New Patient


"Alright, looks like she's ok but give her some oxygen." Punk nodded, carrying a young girl hurriedly towards the back of an ambulance outside a house where there had been a fire. Just a standard night for him.

"My dog is… is in there." The girl he was carrying expressed as he sat her down at the edge of the ambulance, "My dog." She insisted.

"Alright, you stay there." Punk nodded, running back to the house. The fire had started in the kitchen and spread to the dining area, smoke filling the downstairs area dangerously.

He whistled with his fingers as loud as he could, watching as the dog came running down the stairs.

"Hey." Punk smiled gratefully, picking the dog up whilst other colleagues passed him to concentrate on putting the fire completely out, "Ok, buddy. You're good." Punk patted the dog, leaving the house with him and heading over to the ambulance.

"You got him." The young girl cried happily, tossing the blanket from around her shoulders, reaching out for her dog gratefully as Punk smiled.

"I think he was hiding upstairs. Smart. Got away from the smoke." Punk nodded to her, "You feeling ok?" He asked her as she nodded.

"I don't know what happened. I must have… left the stove on and fell asleep. And my alarm…"

"Don't worry." Punk assured her, "It's just an accident. You're safe and that's the main thing." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"Thank you." She nodded sincerely as Punk smiled. He never did his job for the praise, but it certainly went a long way when he risked his life every time he stepped foot to put out a dangerous fire.

He left the girl in the care of the EMTs, making his way back into the house where the fire had been taken care of by the other guys, throwing down some white powder for the aftermath as they inspected the damage and confirmed officially what started the fire.

"What is it with people leaving their stove on and then falling asleep?" Dean shook his head.

"Accidents happen. It pays our bills." Punk nodded to him.

"Yeah but still." Dean rolled his eyes, "Looks like it caught onto the kitchen towel." He examined, "Must have spread pretty quickly."

"Yeah, no kidding." Punk shook his head, standing in the now charcoal kitchen.

"Window was open too. She's lucky it ain't worse." Dean noticed as Punk nodded.

"She's just a young girl." Punk said as Dean nodded.

"I'll do the report and talk to her about insurance stuff. You can get going." Dean nodded to him.

"Ok. Be nice to her." Punk warned.


Punk got home late on that night after a day of crazy calls and fires. He loved his job. It was where he got most joy from in life, but he was always glad to see the end of a shift, especially a busy one.

He dumped his jacket on the kitchen counter, running his hands through his hair and opening up the fridge to see what he could make himself, or more so what he could pile onto a sandwich that wouldn't take much effort.

He then heard his brother coming out of the bedroom, rushing into the kitchen in just his boxer shorts as Punk shook his head.

"Tell me you got condoms." Dean said seriously as Punk chuckled.

"In my top drawer by the bed." Punk nodded to him as Dean rushed into the room and got what he needed, wandering back into the kitchen.

"When was the last time you got laid? That box is full." Dean raised a brow.

"Couple months ago." Punk nodded.

"Dude." Dean shook his head, "Sucks to be you."

"Don't you have something to do?" Punk looked at him with irritation.

"Oh, right." Dean nodded, rushing back to his room and banging the door shut as Punk shook his head, sitting down at the table, jumping suddenly when he saw the dog from earlier on in the night at one of the houses he was at, come running into the kitchen.

"You've got be kidding me." Punk shook his head, figuring out who the lucky girl Dean had brought home was, staring down at the dog who sat in front of him, begging for some food.

"Alright, just a little bit." Punk nodded, giving the dog some meat from his sandwich, smiling upon watching his little jaws chewing it up, patting his head and thinking about how tragic that the only company he had tonight was a dog who didn't even belong to him.


"Fuck." Jason panted, rolling off of AJ in bed, collapsing beside as AJ pulled the sheets to her naked body, running her hand through her hair.

"I could go all night." AJ smirked as Jason just chuckled, running his hand through his hair.

"You still not called your mom back?" Jason asked.

"Oh, don't kill the moment talking about my mother." AJ groaned as Jason laughed a little.

"Come on, you know she just cares about you. She's interested in your job. Most people would kill for a mother like that." Jason nodded.

"She's not interested." AJ shook her head, "She barely even knows what I do. She still tells people that I'm a nurse." She said, "And those brochures she gave me? The wedding ones? Everything is hideous in it. Seriously, wedding gowns that look like they were made in the 1950s." AJ said.

"You'd still be beautiful, no matter what the dress is like." Jason nodded as AJ smiled.

"I guess I could go to lunch with her on my day off next week." AJ thought to herself.

"I think she'd love that." Jason nodded, "You know it wouldn't hurt for us to set a wedding date. We could start looking at venues." He turned to her.

"We could." AJ smiled, "If I get a minute off work." She sighed.

"I'm sure your schedule will clear up eventually." Jason said.

"Life in residency, I guess." AJ nodded, "You know everyone goes on about how stressful it is and… I guess I was too naïve to believe it, but it really is stressful." She said as Jason nodded.

"And yet you're excelling." Jason smiled, "Not just a pretty face." He said, kissing her cheek as she smiled.

"You know… I really could go all night." She smirked, running her hand down his arm as he chuckled.

"I know you could." He assured her, "I'm gonna go take a shower." He told her, getting out of bed as AJ watched him. Sometimes she felt like an animal who wasn't being tamed properly. Sometimes.


AJ was doing her rounds the next morning of her patients, reporting back to her attending who monitored her work and helped her if she ever needed it. She then dealt with some new patients, walking into one room where she saw a woman in bed, sitting up bright and spry.

"Could you get me a phone? I need to call my husband." The woman nodded as AJ smiled politely, walking to the bottom of the bed and taking out the folder, seeing vascular dementia and nodding to herself.

"Ok. I just need to examine you for a quick second and then I'll get you a phone." AJ nodded to her, reading the notes the nurses had left which sounded as if the woman had a seizure of some kind.

"Ok, dear." She nodded with a smile.

"I'm doctor April Mendez." AJ introduced herself, "Are you feeling ok, Misses… Brooks?" She read the name at the top.

"Call me Gerry." Gerry waved her hand.

"Gerry… I like that." AJ smiled, "I get people to call me AJ." She nodded, sounding her heart, "Take a deep breath for me… and back out." She instructed as Gerry done so.

"AJ." Gerry said to herself, "I like that." She agreed as AJ smiled.

"Ok, can you follow the light for me." AJ nodded, taking out the small torch, moving side to side for Gerry to follow it with her eyes, complying with everything AJ asked of her.

"Am I doing it right?" Gerry asked as AJ smiled.

"You're doing great." AJ nodded, "Are you feeling sick?" She questioned, putting the torch back in her pocket.

"No." Gerry shrugged as AJ nodded. She could see this woman probably didn't realise she was even in the hospital.

"And what about a headache?" AJ asked, looking back at the notes.

"No, I feel fit as a fiddle." Gerry insisted, "I'm going to need my husband to pick me up. I don't drive, you see." She said.

"Ok. Gerry, I'm gonna send you for a CT scan. It's nothing to worry about. I just want to be sure we're not missing anything. Your seizure could be from your vascular dementia." She nodded as Gerry just looked at her with confusion, "You just hang tight and I will call your husband. Ok?" AJ nodded to her, placing her hand on Gerry's arm.

"Ok, sweetie." Gerry just nodded with a smile.

"Ok." AJ smiled, leaving the room with Gerry's folder, approaching the nurses station, "Can I get a next of kin for Geraldine Brooks?" She asked as the nurse nodded, typing in the name to the system.

"Uh… there's a Phil Brooks and a Dean… Ambrose." The nurse nodded as she scrolled.

"Which is the husband?" AJ asked.

"None. Both her sons." The nurse said.

"No husband in her details?" AJ asked.

"There is but he's dead." The nurse looked at her as AJ sighed.

"Ok… Ok, call the sons. Tell them their mom is fine but we're gonna send her for a CT scan." AJ said.

"Ok." The nurse nodded as AJ rushed off to deal with more patients.