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The week began once again, with Monday and Tuesday flying by for Gabriella. She was hoping that weekend she would be able to train with Michael and Alex and have a nice escape from the sometimes suffocating walls of Vega. On Wednesday during her shift at the hospital, in the middle of a surgery she and the other doctors and nurses looked up in concern when the air raid sirens sounded.
The nurses shifted, scared, and Gabriella gave them a stern look, "We have a patient on this table that needs our help. Pay attention to him." The nurses nodded and they all went back to work, concentrating on their patient, even as the sirens wailed for another 20 minutes. After finishing the surgery, Gabriella went up to the ER to help stem the tide of people who would be coming in, more frightened than hurt.
But what she saw in the waiting area scared her; there were at least 10 people with severe injuries and a dozen more that were injured less severely, but still in need of attention. She was immediately drawn to a group of four people, two men, a young woman and a small female child, unconscious, being held by the woman.
Gabriella knelt down beside the woman and smiled gently at her, "Can you come with me? What's your name?"
The woman stood swaying as she steadied herself under the weight of the little girl, "I'm Gina. This is Tonya, please help her!"
Gabriella gave her a reassuring smile and held her hand out, "Come this way and I'll do my very best."
Both men stepped forward and she held up a hand to stop them, "Is either of you the father?"
The younger of the men, shorter and with sandy blonde hair and concerned eyes raised his hand, "Me. I'm her father, that's my wife. This is my brother."
The brother spoke up, "I'm also a doctor."
Gabriella turned to him, "Really? What kind of injury did your niece sustain? What method of treatment would you recommend?"
He stared at her for a moment and then shook his head, "We were outside the walls trying to gain access, being chased by two 8balls. Our car was flipped over by one of them and though she was strapped in, she was still concussed, and has a fracture to her right ulna. I would suggest xrays for her arm and her head, as well as a CAT scan to check for internal injuries from the seatbelt."
Gabriella nodded, all what she would do. She held out a hand, "Doctor Gabriella Hasan, welcome to Vega. If you would like to follow me, I could use your assistance." He nodded and the four of them headed to an exam room where Gabriella examined Tonya's head and saw there was a very small fracture. She sent her for Xrays and a CAT scan and told her parents they would have to stay in the waiting area.
She grabbed the uncle's arm and held him back, "I didn't catch your name."
He gave her the smallest of smiles and shook the hand she offered once again, "My name is Doctor Benjamin Wright. I'm a general surgeon." Gabriella almost started crying she was so happy, placing a hand over her mouth to bottle in the excitement.
After a moment she was able to contain herself, "Ok, wow. Can you start helping us right now? Start triaging out there with me and getting people to surgery who need it."
Ben nodded, "I can definitely do that." She placed a hand on his arm and smiled up at him before they headed out to the ER to try and help as many people as they could.
At the end of her shift at 8pm, Gabriella found Ben at the bedside of his niece. She lay a hand on his arm, "Hey, may I borrow you for a few minutes?" He nodded and bent to press a kiss to Tonya's head before waving goodbye to his family. She smiled tiredly up at him, "How's she doing?"
He smiled back, hope in his chocolate colored eyes, "She's going to be ok. No internal bleeding, her arm has been set, and they are just waiting on her to wake up from her sedation." Nodding Gabriella knew that this was one of the better stories from today. She led him to a boardroom, and invited him to sit next to her, noticing as he sat how tall he was.
Tom and three other members of the board came in and sat across from them. Gabriella rapidly explained how she had met Ben and his family. She then proposed to the Board that he be hired immediately. Ben looked at her surprised, and was equally surprised when the board voted unanimously to hire him starting immediately. After the board and Tom had left the room Gabriella turned to him and grinned, "Welcome to the team!"
He laughed, "Is that always how it's done?"
She shook her head, "It's been years since we got a new doctor. Most people in Vega can't get a good enough education for us to get more that nurses, which we do need, but we need doctors and surgeons. I'm not a trained surgeon, but I've taken classes and shadowed enough that they trust me to do basic surgeries."
He nodded, "In the small community we were in I was a doctor, surgeon, midwife and healer. You use what you have." He grinned at her, and Gabriella noticed that his smile was large, warm and inviting, making her heart race just slightly.
She stood, "Would you like to have dinner at my place? I'm sure your family will be staying with their little girl tonight, and you can come back and sleep in one of the on call rooms, but I could use a good meal, how about you?" He nodded and stood to join her.
After they had gathered their things they went back to her house where Gabriella was able to whip up a quick dinner of chicken and rice with sautéed vegetables. They sat at the dinner table, exchanging life stories, chatting and laughing, letting the stress of the day fade away. Gabriella found herself opening up to Ben, flirting on and off, and really enjoying it. He was tall, at least six foot two, with a strong muscular build that had her imagining what it would be like to be in his embrace. His sandy blonde hair was just a touch too long, brushing across his forehead like a surfer she had seen in old pictures.
Suddenly there was a knock at the front door and Gabriella excused herself to answer it, laughing as Ben made a joke about her being able to tell who it was by looking out the dining area, window, duck and cover. She shushed him and laughed, opening the door to Michael. She smiled, "Hey, what's up?"
He took a step over the threshold and froze when he saw Ben. His eyes flickered from her to Ben like lightening, and then he gave her a frozen look, "Nothing. I apologize for interrupting. If you have a moment later, please come by the tower so we may discuss Alex." He left quickly without saying goodbye.
Shrugging at his oddness, she shut the door and sat back down across from Ben, who looked intrigued, "Isn't that Michael, the archangel?"
She nodded and he asked, "Why is the archangel of Vega coming to visit you?"
She laughed, "Oh you know, once you've stitched him up a few times, he won't leave you alone either." They laughed and sat talking for a while longer, until Ben realized that he needed to get to the hospital for the evening.
Gabriella grabbed her bag, "I'll walk with you since I need to go see Michael."
They parted ways at the corner, and before leaving her Ben leaned down and brushed a kiss across her cheek. "Night Gabriella" he spoke softly, smiling at her as he walked away. She waved goodbye and then turned the corner, walking to Michael's tower, her steps light, she could hardly believe she had just met Ben and already liked him so much.
When she arrived at the top floor she could see Michael waiting for her in the dining area from the previous night. She smiled at him and stood behind a chair, leaning against it casually. His eyes flashed to hers and she could see that he was upset, but about what, she wasn't sure.
"Can Alex begin his training again or not?" He asked in a clipped tone. Gabriella leaned back, tensing. She didn't know why he was being so snippy with her, but she didn't like it.
"Yea, I thought I told you that. He can start training again this weekend." She stared at him for a long moment, not breaking eye contact and then shook her head, "Did I do something to upset you?"
He gave a sharp shake of his head, "No."
"Okay, well then can I still participate in training with you guys?" Michael hesitated, and in that moment Gabriella knew there was something wrong, something he wasn't telling her. "Yes, please join us on Saturday morning. East gate."
Gabriella stared at him for a moment and then shook her head, "Fine, thank you" before stalking towards the door. She stopped and spun back to face him, "You know what friends do when they have a problem? They fucking talk about it. They don't freeze each other out. I guess you have to be human to get that." She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
Michael watched as Gabriella left, her anger a palpable thing. He had been so angry himself when he had seen that man sitting in her kitchen, had seen her lighting up at his words and presence. He was a fool if he thought she didn't like him, this new doctor; Ben. He laughed bitterly to himself, he, an angel, jealous of a simple human. But then he was lusting and falling for a human…He punched the table, causing the solid wood table to crack and splinter.
The pain was momentary, and nothing compared to his internal battle. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey off the bar and went through to his bedchambers and sat on the chaise, still on the balcony from the night before, and decided to get rip roaring drunk. Gabriella was right, he was a terrible friend.