Chapter 7
Clarke stared at the X-ray. She was more confused than she had been an hour ago when the patient arrived. He was complaining of stomach pain. He was not nauseous or constipated. There was no bowel blockage. Her next step was to refer him for an endoscopy upstairs which would take a few days. She would need to assess pain levels to determine if he could wait that long. Dr. Winters was her first thought. She asked Indra to call the woman for a consult whenever she had a moment.
A woman came in with a dislocated shoulder, an elderly man came in for stitches after falling in his home, and a college student was dropped off by his friends with alcohol poisoning. An ambulance had not come by in an hour, which was nearly unheard of. Clarke took a breath while the floor was calm. When she returned, Costia was talking to Indra in the hall.
“There she is,” Indra said. “Here’s his chart.”
“Thank you, Indra,” Clarke said. “And thank you for coming down so fast. I’m not quite sure what to make of this case. He claims he has intense stomach pain, but we aren’t seeing any causes. I’m wondering if it’s related to anxiety.”
“Could be,” Costia said. “That’s a common symptom. Did he say anything else?”
“Not really. He doesn’t seem to be in distress. He isn’t acting erratically. His X-ray was clear. He says he isn’t nauseous.”
“Hmm. Let me speak with him. Do you want to join me?”
“I’ll let you talk to him alone first. If that doesn’t work, we can go in together.”
“Sounds like a plan, Dr. Griffin.”
She followed Costia to the patient’s room and left the woman to make her assessment. She updated his chart as she waited. Before the woman emerged from the room, two cops walked through the doors. Bellamy was holding his partner up. Blood was trailing the floor from a leg wound. She rushed around the counter and followed his gurney into a trauma room. She let the nurses remove his uniform pants before beginning her exam.
“What happened?’ Clarke asked.
“He ran into an exposed fence post during a chase,” Bellamy said. “He pulled himself off the metal and kept running. Insanity.”
Wells entered the room to assist.
“I’ll get an X-ray, but it looks clean,” she said. The wound was still bleeding. She wrapped gauze around the leg to remove the excess. “Hopefully nothing’s broken or torn. I know you cops don’t like desk duty.”
“Especially rookies,” he said. “I might not mind it now that I’m old and tired.”
She rolled her eyes. “Shut up,” she said.
“Thanks, Clarke.”
“No problem. I’ll let you know what we find.”
Costia could not find a reason to keep the man in the emergency room. He was transferred upstairs to wait for his endoscopy. She thought keeping him in the hospital was a better choice than allowing him to go home with the pain.
Wells took lead for the injured cop. They repaired the leg, prescribed pain meds, and sent him home. By the time she had a moment to breathe, Raven had been called in for an emergency heart surgery. She was not particularly excited to see her friend after the random outburst during the hacker incident. Clarke had not returned until the following night, so they had not spoken since. She could not remember the last time the two went twenty-four hours without a phone call or text when they were not working together.
“You’re in OR four,” Clarke said. “He’s being prepped now.”
“Thanks. Guess you want an apology?”
“No, I don’t. You won’t mean it anyway.”
Raven chuckled and leaned against the counter. She stared at the side of Clarke’s face as she pretended to be reading through a chart. There were lines around her eyes that had appeared in the last six months.
“You’re right,” she said. “But I love you.”
Clarke raised both eyebrows and faced the woman fully. “Give me the bad news,” she said. “Why are you saying that?”
“Because I slept for twelve hours last night, went on a run with Lexa, and actually drank my coffee while it was hot,” she said, grinning wide. “It’s been a good day. And now I’m here with you, so…”
“Go away from me right now. I can’t deal with whatever you’re trying to tell me.”
Raven threw her hands in the air. “Fine,” she said. “But just know that I tried to apologize.”
Clarke watched her slip into the locker room. There was a new constricting pain in her chest.
Octavia found the perfect excuse a week later. She was carrying a patient’s chart as she walked toward Dr. Winters’ office. Her patient was displaying symptoms of bipolar disorder which Octavia felt might warrant a short-term stay until her symptoms could be controlled enough to give her a proper diagnosis.
She knocked on the woman’s door and waited to be called inside.
“Dr. Blake,” she greeted with a friendly smile. “Do you need me?”
“If you have the time. I have a patient downstairs for you.”
The woman stood and straightened her jacket. Octavia explained the situation as they rode down in the elevator together. She knew the woman needed physical care, but the other symptoms seemed more important. She could easily stitch the patient’s wounds, but Octavia had a bad feeling the woman was in danger.
After the consultation, Costia agreed that something was wrong. She agreed to the short-term admittance and ensured to have a bed prepared in the next hour for the transfer. Octavia was relieved.
“I’m glad you convinced Dr. Woods to take the job here,” she said. “She fits in well. She and Raven have gotten close.”
“Yeah?” she asked. “That’s great. I didn’t have to do much convincing though. She’s wanted to work in trauma for a while. It was just good timing.”
“Have you known her for a long time?” she asked. Octavia was pushing her luck. She had never spoken to Costia about anything personal.
“Yes. Since we were kids.”
“Oh, you must be really close then.”
“Yes, we are. I can’t say I'm lucky to have never met my biological dad, but I was lucky to have Lexa and her dad come into my life.”
“Oh, you’re sisters?”
“Well, our parents never married.”
Octavia nodded in understanding. She listened to Costia explain why her mother was opposed to marriage. Most of her hesitation was because of Lexa’s dad’s fame. She did not want the girls to be in danger because of his career. She felt much closer to the woman by the end of their conversation which was a nice feeling. She texted Raven after Costia returned to her office.
Octavia: Costia & Lexa are stepsisters
Raven: Really? Interesting
Octavia: Total surprise
Raven: What’s our next step?
Octavia: Us?? I'm not involved
Raven: You are now
Raven sat on the bench in the emergency bay while waiting for Clarke. She leaned back against the brick wall and closed her eyes. The sky was dark. She could have fallen asleep if Lexa had not walked up and tossed a bag on her lap.
“What’s this?” Raven asked.
“Open it,” she said.
Inside the bag was a small box. She recognized the UFC figure inside, The Woodsman, but the best part was the signature on the front. She smiled. The figure was the first model to be released of Nick Woods who was a UFC legend and one of her favorite fighters to watch growing up.
“Really?” she asked, wide-eyed. “Why are you giving me this?”
“Because you’ll appreciate it. And I have like ten more.”
Raven put the box back into the bag to keep it safe, already planning where she would display the figure in her home, and hugged Lexa. It was awkward because she hated hugs, but the gift was worth it.
“Thank you,” she said.
When she pulled back, Clarke was standing nearby. “Hey,” she said. “Sorry. I got held up with something.”
“No problem,” Raven said. She grabbed her bags. “Have a good shift, Lexa.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “Where are two going?”
“To find food somewhere. We can bring you back something.”
“No, that’s okay. Go home and get some sleep. We’re fighting tomorrow.”
Raven chuckled. “I’ll definitely need to be rested for that,” she said.
“Clarke, you’re obviously invited to watch me win,” Lexa said.
Clarke rolled her eyes dramatically. “We’ll see how I feel in the morning,” she said. “If I can even get up. My back is killing me from the last surgery.”
Raven wanted to slip away to let them talk privately. She could tell there was something between them, some spark she had never seen in Clarke before, but the woman was persistently closed off toward relationships. Octavia had attempted to set Clarke up with Bellamy many years ago. Clarke quickly shut the idea down and would not even entertain the idea of a date. Raven did not think much of it until other people attempted to introduce her to people. She never agreed.
“You should run with Clarke when I'm working,” Raven said.
“That sounds like a nightmare,” Clarke said. “Running is the worst.”
“Fine. You can teach Lexa the weird yoga you do.”
“Yoga isn’t weird.”
Raven had a feeling Clarke was making the conversation intently hard, but Lexa’s small grin was enough. The way she looked at Clarke said everything. Raven wanted so badly to trap them in a room until they, at least, talked without the distraction of work.
“I’m starving, Raven,” Clarke said. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” she said. “See you tomorrow, Lex.”
They chose a local diner that was open twenty-four hours a day. Clarke chugged water as soon as the glass arrived.
“How’s your back?” she asked.
“It hurts,” Clarke replied. “Sleep and a heating pad will help.”
“Yeah, probably,” she said. “But you’ve complained about that before.”
“I guess I have bad posture.”
“We should go out this weekend. Get some drinks or something. O and Lincoln would be down. Lexa, too, probably.”
“I’m working both days. But you all should go out.”
Their food arrived as Raven withheld her initial frustrated response. Clarke was overworking herself on purpose. She set the weekly schedule. No one else wanted a Monday off day.
“The hospital isn’t going to shut down because you take a day off,” she said between bites.
“I never said it would.”
“That’s how you act.”
“What did I do this time, Raven? I’m just following the set schedule.”
“That you made.”
“What’s with you lately? You never cared about my hours since Lexa started. It’s not like I’m getting in your way.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You and Lexa. Why do I even have to be there this weekend? Just hang out with her if you want to so badly.”
Raven was very confused at the direction the conversation had taken. She had no idea what Clarke meant. She hung out with Lexa nearly every day whether they were fighting, running, or working.
“Me and Lexa?” Raven asked. “I see her all the time.”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t believe you actually hugged her. I’ve never seen you hug anyone.”
“She gave me a nice gift.”
“That was sweet. I’m glad you two are getting closer.”
Raven was flabbergasted. She laughed aloud when the realization hit her. She could tell how confused Clarke was, but she could not stop for a full minute.
“You think I like Lexa,” Raven said. “Oh, my fucking god. You think I have a crush on Lexa.”
“You don’t?”
“No. I mean, she’s cool but not my type. Damn. I thought you knew me, Clarke.”
“Hey, I do! You two just hang out a lot. I guess I just assumed.”
Raven thought there was a change in Clarke’s attitude after the conversation. She hoped she was not imagining the new lightness in her best friend.