#they did an ariel/aurora one that didn't feel on the nose and even with this one idk about the 'attaches easily'

[drariellevalentine]

Medically Inevitable

Chapter 6- Satirical Shocks

Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Ethan Ramsey, Sienna Trinh, Elijah Greene, Jackie Varma, Landry Olsen, Aurora Emery, Rafael Aveiro, Naveen Banerji

Warnings:- None

Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine

You wake up quite early, deciding to go for a mile of cycling to work off all that chocolate and sugar that you ate the past two weeks. After changing into a black and aqua streaked gym outfit and pulling your thick hair into a high ponytail, you head out to your balcony, headphones in hand. Playing your regular playlist, you roll out your yoga mat and start stretching. Working your way through your body from head to toe, you head out to the empty and dark kitchen. “Guess no one’s up.” You open the fridge and pour yourself a glass of vanilla almond milk. After drinking, you check your phone and pager to make sure there aren’t any emergencies and head down to your parking lot after grab your backpack, phone, water bottle, and your Apple Watch to track your stats. You get your bike from the garage and ride it down the quiet street. You decide to circle around and head to Edenbrook and get ready there, knowing you have a spare outfit in your outfit. Adrenaline spikes as you ride like the wind, the cool autumn breeze in your hair. After a good 30 minutes, you circle towards Edenbrook, deciding to get a head start on your shift.

Ethan’s PoV:-

Driving towards Edenbrook, you can’t help but think about yesterday with Arielle. The way her violet eyes lit up when she saw the drink you ordered or the way her cheeks turn pink from the cold breeze. “Stop it, Ramsey! The reason you come so early to the hospital is to make sure you have a moment of peace before the interns do something. You’re parking your car and getting out when you notice her. In a skin tight pair of leggings and a sports bra. You don’t think you’ve ever seen her without heels, she’s quite short without them. How she manages to stand in them is beyond your train of thought.

“What is she doing here so early?”, you wonder. You see her parking her bike against someone’s car and stretch. You can’t but stare at her, the morning sun hitting her luscious hair, making it shine. You snap out of it and head inside before she can see you...or anyone else for that matter.”

Arielle’s PoV:-

You enter the locker room and see Elijah. “Hey Elijah.”

“Hey Arielle.” He turns to look at you. “Woah! Where’d you do?”

“I went for a ride.” He gives you a look. “...on my bike. Give me ten, and then we’ll go check on Eliza.” You quickly take a shower and get dressed in a lightly cropped white top with a pair of pinstriped navy blue and white pants. Pulling on your white coat, you grab your things from the shower and go back to the locker room.

“Done?”

“Almost. Just hair and makeup.”, you reply.

“You know you look beautiful without it, right?”

“Nice try, Elijah. I would feel really bad for the patients who have to see my dark circles.”

“Yeah, your invisible ones.” You laugh and quickly get ready. Applying your usual amount of makeup, you brush down your hair and quick twist the sides and pin it against the back of your head to avoid hair in your face. “Done! Let’s go.” You head towards her room, going over her chart. After discussing her treatments, you exit the patient’s room with Elijah.

"Is it just me... or is the ground actually shaking?" Elijah asks confused. Hearing his question when you actually pay attention, even you can feel the floors vibrating.

"Uh, Elijah, does Boston get earthquakes?" you ask back. Looking at each other we are about to move forward when we turn back hearing commotion. A crowd of interns pass us running towards the atrium, talking amongst themselves. Seeing us at a side Landry approaches us.

"Guys, Dr. Ramsey is posting the rankings of second week!" He announces before moving that way. Seeing another group of interns coming in our direction, you take shelter in the nearest patient room, grabbing Elijah with me.

"What? Not excited to see the latest ranking?" Elijah grins at me.

"I'd rather not get Mufas'ad," you smile.

Once the coast is clear, you and Elijah get out of the room and move towards the elevator to get to the atrium, where the excited herd of interns are surrounding Dr. Ramsey, who just pinned the rankings to the board. "Can't you people exhibit a modicum bit of self-control. You work at Boston's best hospital for God's sake!" He pinches the bridge of his nose and walks away. You can't help but notice that he seems distant, it feels like he's barely acknowledging what's happening. He walks away, leaving us interns to check the rankings.

"You guys! I'm finally up to fifth!" Landry smiles proudly.

"I slipped to number...thirteen. Weak," Elijah sighs his voice low and sad.

"Ugh...seventeen. I knew this would happen," beside me Sienna slumps sadly. Poor girl, feels like she's going through a lot. I look towards her.

"Dr.Ramsey caught me crying in a supply closet yesterday. I've just had a lot of...sad cases recently," I see her eyes glistening with tears.

"Wanna talk about it?" You give her a side hug in an attempt to comfort her.

"No point wallowing. Just gotta smile my way through," she fakes a smile but you can clearly see her hesitation. After comforting Sienna for another moment you turn around to find Jackie standing silently looking at the ranking sheet . I follow her gaze to see that she's dropped to eleven.

"Eleven? Really?" She nods in disbelief.

"Number ten," Sienna smiles nudging me. You look at number ten to find your name. “From nineteenth to tenth, that's good.” Happiness washes over me. But after seeing my friends’ dropped positions, the small spark of joy vanishes. Hours after, I walk towards the staff lounge to take a break being tired for working for at least 4 hours without a break. As I near the elevator, I can hear faint sound of cries from somewhere near. On instinct I walk forward hearing the sound and it leads me to the nearest supply closet. I think for a moment whether or not to go inside. What if the person inside doesn't want me too see them like this? After giving it another thought I decide to get inside thinking what if the person wants someone to talk to. As I open the door, light rays enter the dark supply closet falling on a small figure and I run towards her as soon as I see it to be Sienna. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask softly side-hugging her.

Leaning on my shoulder she sniffles. "I- I j-ust lo-st a pat-ien-t," somehow managing to say this she again starts sobbing.

"I'm so sorry, Si," you hug her more tightly.

"He didn't deserve it," she sniffles ,"He was just 14. He had a whole life to live."

"I understand Si," you try to comfort her, “But there's nothing you could've done." After comforting her for some more minutes and letting her know that it was not her fault, she stops crying. You have an idea.

"You've any patient to check on right now?" I ask after she's stopped sobbing and she nods in negative.

"Good. You're taking a break then. We are going to grab something to eat,"I say.

"But-" she tries to protest.

"No ifs or buts, you clearly need a break. You need to talk about this and somewhere which is not a supply closet," She hesitates at first but then agrees to it. You take her to the milkshake parlor to Bryce took you when you were down.

"You are going to love their shake!" You smile and say to Sienna whose mood is much better now. After ordering our shakes we take a sit in one of the booths near the window. We both order chocolate caramel milkshakes. "So you want to talk about it?" You ask her after taking a seat on the sofa opposite to her.

“I already did.”, she smiles sadly. “But I can’t help but feel that maybe I could have done more, something that would have saved him.”

“Si, you did all that you could. Sometimes things in life just don’t go the way they want to. What happened wasn’t your fault, you can’t blame yourself for it.” She nods sadly.

“Thank you, Arielle.” You smile.

“What else are besties for?” The waiter serves up our order. We thank him and each take a sip from our milkshakes after I take a pic and post it.

“This is so good!”, Si exclaims happily.

“I know right. Bryce took me here a few weeks ago. It became my official favourite milkshake place.”, you exclaim. We both giggle like high schoolers.

“So...did you find out anything about Patient X?”, Si asks.

“No, I haven’t. I’m still trying but I haven’t found anything.”, you reply.

“Maybe it’s just some kind of case study?”, Si speculates.

“I don’t think so...I think it’s someone near to him. I don’t know if you noticed, but he seemed distant and out of it this whole week. Especially the day after the f.M.R.I testi”- you clasp your hands to your mouth, realised what you just spilled.

She looks at me smirking, “What f.M.R.I?”

“I-he” you stutter. “Dr. Ramsey-he”, you look her smirking. “Stop smirking!”

“Then you have to tell me everything!”, she exclaims.

“There’s nothing to say!”, you counter but you’re sure your cheeks gave you away.

“Sureeeee!”, she teases me.

“Tell me everything, and I mean everything. Do you hear me?”

“Fine!” You reluctantly start telling her what happened. roll my eyes, "Stop it Si! I was just helping him to check whether or not it works."

"Remember I went after him to update him about Mrs. Turner? " I ask and she nods. "I told him about the housewarming party and asked if he'd like to come-" Sienna smirks at this but you pretend not to notice. "Obviously he denied-" And you explain her how he asked for help to test the fmri machine.

"Wait! You are telling me you were standing half naked in front of Dr.Ramsey," her smirking face turned into a surprised but then again retreated back to the former one. "I bet he couldn't tear his eyes from you!"

"Sienna, he's a grown up. He'd obviously have the minimum amount self-control to not stare at his half-naked intern," you say.

"Mhmm, if you say so..." She motions with his hand for me to continue, " What did he ask you?"

“My middle name. That was his first question. Then he asked about my favourite childhood memory.”

“Yeah? Tell me too! I want to know how it was growing up in a luxurious mansion!”, she says excitedly.

“I told you about my godfather, remember? So when I was little, I would head to his lake house every Friday to spend time baking desserts and talking about life then. I would stay there until he had to drop me off at school Monday morning.”, you smile as you recall the fond memory.

“Aww! That’s adorable! What did he ask next?”, Si excitedly asks.

“He asked me about one of the happiest days of my life. I told him about the day my niece was born. He was surprised though.”

“You have a niece?! Why didn’t you tell me?! Ooh! What’s her name? Promise you’ll bring her one day!”, Si rambles.

“Okay okay! Calm down! Yes, I have a niece. Her name is Arabelle and she’s 4 years old. I do sometimes babysit her, so...we’ll see.”, you reply.

“So...what was his reply?”, she asks.

“He didn’t say anything. And that was the last of the questions. Then, somehow, while getting off, I managed to fall down. So when he entered the room, I was sprawled on the floor.”

“That’s all?”

“I showed him a pic of my niece.”

“Ooh! Show me!” You pull up the pic and show it to her.

“Aww! She looks adorable! And you look like a princess! What did he say?” You blush.

“He said that she’s cute.”

“Finally! A compliment from Dr. Terminator!” You laugh. “Did he say anything about you looking gorgeous?!”

“Si!” She giggles and soon you join in.

“Wait! You never told me what happened after you saw Dr. Ramsey st the baseball game.”, she says.

“Not much. I helped him close a deal for Edenbrook and then we just talked, ended up telling him why I wanted to be a doctor. Then it got late, so he dropped me off.” Her grin widens. “What?”

“Nothing!..”, she says in a singsong voice. You stare at her. “Well what, Ari! He invited you to a private box suite, he gave you a ride, and he asked you to help him test a machine. So...”

“What so.... There’s absolutely nothing! Now come on, I have a few patients to check on.” You both head back to the hospital. After your regular rounds, you go to check in on one of your newest patients, Remy. When you enter his room he is strumming on a guitar, singing softly with it. He smiles as you enter the room.

"What's up doc? You ready to let me out of here?" He grins.

"Well, that depends on what your lungs would say, Remy," you smile. "Any wheezing or coughing today?" You ask after going through his chart.

"Nope. I'm feeling one hundred percent!" Putting your stethoscope on, you listen to his breathing.

"It looks like you respiratory infection have cleared up. Let me check your vitals and then we can think about discharging you." You slip a blood pressure sleeve around his arm and pump it. “All your vitals look good. You’re about to get his discharge papers signed when you notice his calf covered in reddened nodules. “What happened?”

“Don’t know doc. But it itches though.”

“Well, it might be an indication of something else, I want to do a few more tests.”, you reply.

“Well if it makes you happy! My parents have sweet insurance so test, test, test away!” You laugh as you leave the room.

After ordering the test for Remy and a few check-in’s on your patients, you head towards the cafeteria to get a light lunch. You’re standing in line, deciding what to get when you notice Aurora standing in front of you, surrounded by her usual circle of suck-ups.

“Dr. Emery, can I get you a latté?”

“Dr. Emery, I’ll pay for your lunch.” You roll your eyes.

“What you can do is take a step back so your hair doesn’t go into my food.”, Aurora snipes. You decide on a garden wrap and head towards your usual table, where you find your friends.

“How is she still number one in the rankings?”, Jackie says.

“I know right. She barely spends time with her patients, literally ten minutes!”, Landry says.

“Does she solve the case?”, you ask.

Landry reluctantly says yes. “Well then, there’s your answer.”, you reply.

“Maybe Chief Emery’s rigging the competition. Or Dr. Ramsey favours her?”, Elijah says.

“Please, he doesn’t even know our names.”, Jackie scoffs.

“He knows Arielle. She even helped him with something. I saw both of them coming out of the new equipment room a few days ago.”, Landry says.

“I was just helping him test the new f.M.R.I machine.”, you reply. Sienna gives you a look. ‘If only they knew...’ You try not to blush.

“We should try to make a better impression on Dr. Ramsey, does he have office hours?”, Elijah asks.

“I don’t know if he has the time. He’s wrapped up on some secret case right now.”, you accidentally blurt out. They give you a look. “He dropped some CT scans and when I gave them back I saw the name as ‘Patient X’.”

“Whoa! Do you think he’s working on some cutting edge treatment?”, Elijah wonders.

“Ooh! It might be the President! Do you think he’ll tell us?”, Sienna rambles.

“Guys! We’re talking about Ethan Ramsey here. You do not want to get on his bad side.”, Landry says. You and your friends speculate on Dr. Ramsey’s case as you eat. Everyone says goodbye and splits, but you notice Jackie heading off without saying anything.

You head towards the ER for the next part of your shift

“Hey Jackie! Wait up!” She reluctantly stops and whirls around.

“What do you want?”, she snaps. You’re taken aback.

“Did I do something wrong?”, you ask.

“No. I’m mad at myself. I came here to be the best and right now I’m not. I can’t let whatever emotional thing you want to do distract me.”, she says. It hits you like a slap in the face.

“So you’re saying that our friendship is a distraction?”

“Yeah.”, she heads off.

After a short shift in the ER, you’re filling out charts at the nurses’ station.

“Hey there, had a rough day?” You look to see Bryce leaning against the station.

“You don’t know the half of it. What about you?”

“See this hand? It just touched a beating human heart.”

You smirk. You’re about to reply when you see Dr. Ramsey furtively looking over his shoulder and turning a corner. “I bet he’s going to see Patient X.”, you discreetly point towards Dr. Ramsey. His brows furrow in confusion. You fill him in on what you’ve learned so far. You’re about to follow him when you notice Ines and Zaid heading your way. “Shit! They’ll definitely stop me to ask about my patients. By the time they’re done, he’ll be long gone.

“I didn’t know you were so badass Elle. Following your boss?” You ignore him.

“Can you do me a favour”, you ask.

“Let me guess. It requires me distracting two doctors by the name of Ines and Zaid.”, he replies.

You give him your signature puppy dog eyes and pout, “Please?”

“Fine. You’re lucky you’re so adorable.” Giggling, you thank him and round the corner to the hospital’s new wing when you collide straight with Dr. Ramsey.

Ethan’s PoV:-

You can see Arielle following you as you head down the hallway. You decide to stop right at the end of a corner and wait. A few seconds later, a light force collides with your chest. She squeals. You look down to see her raking her perfectly manicured fingers through her long violet hair. “Why are you following me?”

“I wanted to ask how you’re doing.” You’re surprised.

“And what made you want to ask?”, you question.

“Working as an intern at this hospital has a lot of pressure and stress. I can’t imagine what level your’s would be.” Her baby pink lips melt into a smile. “Just because you’re a world class attending doesn’t mean that you’re immune to stress or people aren’t allowed to ask you if you’re okay.”, she replies. You feel the corners of your lips tug.

“I’ll be fine once I get a coffee. The coffee machine in my office is broken and you know I don’t drink the dishwater from the cafeteria. There’s a small cafe a few blocks away that I don’t hate.”, you reply.

She smirks, “Wow! An actual compliment from Ethan Ramsey. They should have you as an endorsement.” You give her an incredulous look. “You should swing by...”

“Are you saying I can come with you?”, she asks.

“No, but I won’t mind if you decide to follow me there too, though.” What the hell are you thinking, Ramsey! Are you flirting with an intern?!

“I could use some coffee.” You both walk towards Derry Roasters.

“The breeze is beautiful this time of season.”, she says flipping out her hair and letting it flow freely in the gentle breeze. “Have you ever been apple or pear picking this time of season?”

“Once or twice, I think.”

“Really? If I was your height, I would be picking things every chance I get. It’s quite annoying having to jump every single time to pick a pear.”, she says with a ridiculous tone. You laugh, something you haven’t done for many days.

“My family has a fruit orchard. Apples and pears are best picked this time around. My brothers usually pick all the fruit while I run around with my niece. I still try to pick a few though, it does get quite annoying though. That’s why I opt for strawberries, they’re much easier to pick. You can’t help but imagine Arielle and her adorable niece running around in the fall leaves, the warm sunlight shining on her face, making her striking violet eyes a touch of pink.

“Here we are.” You lead her inside and head towards the counter. “I’ll have the Vienna, she’ll have the... Fall Frappé.” She pulls out her wallet to pay but you gently lay a hand on her wrist, “I’m the one who invited you.” Pulling out your wallet, you pay the barista and sit down at a table.

“So... do you come here often?”

“I do. Sometimes I need a moment where nobody needs anything from me. Nobody recognises me nor gives a care.”, you reply nonchalantly.

“I know what you mean.” You’re about to contradict her when you notice the genuinely sorrowful look in her eyes. You change the subject.

“A good roast and a medical journal does wonders, but I didn’t bring one so I suppose you’ll have to entertain me.” Her eyes light up. A server arrives with your coffees. Her eyes widen with joy as she sees the obscene amount of chocolate syrup and marshmallows, with a vanilla flower and roll of cinnamon. “This is sooo pretty!”, she squeals ridiculously as she takes a picture. You won’t tell her you’ve seen her countless times order something with chocolate, the vanilla and cinnamon she would like because that was the scent of her body wash. She takes a sip, sighing with pleasure, “Delicious chocolatey goodness.”

“That’s not a word.”

“I don’t care.”, she says.

Suddenly her eyes widen. “How did you know that I liked chocolate?...”, she asks surprised.

“I observe, Rookie.”

“So you study me. Am I that interesting?”, she asks, smiling.

You scoff, “I observe everyone. As should you. In fact, that’s why I enjoy coming here. The clientele are quite intriguing.”

“Nah, I like to curl up on the couch, covered in a fuzzy blanket with a good romance novel and a nice mug of hot chocolate.” You wouldn’t expect anything else.

“The art of observation is important for a diagnostian.”

“Okay then, what else do you observe?”

“You see that woman there, with the cup of gelato?” She nods. “She’s waiting for someone.”

“How do you know?”, she asks.

“Look at her. She keeps on checking her phone and is taking very minute bites of her gelato.” Just then, a young man enters and walks up to the woman, kissing them on the cheek and sitting down.

“Very well, let me try.” She looks around and spots a young woman entering the cafe, hair in a breezy mess. Arielle’s lips form into a devilish smirk.

“There! That woman just got laid.” You blink in astonishment.

“She had sex. Look at her hair.”

“I’ve seen your hair looking like that at the end of your shift.”, you counter.

She giggles. You find it ridiculously cute. “Well I certainly wouldn’t wear a dress that scandalous to work,” She points to the tight sparkly minidress peeking underneath from her trench coat.

“Okay, you win that one.”

“Now... what else have you ‘observed’ about me?” You think about what to say.

“You’ve worked very hard to get where you are now. You’re somebody who is selfless and caring and always make sure your friends are always happy. If people you love or respect say anything about you, you take it to heart. Others, you don’t give a damn. You would go to any extent to help the people you love.You have an unconfronted past, but you’re looking to change that.” Her mouth falls open into a perfect circle. “Am I right?”

“You are.”, she replies.

“Now do me.” She coughs.

“You’re someone has faced many obstacles to get to where you are in life. The people you truly respect can be counted on one hand. You don’t give a damn about what other people think or say about you, nor let it affect you. You don’t bring your walls down for anybody. Right now, you’re lost.” How did she manage to...

“Lost? Whatever could you mean by that?”, you ask.

“You’re trapped in some kind of problem, not knowing what to do or where to go.”, she says.

You fake scoff, “You’re half right. In diagnostics, that means nothing.” Your gut churns as you flat-out lie to her. Your pager beeps.

“I have to go.”

“I think I’ll stay here for a few minutes. Thank you for the coffee, Dr. Ramsey.”, she gently smiles.

“You’re most welcome, Dr. Valentine.”

Arielle’s PoV:-

You decide to post the picture of the mouthwatering coffee. Sipping the rest of your now new favourite coffee, you caption it ‘Delicious Chocolatey Goodness!”, ignoring what Dr. Ramsey said about it not being a real word.

You reply to a few of the comments and head back to the hospital when your pager beeps. Heading towards the nurses’ station, you see Danny.

“Hey Danny, are the tests I ordered for Remy back?”

“Yeah. Here you go.” He hands me the file, going through it as you head to Remy’s room, you collide headfirst with a rock hard chest. You look up to see Rafael.

“I’m so sorry, Raf.”

“It’s okay, Arielle. What you got there?”

“I saw some markers for a genetic disorder, so I ordered a test. But it looks good so fa”- The words die on your lips, your face falling downcast as you read the last page.

He notices your face. “What’s wrong?”

“The test I ordered came clear, but there are some other markers that clearly point to another disease, he won’t be able to walk by the time he’s fifty. Surfing’s his whole life.” You look to him for help.

“I can’t make the decision for you Arielle. But sometimes telling the truth does more damage. Just keep in mind that no decision is wrong or right. It’s different in everyone’s eyes. I’ll wait for you here.”, he gestures to the door.

Taking a deep breath, you enter the room to find Remy strumming on his guitar. “What up doc, am I cleared to go?” You steel yourself.

“Remy, the tests came back. I’m afraid you have genetic markers for distal muscular distrophy.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you won’t be able to use your hands or legs at the age of fifty. The disease is quite a late onset, it starts by atrophying the muscles of the hands and legs. It only starts at the age of around 40. I’m so sorry, Remy.”

His face morphs into fury. “I didn’t even want you to do the stupid genetic test! Is this what you wanted, to ruin my life?!” He throws the guitar at you, you dodge just in time and exit. You look back and see him sobbing on the bed. Rafael comes over and engulfs you in a bear hug.

“Hey, it’s ok.” You nod and bury yourself into his chest for a few minutes. “Hey, what if I take you out for dinner?” You look at him.

“Hey, not as a date! Think of it as a friend trying to cheer you up with the best comfort food in town.” You laugh.

“Okay. I have to change though. We’ll drive back to my apartment, where I’ll drop my car and change, and then you can attempt to cheer me up.”

You drive back with him to your empty apartment. “So... where is everyone?”

“Jackie and Landry have night shifts, and Elijah and Sienna want to keep an eye on their post-op patient overnight. So it’s just me.”

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” You give him a little tour of the place, giving him a glass of lemonade to drink.

“ I bet this is your room.” He points to the master bedroom, decorated with a trio of blush, pearl and gold hues all over the room.

“It is.”, you laugh. He looks at all the pictures on the walls.

“Anyone who’s met you can guess this is your room. It’s filled with positive and meaningful quotes all over the walls.” You giggle.

“Now get dressed quickly, I’ll wait.”, he exits the room. You close the door and decide on a pair of comfy leggings with a flowy cold shoulder baby blue top. You grab a small crossbody purse and a nice jacket. Deciding to skip makeup, you quickly twist both sides of your hair and clip it back, giving an illusion of a half up, and head out.

“See...you look pretty. Now, let’s go. I’m hungry.” You walk with Raf, him guiding you on a busy street.

“So...where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He leads you down the street and suddenly turns your body to the right.

You see a beautiful little street lit up with lantern and fairy lights, outdoor tables set up for little shops and food carts along the way. “Wow! I wasn’t expecting a street market. It’s beautiful Raf.”

“Now, what are you craving?” You inhale the smell wafting in the air and deduce spices, particularly the ones Naveen would use when he made your favourite dinner.

“Indian.”

“Nice choice, follow me.” He leads you to a food truck and ushers you into a seat while he orders something. A few minutes later, he comes with two bowls filled with steaming jasmine rice and aromatic curry.

“You take a bowl from him and smell the delicious, mouthwatering scent. “Mm! That smells delicious.” Almost like the one Naveen makes, you think.

“Wait here.”, he goes back to the truck and gets drinks and spoons.

“Dig in!”, he says handing you the drink and spoon. You take a small bite and let the flavour dissolve on your tongue. You moan.

“It’s good, isn’t it.” You nod instead of replying, your mouth full of rice. He laughs. “Okay okay! I won’t disturb you. Eat in peace.” You both finish off your dinner in peaceful silence, taking solace of the beautiful view of the fairy lights against the night sky. Washing off your dinner with a special lemonade you say, “That was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Thank you Raf.”

“Of course, Arielle. You’re my friend, don’t forget that.” He puts a hand around your shoulder and you head back to your apartment, talking about your favourite Indian dishes. You don’t even notice you arrive at your apartment cause you’re so tired. The only reason you were able to walk all this way was Raf helping you.

“We’re here.” You look up and blink.

“Oh, I’m so tired. Goodnight Rafael.” He gives you one last hug saying, “Goodnight, Arielle. Promise me you won’t beat yourself up about the decision you made.”

“I won’t.” You ride the elevator to the top floor and stumble into your apartment, locking the door. You fall asleep the minute you hit the bed. Waking up to the sound of loud intro music, you rub your eyes and head out to the living room. “Oh shit! I completely forgot tonight was movie night.”

“It’s okay Ari. Join us.” You see Elijah, Si, and Landry on the couch with popcorn and a few other snacks. “Where’s Jackie?” Landry points to her closed bedroom door. You knock on her door.

“Jackie? You in there?” You open the door to find medical textbooks scattered all over her bed. She looks up.

“Hey. Tonight’s movie night. Aren’t you coming?”

“No. I have to study.” You think about the various times in college you’ve put off meetings with friends to study.

“Good call.”

“I know. Close the door.” You slowly close the door, as sadness creeps up on you.

General PoV:-

Arielle slumps on the sofa between Elijah and Sienna. “So did anyone find out anything about Patient X?”, Elijah asks.

“No! I asked a bunch of residents and nurses, they thought I was joking.”, Landry says.

“I asked Danny, he didn’t know anything.”, Si says.

“So you asked Danny, huh?” Arielle gives her a knowing look as a slight blush creeps up on her face.

“They’re right. I checked all the patients’ records and there no ‘Patient X’ in the hospital.”, Elijah says.

“Okay, enough! Let’s start movie night!”, Sienna exclaims. All four of them bicker over what movie to watch and end up binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy. Arielle falls asleep again on the 3rd or 4th episode. A couple of hours later... Arielle wakes up to bright sunlight shining on her face. “Hmm....” She rolls of the sofa and onto the plush rug with a thud. After laying there for a few minutes, she gets up stretching her sore limbs and heads towards her room to get ready for the day. If only she knew nothing would have prepared her for what she was about to witness.

Arielle’s PoV:-

The first thing you do is check on Remy. You tentatively head towards to Remy’s room when he sees you and gestures for you to come in. “Hey Remy... how are you doing?”, you wince waiting for the reply.

“First of all doc, I want to apologise.” You look up in confusion.

“You’re a doctor and it isn’t your fault that this happened to me, it’s kinda your job to tell me.”

“I know Remy, but still...”

“I’m so sorry for lashing out at you, hell I acted like an ass.”

“I think I can excuse you for just this once.”, a smile blooms on your face. “But what made you change your mind?”

“If you hadn’t told me, I would have probably wasted a lot of time fooling around and doing idiotic things. Now that I know, I can make sure that I enjoy life and spend my time wisely. A lot of people don’t even know that they’re going to get sick, but I do. I should be grateful.” You smile saying, “That’s a poetic way of looking at life.”

“And... I wanted to thank you but didn’t know how. But luckily I came across something.” He pulls up his phone and shows a picture of you, a few years ago, strumming and singing with a guitar. He then pulls out his guitar and hands it to me. “Your voice is beautiful and way better then mine. This is way more useful for you.”

“Remy... I can’t possibly take this.”

“Well you have to. Think of it as a small price for the 20 years of life you gave me.” You accept the guitar and hand him his signed discharge papers. “Now go live your life.” You head towards the 4th floor for rounds, stopping at the locker room to safekeep the guitar that he gave you with a smile on his face.

Later you’re heading towards your next patient right before lunch when a gut feeling stops you in your tracks. “Wait, I followed Dr. Ramsey here yesterday... and the week before that too.” You remember what Elijah said, “They’re right. I checked all the patients’ records and there no ‘Patient X’ in the hospital.”

Following your gut, you enter the new wing under construction, stepping over the barricades. You go quite far into the corridor and peer into the halls but find nothing. You start to doubt yourself, “I might just be grasping at air here.” You decide to go a little further and notice a glow emitting from one of the newly constructed patient rooms. You peer into one the room to see someone lying in the patient’s bed, but you can’t see clearly who it is. You look beside the bed to see Dr. Ramsey, head in his hands. Taking a few steps closer, you make out the face lying in the bed. Naveen! Your heart stops. “No, no, no, no, no. There’s no way.” You try to deny it, but all of it makes sense. Why else would he quit his job. He can’t be sick, can he?”

“Before you can understand what’s going on, Naveen locks eyes with you. His eyes widen, his face morphing into utter shock. You’re frozen in place. You can see the pain in his eyes, the pain you caused. Your hearts beats way too fast. Your head is spinning. You don’t know what’s going on. It’s hard to breathe, hard to focus. So hard that you don’t even notice Dr. Ramsey looking at you. You don’t hear him shout, “Rookie!”. All you hear is the words you last said to your godfather, the ones that broke your inseparable bond and the ones that broke his heart.

Everything goes black.

[drariellevalentine]

Medically Inevitable

Chapter 1- Frivolous First Days

Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Ethan Ramsey, Jackie Varma, Sienna Trinh

Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine

Warnings:- PTSD

Arielle’s PoV:-

Edenbrook Hospital. Finally! My very first day of my internal medicine residency at Edenbrook. One more step, a rather huge one, towards my goal.

General PoV:-

Arielle adores the hospital from standing outside, with a proud smile on her face. She's halfway there, to be her own person, and also halfway to mend the relationship that shouldn't have been strained in the first place, but yet, she had to destroy it. She takes a deep breath. Now, she can only hope for her godfather to forgive her.

With one more look, she enters the huge hospital to find the reception desk straight ahead of her. ID cards- she needs to collect her ID before doing anything else.

A bright, chirpy doctor, smiling at everyone who's passing her, is the first thing or to be more accurate the first person to grab Arielle's attention nearing the nurses' desk. “Hey!” New intern, right?" The doctor gives her a bright smile which Arielle returns. "I'm Dr. Delarosa but you can call me Ines," she continues, her cheerful voice flowing with excitement.

"Let me help you with your badge. What's your name?" She asks smiling.

"Arielle Valentine, " I reply.

"Valentine...Valentine..." She mutters while rummaging through the bundle of ID's and then the badges. And then smiles brightly when she finds both," Ah! Here you go Dr. Valentine."

Before taking her badge, for a moment, Arielle wonders how much Ines’s cheeks must hurt at the end of the day for smiling this much. But then Aria herself smiles.

"Thank you," she smiles at Ines before her gaze flickers back to the badge.

Dr. Valentine, it says. She remembers how her father said she wouldn’t be able to make it. He never believed in her, that she could be successful in the field she wants. But now she is going to be a doctor. She did it. And her heart fills with pride. She's never been this proud of herself before. "Thank you."

As she's about to pass the waiting room, out of nowhere, an elderly woman collapses on the floor.

Arielle makes her way towards woman but before she could another doctor reaches her. He leans down to check her pulse and then looks around before his gaze stops at her. "You rookie, come here."

For a millisecond Arielle thinks of correcting him and tell her name but then decides against it, because the patient's life matters more.

She rushes to the patient's side to take a note of her vitals and tells the doctor. "Pulse is weak. She is unresponsive," Arielle says. She can feel her panic rising. But the older doctor's calm. "What was she coming for? Did she fill out a form yet?" He asks the nurse standing nearby. "No, she just walked in," the nurse replies, his features screaming tension.

"If we don't figure out what's wrong with her quickly, she'll die on this table." He says, though a bit frustrated this time. "Rookie, check her B.P." Arielle wraps a blood pressure cuff around the unconscious woman's arm, and pumps the bulb, peering at the numbers. "It's plummeting. She's hypotensive," Arielle feels panic rising more than ever. "We need to get fluid in her."

The nurses runs and gets a IV stand. As he sets the stand, Arielle checks the woman for more symptoms as does the older doctor. That's when she notices a bruise rapidly forming in her elbows. "Doctor look at the bruise. It wasn't there a moment ago," she points it out. "Are you sure?"

"Yes.", you reply. "A bruising that fast suggests the patient is hemophiliac. Good catch." He nods." Take a closer listen to her lungs."

Arielle slips the stethoscope into her ears and runs the resonator over the woman's ribs. "I can't listen anything on her left side. And her right lung is struggling," She says tensed. "Doctor she's going to suffocate." Arielle's a mess right now, tensed. But the older doctor remains collected. "Nurse we have got a code blue."

Taking a bag mask from the nurse and begins to gently pump air into the woman's lungs. He is cool and calm on the other hand Arielle's on the verge of having an panic attack. "What do we do doctor?" She asks. "Consider all the clues. It's all there. You know this, Rookie."

It hits you. “It’s a hemothorax!” "Precisely, a blood vessel ruptured and is filling her pleural cavity- ,"

"-blocking her lungs from expanding. That's why she can't breathe!" I say. " But...but we can't repair the blood vessel here."

"We'll have to do an emergency thoracotomy here to drain the cavity instead." " Nurse!" He calls and the nurse runs to them with a lung tube and a scalpel, forwarding them to Arielle. She accepts it hesitantly. The doctor pulls the woman's shirt to expose the side of her rib cage, Arielle shivers of fear.

With her hand shaking she tries to remember what she was taught. The scalpel quivers in her nervous grip. But the doctor from behind her steadies her hand. "Hey, you've got this," he whispers softly and Arielle nods trying steady her hands. "There you go, nice and easy." He says as Arielle makes a perfect incision in between the woman's ribs.

"Now the tube," He instructs.

Together, the two of them insert the chest tube and with a spurt, blood comes out draining out of her chest. She starts to breathe again.

"We...we did it!" Arielle says shocked and surprised but also happy. She's happy that she could save a live. She knew her godfather would tell her stories about saving lives but, having done it for herself, she felt exhilarated and happy.

She sees the doctor gesturing to the nurse and then instructing him what to do.

"Doctor... That was...amazing! " Arielle says happy and excited.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty amazing that you didn't get her killed." He snorts.

"Your examination was slow and not to mention superficial. You scalpel techniques-" he nods in denial," amateur at best."

"I'm sorry doctor, it's my first day."

“Well, it wouldn't have mattered to the patient’s family if she died, Dr.-" he takes her ID, "Valentine."

He gazes at it thoughtfully before piching the bridge of her nose and mumbling something. Tossing the ID back at Arielle he leaves.

"What an ass!" She exclaims angrily.

"Yeah, what an ass!" A female nurse stares at her admiringly, her eyes filled with lust, making Arielle roll her eyes.

"Don't worry. Dr. Ramsey is like this to everyone," the same male nurse from before says.

"Dr. Ramsey?! As in Dr. Ethan Ramsey?!"

"Yes. I take in you are a fan?"

"Are you kidding me? He's basically one of the reasons I wanted to be a doctor. And now you are telling me I just performed a thoracotomy with him!" Arielle says the last part a bit dramatically making the nurse laugh and walks away leaving Arielle with her thoughts alone.

She remembers meeting him a few years back, but never did she think he would act like that. She remembers him sharing his passion of medicine with everyone, and encouraging her to follow her path. Was he really the same person? Can being a doctor for 10 years really change your outlook in life that much? She's shocked!

She looks down at her clothes now having patches of blood here and there. "I need to change my outfit," she says to herself and looks around for a clock. "Shit! I'm going to be late!”, she thinks noticing the time and runs off to find the locker room. After thirty minutes of a lecture, they gets assigned to their very first case, with an intern pairing with another from the stream.

And Arielle's partner is Aurora Emery, who just happens to be ‘her boss's niece and who is not at all surprisingly, not friendly at all.

On their way to the first patient, Arielle's the one to open her mouth first, “Okay, so our first patient is in Room 532. Should we talk about how we are going to approach this case first?" “No need," she says rudely testing Arielle's patience. That Aurora Emery doesn't have the right to talk to people like this just because her aunt is the hospital chief. "Look Aurora, all I care about is the patient.” Arielle takes a breath to calm herself. " If you don't want to be nice, that's okay by me. But we're gonna put everything else aside for the people in our care."

"Suits me just fine." Her voice still cold as ice. She moves forward, keeping a few steps ahead Arielle. So much for not being egoistic.

Arielle skims through the chart for the patient’s personal details. They enter Room 532 to see the patient in there of the same age as them, not much older.

Arielle’s PoV:-

“Hi Annie! I’m Dr. Valentine and this is Dr. Emery. We’ll be your doctors today.” I nod in her direction. And Aurora smiles kindly and sweetly at the girl. Something that I didn't think she can.

" Annie, I'm going to take your vitals while Dr. Valentine asks you some questions," she says, her face still smiling.

"Before we start, is there anyone we can call for you? Being in the hospital can be a little less scary with someone by your side."

" I just moved here for grad school. My family's on the other side of the country, and I don't really know anyone yet," Annie says, her voice low.

"I just moved here too. Maybe we can look after each other." I smile brightly at her hoping to make her mood better. It works, and she returns the smile.

As Aurora checks her B.P. I ask her a few questions noticing the patches of rashes on her skin.

"Do you often suffer from itchy skin?"

"Not really. Just for the past few days."

I nod and grab her chart. " You came in here for headaches, nausea and vertigo."

"And also my plans keep cramping up."

“My palms also keep cramping up though.”

"Have you ever had these symptoms before?"

"Never. The timing sucks. I even had to cut my vacation to Indonesia short for it."

"You did the right thing. Vertigo on a unknown place can be very dangerous." Aurora says.

"Not to mention how scary it have been.

"It still is." Annie pauses for a second. "How long will I have to stay here?"

"We'll try our best to make it quick," I say confidently, and the girl relaxes a bit.

"Sorry, I panic easily when I'm stressed out."

I notice a bruise on her ankle while checking her for any other symptoms or anything else that could give me a clue.

"How did you get this cut on your ankle, Annie?"

"Oh that! I cut it on some coral while I was scuba driving."

"You are a scuba driver?"

"I'm still learning. I went to get my driver's license while I was on my trip. But I never got it though."

"Okay, last question. Are you allergic to any medication?"

"No, none that I know of."

Arielle notes everything down. "Thank you Annie, you did a nice job here." Both Arielle and Aurora smiles at her.

"Thanks. You guys are really nice. Honestly, I was hoping a old grumpy guy."

"So was I.", I laugh.

"We'll let you get some rest," Aurora says before getting out of the room following Arielle.

"Dr. Valentine. I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing it."

" I on the other hand, am already bored of it," Aurora says, her friendly behavior gone again.

Sighing, I focus on the job.

" We should do a screen for any viruses or bacteria. She could have picked up something on her trip."

"Not the worst idea. We’ll run a full workup on her vitals."

And before I can say anything else, Aurora's pager goes off. It's her aunt. She's paging her to her office.

"I need to go." Her cold voice announces.

"Seriously?! " This time I can feelher anger rising. Was she really ditching her? It's our case. We should solve it together. Not me alone!

"I'll tell you what. When the chief wants to see you, I'll run the labs. Until then...”, she never finishes the sentence but leaves.

General PoV:-

Half an hour later, Sarah, a nurse at the hospital, the same one who was admiring Dr. Ramsey shamelessly, hands Arielle a lab report. Annie's lab report.

Going through the report once Arielle ask to give Annie an antibiotic, twice a day, 1200 mg in total. She tells it to Maria, another nurse, a bit elderly but nonetheless friendly and sweet.

Before lunch she decides to check on the other patient she had. A five year old child who has a hole in heart. Poor boy. Life is being unfair to him. He should have been playing and having fun but here he was stuck with his medications.

The last time she checked on him, he was all sad and gloomy, sitting on his bed alone. So this time Arielle decides to surprise him with a treat that'll make him happy.

That's what Arielle is doing now, standing in front of the vending machine. Buying four different candies, which are now resting in the pocket of her lab coat, she is standing there confused of which chocolate bar to pick as the fifth treat.

Twix... Kitkat... And an unknown chocolate bar. She guesses it to be some American snack. Her eyes runs over all the chocolate options before she sighs.

"Having trouble choosing yourself a treat, Rookie?" A cold, nonchalant voice says from behind her.

She turns around to find the same doctor with whom she performed the thoracotomy, Dr. Ramsey.

"Dr. Ramsey... It's not for me, it's for one of a patient of mine." She says. When she doesn't get any reply from him she herself continues. "He is here to treat a hole in his heart. His surgery is due tomorrow and he is really scared right now. Poor little guy, he should be enjoying playing with toys but instead stuck here. So I thought of buying him a little something that will cheer him up."

For a second, she thinks that she saw him smile but it was gone to soon to revaluate.

She turns to the vending machine again. "I was always a Geysers girl myself.” “He however”, pausing to turn back and point at the boy, “doesn't seem like a kid who'll like Geysers."

She says looking at him. She notices him staring at that chocolate bar and suddenly an idea strikes her mind. "Why don't you help me choose one, doctor? Please," she requests, way too cutely for anyone to refuse.

He sighs but yet takes a step forward towards the machine. He stands there for a minute going through the option. His eyes flickering at the chocolate bar which makes Arielle think he's going to choose it but rather he settles for a Kitkat.

When it pops out, he hands it to Arielle and walks away. With the remaining coins, Arielle quickly buys that chocolate bar.

"Dr. Ramsey...wait!" She quickens her pace to catch him and bumps into him when he suddenly stops resulting in the free fall of her charts.

She leans down to pick it up but rather the chocolates and candies falls down from her pocket.

Sighing Ethan kneels down to help her. "Jeez, Rookie, are you here to treat the kid or give him diabetes?"

Arielle gives him a incredulous look while picking her things. "It's just a few candies!"

Ethan hands her the candies he picked up and then stands. Arielle too stands up after picking her charts and then hands out the chocolate bar to Ethan, who raises his brows.

"I saw you staring at it," she starts to explain, " Seemed like you like it."

She tosses him the bar with a sweet smile, " You know it's okay to treat yourself time to time."

"And you know, you are never too old to have a chocolate," she smirks at him but Ethan is too surprised at her gesture that he barely notices it.

"Uh, thank you Dr. Valentine...I guess," he says awkwardly.

Arielle's PoV:-

Dr. Ramsey turns around and leaves. As I turn around I bump into another person. “What's with me and bumping today.”, I think. "Sorry, my bad!" I apologize to the intern with whom I bumped. "Ah, no, all mine... I'm sorry," he stammers a bit. “Hey, I saw you at the orientation. Arielle Valentine, right?” I nod.

"I'm Landry Olsen," he forwards his hand which I take. "Was that Dr. Ramsey?" He points towards the elevator. "Yes." "Wait, you’re the intern who performed the thoracotomy with him this morning. Aren't you?" He asks surprised and exited.

“Yeah, and he ripped me a new one in front of everyone," I say sadly. "It was so damn-" "Lucky!" He interrupts me in between. I bet that, well I think, being insulted in front of a whole crowd is anything but lucky. But I don't find it important to tell him.

Before I can say anything else my phone chimes with an alarm I set. "Sorry, I'll have to go. Talk to you later," I say and turn towards the stairs. “Okay, time to check on Annie, she should have taken the medication by now.”, you think to yourself. You enter her room to find Annie scrolling through her phone.

“Hey Annie.” “Hi Dr. Valentine, a nurse just gave me some medication a while back.” “Good. So, tell me more about yourself. We didn’t really have a chance to talk.”“I just moved here last week from California. I got accepted into Harvard for law.....law...sch...”

Suddenly, Annie’s heart monitor goes flat! Annie!..Annie!” You press the call button and yell Code Blue, performing chest compressions. Another intern burst into the room saying, “Room 501 just called a Code Blue before you, keep up the chest compressions. What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know, she was talking and speech started slurring. Then her heart stopped.”The tall intern pulls back Annie’s gown, revealing hives. You gasp. “She must have been allergic to the antibiotic I prescribed her!”

“We’ll have to defibrillate her ourselves; we’ll start her at 300 volts.” She takes your place of performing CPR, while you pull the cart close to the bed.

You open her gown and place the paddles after gelling their undersides, as she pauses CPR. “One below the right collarbone and one below the left armpit. Done!” You set the charge to 300 volts. “Do it!” Annie’s body spasms as you defibrillate her. “Clear!” You set them aside as she continues chest compressions. “Come on!.....Come on Annie! Come back to us!” You hear a beep, you turn towards the monitor. Annie’s heartbeat returns, accelerated but constant! “Yes!” “You are sooo lucky, Dr....”

“Arielle Valentine. I’ll maintain compressions while you push an epinephrine injection and intubate, Dr....” “Jackie Varma.”, she says while intubating. You continue with your compressions. “What the HELL is going on here, Rookie?”

You let out a short squeal in surprise. Turning to look at him, you see him leaning on the doorframe glaring at you. “Dr. Ramsey! Don’t worry, everything’s under control. My patient was allergic to the antibiotics I prescribed her.”

“At least you’re owning up to your mistake.” You see Dr. Ramsey turn to Jackie, pushing an epinephrine injection into her thigh. “Now, we intubate.” You see her lubricate the tube before slowly feeding it through her mouth.

“Good work, Dr....” “Varma. I heard Dr. Valentine calling a Code Blue, since Room 501 called one before, I decided to step in and help.”

“The patient is very lucky you were here. I’m not sure Dr. Valentine here could have handled it.” You bit your lip, your face falling. “Thank you Dr. Ramsey, although Dr. Valentine performed as well.”

He scoffs and politely tells her to go back to her patients. “And you... you need to have a long, hard think about if you are prepared to be here. This isn’t med school, this is the real world. It doesn’t matter that the patient didn’t know that she was allergic or it is your first day. Whether your patients live or die are on you.” “Yes, Dr. Ramsey.”, you bit your lip in shame so hard that you start drawing blood. Luckily, he doesn’t notice. “There are no room for mistakes or excuses. You can’t expect the patient’s family to accept the reason of”-

“Dr. Ramsey? A petite intern is standing near the door. “Wow, someone who isn’t tall! I thought everyone were basketball players here!”, you think to yourself. “Yes?”, he asks, the annoyance on his face clearly visible. “A nurse said to me that another nurse said to him that Dr. Hirata said to him that Chief Emery wants to see you.” He groans, “Interns!” He swiftly walks out and turns a corner.

“Thank God for Dr. Hirata!”, you thank the universe for this distraction. “Yeah, but too bad that Chief Emery didn’t actually need Dr. Ramsey.”, she says with a mischievous smirk. “Wait What?”

“I saw Dr. Ramsey chewing you out, just as bad as your lip, and thought that girl needs a little saving.”, she says nonchalantly. “Damn! You’ve got nerve!”, I praised her, impressed by her courage to lie to THE Dr. Ramsey. “Aww! Thanks, it was nothing. I’m Sienna or Dr. Trinh, whatever floats your boat. “I’m Arielle Valentine, and I’m also glad that not every doctor is a basketball player!” She laughs.

“Hey, a bunch of us interns are meeting up at a bar across the street, Donahue’s. You should come too, even Dr. Ramsey hangs out there.” “I’ll be there.”

“Awesome! Come to the locker room once your shift ends. I’ll be waiting. Byeee!”

General PoV:-

Arielle can’t help but think about her arguments with her father as Dr. Ramsey’s words come back to her. “And you... you need to have a long, hard think about if you are prepared to be here. This isn’t med school, this is the real world. It doesn’t matter that the patient didn’t know that she was allergic or it is your first day. Whether your patients live or die are on you.”

Arielle starts to doubt herself, whether cutting off most contact with her family and Naveen was worth it. Especially for something she isn’t good at. Her mind starts to remember her 18th birthday, specifically the huge argument that followed after her announcement of becoming a doctor, “or at least hoping to.”, she thought.

Tears start pooling in her eyes and she ducks into a nearby supply closet. She can hear her father’s words whispered in her head. “How could you do this! We’ve been talking about you and your brother taking over the family law firm someday! Why would you tell us now! Do you know how many prestigious universities and colleges are fighting to provide a full scholarship to the great Alessandro Raines’s daughter!” Tears start running down her blush tinted cheeks, smearing the eyeliner and mascara she had done in the morning. Her pager beeps after some time. She darts into the restroom and fixes her makeup and continues her shift.

Where's is the freaking elevator? She angrily mutters to herself in the quest of finding the elevator.

"Hey, are you lost too?" An intern in a wheelchair asks her. He is coming from the opposite direction of her.

"Yes," Arielle gives a sheepish smile.

"Me too."

"Trust me this place doesn't look this huge from outside." Arielle says and he giggles.

"Any idea how to get to the elevator?" He asks looking around.

"Nope. I'm looking for it too," Arielle sighs. "How does everyone else seem to already know where to go?""And what to do..." He says sadly.

"Say, are you two lost? I can show you the main hall then," and elderly patient says coming from the same direction as Elijah.

"Thanks! As long as it's not much trouble for you ma'am," Elijah smiles at her brightly.

"No trouble Dr. Taylor makes me take twelve laps of the floor every day so I don't go stir-crazy!" She smiles back. "Come with me," She says and starts to walk and the lost two interns follows her.

"Here you go. This elevator can take you on your way," she nods at the elevator which is currently resting on this floor.

"Thank you ma'am! You are a lifesaver," Elijah says.

"Really, thank you," Arielle smiles at her before getting in the elevator with Elijah.

As the elevator starts moving down, something strikes in Arielle's mind.

"Oh my God! I know what's wrong with Annie!" She says and presses the 3rd floor button.

"Wait, what's wrong? And who's Annie? " Elijah asks confused but before Arielle can reply the lifts halts to stop.

"Sorry, gotta go! I'll explain it to you later!" Arielle gets out of the lift while paging Dr. Ramsey.

Ten minutes later, he enters room 532, where Arielle is talking with Annie.

"You paged me," his cold voice rang through the room which grabbed the attention of both the woman.

"I solved the case," Arielle says happily.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"I too want to know what is wrong with me," Annie says in between them and with that Arielle starts to explain what she found out while questioning Annie occasionally, when needed.

"I'm going to write her prescription and get her medications ready," Arielle feels to Ethan once they both where outside the patient's room.

"Don't bother," Dr. Ramsey says nonchalantly, handing her a paper.

She opens it to find a medical prescription, prescribing all the medicines that she was about to order for Annie. "You knew what's wrong with her?" She asks confused and he nods.

"Then why didn't you treat her?" She asks a bit angrily this time.

"I thought to give you time till 11 o'clock to solve it."

"I- Well, thanks for giving me a chance," Arielle says calming her anger.

And he raises his brows at her, "You’re not angry?"

"Honestly, I am. But again, I'm not going to learn anything if someone is holding my hand." She answers.

"My thoughts exactly."

Just then Aurora comes there to see Arielle talking with Ethan, with a prescription in her hands. Her eyes moves to the room where Annie is staying to Annie laying happily in her bed.

"You presented the case without me." Aurora says angrily once she's beside Arielle.

And that's when Arielle remembers that she had a partner. "I'm doomed," she thinks to herself before she hears Ramsey scolding Aurora.

"Where where you and what where you doing when Dr. Valentine was solving the case here alone?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose he continues, "This assignments aren't optional..."

He keeps lashing out at Dr.Emery so Arielle decides to help her out.

"Sorry, Dr. Emery, I should have kept you updated on the case," She interrupts Ethan who angrily mutters something under his breathe.

Aurora at first glares at her angrily but after understanding Arielle is giving her an out she speaks," It's okay. I wasn't there. So it is your win."

Ethan turns to Arielle this time. "Dr. Valentine, this hospital runs on communication. Keep each other apprised."

He says before walking out to the other direction.

Your shift soon grinds to an end. You head to the locker room.

"Get ready!!" Sienna exclaims excited as soon as Arielle enters into their locker room."Woah! Calm down, girl!," Arielle smiles brightly at her. "Did you bring something to wear?" She asks and Arielle turns around from her locker with a cowl neck backless maroon top and a pair of black skinny jeans. " What do you think?" She shows it to Sienna."You'll look beautiful in it. Go and put it on! I want to see you in it!" She literally pusher Arielle into the changing stalls.

Within minutes Arielle gets out of the stall. “How do I look?""You look gorgeous," she compliments her. If anyone else said this Arielle wouldn't have believed it but Sienna's compliment felt genuine to her. "Is anyone else going to join us?" Arielle asks as they exit the hospital building. "Yes, they are already in the bar waiting for us," she says, her excitement never decreasing. It takes them five minutes to walk to the bar from the hospital.

"Hi, guys!" Sienna greets as soon as they reach a table. There are three more interns there. Arielle saw them at the orientation, they are internal medicine residents, same as her. Also, two of them are Landry and Jackie, she already met them."This is Arielle," she introduces Arielle to everyone. "Hi!" Arielle waves at everyone before taking a seat beside Jackie and Sienna sits beside Elijah and next to him is Landry. Soon a waiter brings a tray full of shots to their table and they bond over it.

Hours after, Arielle feels a pair of eyes looking at her. She looks around to find a pair of turquoise blue eyes locked on hers. "I'll buy us the next round," Arielle says and get up before anyone else can say anything. "Anything wrong Dr.Ramsey?" She asks when she's nears him at the bar. "No, I-" he pauses."I was just looking how different you look in the outer world." Just then the bartender interrupts to ask if Arielle needs something. "A round of shots and," she looks at Ethan's glass trying to figure out what he is drinking," two scotches,neat." She smiles at the bartender. The bartender comes back either her orders and she passes one of the glasses bearing the scotch to Ethan. "Why neat instead of on the rocks?" He asks accepting the drink. "Because ice changes the flavor."

"Correct," he says impressed. " You know you can't bribe me into favoring you, right?" He nods at the drink. "It's just a thank you drink," she replies.” “Thank you, for what?" " For giving me another chance."

Ethan’s PoV:-

As she talks about some patient, he can't help but study her face. It feels like I know her, I've seen her somewhere before. Her soft diamond face, blushing cheeks. Her long jet black hair, the end of which is ombréd with violet, the same violet as her eyes- everything about her seems too familiar. I can't help but look at how pretty she is looking right now. Her hair covering half of her face and those bright violet eyes peeking from beneath it those beautiful long lashes. Get a hold on your thoughts, Ramsey! She's your intern for god’s sake!

"Anything for you, Ethan?" Reggie asks after bringing Arielle her tray of shots. "Two specials, Reggie." "Only for you Ethan." "You are on first name basis with the bartender?" She asks me after Reggie is gone. “I come here everyday since my intern year. So I know him for a long time," I answer. "You don't have anyone waiting at home?"

I hesitate for a moment but then decide to change the topic by answering. “I'll come here even when I do. I need some buffer between hospital and the world. An air lock." "Don't take your job home, Valentine." "I'll keep that in mind. But you still didn't answer my question." She says. She's not one to forget. I sigh. “No, no one's waiting for me at home tonight." Thanks to Reggie for saving me from any further questions from her, if she has any.

After Reggie places our drinks I hand one to her.

"Try it."

She looks at it for a moment, probably deciding whether or not to drink.

"It's great! Better than any other drink I've had," she says slightly surprised making me smirk.

“Either you are sucking up to me or you have an excellent taste as an intern." I smirk.

"I'd like to think it's the second one." She grins and then turns around to find her friends.

"I think I should go. My friends are waiting for me. Good night, Dr. Ramsey.” She says and I nod.

Arielle’s PoV:-

After two hours, and three more rounds of shots, the group makes their way out.

"We'll have to be back here after four more hours only," Arielle says checking the time on her phone.

"The apartment I share with my boyfriend is on the other side of the town. I will barely be able to sleep for two hours," Sienna says sadly.

"I'd be damned to sleep for two hours. The apartment I stay in is above a salsa club," Jackie sighs.

"The apartment I rented doesn't have a lift, so I had to settle with the smallest one-bed room apartment on the ground floor. There's hardly any space there," Elijah says.

"Guys!" Sienna grabs their attention. "Maybe I am saying this because I'm drunk. But what if the five of us rents an apartment together?" She suggests.

"Renting an decent apartment alone in Boston may be quite expensive. But if we five split it among us, the price won't be much more than we are already paying for our hellholes." Jackie nods in support.

"That's probably a good idea." Landry supports her too.

As the group starts discussing about it, Arielle looks at them thoughtfully.

She never thought of moving in with people she’ve known for only a day, but fate seems to have different plans for her.