and Kelly in his dress blues.
"Oh, no – that was the same day that Kelly made Squad. I didn't have a date to prom so I made him dress up with his new insignia and take some ridiculous photos with me. I think in that same box, there should be pictures with Matt and Andy too."
"You really have them wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" Shay shook her head in mock disapproval.
Naomi laughed and topped up their wine glasses, "What can I say? They're suckers for a blonde."
"Okay, so seriously – we've had enough with the guessing games and your brother telling us half the story… What happened? Are you getting married or…"
"Andy really needs to learn to shut his mouth. Of course I'm getting married. Harrison and I had a fight and then we worked it out. It really isn't as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be… I yelled at his mother, stormed out and then we worked it out…"
"You weren't wearing your ring at the house last week…"
"Because I'd spent the morning with Antonio… it's very hard to box with a freaking diamond on your finger…" Naomi hated how defensive she was becoming about her situation.
"We wouldn't know about freaking diamonds…"
Naomi fidgeted, "I'm sorry girls… It's just I feel like the world is so against this marriage that the tiniest little hiccup and everyone assumes that it's over. I know I'm a hothead but… it would be nice to actually have someone be happy for me."
Leslie exchanged a look with Gabby, who nodded and Naomi got the impression that they'd discussed this at length, "We are happy for you, Naomi. But have you ever thought that the reason everyone is so keen for you to call off the wedding is because they're looking out for you? Sure Harrison is a great guy, no one is denying that. Do we think that he's the guy you belong with for the rest of your life? That's where opinions start differing."
Gabby: "If you marry him, we'll support you one hundred percent."
"There's no if anymore Gabby… It's happening…A month from today I am going to be walking down the aisle of that stupid library…"
xxx
The Sister:
Can you please stop telling everyone and their mother that I've called off the wedding?!
Class Clown:
You know it's not too late, we still have time to set you up with a nice fireman.
The Sister:
So I have yet another reason not to sleep at night? No, thank you. The date is set, your suit has been ordered and the damn string quartet has the sheet music.
Class Clown:
String Quartet? Flipping hell, Bobs… I always took you for a Vegas girl.
The Sister:
Yeah? Well the mother-in-law has different plans. Please just stop talking about my relationship, especially to Kelly.
Class Clown:
Why? D'ya think he's gonna stand up at the 'Speak now' bit?
The Sister:
ANDREW! I MEAN IT.
Class Clown:
I've got it… Congrats on the Fellowship by the way.
The Sister:
You lot spend way too much time gossiping. Aren't you supposed to be out saving the city?
Class Clown:
Slow day… Otis keeps retelling old stories.
The Sister:
Tell him there's a Spielberg marathon on Channel 10 – it'll shut up him up for a few hours.
Class Clown:
You're my hero.
The Sister:
Stay safe idiot.
A.N. Don't worry darlings, I didn't forget about you! I've been trying to get as many chapters written as possible so that I can have a somewhat regular upload schedule, but the next few chapters are particularly difficult to write.
Sorry that this one is a little bit of a filler, but I did want to have some more of Naomi at work, seeing as all she seems to do at the moment is fight with people. Excuse my cheeky little Grey's reference – it's my other guilty pleasure. I'm not sure how accurate my medicine is, so forgive me if you know how to accurately perform any of the procedures that I mention in this or any future chapters. I'm not a medical professional in any capacity and all my knowledge comes from Dr. Google and the medical dramas that I watch
You'll be happy to know that I've now planned out this story to align with at least the entire first season of C.F! I'm in the middle of a cheeky rewatch so I'm scribbling down all my Naomi interactions with our favourite fire house and their antics.
Get your tissues ready…
All My Love,
~C.I
xxx