Chapter 2
A quiet apartment welcomed Natasha when she arrived after her shift as a medical intern at 11pm. She forgot it's Friday. Walking straight to the kitchen to see if there's something to eat, Natasha saw the note on the refrigerator.
'hi, auntie nat ! i left already ! i asked mom to prepare you dinner because you must be too tired to cook :D i helped her with the ingredients and washed the dishes :> you deserve a good dinner after working hard today ! luv u !'
It seems her tiredness is suddenly all gone with the gesture. Only one person could do that and that's no doubt her nephew. She cleaned up and changed to comfortable clothes quickly so as to eat the dinner already.
While eating, she checked the messages received within the day — those that are not work-related. She had their contact name 'work - name' or just their name for outside the hospital just to separate the priorities. With only a few friends and even fewer individuals who would check up on her, Natasha didn't take long replying to all of them.
As a medical intern pressured in her upcoming United States Medical Licensing Examination, Natasha barely got time to socialize with anyone but hospital staffs. Most of her time goes in her 12-hour shift and studying in between and after. That pressure comes within, by the way.
So as soon as she's done eating dinner which she really appreciated her nephew helped to make, the second thing she does is to set up her laptop and books.
Natasha let out a groan as she wakes up that morning, feeling her back aching. Did she fall asleep while reading again?
"Romanoff!" Doctor Swift called, a resident supervising her. She subtly rolled her eyes before turning to face him because she most likely knows what this is about. "You arrived early today."
"I have to because I have to cover my fellow intern's rotation as ordered by you." She gave him a small forced smile.
"Well, I hope you had a good night sleep. It's gonna be a long day for you." The resident doctor said, "But I guess you haven't." He added, pointing at her hands massaging her back.
She just shrugged. He says all sorts of things before the main reason why he seeks her out in the first place... which is asking her to buy coffee in the cafe down the road for almost everyone in the department.
"By the way, you know what to do." He winked at her, handing her a card. Yeah, she definitely knows. "I'll text you the details. See you later!" He gave her a small salute as goodbye before happily going back to where he came from.
'I can't wait to become a resident.'
-
work - doctor swift
can you buy in the cafe branch near the avengers tower? tried it last time and gosh, it's heaven.
and oh shawarma as well.
Natasha had to close her eyes tight to control her emotions. She still had to do her rotation and this man is wasting her time for some cravings? But she doesn't have a choice, does she? Otherwise that means choosing to do every random task given to her for the entire week.
And shawarma for breakfast? What a healthy way to start the day.
She decided to get the shawarma first which is a little farther from the cafe. On her way there, she saw from her cab the fans waiting in line outside of the Tower.
Avengers Tower became a famous landmark after its name changed from Stark Tower. It was already famous as the latter, but now every fan is waiting outside everyday hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite heroes. Without even an assurance they'll see them.
Natasha doesn't really understand the idolizing, yes they save lives and they have special abilities and powers, but those invites challenge that leads to damage to both properties and innocents.
The shawarma place opens at 8am.
She would have to wait for two minutes for that, but the staff inside let her in early. Now she's seated in the stool at the counter waiting for her order.
work - doctor gomez
your rotation is waiting, natasha. don't let your supervising attending know you've not started yet.
Yeah, doesn't he think she didn't know that? There's enough waiting happening here. And yeah, she should've stopped by the cafe and ordered already.
"Are you a fan?" The cashier asked her, cleaning around the register.
"Uhh, of who?"
"The Avengers?" So random.
Natasha shook her head 'no' and asked instead, "May I know how long until my order is ready?"
The woman asked her fellow as well before turning to her, "We just opened so they're just starting with your shawarma now because they still have to prepare everything back there first. Probably 15 minutes." She explained.
Natasha winced, she's dead. She's really dead. "Okay, can I just come back later for it then?"
"Sureness."
Ordering eight cups of coffee, it is expected she'd have to wait a little longer. But instead of coming back to the shawarma place and just pass by the cafe to get the coffee like she initially planned, Natasha decided to stay. Only because she really liked the ambiance of cafes. It's calm and quiet. Perfect place to study.
The shawarma place is closed when she gets back.
However, from where she's standing just outside, she can see there are still people inside. Still thinking of ways to take her order or at least a refund, the door opened for her with red tendrils of magic around it.
Still weirded out by what happened, a voice spoke, "Look, there's a fan!" Tony Stark said, looking amused.
Oh. The Avengers are here. Is that why the cashier asked if she's a fan? Because they'll be here?
She just gave them a small smile and went to the counter, seeing her order already there. She saw Wanda wave a little right after.
"Are those for us? That's so sweet." Tony Stark went to her, pointing at the coffee cups in a holder she's holding and took them before distributing it to his teammates and the rest to the staff working. "I've been craving it since this morning."
"One thing about Stark is he lives off of coffee." Steve smiled politely at her, "So this is probably his second cup of the day."
That makes the two of us.
Natasha is still processing what happened that she wasn't even able to stop them when they took a sip.
Now she's really dead. She spent all this time here just to go back at the hospital with nothing.
"That's... those are for my colleagues." She managed to say and the Avengers in attendance almost spit it out in surprise. "But.. nevermind that's all yours." She gave them a small smile before attempting to get out of there already.
"Wait, Ma'am. What we did was too much, we didn't ask for your permission." Steve gave Tony a look, "We'd like to pay for these instead. I apologize on behalf of the Avengers."
Natasha glanced at the other Avengers seated on the long table, watching the scene amusingly.
She was just about to answer when her phone rang. it's Doctor Gomez. She excused herself before going back to the counter a little away from the hero group, "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm on my way back."
"Romanoff, you're gonna get the scolding when you get back. Hurry up!" The resident doctor said a little loud. He rarely does that, he's usually calm around the interns, but she deserved that for not doing her duty.
Taking her phone away for a second, the intern closed her eyes tight and bit her lip before heaving a deep sigh, "I'm sorry. I'm on my way."
"Don't just talk, Romanoff. Get back here!"
That got her to move fast. It seems she forgot the Avengers are still there because she didn't stop to even bid them goodbye, but that's no need because they stopped her instead.
They really won't let her go, huh?
"Are you okay?" She looked and saw Wanda looking at her with concern.
Natasha nodded and winced, "I'm sorry, can I go now? I really need to go back to work."
"Wait, how about the coffee?" Steve asked. "We can just get it delivered in your workplace."
Hmm. That's not bad. But before Natasha could reply, Tony Stark spoke, "I have a better idea. You tell them you met the Avengers..." He shook his head when he saw her about to open her mouth, "And they'd let you pass." He said confidently as if that's so believable with only words as proof.
"Ma'am, what's your workplace's address?" Steve asked again, they might have no idea because she's not wearing her coat nor her scrubs.
"And of course they won't believe you with no proof so..." Tony Stark brings out a pen and paper before signing on it, "here's my autograph." He held the paper up for her to take, grinning at her.
Pietro stood up and took the paper and pen from the billionaire and signed on to it as well, "Here's mine. I would offer to drop you off, but you sure would feel sick right after so that's not an option." He explained.
Wanda, the last person to sign after the three, folded the paper for her and said, "I hope they go easy on you."
"Don't worry about the coffees, I'll get it delivered on Metro-General Hospital under your name from yours truly." Tony Stark once again said before gesturing at the door, "Goodbye, doctor and see you again."
Once she's out the door, Natasha still can't believe what happened. She just met the Avengers and they are so full of themselves.
-
Natasha bowed her head to not meet the eyes of the attending physician supervising her. They are in front of his office after Doctor Gomez told her to go straight here — she got an earful from the latter first, of course.
The neurosurgeon cleared his throat, indicating he's gonna talk now and that she has to look at him, "This piece of junk is not gonna save a life, Romanoff. The least you could do is check your patients in time." He said sternly.
"I'm sorry, Doctor Strange."
"Between Swift and I, you listen to me. I'm gonna talk to him, but don't do it again." She nodded a few times while looking down. "You just have three months, Romanoff. These might be stressful for interns, but you still have your duty and responsibility."
Yeah, three months before the exam. Stressful is understating it.
Doctor Strange is known to be strict and also very smart so he can be -sometimes- insensitive when it comes to other doctor's mistakes — only because he can't relate. Fortunately for her, he must be in a good mood because she's still emotionally okay.
"Copy that, Doctor Strange." Before the neurosurgeon could open his door to his office, they heard a whistle making a tune from the stairs. Recognizing the person behind that, he decided to wait instead and leaned on the wall opposite Natasha.
Probably seeing the intern first, Doctor Swift asked in excitement, "What is it going around that you met the Avengers? Holy moly, you're so lucky."
A page of paper hitting his head made him turn to the attending physician, it seems that in too much excitement, his attention is only focused on Natasha, "Doctor Strange!" He let out in surprise before catching a glimpse of the autograph. Immediately, he took it off of the neurosurgeon's hands and looked at it in so much disbelief, "You really met them, oh my. I'll let you pass for not buying my coffee because of this." The resident doctor turned to her before pocketing the paper, "But I'll keep this."
Doctor Strange only shook his head before leaving the two of them alone in the hallway.
It's gonna be a long day indeed.
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