Chapter 4
Clarke poured a second glass of wine and sat on the couch. The TV played on mute as she reviewed the scans and papers Dr. Jaha had given her after visiting her dad earlier that day. Jake had been awake enough to talk but not fully cognizant of the conversation. She sat by his side for half an hour, holding his hand, and talking about nothing important. She was thankful for the time with him but plagued by responsibilities downstairs. The man, a construction worker, was admitted to the ICU after surgery and had not awoken by the time she returned. She would need to check on him the next day. She wondered who would break the news of his brother’s death.
Someone knocked. When she pulled the heavy wooden door open, Raven was standing on her porch with takeout bags in one hand and her motorcycle helmet in the other. Clarke moved to the side to let her in.
“I didn’t hear you drive up,” she said.
“Surprised you aren’t yelling at me, to be honest,” she said.
“Well, you brought food, so I’ll wait until after we eat.”
Raven picked up one of the papers as Clarke unboxed the food. She read over the results. The cancer had spread despite the chemo and radiation. Jake had less than three months according to Jaha’s assessment. He was being released from the hospital within the next few days to return home with hospice care.
“Apparently, he was never going to do the treatments,” Clarke said. “Mom wanted him to at first, but he decided to stop everything. He wants to go home.”
“I don’t blame him,” she said.
“I called Mom earlier and we kind of fought about it.”
“I’m sure she understands, Clarke.”
They ate in silence for a while. Clarke stared at the silent TV screen. Raven was glad she came by and worried about the next few months. She wanted to offer time off but knew the offer would fall on deaf ears. Clarke would rather have the distraction of work rather than sit at home anyway.
“How was surgery with Dr. Woods?” she asked.
“Good,” Raven said. “She seems like a good doc. A good surgeon. She didn’t talk too much which was good.”
Clarke chuckled. “You love to talk,” she said. “Especially about yourself.”
“Speaking of, did you tell her I fight?”
“Maybe. I think I mentioned your boxing. I hate when you call it fighting.”
Raven sighed, leaning back on the couch, and put her hands on her stomach. She closed her eyes with a wide smile.
“Doesn’t matter what you call it, princess,” Raven said. “I’ll kick her skinny ass any day of the week.”
Raven lost. She lay on the canvas, a bruise already forming on her upper arm and ribs, as Lexa sat cross-legged nearby. She was smiling much too smugly. Raven was okay with losing. She lost to Lincoln many more times than she won, but she had not been expecting Lexa to beat her so easily.
“Give it up, Woods,” Raven said.
Lexa laughed. “Did I forget to mention that I started training when I was, like, three?” she asked.
“Yes, you did. Who taught you?”
“My dad fought in the UFC.”
Raven sat up despite the pain in her torso. “Wait, really?” she asked, excitedly. “What’s his name?”
“Nick Woods,” she said. “Ever heard of The Woodsman?”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m pretty sure it would be easy to check if I was lying.”
Raven pulled an oversized tee over her sports bra and slipped on her tennis shoes. She decided to shower at work before the start of her shift instead of going home first. If she went home, she would want to stay.
“Why did you transfer to our hospital?” Raven asked as they walked out of the gym.
“Just needed a change, I guess,” she said. “Costia told me about the opening in the trauma wing. I’d been talking about returning to emergency anyway. I like the chaos.”
“Well, you’ll definitely get your share of chaos,” she said.
She wanted to ask if they were friends or more than friends but did not want to bombard Lexa with questions during their first sparring session and time out of the hospital. Lexa would make a good sparring partner. She did not want to make the woman uncomfortable.
They said their goodbyes as Raven climbed onto her bike. Lexa climbed into an expensive SUV and drove off.
“What the hell happened to your arm?” Clarke asked.
Raven had showered and grabbed clean scrubs from the hampers when Clarke came into the locker room. The bruise had turned a dark purple color but did not hurt as badly as she assumed it would. Clarke wrapped her hand around her elbow to look more closely at the bruise.
“Lexa and I sparred earlier,” she said. “It looks worse than it is.”
“It looks worse than it is?” she asked, shocked. “That’ll be there for weeks, Rae.”
“That’s show business, baby.”
Clarke rolled her eyes and pushed her friend away. Raven laughed.
The all-call was made over the intercom. Clarke ran from the locker room and to the door where too many ambulances were starting to arrive. She could see four in the bay and more turning into the parking lot. Paramedics rushed past with stretchers and patients.
“Indra,” she said. “Call everyone in.”
Clarke attempted to stabilize a woman with a gunshot wound to her head. She came in unconscious and never recovered. She died after five minutes of resuscitation. She moved on to the next victim which she later learned was a shooting at the mall. A young girl had been shot in the arm which she handed over to Octavia who took lead in the surgery. Clarke chose to stay on the floor for the more intense cases. There was a total of fifteen victims.
“Where do you need me?” Dr. Woods asked as soon as she entered the doors.
“Trauma three,” she said. “Raven’s in there, too. GSW to the chest.”
“Got it.”
“OR two is open when you’re ready.”
Lexa waved a hand to acknowledge the words before entering the trauma room. Bloody rags and clothing were scattered on the floor from the small view Clarke had from the bay. She had no idea if the woman would survive but figured the two doctors were her best chance. Raven could handle the heart while Lexa worked on the rest.
Once all the patients were transferred to their correct places, Clarke assisted Lincoln with a GSW to the stomach. The surgery took an hour. She checked on the other victims before checking on Raven and Dr. Woods who seemed to have everything under control.
“Her family just arrived,” Clarke said on the other side of the glass. “Should I give them an update?”
“Bullet missed the heart,” Raven said. “We repaired the lungs. We’ll be closing her up in a little bit. Looks good so far. Just tell her the basics. I’ll know more in half an hour.”
“Thanks,” she said.
Clarke sat with the family and answered as many questions as she could about her condition without revealing too much. After walking out of the meeting, she realized how exhausted she was. Her feet and back ached. She had not sat down for hours. With the emergency room calm again, Clarke could breathe. She smiled when she saw Lincoln and Octavia standing near the nurse’s station, whispering about something, and Indra shooing them away a moment later.
She thought about her dad who was lying in a room upstairs. Her dad was her biggest supporter. He was the person who loved her more than anyone else and she was losing him with every passing minute. As much as her heart wanted to dwell on the sadness, she pushed it aside and focused on the people she could help.
Hours had passed since the mall shooting and the emergency room was finally free of cops. She did not mind them being in her hospital, but they tended to get in the way of her staff.
“I’m going to get food,” Raven said. “What do you want?”
“I’m not hungry,” Clarke replied.
“What do you want to eat, Clarke?”
She sighed and looked up from the computer screen.
“A salad from Green District,” she said. “You know what I like.”
“Unfortunately, I do. Let me ask Lexa what she wants and then I’m going.”
“You two are friends now? I mean, she basically brutalized you.”
“Jealous?”
Clarke rolled her eyes. She had no desire to punch someone for fun. She hated that Raven enjoyed that type of physical activity because she was worried about her safety. Lincoln had never bruised Raven as badly as she was now. Clarke had witnessed a few of their practice sessions and was unimpressed.
“There you are,” Raven said. “What do you want to eat? I’m getting a burger and fries.”
Lexa shrugged and leaned against the nurse’s station counter. “That’s fine,” she said. “I’ll go with you. I need to get some fresh air. Are you coming, too?”
Clarke shook her head. “No,” she said. “Raven’s force-feeding me.”
“She means being a good friend,” she said. “Let’s go, Lexa. Leave this nerd to her work.”
Clarke watched them leave. She was surprised at Raven’s open body language toward the new doctor. She had warmed up to Lexa faster than Clarke expected. They had been friends for a very long time and Raven was persistently closed off around people they have known for years, but this woman was different. She wondered if Raven had a crush on Lexa. It would explain her behavior. She was surprised by a feeling of jealousy. Raven had not been in a relationship in a very long time and had never wanted to be in anything serious even when she liked someone. Plus, Clarke worried about the drama her crush would cause if it was not reciprocated. If Lexa was dating Costia, Raven would be dumb to allow herself to feel anything for the woman. She would have to ask if they talked about anything personal during their sparring session.
“Do you live in the city?” Raven asked.
“I found an apartment like ten blocks away,” Lexa said.
“That’s convenient. It took me like four months to find something close.”
“An apartment?”
“Yes. Too many student loans to buy anything for a very long time.”
“Houses are too much work. Very overrated. I owned a house before I moved to Chicago. There was always a problem to be dealt with or a project I was working on. I never had time to just relax. If I buy anything, it’ll be a condo where everything is taken care of for me.”
They ordered their food and started for Clarke’s favorite salad place. She knew what the woman wanted and added the box to her bag.
“She’s mad at you, by the way,” Raven said. “For the bruise.”
“Oh, yeah?” she asked, chuckling. “Interesting. I thought it was impressive.”
“Clarke thought it was abuse.”
“Well, I hope you cleared my name. I would rather not make an enemy during my first week here.”
An ambulance drove by with sirens blaring. They watched the paramedics remove someone from the back. Clarke came out of the hospital doors to meet them and get more information. Raven smiled as she watched her best friend in her element. She lived to help people.
“Does she ever stop moving?” Lexa asked.
“No,” she said. “It’s one of her worst qualities, honestly. She’s always working or writing journal pieces or doing research projects. It’s very annoying.”
Raven glanced at the other woman who was looking at Clarke with a familiar expression. She bit the inside of her cheek and walked through the revolving doors.