Chapter Text
It was another shift, just like any other. Mira’s ankles ached after staying on her feet for over ten hours straight, with nothing but a jumbo-sized coffee and a protein bar to keep her going, and there was an unknown sticky substance on her sleeve. But with her shift finished, soon she would be out of her scrubs and in the shower. Mira sighed, relieved, just thinking about the steaming hot water washing over her.
“Bed three clear?” A buff pink-haired doctor smiled as she walked by.
“Gone to radiology, all yours,” Mira twirled around to give him a wave goodbye as she headed out.
“Thanks, get some rest”
“See you tomorrow,” Mira smiled, the change room in her sights.
Emergency medicine wasn’t her first choice; in fact, it wasn’t even on her list, but it was on her parents and they paid. Even with all her drinking and partying, she made it through med school, and although she hated to admit it, she loved this job. The energy, the horror and the beauty of it all. This was where she was meant to be.
“I need help now!”
Mira turned her head with a frown. It wasn’t unusual for those in the waiting room to lose patience. But this girl was pale, banging her hand on the bulletproof glass, her eyes manic and pleading. Stirring something in Mira, she couldn't turn away from.
“Sit down, junkie, or you can both leave,” A nurse yelled.
“Please, we’re not-uhh. She’s really sick”
Tears welled in the eyes of a girl with black hair, messy two-sided buns. A determination in her expression, Mira could see, she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Dammit," Mira muttered.
The clean clothes, the shower her bed would all have to wait, Mira thought, as she made her way back down the hall. Scanning her security card, she walked into the waiting room hands on her hips.
"Alright, where is your friend?"
"'Girlfriend', she's right-" The girl turned around, eyes wide in fear as she scanned the overcrowded waiting area "Rumi!"
Rushing forward, she shoved people out of the way, and all turned to her with judgmental frowns.
"I'm fine Zo" A tall purple-haired girl dragged her feet, exiting the restroom. Looking even paler than the first girl, so breathless, she couldn't even finish her sentence and leaned on the wall for support.
"No, Rumi, you need to see a doctor" The girl rushed over, catching Rumi just before her legs went out from under her.
"We can't afford it," Rumi mumbled.
"You two, come with me," Mira ordered, signalling them the follow her.
-
Lying still, to still the white sheets almost matched her skin tone. Rumi was the same age as Mira, but you wouldn't know it. In this state, so helpless, she was like a child. Eyes closed, mumbling incoherently, sweet dripping out all over her body.
"Did see take anything? You can tell me," Mira questioned her hands, shaking as she placed sensors over her wrist, trying to get a reading on her pulse.
"No, it's just been so cold lately usually when she gets like this, she comes out of it but we haven't had much food and" Zoey's voice was strained, breaking off, her hand stroking through Rumi's hair.
Mira's heart sank, and she looked up to Zoey with sympathy, upon realising the couple were homeless.
"I don't need your pity, ok, just help her"
Mira nodded, she completed her workup, noting that Rumi's blood pressure, heart rate were all too low; in fact, all her vitals were at a high risk level. Zoey looked to her with pleading eyes, eyes that needed answers.
"Ok, her temperature is too high, I'm going to need to bring it down and give her some fluids, but she needs rest. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"
Zoey shook her head but didn't take her eyes off Rumi tears began streaming down her cheeks. A sight that caused Mira to stiffen. This wasn't the first time she came across desperate people she couldn't really help, couldn't offer more than a band-aid to. Never had this feeling occurred within her, though, pulse racing, head spinning, she needed to get away, regroup.
"Stay here, I'll be right back," Mira sighed, watching Zoey entangle her hands with Rumi's.
Feeling a need to hold them both close, take them home to her empty penthouse apartment, gifted to her from her father, once she got an internship here.
Mira's stride was determined as she rushed through the halls, almost bumping into people a she brushed past. Her mind was still on Zoey and Rumi; they were so strong and yet completely helpless. They needed a lot more than some antibiotics and a blanket. But what if she did offer more than a Band-Aid? Took them somewhere warm, filled their bellies and their hearts. Mira had this thought while she rushed through the hospital halls, grabbing everything she needed before walking back to Rumi's bed.
"She's hot though," Rumi mumbled
"You can barely breathe, yet you work up the strength to tell me you think your doctor is fine" Zoey rolled her eyes.
"She's talking," Mira sighed, relieved.
Quickly hooking up the IV bag and taking Rumis arm to insert the needle into her vein, but she flinched away. An act Mira didn't expect to sting, but she found herself feeling burned by this rejection.
"We don't have insurance," Rumi protested.
"Don't worry about that," Zoey whimpered out.
Mira moved closer once more, but Rumi shook her head.
"No, you can't, you can't if I refuse treatment" Rumi looked at her with raised eyebrows as if this was some chore she had just talked her way out of, not her life.
Another surge of adrenaline rushed through Mira at the thought, infuriated by Rumi’s cavalier and borderline suicidal attitude.
"You'll die," Mira spat. The words came out before she could stop herself.
Always blunt, but her bedside manner had never reached this level. Both Zoey and Rumi looked to her with stunned expressions, as Mira's determined eyes met theirs.
"Let me take care of you." Mira's words weren't pleading; she didn't plead. Just stated her intentions clearly and composed, reaching for Rumi's arm once more. Rumi nodded, and her body untensed, letting Mira take control.
-
Standing with her hands on the bench, Mira tried to regain her composure. What was this, just overexhaustion, when she had had longer days, no, no. Then why was her heart racing? Why couldn’t she focus on anything but Rumi’s eyes? Her patient didn’t say much, but her cold, anxious eyes told Mira everything she needed to know. Zoey did all the talking, rambling on a list of things that she thought Mira might need to know, including favourite foods or how Rumi made a strange whistling sound when she was deep in sleep. Most of this information is irrelevant to Rumi’s treatment, but Mira wouldn’t dare tell her to stop. Aware that this constant drabble was keeping Zoey calm. Well, as calm as she could be while the girl she loved was fighting for her life.
Splashing cold water on her face did not affect Mira’s rising stress or concern; she couldn’t escape this feeling, growing so attached. Latched onto them like a magnet pulled in by their adorable collective hotness. Getting emotionally involved was exactly what she was trained not to do, and she had spent her whole life avoiding intimacy in any situation. A life of structure and discipline that Mira mostly spent at the hospital. Returning to her apartment only for sleep, she had no social life and avoided her family, often taking shifts on holidays. Mira should go home; someone else could take over Rumi’s care, but as soon as the thought entered her mind, it was silenced by her racing heart. Her breath hitched, and she burst back out of the restroom, desperate to check Rumi’s vitals again. As she stepped out, he was waiting, standing by the door, arms folded with a judgey smirk. His pink hair stood out in his white coat. He was a fellow intern, so flirty with everyone; she had nicknamed him Romance. It was supposed to be an insult, but he seemed to enjoy this teasing. They had been in the trenches together and developed a mutual respect, but Mira still despised him.
“Don’t say it,” Mira sighed, walking away briskly.
“Didn’t say anything,” Romance shrugged, a shit eating grin on his face.
“Don’t,” Mira added firmly without even looking back.
Despite her cold demeanour, she knew he was just being supportive in his own way, obviously having noticed she stayed back to help the girls. A small smile on her face that quickly vanished upon hearing what sounded like a scuffle coming from Rumi’s room and the monitors beeping intensely. Mira felt the blood rush from her head and ran over.
“I’m staying,” Zoey argued while the same nurse from the reception was standing over Rumi, hands on her hips, yelling at Zoey.
“This isn’t a hotel”
“Where is she? The doctor will tell you, I-I can stay”
“You think we're just going to let you both sleep here?” The woman's words began inaudible, muttering under her breath.
“No, if she goes, I’m going to,” Rumi stuttered out, already sitting up.
Zoey shook her head, frowning at Rumi, but the nurse was already turning off the equipment and grabbed Rumi’s chart, shaking her head and sighing.
“That’s my patient” Mira gripped her arm, pulling her away forcefully, glaring at the nurse. She knew she shouldn’t, but the look of distress in Rumi’s eyes had her lose all her self-control.
Snatching the chart back out of the nurse's hand, Mira needed no more words to say back off; her glaring eyes did that for her.
“I knew you were trouble. I’ll be taking this up with your attending,” the woman warned, backing away, she straightened up her shirt
“Go for it, make my day” Mira folded her arms, sure that she would regret this later, but she still smiled, watching the nurse walk out in a huff.
“I think you scared her,” Zoey stated, looking up at Mira in awe.
A look that had Mira squirming. Mira gave her a small smile, but she couldn’t think of a quippy response. Couldn’t breathe, her eyes went to the screen indicating Rumi’s vitals, numbers that made her heart jump.
“You know, you're kind of intense,” Zoey noted, like it was a compliment.
Mira looked up with her eyes wide, smirking at the thought of her composed, stern demeanour affecting Zoey.
Mira paused for a moment, locking eyes with Zoey, “It's been a long day”.
“Your friend told us, said you were supposed to finish your shift, but you stayed,” Rumi eyed her curiously, guilt in her expression.
“What?” Mira scoffed, confused, before she realised she was referring to Romance “He’s not my friend”
“Right, noted,” Zoey stifled a laugh, to which Rumi chuckled at but it came out in a horrible rasped cough.
“Sit back,” Mira ordered, putting her hand on Rumi's shoulder, pushing her back down.
There was silence as Mira adjusted the medications being funnelled into Rumi through the drip and made notes on her chart. Having to squint just to stay focused, she could feel their eyes on her, their smiles as she worked. It wasn’t hard to imagine what they were thinking; they probably wondered why Mira helped them if it was going to make her so frustrated, then why did she do it? That was the big question, wasn’t it? What was she doing? One look in their eyes and Mira was melting, throwing out a life raft as if she had them to spare. Already having decided to put herself down for the bill, it wasn’t the money that was the issue; it was putting her career on the line. Not many doctors paid for patients' treatment out of their own pockets, and she knew it would cause a stir. But not all doctors were trust fund kids like her.
A hand gently gripped around Mira's wrist, a touch so soft and warm she gasped and looked over to Rumi’s tired eyes.
“Thanks,” Rumi croaked out.
That's it, to gaze upon her was a gift; her guilty smile as she thanked Mira for merely doing her job. No, it was more than that. She could see it now in Rumi’s expression; she didn’t think she was worthy of saving.