Rachel was ridiculously tired, definitely because she was awake for almost twenty five hours.
Jacob approached her. He was in the middle of his shift.
"Hi," he greeted. Rachel wiggled her hand a bit, but couldn't contain her grin.
"I heard that you solved a diagnostic department case. Great job," Jacob complimented, smiling too.
"Yeah, thanks," Rachel slurred.
"Ohhhhh kay, Rachel, I think you need to go to bed. You can stay in the on call rooms tonight. Let's go," Jacob was a bit concerned for her. How crazy do those diagnostic meetings get? Rachel could almost hear Jacob's thoughts. I mean, they're certainly something.
Rachel was led to the on-call rooms by Jacob. She was sort of stumbling around like she was drunk, though she had never been drunk before. She couldn't legally drink yet, anyway.
Rachel slumped down on the bed, kicked off her shoes and white coat, and couldn't be bothered to even tuck herself into the sheets before she fell asleep immediately.
Hmm. I'm dreaming.
It's been awhile since I had a dream.
Dreams are really just fragments of your imagination.
Wow, I'm having a lucid dream.
That's a lot of books. Lemme read some.
Why does it just say 'ash' over and over?
What?
Why? What is this dream telling me? Tar? Something about somebody named Tara?
Oh my gosh is mom's house burning down?
No? Okay then.
How much time has passed?
Are you able to make yourself wake up in a lucid dream?
Rachel opened her eyes to a bland white ceiling. Oh… I'm in an on-call room. There was another resident sleeping in the bed across from her, back facing her.
She checked her phone. It was one in the afternoon. Her first thought was That's really late, really? But then she remembered that she got into the bed at two in the morning. Or something, she didn't really remember. She slipped off the bed as quietly as possible, to not disturb the girl, and rushed to the staff locker rooms to freshen up before she went home. There, Dr. Masters was taking out a purse from her locker.
"Oh, uh, hi. Didn't expect to see you here," Dr. Masters fumbled.
Clearly, she's not the most extroverted of all people. Relatable.
"Yeah. Me too," Rachel replied as she washed her hands thoroughly. She dried them, and her phone urgently rang. Crap. She couldn't pick it up now, because Dr. Masters would see who was calling.
"Uh, I gotta go home now. Bye!" Rachel shot out the door before she picked up the phone, still jogging through the hallways and out of the building. She settled down inside her car.
"Where are you?" he said over the phone.
"Where are you?" Rachel responded.
"I was chilling in a cemetery."
"Excuse me?"
"Cemetery. You know, a place where you put dead people in the ground."
"Yeah, I figured that much. Why are you-" Rachel stopped as she glanced around at the many people who were also in the parking lot. She felt a bit paranoid that people could hear her inside. "-there?"
She heard a pop and a gulp over the line.
"Did you just take a pill?"
"Yeah. What, are you going to chew me out?"
"No, I just… heard it."
"You didn't call me in at least twenty-four hours. Either you slept for that long or you were busy diagnosing people. Or both. Each way, I missed out. So, what did I miss?"
"You missed out… on watching me… sleep?" Rachel paused.
"You should really stop asking all these rhetorical questions."
"Yes. I did some diagnosing. Is that a good enough answer for you?"
"I'd really appreciate it if you told me the details."
Rachel started off from the patient arriving in the E.R. She told him about the stroke from the septic embolism, the alcohol abuse, and the foxglove poisoning.
"So… This patient got a septic embolism?"
"Yep."
"And alcohol abuse and digitoxin poisoning? I really don't like coincidences, but this is just on a whole nother level."
"I know, right?"
"Where'd she get the septic embolism?"
"Dunno. Listen, I have to go. I shouldn't drive while calling you." Rachel hung up before House could say anything.
Rachel sat in silence with her eyes closed for a moment. Her sleep schedule was even more screwed now, and she still felt tired, even after sleeping for nine hours or so.
Her moment was interrupted by a tap on the window. Rachel was so tired she didn't even have the energy to jump. Jacob was leaning over the window of her small hybrid car. He gestured for her, and she opened the door.
"Hi." Jacob fiddled with his fingers.
Oh no, is he nervous?
You know what that means…
"Hi," Rachel responded.
"Do you have time? I need to study, and I don't have a partner that can quiz me."
"Sure," Rachel sighed. Phew, crisis averted.
"I was thinking we study in the cafeteria."
"Definitely." No way he could ask her out in a hospital cafeteria.
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Sorry this chapter was short, hopefully I can write more in the next one! Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!
xxx