Well, this is starting off swimmingly, Emma thought as she got up and followed Dr. Mills to what ended up being a clinical room. Emma looked around at the fabulous art and how fancy the rooms were in this hospital. Back in Florida, none of the rooms were decorated so nicely. They mostly just had old pictures of the sea and ghastly looking birds. "This is a nice office, Dr. Mills," Emma said still taking in the scenery.
"This is an observation room, Ms. Swan. Unfortunately for you, I do not allow people who are currently bleeding inside," she said with a small smile.
"Of course it is," Emma all but whispered.
She sat there patiently as Dr. Mills carefully tended her wounds. There was much more gauze used than she had originally anticipated. When she got to the back of Emma's head the blond reflectively swatted her hand away. "Ms. Swan, you have quite a cut back here. I need to assess it to see if it's superficial or if it's in need for stitches or a type of a dermabond," Regina said a little taken back with her actions.
"I'm fine Dr. Mills, honestly. It only hurts a little and im quite sure its superficial," Emma said.
"Ms. Swan, if you want even a remote chance of interviewing for this job you will allow me to properly examine you. I will not allow you to walk around this hospital without following proper protocol for a head injury," she said sternly; almost rudely, really.
Emma raised an eye brow and considered her options. She could either tell this doctor to leave her head alone and bugger off, she could say nothing and just walk out, or she could just sit there and take it. None of these options seem optimal. So with a huff and a cross of the arms she silently sat there while Dr. Mills continued to exam her head.
"Well, if you didn't like me just looking at your head, you're definitely not going to relish in what I have to say next- you're going to need stitches, and I'm going to send you down for an MRI because of where the mark is," she said as she walked back around to face Emma. "Are you feeling tired at all?"
"I'm always tired. I really am fine, Dr. Mills. Can I just invoke AMA and start my interview? I feel like I'm getting admonished for trying to do what needed to be done." Emma said clearly frustrated. She didn't want to sit down and wait hours to see someone to tell her she's fine and she also didn't want to pay $8,000 for a picture of her skull.
The doctor's stern eyes softened immensely feeling a twinge of guilt for the young girl being in the situation she was in. "Ms. Swan… Emma, I want to thank you for putting yourself in harm's way to save my son. I know you didn't have to act, but you did and for that I'm eternally grateful. However, making sure you're not concussed nor have a fractured skull is not a punishment. I want to make sure you are healthy so when I do interview you I know you are in the right state of mind. You are now my responsibility and I promise you whenever you are medically cleared we will sit down together and review your resume and your duties. Truth be told, you are the last person to interview for the position and albeit the most stubborn, also the most qualified."
With a small chuckle, Emma relented and agreed to have the x-rays done. How ironic, she thought, I come for a job in imagery and end up having pictures taken of my own noggin.
Four and a half hours later, Emma sat in the same waiting room she was in in previously. She let the secretary know that she was done with her mandatory checkup and she was now "officially" ready to have her interview Dr. Mills. She thought about how crazy the events of that day had been. She went from looking nearly perfect, to looking raggedy from her heroics, to getting a MRI to being right back at the same place that was her original goal to begin with. She thought back to the care Dr. Mills had given her. Her hands were so soft and her eyes were so deep. She could tell that there was more than met the eye with this woman. She caught herself wanting to get to know her more intimately but quickly through those thoughts out the window. Emma knew a world-known doctor would want nothing to do with her outside the professional realm.
Dr. Mills showed up maybe fifteen minutes later. She greeted Emma with a smile and asked to please follow her. "This time we are headed to my actual office," Dr. Mills said with jest, "This time Dr. Arizona Robbins will be joining us. Normally, I conduct the first interview and if we decide to give you a second interview she would sit in to make sure she has a good feel for you as well, however, circumstances being as they are, I have already told her that I thought you'd be an appropriate fit for our ward. Dr. Robbins is extremely protective of her young patients so if she doesn't like you than you will most likely not be part of our team."
"Great, no pressure," she muttered to herself right before she stepped in to the most gorgeous office she had ever seen. The room was decorated in mostly black and white with hints of red. It was extremely modest and classy. She had black leather couches in one section and a round table where paperwork was spread out everywhere. There was a smiling woman sitting on one side of the table who she assumed was Dr. Robbins.
"Hello! I'm Dr. Arizona Robbins! It's so glad to finally meet you! I have heard nothing but great things all day!" she said with great enthusiasm while sitting back down while Emma was given a seat by Dr. Mills. "I went over your resume and prior achievements and I have one question for you," she said getting straight to business, "You have had an amazing GPA throughout your college career and I saw that you made a 523 on your MCAT. Why did you chose this career instead of going to medical school?"
This certainly took Emma off guard. She's been asked many questions by former employees but never why she didn't chose a career. She didn't really know how to answer. "Uhh, I didn't realize my MCAT score was in my resume or other documents. Truth be told, I couldn't afford medical school."
"Emma, may I call you Emma?" Arizona started and Emma nodded. "Your scores were not part of your package, however, they're public knowledge and I insist knowing everything I can on my future applicants since we will be working with the most sensitive patients. If you ever decide to change your mind and look in to a different area of medicine, there are tons of scholarships and with scores like these you could easily get one. Besides, depending on how well you do here I might be able to pull some strings," Dr. Robbins said with the same huge smile.
They spoke with her for another 45 minutes and at the end of the interview decided to offer her the job. Dr. Robbins was paged and she got up and shook Emma's hand and let her know she looked forward to working with her. She got up to push her chair in and went to shake Dr. Mills' hand and leave when her stomach made a silencing growl.
"Sorry, I haven't eaten since yesterday," Emma said sheepishly looking at the look and realizing that it was now nearly 4 o'clock.
"Ms. Swan, now that you are an employee at SRMC I expect you to take care of your body. No more being stubborn. Your scans should be back soon so until then I insist you come with me to the cafeteria. Then we will review what the radiologist found."