Work Text:
It's a usual Tuesday at National City General Hospital. Alex arrives at nine in the morning, grateful for the common starting time instead of the night shifts she has had the last couple of weeks. Tuesday’s like this usually consist of a couple of check-ups, probably an intake for two or more new patients, and a lot of paperwork. Sometimes, she runs tests, the average MRI’s, if Kara doesn’t swipe her spot on the MRI schedule, and sometimes she helps other doctors if they need advice.
At least, she doesn’t have any planned surgeries today. Kara, still an attending, isn’t scheduled to assist in any either. Which means they’ll probably be home in time for dinner.
Just a normal Tuesday.
Until one long legged goddess walks into the ER at 2 pm screaming murder and all what not. It isn’t really screaming, but it’s louder than an average person should speak. Or maybe it’s just that Alex really wants to eat her lunch, and she can just feel another case for the neurosurgical unit being delivered right to her feet.
The brunette spots her and turns the wheelchair, and it’s inhabitant, right around to march toward her. The woman in the chair doesn’t seem all too pleased to be here. Better yet, she seems very pissed off. Her dark eyebrows are furrowed, and her mouth is turned down into a scowl. Dark hair is brushed away by the wind caused by the speed of the wheelchair. There is something familiar about the sharp bone structure of the woman in the seat, but Alex can’t place it yet.
“Hi.” Alex looks back up at the other woman. Brown eyes, that’s the first thing that Alex notices before the woman’s face is hidden behind a curtain of hair again, as she looks down at her, presumably, friend.
“Hi-”
“I need help. My friend here,” she looks back up at Alex, “has been sad for weeks now, and I need it fixed.”
The friend in question hides her embarrassment in the palms of her hands.
“Ma’am,” Alex starts slowly. Of course, this is her luck, she just wants to fucking eat. “We are a hospital. I’m not sure we can do anything about a little sadness. If this is a psychological emergency, you can wait here, but it could take a long while before we can help you since there are more important injuries to be attended to now. If it takes too long, you could consider going to a therapist with her-”
The brunette doesn’t seem to take no for an answer, and as beautiful as her voice may be, Alex just really wants her to shut up so she can just eat. “No, this isn’t just sadness. Ever since her brother-”
“Sam, please don’t.” The seated woman sighs, daring to look up from her hands. “Let’s just go. This is getting ridiculous.”
Sam, apparently, shakes her head vigorously, “No, Lena, this is not normal.”
The friend - Lena - stands up from the wheelchair just to be pushed right back into it by Sam. She huffs, “It’s just a headache.”
“That you have had for five weeks now, ever since your brother-”
As much as Alex would like to watch the drama unfold like some bad soap Kara loves to watch, she’d rather get to her delicious sandwich that is waiting for her in the break room. “Ladies, if you could get just to the point?” The impatience is clear in her voice and is visibly noticed by both of them.
They look up at Alex, then at each other and then back. “Sorry.” They reply in unison.
“Look, Doctor,” Lena looks at her name tag, “Danvers, I don’t mean to waste your time, so I’ll just keep it short. I’m Lena Luthor-”
The name triggers a chain reaction inside Alex’ brain, connecting every bit of information about the girl in front of her. Lena Luthor, sister of Lex Luthor, the same dude who planted a bomb in the National City Children’s Hospital. The same hospital that Lena Luthor herself is funding. His motives were unidentified, and he got a jail sentence of… 45, or 50 years. Alex isn’t that sure since the accident happened a little while ago.
Alex can vaguely remember Lena being in the building itself when the bomb went off. But she can’t really be sure; it had been a hectic week. Kara had broken up with her now ex boyfriend, and there were a lot of transferrals from the hospital to theirs. It was an emotional and hard week.
“Yes, that Luthor.” Lena grumbles, “I have had a headache for a couple of weeks now, but don’t worry, it’s going away.” Sam opens her mouth to interrupt, but Lena simply raises her hand and succesfully shuts her friend up, “And I’ve been a bit down the last couple of weeks because my brother is a mass murderer that bombed my hospital.”
Suddenly, the idea of having lunch right now doesn’t seem all too appetising anymore.
Alex nods slowly. “If I recall correctly, you were in the hospital when the bomb went off, right?”
Sam nods for Lena, who just freezes up.
“Would it be possible that you have hit your head?”
“It’s a possibility, yes,” Lena nods and stands up again, this time shooting a dark look at Sam when she wants to push her back into the chair, “but as I said earlier, it’s barely a headache anymore.”
“But you still haven’t smiled in weeks, not even when Ruby pranked me.”
“Once again,” Lena bites, “Lunatic brother and dead children.”
“Ms. Luthor,” Alex comes in between the two friends again, “I’d like to examine you, just to be certain. If there is nothing wrong, we’ll know soon enough, and then you are free to go, if not, then it’s a good thing that your friend has brought you here. Is that alright with you?”
Lena seems to consider her options and then slowly nods. “As long as it doesn’t take too long. I still have a company to run.”
“Well, you can’t run that company if you work so hard that you ignore your health and end up in the hospital. We’ll be as swift as possible.”
The dark haired woman just shrugs. “As if being in the hospital would slow me down. When my father had his appendix out, he had the doctor use local anesthesia, so he could make his con-call with China.”
“That can’t possibly be true… can it?” Her brows furrow. She knows of the workaholic behaviours of CEO’s, but that seems a bit over the top.
Lena raises an eyebrow, “Luthor’s don’t call in sick. We only call in dead. Do what you need to do, Doctor, and then let me get back to my business.” She waits a second to see if Alex continues the discussion but when Alex wisely keeps her mouth shut she continues.
“Oh, and I’m not going back into that chair.” This time it’s directed to Sam, who gives Lena a short nod. Her face is unmovable, looking as serious as possible, but Alex can see the pleased look in her eyes.
“Great.” Lena nods to Sam and then to Alex. “I’ll check myself in.”
Alex wants to point out that there isn’t something like ‘checking in’ here, but she is gone already, walking away with big steps, as big as is possible with her small posture.
Sam could probably catch up with Lena in two big steps if she’d want to, but she doesn’t. Instead she stays, looking at Alex with a curious look in her eyes.
“Thank you, Dr. Danvers.” Sam smiles, this time more relieved than pleased. Probably grateful her friend has finally agreed and is in safe hands now.
“You’re welcome…”
The woman in front of her shoots out her hand. “Samantha Arias, but you can call me Sam.”
Alex takes it and gives it a firm shake. “Well, if that’s the case, you can call me Alex.” A soft smile tugs at her lips, the food completely forgotten.
“Sam!” Lena’s voice cuts through the ER.
“Sorry,” Sam’s hand slips from Alex’s grip, “duty calls. I hope I’ll see you again.” And then she is gone.
Alex is too stunned to move for another thirty seconds, watching the figure retreat. “Yeah.”
–
As Alex enjoys her well deserved lunch, Lena is getting her intake forms filled out and her vitals checked. She left Kara to do that for her, knowing her sister has a way with calming down workaholics, including herself.
Just as she is making her way to Ms. Grant’s room, Cat is actually Kara’s patient but after some bribing and something about the woman being “the mother of a sort of ex” Alex took over the patient’s care, a voice calls out to her. It’s almost impossible not to recognize the voice.
“Sam.” Alex turns to smile at the advancing woman.
Without a grumpy Lena beside her, Alex has more time to appreciate the view. Sam’s wearing brown boots, blue skinny jeans and a warm sweater. Her jacket from earlier is gone, probably left in Lena’s room (Kara moved Lena to a room, probably after some Luthor bribing), and without it she seems even taller.
Her brown hair with blonde highlights, Alex notices, curls at the bottom and frames a toothy smile. “Hi.” Her voice is as soft as before, maybe even softer without the worry.
“I was just on my way to Ms. Luthor,” Alex clears up, straightening her coat. She hopes that the jam stain on it isn’t all too obvious.
“Ditto.” She smiles. “Well, actually, I was on my way to the Starbucks in the cafeteria. Lena isn’t a big fan of the coffee machine here.” Sam gives her an apologetic smile as if the comment on the absolutely terrible coffee would offend Alex in any way.
Alex smiles back (she has been smiling an awful lot around this woman). “I don’t even think you could call the muck that comes out of it coffee. It would be offensive to actual coffee.”
Hiding her face between a curtain of hair, Sam chuckles. “Yeah, you could say that.” And then she is looking back up at Alex again, warm brown eyes twinkling in the harsh hospital lights. How can someone look this good under fluorescents?
It’s not often that Alex is at a loss for words, but somehow, Sam manages to run her silent. If eher brain just could stop being such a gay mess for one second, she’d appriciate it because every second wasted not hearing her voice feels worse than a twenty-four hour surgery.
“So uhm,” Sam takes the lead when the silence drags on for too long, “do I need to bring some for you too?”
“What?” For a brain surgeon, her brain is extraordinarily slow.
Sam doesn’t seem to mind it. “Coffee, should I bring you a cup too?”
“Oh, coffee, right.” Alex nods and blinks a couple of times. “Yeah, that’d be nice actually. I can pay you back later.”
“Don’t worry about that, doctor,” long fingers are placed on her, apparently, fidgeting hands, stilling them immediately. They are soft and warm. “See it as a thank you for helping Lena instead of sending her away as soon as you recognized her.”
Alex frowns, “Has that happened before?”
“Just once or twice,” Sam brushes it off, “Anyways…” The warmth slips away, and Alex’ hands are left cold and fidgety again, “coffee. Let me guess, black?”
“How’d you know?”
Sam winks, “I’m pretty good at reading people.” She turns around and Alex turns with her, switching places. “See ya soon, Dr. Danvers.” The wink has sent her into absolute gay panic. Alex’s limbs feel like stone, even as Sam turns around and walks away.
The brunette is almost turning the corner before she looks back. “Don’t just stand there!” She yells through the hallway, and turns some heads in the process, without shame, “Go save my best friend!”
And then she disappears behind the white walls. Cool. Everything’s fine. Nothing happened. Just a small crush.
Alex spins on her heels and almost runs off to Lena’s room.
What she expects when she opens the door is to see Lena either having found a way to work or asleep. Instead, Lena is talking, not on the phone, no to a familiar chirpy blonde.
“Dr. Danvers.” Alex sighs, and Kara jumps up to face her sister.
“Alex!” Kara smiles and walks over to her. “Did you know Lena is Lena Luthor, like the Lena Luthor who runs L-corp?”
The unprofessionalism bothers Alex, but she doesn't really have the energy to fight about it now. “Yes,” Alex looks at Lena, “I’ve watched the news. Ms. Luthor is very hard to miss.”
Kara seems to pick up on Alex’s not so discreet hint. “Oh, that’s for sure. So, I did the whole intake and checked her vitals. There’s nothing out of the ordinary. Oh and Ms. Luthor and I have already discussed the possible causes for the headache.”
Alex raises an eyebrow at her sister. Discussing the possible diagnosis with a patient without examination isn’t at all professional. “I don’t think you are inclined to do that, Dr. Danvers.”
“Dr. Danvers,” both women turn to face Lena. She seems to realise the mistake and so does Kara.
“You can call me Kara. Maybe that will make it easier.” Kara shows her all-American smile.
“Great.” Lena nods. She either hides her sarcasm or really isn’t all that bothered by Kara’s energetic and unprofessional behaviour. “What I wanted to say, Dr. Danvers,” her eyes move swiftly from Kara to Alex, “is that I am not stupid and have already researched what can be wrong.”
“And what did you use for your research, Ms. Luthor?” She walks over to the end of the bed to check the PIF.
“The internet, mostly.”
“Some pretty nifty sites too, if I do say so myself,” Kara chimes in, excitement clear in her voice.
“And what did ‘ the internet ’ tell you?” As if the internet is a reliable source. You can stub your toe and it will tell you that you’ll have twenty-four hours to live.
“That the headache is probably caused by a second or third grade concussion.” The sheer confidence in the woman’s voice astounds Alex. Something must really be wrong with her brain if she thinks that her hour of research beats Alex’s eleven years of studying and applying medicine. Where does she get it from? Because Alex could really use a dose of this sheer audacity.
“And the down mood?”
“My brother,” she simply explains, folding her hands in front of her. Lena’s skin is almost as pale as the sheet they lay upon. It could be iron deficiency, or maybe she’s just very pale.
Alex nods slowly and shoots Kara a sideway look, but she isn’t at all paying attention to Alex. Her eyes are solely focused on the patient.
“Well, let’s test your theory.” Alex hangs the PIF back and walks over to the side of Lena’s bed, breaking the staring competition Kara and Lena seem to have.
“Have you been nauseous a lot in the last couple of weeks?”
Lena looks at the space in front of her and a small crease forms between her brows. At least she is taking this seriously. “Hmm, not specifically no.”
“Not specifically? What do you mean by that?” Alex frowns, and when Lena doesn’t answer, Alex follows her line of vision.
Kara has moved to occupy the empty space, pretending to be interested in the PIF.
When Lena begins to talk, Kara quickly sneaks a look at Lena, smiling behind the binder. Like a literal child. Alex narrows her eyes, “Sorry to interrupt you, Ms. Luthor.” Alex walks over to Kara and grabs the binder from her. She lowers her voice, “Wait outside, now.”
Kara tries to splutter some excuse or apology, but Alex doesn’t give her a chance, “Now.”
With a quick apology to Lena, Kara is out the door. “Okay, where were we?”
“The nausea.” Lena sighs, her voice sounding a lot more sombre than it did before, “I only get it when I’ve had a drink. I used to be able to drink a lot more without getting nau-”
“Did you have a headache before the accident?”
“Not an accident,” Lena clenches her jaw, “but yes.”
“You were drinking when you had a headache after a bombing?”
“Yes.”
Alex stares at the woman in front of her with sheer shock.
“Unbelievable.”
–
“From all the symptoms she has listed, and labelled under ‘hangover’, she surely must have had a third grade concussion.” Alex states, and Kara looks at her worryingly, “You know what that means right?”
Kara nods slowly, “She can experience speech difficulty, amnesia, vomiting and dizzy spells. The symptoms are the longest-lasting before they improve and subside.”
“Exactly, and it’s important that we run some tests to see if her brain hasn’t suffered any other injuries.” Alex looks at her little notepad, “Let’s do a CT-scan, and can you also schedule an fRMI?”
The blonde frowns and cocks her head, her ponytail following suit, “Why an fMRI?”
“She blames her sour mood on her brother, but I’d just like to test her brian’s reactions to things that spark joy, to see if the area isn’t damaged.”
“Smart…” Kara nods.
“Alex!” Sam waves at her from the other end of the hallway. Her other arm is filled with three cups, one dangerously wobbling in her elbow.
“She calls you Alex?”
“Shut up, just do what I asked.” Alex quickly pushes Kara away and turns to face Sam.
“Hi, Sam!”
–
At least the CT results were good. No sign of any other injuries besides the concussion. Which is great, but the looming conclusion that it is ‘just’ a concussion is getting closer, and Alex really can’t handle Lena being right. Therefore, it is good to have an extra set of eyes as she does the fRMI.
That’s what Alex tells herself when Kara hums along to some NSYNC song while Lena is getting into the machine. She needs Kara’s eyes until they have figured out what’s wrong with Lena. Then Alex can send Kara off to her other patients.
“There we go.” Relief washes over her as the images of Lena’s brain show up on the screen. So that’s what the inside of a genius’ brain looks like.
“Okay, Lena, try to stay as still as possible.”
“Will do.” A static voice replies, and Kara stops humming.
“Good,” Alex presses the button again, “I’ll show you some pictures just to see how your brain reacts to them.”
It sounds like Lena is sighing, but it could also just be the static. “Great.”
She nods to Kara to upload the first image. It’s a picture of a small dog that chases a ball. To be honest, it’s a cute picture, but it wouldn’t make Alex overly happy herself, so she wonders how Lena would respond. Maybe it was a mistake to let Kara choose the pictures.
The screens show exactly what Alex expected. No activity in either the right frontal cortex, the precuneus, or the left insula. There is some activity in the amygdala, but that could either indicate annoyance, anger, fear or happiness. So there is no clear distinction. But it’s good to know that she at least reacts to it.
“Ask her why she doesn’t like the dog?” Kara whispers.
She just needs an extra set of eyes, that’s why Kara is there. Alex presses the button again, “Why don’t you like the dog?”
“I’m a cat person.” Lena plainly states.
“Good to know.” Alex nods at Kara to upload the next picture.
It’s a picture of a happy family. “Kara? Really?”
“What?”
“She has the worst family in history.”
“Oh, fiddlesticks, this is stupid.”
Alex sighs and doesn’t even waste any time to look at the results. “Next picture.”
The picture of a warm sunny beach is uploaded, and Alex feels her own body longing for it. She really needs to take a vacation soon. Even Eliza says that she could use some time away in the sun to “get some colour on that face”, and that’s a lot coming from Eliza since she is particularly against tanning, too much radiation and all that.
The results show nothing in the specific areas she wants, it’s just red in the amygdala.
“Why don’t you like the beach?” This time it’s Alex’ genuine question.
“I burn easily, hate salt water and the sand gets everywhere.”
Alex let’s herself fall back into the chair. This woman is impossible. Trying to get her to be just happy, even the tiniest bit, is almost as hard as trying to feed Kara vegetables. “Try foods.”
The next image is a deliciously looking meal. A tender piece of steak with some side dishes. It almost makes Alex’ mouth water but it doesn’t seem to do anything for Lena. There must be something wrong but how can it be? It’s not as if multiple parts of the brain that function for one specific emotion can be shut down by a concussion, however severe it may have been.
“Why?”
In the screen that shows Lena’s face, something moves. The Luthor girl closes her eyes and breathes out before answering, “Diet things. Are we almost done?”
“Almost.” Alex can’t really promise her that, “Just make sure you aren’t annoyed. Just try to be as neutral as possible.”
“Are you monitoring my emotions?” Of course Lena Luthor has catched on to their plan. “Are you trying to see if there may be another reason for my mood besides my brother-” The amygdala still burns red, “even though I told you nothing is wrong?”
“Please, try to remain calm, Ms. Luthor. We are just making sure that everything is completely fine.” Lena rolls her eyes, “Can you try to just focus on the pictures in front of you?”
It takes a while for Lena to answer.
“Yes.”
The next image that shows up is one of money and Alex almost throws Kara out right there and then.
“She’s a billionaire, billionaire’s like money, right?”
“That’s greed, not happiness. And I think she has enough money to last a lifetime.” Alex remembers seeing Lena buy CatCo for a meager 750 million dollars in a split second decision.
There is no change in Lena’s brain.
“Next one coming up,” Kara mumbles, looking more serious with every picture that is uploaded.
Lena chuckles, the image is distorted for a second, “Really? A rainbow? What am I? Five?”
“I like rainbows,” Kara sighs and leans forward on the desk to study the scans herself.
Alex presses the intercom, “Two more.” When Kara shoots her a confused look, Alex just shrugs. “It’s only a waste of time and resources if we continue this for any longer.”
This time it’s a picture of happy children, this time something does happen. The left insula lights up, so does the right occipital lobe, left thalamus, amygdala and hippocampus.
Alex closes the picture with a sigh. “I’m sorry Ms. Luthor.” Her fingers slip off the button as she lets herself fall backward in her chair.
“Why did she get sad?” Kara frowns and looks at Alex. Perhaps this time she can figure it out by herself. “Oh.” There we have it, the remorse written all over her face.
Is the woman generally emotionally stunted? Or did they just choose the wrong pictures? For the first time, Alex actually pities the woman in the tube. If nothing here gives her any serotonin, Alex can only imagine the worst.
“Do you think it’s psychological? Should we send her there?”
Alex nods slowly, “Probably. It could be blocked by her own brain, it happens to a lot of patients with PTSD.”
“I mean, it’s terrible what happened. I’m not surprised that she can’t feel any happiness right now. Her brother blew up her hospital with her and the sick children inside. There were casualties. I wouldn’t be able to recover at all, let alone in five weeks.”
Kara has a point, she always does. Still there is that small part in Alex that wants to find a neurological explanation for this. Something she can just fix with a surgery or with medication.
This time it’s Kara who talks to Lena. “Hi, Lena. We are done with the test, nurse Nal will help you out.”
“Kara-” Alex shoots up, eyes wide and glued to the screen.
Her sister jumps to her side, letting go of the intercom to look at the results. It’s almost gone again so Alex replays the reaction again.
“She’s happy.” Kara mumbles.
The dots are starting to connect and Alex waves toward the intercom. “Keep on talking, do it again.”
“Yes, okay.” Kara jumps back to the little microphone. The shake in her voice shows her confusion, as she has not fully come to the conclusion as to what has caused this sudden spike, “Sorry, Lena. It will take a little while longer, but I’m here to entertain you.”
Alex looks at the image of Lena’s face, still as frozen as before until she starts to talk. “That’s okay, Kara.”
Kara continues to talk about food, and a good restaurant nearby. All the while Lena’s right frontal cortex, precuneus, and left insula burn bright red. She’s happy. Lena Luthor isn’t emotionally stunted!
“So, I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight? When you are discharged of course.” Kara asks it slowly, and Alex doesn’t even have to look at the scans again. She can see it on the shit eating grin on Lena’s face.
She’s happy.
“Wait-” Alex frowns and turns to Kara, “did you just ask my patient on a date?” Her voice overrules Lena’s answer but if the smudgy images on the screen are anything to go by Lena is agreeing.
“You said that I had to talk to her!”
“Yeah, talk! Not flirt?!” Alex pinches the bridge of her nose. How can one person be so stupid and gay at the same time.
“Well, she is happy, isn’t she?” Kara argues, pointing at the scans still burning red. “So I did my job.”
She can’t even-
“Just go. I’ll round everything up with Ms. Luthor.”
Kara smiles brightly, pulling her into a hug. “You are the best sister.”
“Just get ready for your date.” Alex sighs and pushes Kara towards the door. It closes with a soft thump.
Now she has to tell Lena that she was right. It is a third grade concussion, and it was her brother that caused her brain to react this way. How did the internet beat her to it?
Alex grabs her notes and shuts off the program, Lena’s brain disappearing.
And the fact that Kara has the audacity to ask a patient on a date. Couldn’t she have waited till Lena was discharged? God, if anyone would find out Kara could get fired.
She leaves the little room, her mind stuck somewhere in thunder clouds, and searches around for Nia.
Alex should be happy that Lena Luthor is completely fine. This way she doesn’t have to stay any longer. It’s one person less to worry about. No sudden surgeries, no surprises. Just a normal Tuesday. Still, why did Lena have to be right about it?
Perhaps she should just be grateful for the fact that it brought Sam to her, or well the hospital’s, doorstep. The same Sam that’s waving at her in the middle of the room.
“Hi,” Sam looks relieved to see her, and Alex has to admit that she knows the feeling all too well. It’s good to see Sam again, even though she feels her tongue going numb again. Is this woman ever not going to render her speechless?
Maybe she just needs to start with responding. “Hi.”
“How’s Lena?”
Alex smiles at her, “She is completely fine, well not completely. Ms. Luthor suffers from a third grade concussion. I’ll discharge her in a bit, but I want you to keep an eye on her.” Her voice is steady and clear, knowing her point will get across. “The concussion has a long lasting effect and should’ve been monitored closely. Since it hasn’t, I can’t say if Lena has healed properly. Everything seems fine just now, but if you notice any changes in behaviour like forgetfulness or dizzy spells, don’t hesitate to drive her into the ER in a wheelchair again, okay?”
Sam listens attentively and nods, “Yes, Doctor.”
“Great, also, I’m sorry to tell you this-” Sam’s face immediately falls back into worry and Alex keeps her face serious, “My sister has decided to take Ms. Luthor out to dinner tonight. So I don’t know if you had anything planned together tonight-”
The brunette sighs in relief and shakes her head, “We were going to have dinner together-” A chuckle escaped her lips, “well, it was more of a bet. If Lena was right I’d have to pay for dinner, and if I was right and something was wrong, the paycheck would be mine.”
“Well, in that case you both won and lost.” Alex chuckles.
“Yeah, we’d have to go Dutch, but I guess I’m just paying for myself tonight.” Sam smiles and pulls her jacket closer around her.
For once in Alex’s goddamn life, her gay mind seem to immediately catch onto the opportunity. “Well, you don’t have to. See,” Sam looks back up at her, and Alex is almost at a loss for words, almost, “I was going to have dinner with my dear sister, but since she had the amazing idea of asking your friend out, I am too left to eat dinner alone.” The realization begins to dawn on Sam’s face, and the corner of her lips curl upwards, “So would you like to have dinner with me? I’ll pay.”
“I-” this time Sam is at a loss for words, and Alex feels her heart beat skip a beat. Maybe she should have that checked out by the cardiology section. “Yes, I’d like that.”
“That’s amazing, I-”
“Alex!” Kara calls out and rushes toward her, her scrubs changed for a comfortable blue high neck shirt. It’s her emergency outfit.
“Yes?” Even if she’d want to hide her happiness, Alex doesn’t think she can. The smile is permanent.
Kara frowns at Alex’ toothy grin and then looks at Sam. The puzzles click into place, and the blonde smiles at the brunette, “Hi, I’m Kara. You must be Sam.” Kara holds out her hand.
Eyeing Kara, Sam shakes it. “Yes, and you must be the famous sister, Kara.”
Alex watches the interaction with glee.
“That’s right!”
“So, some birdy told me that you were taking my friend out to dinner.” Sam folds her arms but it doesn’t look at all threatening, it’s more of a challenge.
Kara nods, the same lovesick grin appearing on her face. “Yep! Talking about Lena…” She turns to Alex, “where is she?”
The smile is still stuck on her face, “Oh, she is still in the…” her voice trails off.
Her sister's eyes widen, they might even pop out if she isn’t careful, “You left her in the fMRI?”
Alex’ mouth opens and closes like a fish on dry land while her mind uselessly splutters to find a good response.
“You did what?!” Sam cuts in, her first warm, flirty eyes now widening in shock.
She fucked up. “I’m-”
“You said you’d get her!” Kara exclaims, her voice a bit louder than appreciated in a hospital causing some heads to turn.
“I’m going to, now. Right now.” Alex nods quickly, her hands wavering in front of her as if she is already pulling Lena out of the tube. This is Sam’s fault, she distracts her. Alex isn’t the kind of person who just lets patients sit in a tube for, her eyes quickly glances to the clock on the wall, fifteen minutes. She doesn’t make mistakes. She’s a professional doctor, mistakes are for outside of work.
Sam shakes her out of her thoughts, her big slender hands on Alex’ shoulders- No- That’s exactly the thought she shouldn’t be having. “What are you still standing here for then?”
“Yes. Sorry.” Alex turns around to Kara, but her apologetic look is wasted on air.
She chases the blonde ponytail turning the corner and into the room.
And maybe later that night Alex has to promise her sister that the first three dates are on her, if Kara promises to never mention it again. And maybe after a month at a game night (where alcohol has been flowing in a way that would make a usual doctor sick) Lena mentions the accident and Alex has to promise her to stop making disgusted faces every time she and Kara do something more-than-platonic in Alex’ presence. And maybe after Sam brings it up at Alex’ birthday in front of her whole - including extended- family, she has to promise to Sam that she has to give up smoking (what doctor even smokes?). Then she does it, just to make sure they never mention it again.
And as she keeps her promise, the others keep theirs. They don’t talk about it ever again. Ever.
Well, maybe that one time in Kara’s maid of honor speech.
But that’s the last time.
…
Oh and in Kara’s vows-