Today's my birthday! I totally planned to post this big chapter (with a cliffy) on my birthday. XD
The interns spent the following morning debriefing their first doctor party in the locker room. It was a whirlwind experience for them, and they agreed that getting all their thoughts and feelings out before starting their shift would be beneficial.
"Good food, strong drinks, and fun friends, I'd say it was an overall success," Shem said, slipping his cell phone into his pant pocket.
"I had a good time," ShenShen agreed, blushing when she caught Shem's eye for a moment.
So that's what they did at the party, Fiyero realized.
"And Fiyero had a good time, too. With Dr. Thetial," Pfannee smirked.
Milla looked up. "Really?" she asked with a laugh. "You and the attending OB/GYN, huh?"
"Yeah," Fiyero shrugged, trying to hide his blush. "I'm pretty sure she wanted to have sex."
"So why didn't you?" Shem asked.
"How do you know we didn't?"
"Did you?"
"… No."
"Yeah, she gets like that sometimes," Milla said sheepishly. "She gets random bouts of baby fever, then pretends like it never happened… or she forgets."
"I don't think ninety percent of the people at the party won't remember what happened last night."
The five of them walked out together. As soon as they stepped out, four pagers went off in unison, the loud beeps carrying down the hall.
"I'm getting called to Dr. Thropp's office," Pfannee frowned.
"So am I," Shem said.
"I should get to Dr. Thetial's office before she pages me," Milla said, waving to the group and hurrying away.
The four hurried up to Dr. Thropp's office, tripping over their own feet and trying to avoid collisions with annoyed-looking nurses.
"Well, go on. Knock," Fiyero said to ShenShen when they reached the closed door.
ShenShen's eyes widened. "Me knock? Why don't you knock?"
"One of you, knock. We can't just keep standing out here," Shem hissed.
As soon as 'here' left his mouth, the door swung open, and the four interns jumped back. Elphaba stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
"Glad to see you four managed to make it here today," she said in her usual manner. She passed out the files under her arm. "Here are your assignments for the day. No group rounds today, but I will be checking in with you throughout the day. Any questions?"
The group looked at their folders and shook their hands.
"Good. That's all."
Pfannee, ShenShen, and Shem hurried away, but Fiyero lingered behind. This didn't go unnoticed by Elphaba, who turned with a small scowl.
"You said you didn't have any questions, Dr. Tigulaar."
"Oh, I… don't. I just… you're a good singer."
The scowl didn't disappear at the compliment. Fiyero swore he saw her face darken for a moment.
Quit while you're ahead… and while you still have one, his brain frantically warned him. "I'm gonna go make sure the people under my care don't die," he said quickly, booking it down the hall.
Elphaba sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she closed the door and sat behind her desk. She was only granted a few minutes of solitude before her cell phone rang. She sighed when she saw that it was an OzTime call from her sister.
"Oh, good. You have a moment to talk," Nessa said when her sister answered the call.
"What makes you think that?" Elphaba asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.
"You're not wearing your lab coat. Anyway, I noticed this while I was in the shower this morning." She adjusted her camera and pulled up her top, revealing a patch of rough, flaking skin on the side of her ribcage. "I was going to get it checked out, but calling you is faster."
Elphaba stared at her phone with a deadpanned glare. "It's xeroderma."
"Is it serious? Will it spread? Should I be concerned?"
"I'm surprised you didn't just look it up yourself, then call me to tell me what it is."
The camera shook in her sister's rage. "Elphaba, stop being difficult and answer my question!"
"Nessa, relax. Xeroderma means you just need some lotion. And lots of it."
The shaking stopped. "That's all?"
"Yes. It's not that serious; just a patch of dry skin, so all you need is –"
"'K! Thanks! Bye!"
A beep, and the call ended. "Always happy to help," she muttered to herself, and she left to start her day, first stopping at the nurses' station. "Hi, Glin. Have you seen –"
"Elphie, I can't talk right now. Dr. Nikidik needs a substitute scrub nurse for his craniotomy next week, and I'm trying to shuffle the scheduling," the blonde said, jumping from looking at printed files, to scrolling on her computer, to dialing extensions on the phone, and hanging up with a grunt when no one answered.
"What happened to Nurse Manglehand?"
"Oatsie put in for PTO due to a family event."
"You'll stress yourself out. You need to relax."
"That's what I tried to tell her," Nurse Greyling said, giving the blonde a pointed look. "But she refused to listen and also refused to let me look at the scheduling."
"Don't you dare talk to me about relaxing, Dr. Workaholic," Glinda hissed, not looking up from her computer. "This is work that is being done within the proper hours, not at two in the morning when I'm at home and supposed to be asleep. Now, will both of you leave me alone so I can finish this, please?"
Elphaba and Greyling exchanged a look. Greyling handed Elphaba her files so she could escape, and said she was going to check on her patients.
After a relatively uneventful morning, Elphaba found Fiyero and Shem by the vending machine and delivered more news to them.
"I'm sending you two down to the trauma floor to observe. And 'staying out of the way' is included in observing. Don't talk to anyone, especially the E.R. interns; they don't know their ass from their esophagus."
"Yes, Dr. Thropp," the two nodded, and hurried away.
Her pager beeped and she looked down, frowning slightly when she saw who it was from. She crossed the hospital and stopped in her mentor's doorway. "Dr. Dillamond."
The old Goat looked up from signing timecards and smiled. "Ah, Elphaba. Come in."
"You paged me?"
"Yes. I figured it would be more effective than calling you over the intercom." He looked at her over his glasses as she sat across from him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, of course."
"Stressed?"
"No more than usual."
"Being nice to your interns?"
"Have they told you otherwise?"
"No, and before you ask, you know I will never reveal my spy sources. I made a contract with them that I would protect them from your wrath if they spied for me," he smiled, which Elphaba slowly returned. "Now, the reason I've called you. As I'm sure you're aware, my retirement is a few months away."
Her eyes widened. "I didn't know that."
"You didn't? Oh, well, now you do. I've been subjected to numerous board meetings for paperwork and whatnot for recommendations to a successor as Chief Resident." He looked at her meaningfully. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whom I want to succeed me."
"Y-You mean me?"
"See? I told you it didn't take a rocket scientist."
"But… I'm only in my third year of residency. There are fourth-years and fifth-years who… just… why me?"
"Elphaba, don't do this to yourself. Don't sell yourself short and undercut all your hard work. There is a difference between being humble and flat-out self-deprecating." He laid a kind hoof on her arm. "You've seen my work, helped me with experiments, and most importantly, I trust you. I trust you to carry on my work, as well as branch off on your own.
"I… this is…"
"I know you haven't been working hard just to impress me, but I'm very impressed with all your hard work. You know this. Now, the board has given me their approval, but nothing's been written down yet, so you didn't hear anything from me."
"I… I don't know what to say."
"You could try saying 'yes'," he chuckled.
"Yes," she smiled. "I accept the position."
"Wonderful. I will make the official announcement at my retirement party, but until then, I want to start slowly easing you into the job."
"R-Right now?"
"Don't be frantic, Elphaba. You're not moving into my office right this moment, so don't get ahead of yourself taking measurements for carpets and curtains."
His familiar humor got her to relax a bit. "Alright. Thank you, Dr. Dillamond."
"Of course. I have to get back to making sure all the residents get paid, but we can talk more later."
She nodded and stood, leaving his office with her mind racing a mile a minute. She was just a few steps away from Dr. Dillamond's door when her pager beeped. She looked down and rushed to her patient's room, where the eighteen-year-old in the bed was coding.
"I was changing her bedpan when she went into sudden cardiac arrest, Dr. Thropp," the nurse said.
Elphaba immediately started chest compressions, counting out loud. "Dr. Minkos, get in here and get the defibrillator ready!" she called to her passing intern.
ShenShen looked over and hurried inside, setting up the machine. She worked quickly around Elphaba, removing the patient's shirt, and charging up the pads.
"Charge to three hundred," Elphaba commanded.
"Charging to three hundred," ShenShen repeated, setting the number and grabbing the pads. "Clear!"
Elphaba stepped back and watched as the electric charge went through the patient's body, causing it to convulse upward, but didn't result in any change.
"Charge to four hundred," Elphaba said as she resumed chest compressions.
"Charging to four hundred," ShenShen repeated, waiting for the machine to charge. "Clear!"
Another shock, followed by the same result, and chest compressions continued.
"Charge to five hundred," Elphaba said. She wanted to jump to a higher voltage, but knew that could prove fatal. They had to be as delicate as possible with this. "Come on, Ebbie! Come on! Stay with me," she pleaded in between her counting. "Charging to fi-" She didn't get to finish, as a loud monotone filled the room.
She stopped CPR and straightened, looking down at the lifeless patient. She bit her lip, tears threatening to spill, but she quickly wiped them away with her sleeve before they could.
"Time of death, fifteen thirty-seven," she breathed tiredly, looking up at the digital clock on the wall.
ShenShen turned off the defibrillator and pushed it back into the corner. She didn't see or hear Dr. Thropp leave the room, but when she turned around, she was gone.
Fiyero didn't know how or why it happened, but he now found himself making out with Sarima in the supply closet. Their lab coats were in a crumbled pile on the floor, along with Sarima's top and Fiyero's pants. It was hot, but that wasn't the only cause of their panting. Her lips were practically fused with him, her hand squeezing his left butt cheek in a heartbeat rhythm.
"Pull my hair from the root, not the tip," Sarima said, feeling Fiyero run his fingers through her hair. "Pulling from the tip hurts."
He did as commanded, pressing his hand against the back of her head and gently tugging her hair. She thanked him with a moan, parting his lips with her tongue, and hooked her leg around his hips.
The doorknob jiggled, but neither doctor noticed, and the door creaked open. An older man in a custodian uniform stepped inside, not even batting an eye at the two.
"'Cuse me, Doctors," he muttered gruffly, reaching past them to grab the mop bucket, and closing the door behind him without another word or glance.
The two ignored the interruption, going back to kissing and adding a few more articles of clothing to their pile. Fiyero moved his hands to unclip her bra when a pager went off.
"Oop, that's me," Sarima said, pulling away and reaching for her top. "I have a natural twin birth." She quickly dressed and fixed her hair, erasing all evidence of the secret session. "I'll see you later, Tigulaar." She rushed out, closing the door behind her.
Fiyero stared at the door, licked his lips, then slowly began to dress, grunting when he accidentally put his pants on backwards. He swiftly righted himself and hurried out of the closet, pretending to be in a rush to check up on patients.
He checked on his patients and had a relatively normal rest of the day. He looked at his list and realized his last patient of the day was Mr. Warwiken. "Oh, Dr. Thropp!"
The green woman turned. "Yes?"
"I… um… you see, I h-have this…"
"Are you having a stroke?"
"I… no."
"Then speak clearly."
He gulped. "Mrs. Warwiken doesn't want me to tell her husband that he's dying."
"He's the one with Eosinophil Associated Disease?"
"Yeah."
Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "You haven't told him yet?"
"Well, no, because I –"
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that. You're his doctor. It's your responsibility to inform your patients of the necessary information they need to make an informed decision. Go do your job, Dr. Tigulaar," she huffed as she brushed past him and hurried down the hall.
I really value her advice, Fiyero thought as he looked at Mr. Warwiken's test results one last time before knocking and entering the room.
…
The next morning, Fiyero was paged to the nurses' station before rounds.
"You have a new patient in 1211, Dr. Tigulaar," the nurse said.
"Okay. Thank you," Fiyero said, holding out his hand.
The nurse stared at his hand before giving him a high five. "We don't have the chart. We were told to tell you to just go to the room."
"I can't go into the patient's room without a chart."
"You can with this patient. Just… trust us," the nurse said, trying to hide a smirk behind an encouraging smile.
Fiyero sighed, but went upstairs to the room. He knocked and opened the door, preparing to do his usual introduction speech, but stopped when he saw what was going on. He first noticed Glinda, but his jaw dropped when he saw who was in the bed.
This had to be some type of joke or a test. Either way, he didn't think it was funny… nor did he study.
"Oh, good, Dr. Tigulaar. You've arrived," Glinda smiled, trying to communicate a warning as best she could.
"… My new patient is Dr. Thropp?" Fiyero asked, glancing at the frowning green-skinned woman sitting cross-legged and cross-armed on the bed.
"Unfortunately," Elphaba sighed, her tight tone laced with fatigue as she fidgeted with her hospital gown.
Reviews make wonderful birthday presents!