Work Text:
It was one thing scheduling the young night shift resident onto the day shift to ease the workload, but it was another thing entirely to actually work with her. Robby rubs the back of his neck as he stares down Abbot, a deadpan look on his face at the night attendings insistences.
“I have no idea where you lot have this idea that she’s hard to work with. Sure she’s emotional, but just remember to give her a bit of praise for her successes and she’ll perk right back up.” Robby has to suppress a scoff at the idea, but nods reluctantly.
While he may not be the cheeriest of men, he wasn’t one to let good work go unmentioned and it certainly had little effect on her responses in the past.
“I’ll pass the message on, but don’t be surprised if she’s in a foul mood when you come back tonight.” Abbot clasps a hand on his shoulder as he frowns, looking as unconvinced at Robby’s opinion as usual.
“Don’t go messing up my best up and comer, Rob. She keeps me sane around Shen and Ellis. But don’t be too nice, can’t have her switching shifts either.” A deft hand swats Abbot’s hand away with a grimace.
“She’s the cheeriest woman for all of an hour and then she interacts with one bastard of a patient and the day is shot. Is she somehow happy throughout the night or something, because there are few ways I could manage continued full shifts with that glare plastered on her face, so please, keep her.” There’s an odd look of confusion that flickers across Abbot’s eyes, but he shakes it off as he swings his bag over his shoulder, preparing to head home to crash as the arrival of morning starts to weight heavy on him.
“Just wipe that glare away and she’s good as gold, I promise. She’ll do wonders for you if you treat her right, Robinavitch.” With one last wave he disappears out of the door and almost as if sensing the calm left by his departure, a new voice fills the silence.
“Morning, Dr Robinavitch!” The grin across her face is always jarring, the knowledge of how fleeting it will be once the day progresses leaves Robby fighting his own scowl as he nods to greet her.
“Dr Robby is fine, you know that by now, kid.” She nods slightly, having worked a few day shifts since starting at PTMC and the odd shift cross over where she was still around when Robby arrives first thing in the morning.
“Sorry, Dr Robby. Old habits die hard, as they say. My last place was a little, um, stricter.” He just nods in acknowledgement, knowing the power trip a position like chief has on some attendings that he found himself yet to succumb to. It’s not long before she’s trotting off into the depths, a diligent worker despite her notoriety.
“I’m screening every patient that comes through these doors before anything gets sent her way.” Dana’s voice echoes out from the behind the terminal beside him, his gaze turning to meet her’s as she settles into her seat with a huff. He smiles slightly, leaning against the counter as he rolls his eyes.
“You and I both know you can’t do that. Whatever happens, happens. Abbot insists we only have to give her some praise to keep her scowl at bay.” Dana looks sceptical, glancing across the room as the night shift resident talks to a nurse with an upbeat energy.
“I suppose I shall inform the troops, but I’ll be having words if we spend the day ego boosting a maniac at our own detriment.” All Robby can muster in response is a shrug, moving on from the new addition to allow his mind to focus on his job, even if only until the tide turns.
-
Allowing her to work beside Langdon was the first nail in the coffin. An acute abdominal hematoma has the pair sending each other quiet snips as they work, one vying hurriedly for an angioembolism whilst the other states the severity needs to be graded through CT in order to make sure they catch any complications before acting.
With seniority trumping even the most reasonable suggestions, she’s left watching the patient be carted away as her gaze grows colder, as if doing her best to use her retinas to burn through the back of Langdon’s head as he disappears around the corner.
A sharp ‘tch’ clicks out between her teeth as she turns on her heels, gaze lifting slowly around the room only to lock eyes with the pair already watching her cautiously. The surprise of the observation seems to knock the tension out of her shoulders, and her vision flickers over the older man somewhat worriedly before averting it entirely to scurry off to find more work.
“King, why’d you let Langdon get anywhere near her?” The aforementioned chief turns to the resident beside him, who only returns the gaze with a slight innocence before turning her head to see who he’s referring to.
“You say that as if I have any control over him, Dr Robby.” As Mel speaks, Robby catches a slight smirk from Dana as she sucks her cheeks against her teeth, frowning slightly before turning his attention back to the woman in front of him.
“Stay by him, and don’t let him piss her off, please. We have enough trouble with the patients, we don’t need otherwise avoidable problems on top of that.” There’s a sternness to his polite smile, and Mel thinks little of it amidst the slight appeal of the instruction.
“What is the problem, anyway? It’s not as if she has a temper even half as bad as Santos, if you don’t mind me saying.” Robby has to suppress a sharp snort at Mel’s words, shaking his head lightly as he tucks the chart in his hands back into the nurse’s station.
“We work in a somewhat negative environment, King. If that woman’s mood drops, you’ll feel it. Maybe the terrors on the night shift can deal with that, but I’d rather not.” Mel just nods, glancing back over at the night shift resident as she smiles lightly amidst a conversation with Dr McKay. To her it seemed it was one of these blown out rumours much like the superstition around the ‘Q’ word, but she chose to side with the superstitious just to stay on their good sides nonetheless.
-
“Is your attending always so… observant?” Santos sees an opportunity as she wanders past the young trio, sliding in beside the night shift resident as she tries to quietly question Whitaker and Javadi.
“Why, think you’ve caught his eye, hotshot?” There’s a flinch from her target as Santos speaks, the grin on her face growing at the reaction.
“Hardly. Moreso like he’s waiting for me to mess up… If Shen’s been bad mouthing me again…” Nervous eyes glance back over to Robby, who is luckily too distracted by his work to be watching her as he had been for most of the day.
“I’d say it was more likely Abbot. Overheard him telling Robby how to ‘handle’ you during hand over this morning.” There’s a stammer from beside her, lips curling downwards in a way that makes Santos’ heart skip in eagerness as if trying to test the waters whilst an unreadable look crosses her target’s face.
“Handle me?.. Is this about earlier with Langdon, because that woman is in surgery now and I am standing firm that I was right about intervention.” Whitaker’s gaze drags over Santos as he catches onto her train of thought, sighing before trying his best to plaster a reassuring smile on his face.
“No way, you did great in there, totally not on Robby’s radar.” The wobble in his voice betrays his attempt at flattery, and there’s a twitch in her eyes as they narrow before she blinks away the response.
“R-right, thanks… I’ve got, charting to finish so, um…” She’s turned on her heels before Whitaker can make an attempt to rectify his words, a sharp shove from Santos drawing his attention from her fleeting figure.
“What are you doing, Huckleberry? I almost had it.” Santos scowls lightly, prodding at Whitaker’s shoulder accusingly. He shakes her off with a huff.
“Robby explicitly said not to set her off.” Eyes roll at his obedience, lips smacking as Santos turns to watch her new target.
“Aren’t you even slightly intrigued? Come on, I bet even Crash wants to see that Switchblade flick open.” Javadi stands a little straighter as she’s addressed, taking a moment to join the conversation she’d been somewhat lurking in.
“I mean, she seems kind of nice, they must be overreacting…” The small chip in only makes Santos’ grin wider.
“To the contrary, she is nice. So why the overreaction? Because that switch is juicy, and I’m going to see it.” She claps Whitaker over the back before heading back into the fray, leaving him to scowl at the contact and the nonchalant dismissal of his protests.
-
The scalpel practically being taken from her hand leaves her seething. Santos slides in once again besides Garcia and with no word of protest from the surgical resident, the scorned night shift resident is left to slink out of the room as her features tighten, hands flexing with the continued inactivity and interruption.
This time, when Robby catches her eye she doesn’t shy away. There’s a steel to them that almost makes him sink away instead, and she holds his gaze for a moment too long before sharply flicking it away and proceeding on as her lips press into a thin line.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it to Santos.” Sheepishness creeps into Dana’s words as she avoids Robby’s gaze behind the terminal, and all he can muster is a quirk of his brow as the sense of dread starts to set in.
“I should have tried harder to get Ellis to cover. Is there anything interesting I can put her on? With Santos diving in the way, she’s not doing anything I can praise her for to even try take Abbot’s advice…” Dana’s eyes scan over the board, pondering the best way to appease the young woman for everyone’s sake.
“Mohan’s a little behind, maybe she can use those steely eyes to move her along without you having to scare the poor woman into rushing her consults.” It’s Robby’s turn to scowl, following Dana’s gaze to Mohan’s assignments.
“I don’t scare her, she’s just slow and I know she can do better.” Dana’s smiles as her eyes rolls, waving a hand at the passing night shift resident to get her attention.
“Your faith in her rarely comes across so, but I’m sounding like a broken record.” The conversation is cut short as the approaching body reaches the station, looking towards Dana expectantly.
“Would you mind giving Dr Mohan a hand, darling? I think she’s gotten a little swept up and could use your excellent input.” There’s a flicker of recognition at the request, but little change to the contortion of her face that she’s barely forcing into a neutral expression, much unlike her early morning grin.
“I can do that.” There’s little more acknowledgement before she’s gone again, leaving Robby less than enthused.
“I’m having words with Abbot later. She better not break any more equipment, it was hard enough to get Gloria to replace that defibrillator last time.” Passing ears perk up as Robby murmurs, Dana’s brows furrowing as she jabs at the man with the pen held in her hand.
“That old thing short circuited through no one’s fault but overuse and bad maintenance. Just because she was holding it when it died does not mean she broke the damn thing.” The look Robby shoots Dana looks anything but convinced, but he doesn’t say another word against her.
-
The door sliding open catches Mohan’s attention, the gentle smile that had been directed at the man in the bed before her twisting slightly in confusion at the intrusion.
“Hello, Dr Mohan. Dana mentioned you could use some assistance?” The new arrival glances between the two as she steps further into the room, noting the lack of urgency in the case as Mohan sits quietly by the bedside.
“Oh, um, I have it handled but some company is always helpful. Care to try for some differentials? Mr Perning’s labs just came back and we were discussing options.” She passes the chart that had been sat on her lap over to the woman now standing beside her. There’s a moment of silence as her eyes trail over the page, mind wiring before the quiet is filled with an onslaught of differentials and an ultimate endpoint as she argues with herself in a firm tone to rule things out clearly to them both.
The discomfort in Mohan’s reaction is clear, barely managing to shake off the glare at the new woman’s curt response.
“I-I suppose you’ve nailed it there, but I was taking it a little slower to make sure everything is in order first.” The chart is passed back to her, and though a friendly smile is plastered on the deliverers face, her eyes hold Mohan’s firmly as she replies.
“Of course, but there’s no need for Mr Perning to be held here longer than he needs. I’m sure he has places he’d rather be than the emergency room, isn’t that right sir? I can get these differentials and treatment plan cleared with Dr Robby and we can cover more patients unfortunately brought here today much like this lovely man.” Her bedside manner is clearly well practiced, but her words are biting against the silence of the room. The man in the bed nods in agreement, not picking up on the icy tension building as Mohan catches on to the meaning in her words.
You’re being slow.
She has to force the corner of her mouth to stop curling downwards as she stares back up at the woman in slight disbelief, somewhat shocked she had the gall to speak to her in such a manner. She couldn’t find a way to dispute her point either, reluctantly rising from her seat to move onto the next patient as she bids goodbye to Mr Perning.
The pair catch Robby as he passes, his eyes darting between them as he senses the newfound tension between two people he otherwise would have thought to work well together.
“We can get a room cleared if you agree with my thoughts, Dr Robby.” Mohan passes over the chart as the other speaks, unsure how to go about detaching herself from someone trying to speed her up through the instruction of someone else who wants her sped up.
“I have other patients to see, I shouldn’t need the extra input for the time being. It might slow me down.” There’s a snap to Mohan’s words as she smiles, leaving swiftly to deal with her next assignments quick enough that she wouldn’t be assigned the new resident again.
“This looks good, you can move forward and get Mr Perning moved out of the room whilst he waits for the meds. As long as you make sure he knows how to take them when he gets home you’re free to dismiss him after.” Robby glances up at Mohan’s figure as she disappears into another room before casting his eyes back at the woman still standing beside him.
There’s a moment of hesitation, feeling like these odd attempts to quell her mood was only upsetting everyone further, but he shakes off the feeling as he hands back the chart.
“Good catch, I’m impressed by the quick thinking, Dr.” She glances up at him, assessing his words for a moment before averting her eye again down to the clipboard in her hands, a lack of obvious change in her behaviour like Robby had expected.
“Thank you. Just doing as Dana asked.” There’s a moment of hesitation for she looks back up, the steel in her eyes faltering for a moment as her brows furrow.
“Did I irritate Dr Mohan? I assumed Dana only wanted her reminding to move on, but she seemed, um, standoffish at the suggestion…” Robby is taken aback by the question, shaking his head as a hand reaches up to scratch the back of neck.
“She needs reminding now and then, though usually that’s my job. You did good, kid.” There’s a twitch of relief but something else overshadows it and the steel returns as she nods in acknowledgement.
“Glad to help. I should get back to it.” She turns on her heels, a sense of defeat washing over Robby as her words remain curt and her departure abrupt.
-
To say the ice was settling in was an understatement. With Santos trying every trick in the book to set off the night shift resident, and her target subsequently getting more tense as the day went on it was starting to affect everyone. She ran through patients with a tight lip and a practiced smile, leaving people confused but unable to complain about not technically being treated wrong. Mohan was avoiding her, Langdon was being driven away from her by Mel and Garcia was well guarded by Santos, leaving only hesitant interactions with Whitaker and Javadi that made her feel like she’d been relegated to the kids’ corner as Robby kept a close eye on her.
“He, he does know I’m not a med student, right?” The aforementioned woman turns to the two younger members, huddled once again to one side during a lull as she inputs metrics into an ipad.
“O-of course. It’s probably just an off day, you’ve been doing great work.” She glances Whitaker up and down, getting slightly more uncomfortable for receiving compliments from a man she had yet to even work a case with.
“I’ve been doing boring work. Be honest, have you been told things about me?” There’s a flinch from both of bodies before her, and her eyes narrow in suspicion as Javadi pipes up.
“Like what? There’s nothing to say, that’s totally unprofessional…” The generally nervous stature of both of them has the resident questioning whether they were actually hiding anything or simply like that, but she presses regardless.
“Something has to be going on. None of your senior residents will work with me, Robby won’t let me out of his eye line and pardon my French, but Santos seems to have a fucking stick up her arse about letting me get anywhere near some action.” Whitaker snorts, glancing over at Santos who has noticed the gathering and starts approaching.
“Santos is just like that. She probably considers you competition.” Javadi’s reply seems to calm the woman for a moment, but the hand that slaps itself onto her shoulder a moment later returns the rigidity to her muscles in no time.
“Forget competition, Switch. I’m just making sure things stay intact.” There’s a grin on Santos’ face that makes the woman she’s gripping onto force down a grimace as she turns to her.
“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Her words are snippy, and Santos can feel the tether about to snap as she squeezes her shoulder firmly.
“Just a little birdy told me that someone has a tendency to break equipment. Reckon everyone’s on high alert to save hospital expenses going through the roof.” The reaction this elicits breaks through her façade, a deadpan glare directing itself at Santos in such an manner that she almost lets go of her grip on the woman.
“Bullshit! I had one incident with some faulty equipment. Is your team so pathetic as to sabotage my day over rumours?” Her words are quiet but cutting, the insult sharply spat at Santos as she starts to lose her focus on her composure after hours of the same shtick.
“I’m only being honest, Switch. You’ve got a name for yourself, probably why they keep you away from the normies by tucking you away on the nightshift.” There’s a cutting confidence to Santos’ words, said so calmly through a smile that she’d get away with the insult to passing ears. Whitaker tries his best to slide in between the two but it has little affect on the two more dominating personalities.
“Your crippling codependency on approval and seeming better than everyone around you would crumble in the first hour on the night shift. You’re talking to me about liabilities like everyone here isn’t perfectly aware you dropped a scalpel into a surgical residents foot mid procedure. Kind of important skill isn’t it, keeping a hold of basic surgical tools?” The cord does in fact snap, and it leaves Santos stunned at the unexpected bite back as her hand withdraws in shock. Whitaker steps forward in an attempt to cool the situation, glancing nervously between the two women.
“Hey now, there’s no need to get hostile, Santos was only joking, right?” The steely gaze flicks over to him, and he shrinks under the unblinking stare of the clearly perturbed woman.
“You’ve been letting her do this to me all day because you don’t have the balls to actually step up so don’t try and be the man who steps into calm the overreactive women. You can’t even get through a sentence without sounding like you even believe yourself, so why do you think that useless excuse will convince me back down from the hostility I’ve been dealing with all day?” She’s seething through oddly quiet words, her voice not raising but still causing the trio in front of her to shrink into themselves.
Watching the group falling to silence, Robby crosses the room to check on the situation, catching the end of her words and drawing their attention to try and get a hold of the situation.
“All of you, break room, now.” Javadi, Whitaker and Santos move to follow his sudden command, but the fourth member stands firm, staring up at him with unbreaking fervour. He returns it with a warning look, but she doesn’t back down.
“Don’t come in here acting like I don’t know this is entirely your fault.” Robby falters for a moment at the words, pondering how her attitude had anything to do with him.
“Oh, don’t look surprised. You’ve gone about today with some stupid insistence that I can be ‘dealt’ with, and even got the rest of your staff involved in some idiot routine, because if my very obvious anger issues can be managed then you have no problems and you are entirely correct in your avoidance of real help and instead you spend your days deflecting your issues onto those around you.” The read has Robby frozen on the spot, unsure what to say as his momentum has been completely swept out from under his feet.
“If we’re done here, I have charts to finish so I can clock out. I would very much like to return to the night shift now.” As before, she’s gone before another word can be said, the three stunned bodies left standing as Javadi looks between them all, glad that her silence had spared her at least for today.
-
Glancing around the room before looking back to Robby, Abbot just shakes his head.
“I told you not to upset her. She’s a good doctor because she can read you like a book. Didn’t you listen to a word I said this morning?” Robby glares back lightly in return, looking around at the drained members of his staff as they slowly swap over into the night shift.
“I tried, brother. Nothing changed her mood, if anything it made it worse.” Almost as if knowing they’re talking about her, the subject of their conversation wanders out with her bag slung over her shoulder and brows laced into a scowl as she beelines for the exit. Abbot catches her with a call of her name, and she falters for a moment before trotting over, looking up at him with a look of attention that she hadn’t even afforded Robby this morning.
“Rob says you did solid work today. Good girl.” The scowl is wiped instantly from her face and she has to suppress a giggle as she smiles sheepishly.
“Oh, well thanks Dr Robby! I’ll see you tomorrow night, Abbot?” He nods, waving her off lightly before turning back to Robby.
“See? She’s easy, it’s like having a dog.” Robby stares at him in slight horror for a moment, exchanging a look with Dana who had been listening at the work station and looks equally shocked.
“I, think I have to report you to HR…”