"Australia? Are you certain?" Alice winced as her uncle confirmed over the phone. "Can't you go? I'm only in my second year of residency, I can't just take off whenever..." He cut her off, insistent on the line. "Fine. I'll go, but you owe me for this," Alice slammed the phone down before he could get in any other suggestions.
The edges of her vision was starting to go black, so Alice sat down and took slow, deep breaths. The cat climbed into her lap, purring, "I'm going to have to find a place to board you, Salem. I'm going on an unscheduled holiday."
Alice called her boss in Pediatrics first, and was surprised she didn't have to beg too much for time off. The only irritating thing was telling him, several times, that yes she was British, and yes she was going to Australia to see her father. Why was that relevant?
After securing a place for Salem to stay, Alice tried to ring her old roommate, but only got an outdated voice mail saying she was out of the country. There was no predicting Charlotte, but she left a message anyway on the odd chance she might be in Australia.
Fifteen hours and an expensive ticket that she swore she'd demand reimbursement for later, Alice was in Sydney. She double checked the address in her hand with the number on the house, looking doubtfully at the child's play set in the yard. Why would her father be here? Alice knocked on the door, which was answered by a woman not much older than she was.
It was odd, Alice hadn't felt this nervous since she'd been a little girl, "Excuse me, I'm looking for Franklin Winters?"
"You aren't selling anything are you? We don't—"
"No, ma'am. My uncle has been trying to get in touch with him since he's been out of contact for a long time. He found this address and asked if I would come and speak with him in person," Alice tried to resist crumpling the piece of paper she was holding, as she fidgeted nervously.
"I don't understand what this is about, but I suppose you can speak to him in the kitchen," she guided Alice though a living room littered with toys to a table in the kitchen.
"Uncle's been looking for you," Alice knew the second she saw her father, the way his face went blank, that something was wrong.
"A-Alice! Y-You're alive! I-Isn't that wonderful?" The way Franklin was digging his fingers into the wooden table said otherwise.
"What do you mean, 'you're alive'? Why wouldn't I be?" Her mother had died in a car accident and she'd moved to the States to get a change of scenery—he knew this and had her address and phone number.
"W-Well..." his eyes darted to the woman who'd let Alice inside.
"I don't understand, Franklin. Before we got married you told me that your wife and daughter had died in a car accident..."
"One of those is true. Did you even wait until she was cold in the ground?" Alice was shaking, this was unconscionable.
"You have no right to speak to me that way! None!" Her father seemed to have decided he could play at indignation.
"I'm not going to listen to a word of it, save it for your new wife, maybe she'll buy your rubbish," Alice ran as fast as she could out of the house, nearly tripping on toys several times. She wasn't done with her father yet, not done at all.
Alice woke to the pained groans of the poor man with shrapnel sticking out of him. He wasn't fully conscious—not yet. They were going to have to forget about rescue and do the operation very soon for him to have any chance of survival. Jack was a great surgeon, everyone at work said so, but could he really do anything out here with no equipment?
She might be able to play nurse for a while, but she specialized in children, and rarely saw adults outside of clinic duty. Alice was afraid, and it wasn't because the police might be after her anymore.
A/N: Meet Dr. Alice Winters! I just went back a re-read Alice's application and the children were supposed to be grown. -_-; Oh well, continuing on the subject of me being an idiot—I have always been bad at math, but I've just figured out that I can't even count! Instead of the one OC slot I thought was left, I have three! In any case, since toddlers are better at numbers than me, applications are back open for three more characters! If you'd like a rule exception, PM me before submitting an application, and I'll see what I can do.