Emergency Response
Sitting in the ER winding a dirty cloth around her bleeding hand was not how Shiva has hoped her evening would unfold.
"Miss Lavellan?" a voice came from the door to her left. "Follow me, please."
She stood up, picking up her black drawstring backpack, and followed the nurse through the door and through a narrow hallway and around a corner into a room. Her bag clanged with the sound of hollow metal as they walked, and she quickly shoved it out of sight in the examination room. Following a suspicious look, he unraveled the grease-stained cloth from her hand, giving her a questioning look.
"It was all I could find." She blurted out. Her eyes were wide and frightened as she saw the wound exposed to the light, and she felt faint at the sight of the blood.
The nurse sighed, and scratched his stubble. "You've really done it this time." he tutted quietly. "Why couldn't you enjoy doing something more, I don't know, legal?" He shook his head and smiled lightly. Holding her wound shut, he disinfected it and applied a healing antibiotic cream on top of the wound. The bleeding went through the ointment he had put on her, so he quickly wrapped it in gauze. "Hold this. I'll get the doctor in in just a moment." he instructed, forming her hand into a fist.
"Thanks, Anders." Shiva offered weakly. He flashed a sympathetic glance at her, and walked out the door. Anders had been her friend for several years, following the first time she had gotten too drunk at a college party and he was still a nursing student. She had begged him, a complete stranger, to take her home, and then promptly passed out in his car. They got to know each other quite well the morning after, during which she had spent the majority of the day puking into his trash bin from the couch and asking for various bland foods. Somehow, all these years later, they had built a friendship from that.
The door clicked shut behind him, prompting Shiva to stand up quickly. Looking around the room, she saw the box of small latex gloves, and grabbed two fistfuls of them before quickly stowing them in her bag. 'These will come in handy later,' she thought, hiding them under the cans of spray paint. She swiftly stuffed the bag under the patient's chair and sat back down as the doctor entered the room.
"Doctor Otsoa." He extended his hand.
Shiva avoided taking it. "We've met." She said tersely, and held her bloodied hand to him. He eyed her warily, and reached over to put on a pair of gloves. He paused, looking at the emptied box, and unlocked the cabinet below to open a fresh pack. Anders came back in the room to drop off a tray of supplies, and then exited as quickly as he had come. The doctor slipped on his gloves, sat down on a rolling stool, and scooted up towards Shiva.
He unwrapped the gauze gingerly, sharply inhaling as he saw the deep cut exposed. "Hold it just like that." he instructed, keeping her palm faced up. He prepped his needle and surgical thread. "What was it today? The stairs again?" he asked, bemused. "Or perhaps it was your cat this time?"
Shiva scoffed. "I cut my hand."
"How very observant of you." The doctor responded sarcastically. Shiva winced as he put the needle through her skin. "I at least would like to know what it was that injured you this time. In the case of infection..."
"It was some wire. I was making a sculpture." She lied. "I saw a cute DIY Andraste sculpture on Pinterest I wanted to try out."
"Of course you did." He replied dryly, a look of obvious distrust on his face. He pulled the last stitch through, and reached over to clip it. "Take better care of yourself, lethallan." He rolled his chair back. "I hope to not see you in here for a while."
Shiva scoffed. "I'm just clumsy." She stood up, and snatched her bag surreptitiously. "See you around, Doc." she hurried out the room.
"I bet I will." He grumbled under his breath.