AN: All my medical knowledge comes from Grey's Anatomy so if it doesn't add up, that's why. Enjoy!
"New scrubs?" Randa asked her as they walked together to the first bed on their rounds.
"Yeah, how can you tell?" Sansa asks.
"No nut stains from your Jon." Sansa chokes, and whips her head around to see if anyone heard her. Randa fails to double over in laughter at her own joke.
"Your man has a kink, I swear." Sansa huffs. "Yes, along with this brilliant concept of minding his own damn business." Randa only laughs harder.
Their faces clear to warm professionalism by the time they join the crowd that has gathered around Mr. Villasenor's bed. Their attending, Dr. Nguru, gave them a small grimace at their appearance.
"Dr. Stark, Dr. Royce, how generous of you to meet us," He looked up to the clock at the wall "4 minutes… early." His voice dropped off at the end, and tightened his lips before moving his eyes away from them. Sansa had to stop herself from snorting at him.
Dr. Nguru began again. "As you all can see from the chart, Mr. Villasenor has been complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing as of late. Note that he is 46 years young, works in a stockyard, and has no other pertinent medical conditions. What would you guess might be afflicting him?"
"Heart attack?" A young kid in front of the pack of interns offers. Dr. Nguru looks at him pityingly. "Four years at Stanford Med School and that's the best you can come up with, Dr. Benson?" Pinching the bridge of his nose, he asks for any other ideas.
"Does he have a family history of this condition?" Sansa asks. Dr. Nguru looks at her curiously. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well," she starts "If he does, it might be Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which would explain why these symptoms are only just now occurring. His heart muscles have had enough time to grown overgrown. "
Dr. Nguru hummed. "Interesting theory. And if I said that he didn't, what do you think he might be suffering from? Someone else."
Each face in the crowd twisted in thought for a pause before most eyes turned downward.
"Luckily, he does. Today we are going to run tests to see if he in fact has Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy."
"No so luckily for me, eh?" Mr. Villasenor asked with a wry smile. Dr. Nguru gave him a chastised twist of his lips, something Sansa had never seen on him.
The day went on similarly, being questioned and having her hopes dashed for a handful of hours. She did a flew blood tests, listening dutifully to the instruction of the nurses.
When lunch came around, she sat at her spot in the cafeteria with a full plate as the usual suspects rolled in. Randa, Jeyne, Willas, Tormund, and Theon each took their seats.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." Theon remarked sarcastically, pulling a small hair from his soup.
"Make your own damn food then!" A voice called from behind the serving bar. Theon had enough humility to look guilty, and continued with his soup.
"Where's Sandor?" Tormund asked, pulling a piece of bread apart before shoving it into his face. "He owed me $50, and I have a date tonight."
"He gave his shift to Sansa." Jeyne said, delicately dabbing her face with a napkin.
"He asked me to take his shift." Sansa pointed out "Don't get it twisted."
Randa laughed, nudging Theon. "Aye, you know that man would never take a morning shift if he can help it. Something you might wanna try sometime Theon. Maybe there wouldn't be so many patients with a few too many milligrams of cortisone walking around." She paused "Well, more jumping than walking." Theon blushed and stole the grapes off her plate.
"Not my fault. Ms. Chan promised me that that was her usual dose."
"I'm sure she did." Tormund said drawlingly. "Needs it to keep up with me." The whole table broke up in laughs.
"What? I can't get a sugar mama?"
"Extra on the sugar." Sansa said, sending the table into wheezing laughter again.
They chatted and joked for a while longer before all of their pagers beeped at the same time.
They made their way into the radiology room, Dr. Nguru standing off center along with Chief Radiologist Dr. Mormont. Sansa nodded at her distant cousin, who gave her a hard smile in response. Sansa wondered why she seemed so tense.
Dr. Mormont went over to a file and grabbed a handful of X-rays before lining them up on the viewer. "This," she began, straightening the images "is a scan of Mr. Villasenor's chest cavity. Dr. Nguru instructed me that you all are on his case."
Murmurs of assent rose up.
"As it were, we have correctly determined that he does in fact have Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy." She pointed at the first image. "Here, you can see the thickened left ventricle. The level of thickening is so grand that I'm surprised he's still breathing, let alone talking and walking." She paused and gestured to the next two images. "He also has a thickening of his septum, causing it to push into the left ventricle, furthering the blockage of blood flow."
Dr. Nguru spoke up. "To be frank, he's going to need surgery. And I…" He huffed.
"The Chief of Surgery has asked Dr. Nguru here to take one of you on in assisting him in the operating room." At that, Sansa's heart crept up into her chest.
A heart surgery. A surgery…on a heart. This is the only thing she's dreamed of since high school, and this was her opportunity. She felt a twinge of gladness at Sandor's night-owl schedule, giving her the chance to be here for this.
"Before we start culling most of you, who is interested?" Everyone except Tormund raised their hands. At their confused looks, his held up his thick hands. "These are meant for bones, not for delicate hearts."
"Alright." Dr. Nguru said. "Theon, you're out. Hmm, let's see. Randa, you too. That leaves us with Willas, Sansa, and Jen."
"Jeyne." Jeyne corrected him, which he paid no mind to.
"The surgery will not be an easy one. We have to discuss more, but more than likely we will have to do a Septal Myectomy." Dr. Mormont said.
The words open heart surgery buzzed through Sansa's mind and felt herself almost about to faint.
"Now, as you are aware, this is a very delicate procedure, where you will be cutting open his aorta and removing part of the septal wall." She took a moment to look at each one of them in the eye. "This is truly a man's life in one of your hands. Period. One false move and he's gone. Now, with that said, whom of you will take the challenge?"
Sansa and Jeyne both raised their hands while Willas fidgeted uncomfortably.
"I…I don't think I'm ready quite yet." He said in that velvet voice of his. Dr. Mormont laid a hand on his shoulder as Sansa wanted to. "It takes a lot of courage to say that. Next time, Willas."
Dr. Nguru zeroed in on the two remaining. Sansa felt a touch of unease roll in her belly. Her and Jeyne were well matched. Both has gone to some of the most excellent medical schools in the country, but for Jeyne it was even more impressive as she did not have the privileges Sansa was awarded because of her wealth and family heritage. Jeyne scored higher than herself in most exams, Sansa had found out. Nevertheless, Sansa stood straight and her gaze did not waver. She had worked hard to get where she was, and would seize her moment.
As it were, it seemed Jeyne was thinking the same.
"Brilliant," Dr. Mormont said. "Tomorrow, we'll have you both begin a training sequence, and whoever is less likely to kill Eric will get a spot in the OR."
The gaggle of doctors filed out.
"That old jackass couldn't spot an aorta from a leg if he had to. Who does he think he is, telling me I'm culled." Theon grumbled, the wisps of dirty hair on his face moving to meet his mounting disappointment.
"Theon, my guy, you just need to work on your sword hand some more, and the next surgery will be yours." Tormund said as they reached the locker room.
"And the next surgery will be yours." Theon mocked him, causing Tormund to throw his dirty scrub top at him.
Randa was changing next to Sansa, and Sansa stared at her face carefully. Her best friend had a big heart, big and warm but easy to prick.
"You good ma?" Sansa asked quietly. Randa nodded but her eyes told her otherwise. Sansa mouthed "Facetime tonight?" and Randa blessedly gave her an affirmative grin.
Her phone buzzed just as Sansa was getting off the bus, opening it while she called out a "Thank you!" to the driver. It was a text from Sandor. Hoe did to go. He had sent, quickly followed by How**** lol. She smiled to herself while texting back a short response that it was fine, and that she had some great news to tell him tomorrow. Sansa felt a body crash into hers, and her grip on her phone tightened and it was only her long legs that kept her from falling.
She opened her mouth to cuss the offending form out but paused when she saw who it was.
"What do I tell you about you kids on that damn telephone all the time?" Jon said in his best abuelita voice. She laughed loudly and hugged him before giving him a playful pout.
"Jon Snow! You right bastard." She smiled before regaining her thoughts. "Where are you off to? Did we run out of toilet paper again?"
"Not yet." He said a little awkwardly. "I got out of the office early today, but my boss wants a meeting to discuss business with one of our biggest clients."
She squinted at him. "So, my godfather GreatJon wants to have a night at the bar with you and my dad. That's what you're telling me." He had the decency to look sheepish.
"Not quite like that. I mean we are going to be at the pub, but there will be business happening. I promise."
Sansa felt actual disappointment swell within her. She had been looking forward to a fun night at home. "It's fine. I'm just going to complain to my father later that he always steals my boyfriends."
"Well," Jon lead, dotting a small kiss to her lips. "I'm planning on being the last boyfriend he steals. It shouldn't go too late. I'll see you tonight love."
They shared a parting embrace, and Sansa continued her trek home.
She decided to spice it up a little bit, and make dinner. It was never as good as her mother's, but Sansa could hold her own once in a while. Flipping through her recipe book, she heard a knock on the door. Who could be here at this hour, she wondered, as if it weren't 8pm.
Peering through the eyehole, she spotted him. With a barely contained squeal she unlocked the door and looked up at the massive man.
"So, you said you had great news for me?"