Chapter 2
When Bernie exited the lift onto AAU with a tray of drinks and a couple of packets of sugary treats, Serena looked over with a smile on her face and wondered how much her partner seemed to subsist on sugar and coffee unless she intervened. Bernie nodded to their office, indicating she needed to drop off her things first and Serena was soon to follow. Hanging up her coat and depositing her sustenance on the desk, her leather satchel on her chair, she leaned over and placed a hand on Serena's upper arm and a kiss upon her forehead.
"How was your shift?" Bernie asked as she briefly turned her head to the drinks, handing one of them to Serena.
"Not bad. Red phone didn't ring, that's always a bonus. Just a few minor procedures that Morven and Jasmine assisted on." Serena stopped and took a sip of her drink, her face crinkling somewhat in confusion at first, as it wasn't her usual hot beverage of choice. Taking another sip, she smiled at her partner.
"I thought you might like something a bit different. A hot chocolate with hazelnut and whipped cream."
"You're getting a bit decadent." Serena grinned, clearly not disappointed by Bernie's choice for her. She reached for Bernie's hand and held it a moment and squeezed. "Thank you."
Moving her satchel to a nearby chair, she sat down in her own chair and started up her computer. After a moment, she looked over at Serena, taking in her tired expression. "How did Jasmine do today?"
"Better. She's learning." Serena smiled a moment before regaling Bernie about a situation earlier that the young F1 was able to diffuse with a bit of acerbic wit, which could have been a disaster but the patient started laughing and took it in stride. A few more pointed comments and some empathy and the patient agreed to have the procedure done."
"She is a bit over enthusiastic in her approach right now - especially given her history. But she has a willingness to learn. She just needs to balance that with a few practicalities. Sometimes the best approach is to slow down and take in the assessments. She's certainly not the first F1 to be that eager. Give them time before you throw them to the wolves." Bernie grinned, opening her arms. To which Serena had crumpled up a sheet of paper and threw in her direction. "Give it time, Serena. You've got a wonderful way with the juniors, you're a great teacher. They look up to you." Bernie knew Serena's self-confidence had taken a dent after Elinor's death, blaming herself for not picking up on the clues to her daughter's traumatic brain injury. Blaming herself for not being someone Ellie felt she could confide in.
However, in the past year that Bernie had known Serena, she'd seen her interact with the junior doctors, guiding and instructing them, particularly Morven, and even more recently with Cameron; Serena had shown them both the mentorship that they needed. What she was telling Serena was nothing her partner didn't already know, but it didn't hurt to hear that confirmed, to have that belief in her skills acknowledged and respected.
Serena breathed deeply, taking in Bernie's words, her eyes closing for a moment before she opened them and looked directly at the other woman. "Thank you."
They both needed a moment to process the heavy emotion that lingered in the room and Serena looked over at the clock on the wall as a distraction, and it struck her that Bernie was more than an hour early for her shift; which, while not unusual for herself, it was not usually Bernie's habit.
Seeming to catch her partner's motion towards the clock, Bernie fidgeted with her pen. She wanted to broach the issue with Dominic with Serena and wasn't sure of the best approach.
"Spit it out, Bernie. It can't be as bad as you're expecting."
"I don't know that it isn't." Bernie sighed. She explained to Serena the incident she'd overheard and intervened with Dominic and Isaac the day before. Outside of the matter of the personal relationship between the two men, the matter of intimidation and bullying on hospital grounds by Isaac was clearly a workplace issue. On those grounds alone, she had the right to intervene and file a report with the Human Resources department. She also related to Serena the situation she witnessed a couple of weeks earlier, in regards to a patient, the misdiagnosing that resulted in major vascular surgery to repair the damaged leg. Also Dom's query about the conference trip, when placed in amongst the other two incidents, it didn't sit right with Bernie.
"It's a difficult situation indeed." Serena sighed. "There are several issues here at least. While the NHS doesn't generally intervene in the personal relationships of staff unless there is a situation whereby it's affecting work negatively - which from your interaction with Dom & Isaac seems to indicate - this is a situation which will likely need intervention by line managers, in this case either Sacha or Ric. Have you had a chance to speak with either of them yet?"
"No. After I filed the report with HR, I was involved in other matters. Also, I wanted to speak with you first, get your perspective. You know Sacha and Ric better than I do, and you know NHS policies from a board perspective."
Serena sat back in her chair. "From your brief description, it certainly seems like there could be some coerceive and behavioural control issues going on. Has Dom said anything about it to you?"
"Not directly, yet. More just witnessing what I have already, along with getting Zosia's perceptions about their relationship. Zosia also felt that Isaac was socially isolating Dom; not particularly obvious at first, but she began to notice it more recently." Bernie huffed out a large sigh and began to rub the tense muscles along the back of her neck.
"It doesn't feel right to me, but it's not enough to just go charging in, as much as I want to do just that."
"I'd be worried if it did feel right, but I understand." Serena stood up and walked over behind Bernie and started rubbing circles against the muscles. Turning slightly to face Bernie, she inquired, "Did you fall sleep on the couch again?"
Bernie grimaced. "Fell asleep after checking the news. Was listening to some music, next thing I knew I was waking up a couple of hours later, neck sore and full bladder. After relieving that, I grabbed a couple of paracetamol, and went to bed." The hardest thing about working opposite shifts was missing the comfort of the other in bed. Bernie hadn't realized until she and Serena had actually become intimate, not even counting in the sexual component of their relationship, how much she'd missed that intimacy; the hugs, cuddling, hand holding, just being together.
"Personal relationship issues aside," Serena started again, "there are professional issues involved, not least because of the difference in grade levels, where they work on the same ward; Isaac's a registrar and Dom a CT2. Legally and professionally, Isaac cannot be involved in any professional assessments, appraisals, or discipline of Dominic's work. If he is interfering in Dom's learning, and gaining new skills, deferring blame to Dom for professional errors, management can and should intervene."
Bernie smiled. "Well, I did do that last night." She stretched out her legs under the desk. "I removed Dom from the situation and brought him down to AAU for some trauma skills teaching. He's good; a quick learner." Bernie reached up and grasped one of Serena's hands that had been very skillfully relieving her sore neck, and she brought the other woman to the side to be able to see her better. She smiled as Serena pulled one of the guest chairs around so that they were sitting close to each other. "That's another thing I wanted to ask you about. Uhm...until we can sort the issue of professional intimidation/bullying that I witnessed, is there a way we can sort personnel issues with Sacha or Ric to have Dom take some shifts down here instead of on Keller?"
"Is that something you've broached with Dom?" Serena inquired.
"Not yet. Again... I wanted your opinion on the matter. I've got some ideas on where I can take this, but seeing as how we share this ward - equal partners and all," Bernie grinned, nudging Serena's side, "this also affects you. I can draw up a plan, a couple of days for teaching specific trauma skills, and then have him work on the ward."
Serena moved her hand slightly so that their fingers were now interlocked. Despite her grief and sadness, she loved Bernie with such an intensity that she'd not had for a long time before her. The utter support Bernie had given her, often times silent caring and just being there, or acknowledging the space Serena needed but still checking in on her and Jason, and occasionally recently calling her on her erratic behaviours - not that she'd appreciated it at the time. As bad as she'd felt in her grief, she didn't hesitate to believe that Bernie loved her in return.
"Okay. Write up a plan. We'll go through it. And then go talk with Dom, while I come up with some suggestions for talking with Sacha and Ric." Serena stood up from the chair next to Bernie's, pulling the other woman up with her and drawing her into a hug.
