Back to Work!
“I’m going to need to go home.” Catra says as she sits up in Adora’s bed, “And no. I’m not going to shower and change into your clothes.”
“Why not?” Adora replies as she sips on the soup that Catra had heated up for them and they sit in bed to drink it, “You are more than welcome to borrow my clothes.”
“Your clothes are way too big.” Catra says as she gestures to the hoodie she’s planning to steal as payment for looking after the blonde, “And I still need to change my underwear. I haven’t not showered in such a long time.”
“That’s gross.” Adora sticks her tongue out and scrunches her face, “I wasn’t going to say anything… but you do kind of smell…”
Catra gives her the eye before she cracks up laughing, “You smell. You haven’t showered either. And you’ve been sweating out from that fever.”
“I do not smell.” Adora huffs as she grins into the spoon before consuming the contents, “But… I’m going to go take a shower after I finish this.”
“Cool. You do that, I’m going to go home.” Catra says as she gets off the bed and stretches out, “Am I allowed to leave now that you’ve forced me to rest?”
“I didn’t force you to do anything.” Adora rolls her eyes, “You kept collapsing into my bed.”
Catra grins, “You know… usually when I collapse into a woman’s bed…”
“Do not finish that sentence.” Adora points her spoon at the magicat, “I don’t want to hear about your sex life.”
Catra chuckles, “Guess it’s a good thing that we didn’t end up fucking then, huh?”
Adora’s pauses with the spoon in her mouth this time and thinks about that for a moment, before shaking her head out of thoughts of having sex with the magicat, “Yes. Totally inappropriate. Not to mention we have to work together.”
Catra shrugs, “At least we’re on the same page or whatever.”
“Are we?”
“I’m not going to answer that.” Catra says, “We are not comparing our pays. Not unless we really are fucking and the system is fucking me over by paying you more than me just because you’re pretty.”
Adora frowns before she realises something, “You just called me pretty…”
“I… fuck, I did, didn’t I?” Catra looks away, before grumbling, “Don’t let that go to your big head. It’s already huge.”
Adora can’t help the smile that beams out even brighter, ignoring that little snark at the end, “You think I’m pretty! How embarrassing for you!”
“Ugh.” Catra groans, “…and I’m going to go home now.”
“Wait!” Adora quickly scrambles off the bed, the magicat snagging the half-finished bowl of soup out of the blonde’s hand before she spills it, “Thanks… But don’t go!”
“Why?” Catra looks down at the bowl’s half-finished contents.
“What do you need? For you to stay here… with me…” Adora asks a little shyly, “I just… I don’t want to be alone… just yet.”
Catra just stares at Adora, contemplating her next move. An idea comes to her head, “You know what?”
“What?”
“I think it’d be good if you got some fresh air.” Catra suggests looking out the window, “Will do you some good to get out of here since you haven’t been for any of your runs since I’ve been here.”
Adora looks out the window and hums in agreement, “Sounds good.”
“Good.” Catra grins, “We can stop by my place so I can take a shower and maybe grab a change or clothes or two.”
“Oh, I see what you did there.” Adora grins as she takes her bowl back and starts to spoon the contents again, “You want me to see your place?”
“Sure.” Catra shrugs, “It’s only fair, I guess.”
“Okay. Well, let me finish this and then get changed and we can go.” Adora replies as she tries to scull the soup down before hissing at the heat, “Ow…”
“Dumbass… Don’t burn yourself.” Catra mumbles fondly, “I’m going to go gather my stuff, I guess, while you finish up.”
“Okay.” Adora grins with the spoon in her mouth.
“Oh, it’s so nice out today!” Adora walks out into the warn sunlight with a gentle breeze as she takes it all in after a few days of being stuck inside and in bed, “I’ve missed being outside.”
“We work in a hospital.” Catra deadpans as she shoves her hands in her pockets, “How much outdoor time do you really ever get when you’ve got the day shift?”
“I’ll have you know…” Adora starts to say when she turns to glare at the magicat before she yelps as Catra pulls her back and away from the tree she almost walks into, “…thanks…”
“Dumbass.” Catra says under her breath as they continue to walk towards Catra’s place, “I’m not your personal physician you know? I’ve already helped you through the flu and fever, I’m not planning to have to help you if you get a concussion from walking into things.”
“I do not walk into things… Ow!” Adora hisses when she walks into the overhanging branches of another tree, “Okay. Point taken.” Catra rolls her eyes at the blonde before she’s surprised by Adora’s next question, “Hold my hand?”
“Huh?”
“Hold my hand.” Adora repeats, this time not a question but more of a request, she looks away shyly after said request and adds, “Might help me not walk into things…”
“You want me to hold your hand?” Catra repeats the question.
A blush forms over Adora’s cheeks as she nods meekly, “Look… you don’t have to. I’m probably still full of germs or whatever and you don’t want to touch me right now… oh… okay.”
Catra grabs Adora’s hand and gives it a gentle squeeze, “For the love of the stars, I’ll hold your hand if you stop freaking out over being a disgusting germ ridden being.”
“I did not say disgusting!” Adora pretends to look horrified much to the magicat’s snickering, a smile comes across Adora’s lips, “Thank you though. For… looking after me and staying with me.”
Catra shrugs with the shoulder that’s not connected to the hand that’s holding Adora’s hand, “Call it even for letting me literally crash in your bed.”
A wider smile appears on Adora’s lips, “Okay. We’re even then.”
“Well, for that we are.” Catra grins, “But forcing me to go back with you later… I think that’s one more for me.”
“I’m not forcing you to come back with me!” Adora groans with a pout, her bottom lip jutting out more and then crosses her arms over her chest, letting go of Catra’s hand in the process.
Catra pulls Adora’s arms free and grabs her hand again, “You’re such a child. No wonder you need me at your place to protect you from the Boogey Man.”
And before Adora can respond, Catra starts to laugh. The sound making Adora forget why she was mopey in the first place, in fact, she starts to playfully swing their joined hands, “I’m not a child.”
“I know.” Catra looks over, “Because then whatever this is would be very wrong.”
Adora narrows her eyes at the magicat, pondering that statement for a bit, before asking, “And… what is it that we are doing that’s so wrong?”
Catra just smirks in response as she leads Adora back to her place.
“Come on in.” Catra gestures to Adora when she opens the door to her one bedroom apartment that’s situated on top of a small grocery store, “I’m just going to jump in the shower. Kitchen’s over there if you want something to drink and couch is there.”
Adora looks around the smallish space, there’s no formal dining area, just a trestles table and a chair, the kitchen is fairly small but still boasts an oven and a 2 burner stove top that looks like it gets used quite a bit. The microwave is on the benchtop next to the fridge which surprisingly is full size. Adora watches as Catra disappears into the one room with a door, she opens the door to the fridge to find that it’s fairly empty, except for a jug of water, a couple of beers and an orange juice. There’s no food to be seen at all as she grabs the jug of water out and takes the lone cup that’s sitting in the drying rack and fills it up before heading to the couch.
And that’s when she realises, there’s no tv.
She looks around a little more, Catra’s place, looks bare. There’s no décor. There’s no personal touches. Even the couch and ‘dining’ area look like it came with the apartment as the blonde sighs and sips her water.
Adora starts to think about what she can cook for Catra as a thank you for staying with her again, the magicat’s kitchen and panty are no help at all as she starts to google what magicats can and can’t eat. She’s so caught up in her research she doesn’t even see the shadow that looms over her until she startles up with a scream, “Catra! Don’t do that! You’re going to give me a heart attack!”
Catra tilts her head at the blonde, the fur that’s visible through her shirt and her hair are fluffed up adorably as the magicat looks down at whatever Adora’s reading on her phone, “Magicat dietary needs, huh?”
Adora quickly turns off the device and glares at Catra, “Well, by the sad state of your kitchen, I think I’m going to look after your diet from now on.”
“With what? More cake?” Catra jests as she turns back around and goes to her room again.
Adora gets up and follows Catra into her room, the magicat glances over and grins at Adora who’s awkwardly standing at the doorway, not really sure what to do with herself, “Need help?”
“Packing?” Catra asks before shaking her head with a chuckle, “Nah, I think I’m good.”
“Uh… can I use your bathroom?” Adora asks sheepishly, “I may have drunk like… half of that water in the jug in the fridge…”
“Go nuts.” Catra replies without looking, shoving a few more items in, “Wait!”
“Huh?” Adora stops by the bathroom door.
“Let me just grab my toothbrush.” Catra quickly slides in and gets said item before exiting, “All yours, princess.”
“Thank you.” Adora nods and enters.
“Is this your way of getting me to sleep with you?” Adora asks as Catra gets into her bed and starts to remove her clothes, “You’re not seriously sleeping naked… are you?”
“Problems?” Catra asks, “I can assure you I will not fall asleep if we decide to fuck tonight.”
“Catra!” Adora flushes red.
The magicat groans, “Fine. If you really need me to, I’ll put my clothes back on.”
Adora frowns out a little confused, “You haven’t been sleeping naked before…”
“I was on the brink of unconsciousness before.” Catra shrugs and starts to reach for her discarded clothes, “Plus I wasn’t going to get your snot and spit all over my fur.” The magicat looks at Adora and yawns, “Actually, you’re right. I’m probably going to fall asleep if we do fuck tonight.”
“We are not… we are not doing that.” Adora mutters under her breath as she moves across to grab her sleeping clothes, not noticing that Catra’s fallen asleep mid reach for her garments. The blonde sighs out and gets changed, turning off the lights and then getting into bed with the naked magicat, making sure to turn over to be respectful.
“Mm… warm.” Catra mumbles as she turns over and wraps herself against Adora’s back.
In her sleep state, Adora pulls Catra’s arm up and hugs it against her chest, pushing herself back into the magicat’s body and humming happily when her body feels the vibrations of Catra’s purr.
And… that’s how they wake up in the morning.
The magicat waking up first and realising that Adora’s got a death grip on the arm she’s got hugged to her chest.
“Adora.” Catra whispers, “Adora. I need my arm back…”
“Mm… no. Mine.” Adora pulls it further across and hugs it tighter, the motion making Catra get even closer to the blonde.
Catra sighs, “Adora.”
No response.
“Adora…” This time the magicat sing songs her name, “Wakey wakey…”
“Hm?” Adora finally rouses and then flickers her eyes open, enjoying the warmth of Catra in her bed, and then, “Oh, shit… did we? Did I? Oh my stars… I’m so sorry Catra! I didn’t mean to take advantage of you! I swear.”
“Adora.” Catra deadpans, “Will you quit freaking out. Nothing fucking happened. Well, nothing except maybe me dry humping you… but I’m not even sure that happened.”
“Oh…” Adora says still holding on to Catra’s arm.
“Uh… can I have my arm back?” Catra asks.
“Oh! Yes! Here. It’s all yours!” Adora releases the magicat’s limb and then turns over to apologise again when her eyes widen at the sight of Catra half naked, the blanket down around her waist as she stretches out, “Stars…”
“Fucking hell. Have you never seen another naked person before?” Catra asks before adding, “Actually scratch that. You went to medical school. You should have seen at least a few cadavers. And they definitely are not clothed.”
Adora’s brain is still too gay to function as she turns beet red and tries to look away.
Catra shoves Adora’s face with a laugh, “Fuck. You’re so gay.”
“I am.” Adora admits looking away now.
“Well… you’ve seen me.” Adora nods slowly and then feels the bed dip closer to her, Catra leans close into the blonde’s ear and rasps out teasingly, “Show me yours.”
“What…?” Adora turns to look Catra in the eye, but her eyes drop down again as the magicat smirks, “Stars….”
Catra laughs, “Okay! Okay.” The magicat grabs the blanket and wraps it around herself, “You should probably go shower while I get dressed.”
“Uh…” Adora’s replies as she has to physically shake herself out of whatever gay mess she’s fallen into, “Right! Right… I’ll just… go shower.”
Catra grabs her clothes and drops the blanket to get dressed, while Adora gathers fresh clothes and heads for the shower. As she reaches the door, Catra asks while grabbing her phone and opening the device, “Do you want me to text Bow that we’ll be right to head back to work tonight or tomorrow-oh…”
Adora smirks as she stands at the bathroom door in all her naked glory, “What’s wrong, Catra?” the blonde gains in confidence at the look on Catra’s stunned face, “Just making sure we’re even.”
And with that, Adora disappears into the bathroom, leaving Catra still shocked with her jaw dropped to the ground.
“It’s so good to see you two back at work!” Bow grins and pulls Adora into a hug before holding out a fist for Catra to bump, “We are so understaffed right now, it’s not funny.”
“Yeah?” Catra replies looking around, “Flu?”
“Yeah.” Bow nods, “I’ve been trying to get coverage for the last few days. And it has been hectic.”
“Well, you’ve got the 2 of us back now.” Adora smiles, “Oh, I’m so glad we’ve got night shift. I don’t think I can handle a morning just yet.”
“You and me both.” Catra chuckles, “How are you holding up, Arrows?”
He looks around for a moment and then shuts the staff room door, standing with his back on it just in case someone was to walk in, “Prime is under investigation for another 2 deaths. Since you two were gone…”
“Who?” Catra asks.
Bow grimaces a little, “Mr Walkens and Mr Brent.”
Catra looks at Adora, “What happened? I thought Walkens was only in for a mild case of pneumonia and Mr Brent… remind me again what Mr Brent was in for?”
“He donated a kidney to his daughter.” Adora replies looking angrily down at her feet, “He was healthy. How could this have happened?”
“Let me guess, Prime took over their care.” Catra says knowingly, a low growl escaping her, “How did he do it? More dodgy medications or dodgy care plans?”
“Uh… they both coded when I wasn’t on shift.” Bow replies, “I only heard from Glimmer after it happened.”
“Okay.” Catra nods, “Is he on shift tonight?”
“Stars, no.” Bow chuckles, “You know how prissy he is. He never does these night shifts.”
“Great. So, I won’t get charged for assault for punching him in the face if I saw him tonight.” Catra replies before standing in front of Bow, “We better go to the handover.”
Adora and Bow both nod in unison and head back out to the main floor to meet the day staff.
“Mrs Wilson.” Catra walks in, “I see your new hip surgery went well.”
“Ah, Dr Catra!” Mrs Wilson beams back, “I’ve missed you!”
“I’m sure that’s just the drugs talking.” Catra replies light heartedly as she flips through the older woman’s chart and then pauses, “Has Dr Prime been in to see you?”
“Oh yes.” Mrs Wilson confirms and Catra’s heart drops a little, “Tall, pale and scary if you ask me.”
“What did he want?”
“He was insisting to take over from you. I told him it wasn’t necessary and that I would prefer a female doctor.” Mrs Wilson says, “That seemed to shut him up. So, while you were away, Dr Glimmer took over my care.”
Catra laughs, “Great. So, you’re only my patient because of my gender?”
“No, Doc.” Mrs Wilson smiles, “It would have taken much longer if I told him I wanted the grumpy magicat. He would have argued with me like I’ve heard him sweet talk other patients. Figured the gender thing would work in my favour. And guess what? It totally did.”
“You’re such a badass, Mrs Wilson.” Catra reaches out and squeezes the woman’s shoulder, “How’s the pain?”
“These wonderful drugs, Dr Glimmer have me on are amazing!” Mrs Wilson smiles widely back, clearly still on a high as Catra checks the medications and levels, “I don’t even feel my hip.”
“Hm… that probably also means you don’t feel the urge to use the bathroom either, huh?” Catra points out.
“Huh…” Mrs Wilson takes a moment to think, “Good point, have I wet the bed?”
“No. You’ve got a catheter in but I’ll have the nurse help you if you need it emptied. It’s looking pretty full.” Catra replies with a shake of the head, “And I’m lowering these happy drugs so that you still have some control.”
“Okay.” The older woman smiles back, “It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, Mrs Wilson.” Catra says with a genuine smile, “I’ll be back a little later on. Rest up.”
“You okay?” Catra nudges Adora’s shoulder as they stand outside a patient’s room, the magicat looks at the name on the board, “Why are you frowning at Turtleman?”
Adora smiles at that comment as it breaks her out of her current thought, “You know for a fact, his name is not Turtleman.”’
“Looks like one.” Catra shrugs, “Call it like a I see it.”
Adora rolls her eyes and sighs, “Mr Donner-Tello meds were changed and he’s condition is not getting better. He was supposed to be discharge by now.”
“Shit.” Catra replies as she pulls Adora towards the patient and grabs the chart, “Hm… these meds are… wrong. You can’t pair these two together. He’s going to get a clot.”
“I’ve stopped the meds as you can see on the notes.” Adora points to her handwriting on the file, “But… it’s been three days…”
“Fuck…” Catra stares at the man sleeping in bed, “Hold on.”
“What are you doing? Let him sleep.” Adora tries to stop Catra from moving to Mr Donner-Tello’s side and shaking his shoulder gently.
“Yo, Turtleman.” Catra says with a soft voice, as the man eyes flutter open and focus on Catra, “Sorry to wake you up.”
“Hey Scratch. Where you been?” Turtleman grins sleepily at the magicat, “This tall and really pale dude said a bunch of mumbo jumbo, think he was a doctor… I thought I was going to be out of here yesterday but he said that I’d need to stay another week to monitor something or another.”
“Vague.” Catra replies with a grin, “Who was this tall dude?”
“Uh… doctor, I think.” Turtleman repeats and it looks like he’s about to fall asleep again, “Said my current med plan wasn’t good enough or something…”
“How are you feeling, Mr Donner-Tello?” Adora cuts in, “Any… issues?”
“Oh, hey doc.” Turtleman sits up a little straighter like he’s trying to impress Adora, even going as far as slicking back his unkempt hair, “You can call me Ralph.”
“Don’t bother, Turtleman.” Catra tries not to laugh, “She’s not straight.” She turns to Adora, “Guess I was right about the whole ‘guys lining around the block to mmphf!’”
Catra’s last words are muffled by Adora’s hand over the magicat’s mouth as Catra laughs into it, Ralph just looks at the pair with a new understanding, “Oh… you two are… I get it. Say no more.”
Adora looks at him in realisation at what she thinks he knows before she quickly removes her hand from Catra’s mouth, “We aren’t… I’m not…”
“You’re not?” There’s a hopeful tinge in his voice and he smirks at Catra thinking he might have a chance.”
“No, Turtleman.” Catra reiterates, “She meant that she’s not with me. Even though it’s a huge loss on her part.”
Ralph contemplates that for a second before nodding and then says, “You are a good egg.”
“The best egg!” Adora laughs out at the compliment directed at Catra, “Speaking of eggs… would you say the tall dude that changed your medication plan was a good egg or a bad egg?”
“Dude is a fucked up rotten egg, if you ask me. Which… you obviously did.” Ralph rambles a little and Catra laughs out, he glares at her, “Shut up, Scratch. I’m fucking tired and you woke me up from a really good dream.”
“How good?” Catra asks putting his chart back.
He grins at Catra, “You’re lucky you woke me up when you did. Otherwise, this would be a very awkward situation for all of us involved.”
“Gross dude.” Catra scrunches up her face, “Speaking of good times… when’s your missus coming in?”
“Tomorrow.” He replies with a smile, “Reckon she’ll help me out?”
“Please don’t.” Adora groans out, “Please.”
Catra and Ralph both laugh, the magicat patting the man on the shoulder, “I don’t think April is into that. Besides, there’s zero privacy in this place.” Her face turns a little more serious, “But really, how have you been feeling? Any pain? Numbness? Weird sensations not including the one we both get around Doc Adora here?”
“Catra!” Adora slaps the magicat’s shoulder.
Once again, the pair share another laugh as Ralph thinks back, “Now that I think about it… I’ve been getting a little bit of tingling in my fingers and toes. I figured it was because I’ve been lying in bed all day, you know?”
“Hm.” Catra hums as Adora takes a look at the machine he’s hooked up to as the magicat looks at his fingers, “How long?”
“I don’t know.” He replies thinking back, “Maybe… a day or two?”
Adora whispers into Catra’s ears, “His O2 sats are a little low. I’m thinking blood thinners in case there is a clot.” Catra nods and Adora then clears her throat to speak to Ralph again, “Can I see your fingers please?”
“Sure.” Ralph holds his hand out for Adora to inspect, “Do you want to see my toes too? I’ve got compression socks on though…”
“Yeah, let me just check your fingers first.” Adora says as she takes his hand and presses each of them to see how long it takes for the blood to return as Catra steps out of the room to retrieve the blood thinners, “Okay. Your fingers are taking a little longer than usual to return to its original colour. I’m just going take a look at your toes, alright?”
“Go for it.” Ralph replies wiggling his toes playfully, “I do apologize for the smell though.”
“Don’t worry about it, Donut-tello.” Catra saunters back in with an IV bag in her hands and a smirk on her face, “You should have smelt princess after a few days with fever and flu.”
Ralph smiles back, “Are you sure you two aren’t together?”
“Yes.” Adora replies quickly as she flicks the blanket off his legs and pulls off the compression socks, repeating the same test she did on his fingers, “Your toes seem fine.”
“Phew.” Ralph dramatically says, “Guess those compression socks do work.”
“Hey Turtleman, what does April do?” Catra asks as she hooks up the IV bag.
“She’s a reporter with the local news.” He replies proudly, “She’s amazing.”
“And… you’re hitting on your doctor?” Catra says with a shake of her head.
“In my defence… shut up.” He huffs out with a grin, “I’m just trying to be your wingman.”
“Don’t need one, bro.” Catra replies, “But thanks for the offer.”
“Like I said, you’re a good egg. And I like good eggs.” Ralph replies with a genuine smile and then turns to Adora, “Am I going to be okay?”
“We’ll need to monitor you.” Adora says as she pulls up the clipboard and starts writing more notes on the file, walking over to the IV bag and noting the rate and amount it’s been set to, smiling gratefully at Catra, “Thank you.”
“Get used to Adora coming in and out every hour.” Catra says as she nudges Adora’s shoulder, “You’re in very good egg hands.”
“I know.” Ralph nods, “She’s a really good egg too.”
“Thanks.” Adora smiles back proudly, “Use the bell if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
“We’ll let you rest.” Adora replies as a nurse comes in and helps put the compression socks back on his feet before smoothing the blanket back down and over his legs, “I’ll try not to bother you too much.”
Ralph nods as Adora smiles again and walks out, he quickly reaches out and grabs Catra’s wrist, “Scratch. Don’t let her get away. You’ll regret it.”
“I won’t.” Catra nods to him, “Get some rest, Turtleman.”
“Will do. Or try to.” He replies as he gets himself comfortable again and closes his eyes, the magicat dimming the lights over him as she walks out.
Catra walks past Adora sitting in the staff room, reading something with great attention, the magicat heading to check on another patient in the meantime.
She walks into the dimly lit room and grabs the chart on the end of the bed, flipping through it when the occupant stirs, “…Catra? Is… is that you?”
Catra’s ear flicker up on her head, “Yeah. Miss me, Eve?”
“What are you doing in here?” Eve lays back down on her bed and winces a little, repositioning her arm, “That Dr Prime was trying to change my meds.”
“Oh yeah?” Catra keeps reading through the notes, “He hasn’t written anything down on here.”
“I refused.” Eve replies as she closes her eyes again, “Told him I’d punch him in the face with my good arm if he tried to.”
Catra grins as she looks up at the young woman with the broken arm, “Cast itching?”
“Like crazy.”
“Don’t use a pen to scratch it. It’ll probably wind up inside the cast. I should know.” Catra replies with a light-hearted tone, “The amount of weird things that end up in casts…”
“Too late.” Eve replies with a smile, “There’s already a pen, 2 forks and a think a couple of coins in there.”
“2 forks?” Catra repeats with a chuckle.
Eve laughs, “No, dumbass.”
“Quit playing, Eve.” Catra replies as puts the chart down and checks Eve’s arm and cast, “No one’s signed this yet, huh?”
“No.” Eve replies a little sadly.
“I’m surprised Glitter and Arrows haven’t been here already.” Catra says, “That’s like something they’d be all over.”
“Honestly, they’ve both looked really stressed. I think the hospital was short staffed.” Eve says cracking an eye open when she feels a weight on the cast, “What are you doing?”
“Giving you my one of a kind autograph.” Catra says as she sticks her tongue out to draw a picture of herself before signing it off with her name, “Oh, hang on. I’ll draw Dr Blondie too and you can ask her to sign it.”
“Dr Blondie… oh, you mean Dr Adora.” Eve laughs, “Of course you’d have a nickname for her too.”
Catra just grins back as she finishes drawing Adora’s face on the cast as well.
“Okay, I’m done interrupting your sleep.” Catra declares, “I’ll see you at breakfast to check on you before I finish my shift.”
“Thanks, Catra.” Eve closes her eyes again.
CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE! ROOM 103! ROOM 103! CODE BLUE!
Catra looks up from the file she’s currently reading, the code automatically has her on her feet and rushing out the door to assist. As she swerves around the corner, she nearly runs into Dr Netossa, “Nets.” Catra greets quickly as they both rush to room 103.
“No time for pleasantries!” Dr Netossa says as she grabs the crash cart while Catra goes on ahead, getting to the room where Adora is already going through the stages of the code.
“Princess.” Catra quickly greets as she takes over the compressions, “Nets is on her way with the cart.”
“Thanks.” Adora relinquishes her spot and moves to get the oxygen set up while Dr Netossa gets the cart in place and puts the pads on Mr Donner-Tello, Adora looks up at the monitor beeping loudly next to her, “He’s going into V-tach!”
“Get out of the way, Cat!” Dr Netossa practically shoves the magicat to the side, Catra quickly moves around to the other side of the bed to make space, while the paddles are put onto the pads, a nurse quickly comes around to help with the machine, “Set. Clear!”
Everyone takes a step back away from the patient as a jolt of electricity goes through Mr Donner-Tello, Catra stares at the machine, the waves of the heart rhythm still jaunty as she waits for Dr Netossa to give the all clear to resume compressions, the magicat grunts, “Come on, Turtleman! Your missus is going to be pissed if you die!”
“Clear!” Dr Netossa shouts up again as everyone takes a step back and another shock is sent through Mr Donner-Tello, “Come on… come on…”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“It’s going back into normal rhythm!” Adora shouts in relief as Dr Netossa does a quick assessment, the blonde fiddles around with the oxygen levels before frowning, “I don’t get how this happened?”
Catra looks over him too, Dr Netossa frowns, “Fucking Prime…” she says under her breath as the other two doctors look at her in surprise, the older woman huffs out, “We need to prep Turtleman for surgery.”
“Clot.” Catra says and Dr Netossa nods, “Reckon it’s gone down his leg.”
“How can you tell?” Adora looks him over.
Catra flips the blanket off his legs and pulls down both compression socks, “His toes.” The magicat points out, “I’ll help wheel him down to surgery.”
“I’ll go with you.” Adora says.
“No.” Dr Netossa quickly says, “I need you to stay on this floor in case we get more codes.”
Adora nods with a somewhat disappointed look on her face, “Okay.”
“Come on.” Catra says to the nurse and the pair quickly wheel Ralph out.
Catra stares through the doors as Mr Donner-Tello is incubated and prepped for surgery, she nods to the surgeon, who in turn nods back to the magicat and then get to work.
“We need to inform April.” Catra tells the nurse, “She needs to know what’s happening.”
“Yes, Catra.” The nurse nods and they head back up to their floor.
“Mrs Donner-Tello?” Catra asks on the phone as she leans up against the wall next to the nurses station.
“Scratch. I told you not to call me that.” April replies on the other side of the line, “It’s still O’neill.”
Catra smiles, the exchange is familiar but now tinged with a sense of guilt and dread, “Right, Ms O’neill.”
“What’s going on, doc?” April asks, concern in her voice.
Catra sighs, “Turtleman’s in surgery for a suspected blood clot in his leg.”
“What?!” April shrieks into the phone, her voice getting more intense, “Is he alright?!”
“We had to shock him twice because he went into CA.” Catra replies, knowing that the woman she is talking to knows most of the jargon, “We managed to get his heart back to normal but yeah, Turtleman’s down in surgery now to get rid of hopefully just the one clot in the leg and that bit that got to his heart…”
“Stars…” April sounds horrified, “I’m on my way.” In the background, Catra can hear her say, “I don’t care if this is a live cross, I need to go!”
“He’s got the best surgeon working on him, April.” Catra tells her, “I’ll keep you updated if any changes.”
“Thanks Scratch.” April hangs up and Catra hands the phone back to the nurse.
“Hey.” Adora nudges Catra’s shoulder as they stand in front of the vending machines, “Need change?”
“Nah. I’m just looking.” Catra replies with dead stare into her reflection on the glass of the machines, “And this time I’ve got some change.”
Adora stares at their reflections, noticing Catra’s demeanour, “Hey. Come on. I’ve got something better than this stuff.”
“I know you do.” Catra replies with a slight smile.
“Then you will know that I brought an extra big piece of cake. So, you’ll have to help me eat it.” Adora turns and smiles at the magicat, her hand held out to Catra, “Please?”
Catra slowly blinks and then reaches out to Adora’s hand without looking, “You can’t keep feeding me cake, you know?”
“I can too, keep feeding you cake.” Adora smiles even more brightly at the challenge.
Catra nods and lets Adora lead her back to the staff room and they sit down across from one another, eating cake. The magicat looks down at her slice, “You totally could have finished this all by yourself.”
“I could have. But then who’s looking after my wellbeing?” Adora says matter of factly.
That makes Catra laugh, “I guess that’s fallen onto my lofty shoulders, huh?”
Adora nods, “Yes. And…” she looks to Catra a little shyly, “I’m here for you too. For like… cake. Or if you want to talk or just hang out or… whatever…”
Catra takes in all of Adora’s rambling words and nods, “Yeah, you’re not too bad company.”
“Gee, thanks.” Adora rolls her eyes with a shake of her head and a small grin, “Why am I giving you my cake, again?”
“Cake to my heart, right?” Catra lifts a piece to her mouth and eats it, watching Adora blush slightly and then nod.
“Scratch!” A woman’s voice calls out from the nurses station as Catra walks past, the magicat stopping and turning towards the woman, “Where is he?”
“Still in surgery, April.” Catra replies, “Feel free to wait in his room if you want to.”
“What happened?” April asks as Adora walks by Catra and stops next to the magicat, concern on her face.
Catra looks around, “Come on, we’ll talk in Turtleman’s room.”
The trio all walk back to Turtleman’s room, Catra shutting the door when they are all inside, “Do you know when or why his medication was changed?”
“Shouldn’t that be written on his file somewhere?” April frowns at the pair.
“You’re right, it should.” Adora agrees, “But it doesn’t. So that’s why we’re asking you.”
“I’m not sure.” April replies thinking back, “Ralphy was only supposed to be in here for a few days but then I got a call from him telling me that the other doc came in and said that he’d need to stay an extra week for some… tests.”
“Turtleman’s head knock was treated. He was only due to stay a few days until the dizziness and the bleeding went down.” Catra says, “He should have been gone home while I was off work.”
“I know.” April sighs, “Does it usually take this long?”
“The surgery? Sometimes, yes.” Catra replies, “This… doc that told you that Turtleman needed to stay and extra week… do you remember his name or what he looked like?”
“Yes.” April replies, “He took over his care plan so his name should be on the chart.”
“Yeah, that didn’t quite happen either.” Catra rolls her neck, “Name? Appearance?”
“Prime. He called himself Prime.” April replies, “I remember because the whole time he was talking all I could think that he was a Prime-asshole!”
Catra laughs, “I agree.” and then looks out the door and spots something, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
By the elevators, Mr Donner-Tello is being wheeled back up and to his room. Catra grabs the surgeon before she can skip away, “Hey, Traps. Talk to me.”
“Oh, Catra!” Dr Entrapta beams, “Surgery went very well! I cleared the clot that had broken into 3 pieces! Want to see?!”
“Stars, no.” Catra replies, “I believe you.”
“Oh, okay.” Dr Entrapta fiddles with something in her pockets before taking her hands back out, “He should make a full recovery. Though… whatever drug Dr Prime is prescribing or adding to all of these patients needs to be stopped.”
“Do you know which drug?” Catra asks.
“Yes!” Dr Entratpa says, “It’s an experimental new drug called GreenX. It took a while to isolate it but after a little bit or a lot of overtime… Emily and I figured it out!”
“Uh huh.” Catra narrows her eyes at the smaller woman in front of her.
Dr Entrapta leans in to whisper into Catra’s ear, “It’s completely untested and should not be here. He’s experimenting on a lot of patients here. He needs to be stopped. This drug is causing all sorts of havoc from blood clots to severe reactions with other medications…”
“I know.” Catra says as she places a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Something is currently in motion to get him kicked out.”
The statement makes Dr Entratpa perk up in excitement, “Good! I’m tired of these… unnecessary procedures if they could be avoided in the first place.”
“Well, I’m tired of patients dying for no reason.” Catra growls out and her friend nods in agreeance, the magicat looks at the time on her watch, “I better go talk to his missus.”
“Okay. Don’t be a stranger!” Dr Entrapta calls out as she starts walking backwards towards the elevators, “You have to come over to play video games! Or D&D! It’s not as fun when there’s no one providing any type of challenge.”
Catra cracks a smile at her friend, “Tee it up and I’ll be there.”
“Count on it! I’ll have Emily organise a time and day once she looks over our schedules and finds a slot for us to play!” The purple haired woman says as she reverses into the elevator, not caring that other people are in there too, “Talk soon!”
Catra waves to her friend before turning around and heading to Turtleman’s room.
“Are you sure? GreenX is illegal. How did it even get in here?” Dr Netossa says in the safety and privacy of the staff room, “This is all kinds of wrong!”
“I know.” Catra nods, as does Adora, “Sparkles said that Prime is currently under investigation for Mrs Boots’ death, but I fear that won’t be enough to get him kicked out and deregistered.”
Netossa sighs, “We need to go through all the files and see who else he’s got his fingers into.”
“No need.” Adora says and the pair look at the blonde confused, “We don’t need to go through the files because we can get actual witness testimonies.”
“Not if they are already dead.” Catra points out.
“Yes, we can.” Adora argues, “There’s relatives that can vouch for them. They can’t have changed the medication plans without the patient’s knowledge and even so, if Prime is taking people away from their physicians, there would need to be some sort of paper trail or consultation.”
“There are gaps in the paperwork that we can link to Prime if he’s been doing it during his shift. We’ll need to cross reference everything to see if there’s a pattern, which there should be.” Catra says and then groans, “You know what? I don’t have time to do this and work…”
“That is a lot of work.” Netossa adds, “Do you know who Glimmer has looking into Prime?”
“No.” Adora shakes her head, “I think it’s an internal investigation. But as you know how that goes…”
“Payout.” Catra and Netossa say at the same time and Adora nods.
“So… I don’t know. I can’t lose this job.” Adora says, “I like it here, just not… everyone.”
Catra smiles knowingly at Adora as Netossa glances between the pair and smirks, “Are you sure you both were sick? Or was it love sick?”
Catra laughs and Adora blushes, the magicat shoving Netossa playfully, “Adora was genuinely sick. Have you not met her before?” Netossa grins as Catra continues, “I had to literally pin her to the bed so she wouldn’t go to work.”
“What?! No!” Adora rushes out, “You didn’t pin me to the bed! If anything I had to pin you to the bed so you wouldn’t just leave again and collapse somewhere!”
“Gross. I don’ t need know about your bedroom antics.” Netossa jests before going back to the issue at hand, “So… what do we do?”
“I’ll talk to Traps about getting Emily to go through the files and find inconsistencies in the paperwork.” Catra says, “While we go talk to everyone on this floor, including Prime’s patients, check their charts and care plans. Just take note of any… irregularities. Princess…” She looks to Adora, “Talk to Sparkles and Arrows and see where they’re at with this whole investigation and Nets, find out what you can about Mr Brent and Mr Walkens. I heard their deaths weren’t caused by what they were admitted with.”
Netossa doesn’t miss a beat, “Princess, huh?”
Adora blushes again as she juts her thumb to the door, “Well, I better get… yeah, I’ll ask Bow and Glimmer.”
And like that, Adora quickly rushes out of the room.
“Really, Nets?” Catra groans, “Way to scare her off.”
“What?” Netossa gestures to herself innocently, “Me? I would never.”
“Your face says differently.” Catra points to the smirk on Netossa’s face, “Anyway, we still have a few hours before day shift starts.”