Leon and Sami

[lafeae]

@shygirl3


(All set to go. I'll get us started. And be replying OoC in the real spot for that after this xD )


This time came again, as it did every year, when they were about to be flooded with new residents, medical students, interns. All fresh and ready to learn, get their hands dirty, and really understand the sort of job they were getting into.


Leon couldn't be more excited. Though often more senior doctors grumbled, not the teaching type, he was more than willing to take on a small lot of people. He figured that he was a student once, and the emotions and bewilderment were still fairly fresh in his mind.


In scrubs and lab coat, barely ready for the new day himself, he stood with a smile on his face, ready for whoever stepped onto the shift with him.

 

[shygirl3]

Samantha walked into the hospital, it was her first day of residency and she was ready. Scratch that, she was petrified. She had heard horror stories from past students who said being a resident was absolutely horrible. She kept to the middle of the pack as they showed the new residents around. At the end of the tour, she received her badge and they were all given the doctor they were supposed to report to.


People who were assigned to the same groups were gathering together and introducing themselves. She found a couple of other people who were assigned to Dr. Summers too. They were all alot more outgoing than she was. They walked over to where they were supposed to report to Leon. One of the girls who was clearly the over achieving type walked up to Dr. Summers and smiled "Hello, Sir. It's an honor to be working with you." the girl gushed. Samantha stayed in the rear of the small group. They all began introducing themselves.


There was a moment of silence and the rest of her group was staring at her, waiting for her introduce herself. "Oh, I'm Samantha Evans...sir." she says softly.

 

[lafeae]

The group was, thankfully, smaller than he had the previous year. Knowing well that his residents had successfully turned into fellowships and then went into sub-specialties, as they often did from emergency medicine. It was easy to burn out in the field, and many people moved onto better things or to start their own practices.


"Hello everyone," he said, after they lined themselves up and introduced themselves. There was the obvious over-achiever, and the doctor did his best to not raise a brow and almost laugh. After a few twenty-four hours shifts, the vigor wouldn't be there anymore. Those that were in the middle, introducing themselves quietly, were hit or miss. The one at the end, however, gave him a second thought, though he wasn't sure why. A feeling that maybe she would either fail...or be the most successful. Samantha was the only one that he couldn't read. "Hello to you ask well, Dr. Evans. And let me say first, you have gotten your medical degree, you have letters after your name. Be proud of it, introduce yourselves with it. You've worked hard for it."


Taking a moment, eyes roving among the crowd seeing them still blinking the sleep out of their eyes, Leon ended with: " That being said, this will be harder than you've ever worked. Emergency medicine is quick paced, every second counts." And his eyes locked with Samantha's, though he continued to address the whole crowd. "Are we ready for this?"

 

[shygirl3]

Samantha gave a polite smile to him. She listened as he talked. She was looking around at everything going on around her, but then her eyes locked with his. She bit her lip and nodded at his question. All the other group members looked super confident and ready for this. Sami had only got into medicine because that's what her parents wanted. Granted she didn't completely hate it, but she didn't have the personality for it.


Sami waited patiently for further instructions from Dr. Summers. She was happy for the opportunity, but she was worried that the pressure would be too much for her and she may crack. Or even worse...make a mistake. The over-achiever stepped forward "so what do we get to do first? Are we able to do any procedures today?" she asked excitedly. Samantha rolled her eyes, this girl was going to annoy her.

 

[lafeae]

"Procedures?" Leon asked. "Yes and no. You will go through emergency procedures, if that's what you mean. I'm hoping the years in med school taught you the everything you saw on ER is wrong, first off." He began walking backwards, heading into the ER and pushing the doors open. It was fairly hum-drum about it, at least for 7 in the morning. A small stream of patients had begun. Nothing too serious, nothing bursting through the doors.


"We're going to go through patient lists, just like you would on a regular day and treat them. The only difference being that we'll be doing it as it group for the first week or so. Get you into a feel for it. We'll also be going through some mock procedures on test dummies in spare time. Afterwards, you'll be let loose and supervised. If you have any questions, I'd rather you ask than hold them in." Again, he was looking at Samantha, because she seemed to be the quiet one.


Leading them to one of the nooks in the hall, Leon peered in to see where a nurse was finishing up basic procedure. "How is the patient?" he asked the nurse.


"Stable. Came in with complaints of chest pain; I've taken vitals."


Leon nodded. "Thank you," and the nurse was walking out. "Who would like to start? Dr. Evans?"

 

[shygirl3]

Samantha caught him staring at her again, she kept her eyes away from him. She hated being center of attention. The over achiever, Emily, was taking notes. Samantha rolled her eyes, if she didn't lose it on this girl by the end of the week she'd be surprised. As the nurse listed off the the symptom, Emily was already running the possibilities through her head. Samantha was staring at the ground.


She was snapped back into it by him saying her name. "I um...sure." she said stepping forward lightly. Emily put her hand down defeated. Samantha stared up at him, chewing her lip subconsciously. She felt the rest of her group members staring at her. All of this attention was not going to go over well with Samantha. She was bound to screw up, she usually does.


Samantha was all of a sudden blanking on all medical knowledge. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "so um...chest pains...." Samantha began begging for her brain to cooperate with her just momentarily. "Well what's the medical history like?" she asked just trying to buy time until she thought of possible diagnosis.

 

[lafeae]

It wasn't his brightest idea, to go straight for Samantha, but this was going to be how her life was. This was the profession she had chose, and it wasn't as if when she was alone with patients on her own that she would have a group of people around her, a mentor, and others who could back her up if she made a mistake. So he put her in the hot-seat.


"No prior history of chest pains, but currently having high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels," he said. This was supposed to be simple, but he could always be wrong. All the while he was looking at the patient, nodding and smiling, trying to keep a certain distance between his residents and the patient, if only because he didn't want to cause any worse problems.

 

[shygirl3]

Samantha looked up on Leon. "Well um....some lifestyles options should be changed in order to fix the cholesterol and blood pressure, unless it runs in the family then he might need to be perscribed some medication." The rest of the group was rolling their eyes, and becoming impatient. Samantha kept chewing her lip trying to decide on a definite prognosis. Emily face-palmed, she couldn't take it.


"Do an EKG. He probably had or is having a heart attack." Emily blurted out. Samantha's face turned red "I was getting to that." she said softly. She stepped back into the line and kept her head down. This may have been a huge mistake, Sami wasn't cut out for the medical field. Everyone glance over at Samantha confused on how it took her so long to decide that. Emily smiled "I can take the next patient if you'd like Dr. Summers." the over achiever offered.

 

[lafeae]

Watching as Samantha fell back into the line, her whole self seeming ashamed, he sighed inwardly but kept a smile. There was no reason to either give a pass or a fail. People learned from their mistakes. "One of the keys is to look at histories; thank you for asking Dr. Evans. And..."he looked to Emily, already having forgotten her name. "Yes, that would be proper procedure. EKG and possibly angio. And if you're feeling up to it." At this point, he had made a note in the chart and walked them away from the room, trying to keep himself balanced between what felt like an unbalanced group. Those in the middle were taking notes on their clipboard, nothing much more to ask, amused by the pair of girls that Leon seemed to give his attention to.


Moving onward, and then looking at the patient file, and taking a moment to notice that there was a siren in the distance, Leon wondered if something that was vital to work on may have spurred them a little more. If it was serious at all. They tended to have repeat offenders in their hospital; people who wanted attention for the sake of it. And as he was looking at the chart, he smiled. Perfect timing.


"Good morning, Lila. How are you feeling?" Leon knew the older woman was clearly one of those that came in at every little thing, though she wasn't particularly annoying. Most of the time, she had watched something on Dateline, or Dr. Oz, and was convinced she had it.


"I...I have this pain in my side. I think it's my...my uh...my spleen, I think." She said in a calm tone. At this point, he motioned a hand towards Emily and allowed her to go at it. All the while, he moved back into the mass, standing beside Samantha but not trying to be too close. He could tell he had given her more than she anticipated.

 

[shygirl3]

Samantha stood quietly and watched Emily confidently go about the next patient. Emily came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with her, it might just be because she's dehydrated and her muscle is cramping. Samantha looked over at Dr. Summers to see if what Emily said was correct or not. Part of Sami desperately hoped that Emily was wrong so people could forget about her screw up.


The words of Emily kept repeating themselves over and over in Samantha's head like a broken record. Why did this girl make it her job to out shine her? They're in the same position and what's that phrase? Girls have to stick together, guess not this girl. Samantha felt Leon's presence next to her. Why did this man make her so nervous? She wasn't even in the hot seat this time, but it sure felt like the temperature was rising. Samantha pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and kept her fingers crossed that Emily was wrong.

 

[lafeae]

There was nothing conclusive on Leon's face to give way to whether or not Emily was correct, and as he looked between Lila and Emily, he knew the girl was wrong and this was a chance to knock her down a peg. Though gently. He didn't want her to be crushed in the chance that she was wrong. He greatest strength was knowing that you had the capability of being wrong, and knowing the consequence.


"There's a high chance, but looking at her medical history would tell you something to infer," said Leon, taking the chart and opening it up to show her the extensive history that was behind it, alongside many different medications. Mostly for petty things.


All the while he sense that Sami was jumping back and forth in a way that he could sense he constant nervousness. Maybe when they sat down for lunch and he could talk to her, get an idea of her mental state. The first day was often terrifying.


Taking the chart and making a note for fluids, he set a hand on Lila's shoulder and squeezed. "Be good."


"I always am." She said, and waved her fingers. Leon stepped away, enough out of hearing range of his patient, and he focused on Emily.


"Being wrong is something that happens. It's different from pen and paper to actual life. Don't be afraid to be wrong, because it's in your nature to mess up--you will make mistakes. This residency is going to teach as much to be wrong as to be right. Embrace both, and learn from your mistakes."


Taking in a breath, he looked to the files. "I'm going to send you out to patients and monitor your work. Use your knowledge," he said, handing out the files to his residents, watching as the three who stayed relatively silent passed along and said their thank yous. He was left with Emily and Sami, handing it to them as well.


"You ready?" He asked Sami.

 

[shygirl3]

Sami wanted to jump around watching Emily get knocked down a peg. She bit her lip trying to hide her smile. Samantha walked with the group and her eyes widened watching the rest of the group being handed files. Maybe he'll run out of patients, or maybe since I screwed up I won't get one. She thought to herself. Nope, congrats Sami. You have your very own patient. Sami grabbed the file from him, her hand shaking a little.


Crap. What did you get yourself into. She gave Leon a small nod. She opened the file and began peeking through it trying to get an idea of what was up with the patient before she stepped foot in front of them. Hopefully with the rest of the group dispersed they'll be less pressure and attention on her and she won't mess up this time.


Sami was about to walk away then froze and turned back to him "Um...Thanks." she said shyly, following the suit of the other residents. Off Samantha went to find her patient's room.

 

[lafeae]

With all of them heading off, doing the work that Leon himself would usually be doing, he walked around to the front desk and grabbed a small set of files for Grand Rounds for the morning, only to be stopped by a nurse. "So, got any feelings?"


He shrugged lightly, not really sure what to think about all of this. It was a strange group of students. Once they reached residency, they had went along far enough that they couldn't really turn back, but they could fail. They could make the mistakes, and they could just fizzle out despite years of work and thousands of dollars spent. Probably just to teach at a training hospital. Not worth the money. Not worth the potential. "I think there's going to be the general ones who go out and do other things and...I got two I'm keeping my eye on."


And he wondered if he could continue to put them under the stress test and maybe make them more like the other. Starting to walk behind the students, taking a peek in their rooms and looking at the charts as he went, seeing their notes and authorizing them as he went, though some of them were taking longer than the others, because there was simple illness, or there were just the people come in for car wrecks, slips, falls.


After making his own stops, working on his own patients and making it quick as he stepped through. It didn't take long for five minutes to turn into ten, then twenty, and he was watching as some of the residents were being given orders by nurses. And he stopped by Sami, wondering if she was falling behind. All the while hearing the sirens and the calls for someone to help as an emergency was coming bay doors. "So, how's your patient, Dr. Evans?" asked Leon. He hoped she didn't think he was picking on her.

 

[shygirl3]

Sami was looking from the file to the room numbers as she walked trying to find her patient. She kept walking, her pace quickening. Maybe it was the environment or maybe it was her nerves. She finally found her patient. Of course, all the way at the end of the hall. She put on a smile and walked in. Were doctors supposed to smile? She shook the thought away and made eye contact with her patient. She froze, there was a little girl around 12. "Hi...I'm Samantha...er um I mean Dr. Evans." She said with a smile. She reviewed the file once more.


"So, you fell off your bike and landed on your arm?" She nodded and sniffled back tears. She nodded and made a note. "Okay, I'll have somebody sign off and get you an x-ray. It's probably broken." Samantha said as she heard Leon voice. She turned and nodded. "She's okay....well not okay she probably has a broken arm. The nurses are stabilizing it until we can get an x-ray?" she said a bit unsure of herself.

 

[lafeae]

Leon nodded, and he looked in on the little girl for a moment before casting his eyes to the floor. Yeah, maybe he was feeling himself be hovering, and he wasn't sure why. This wasn't how he was around residents, especially not the female ones. He was currently in a relationship. Rocky, yes, but with someone nonetheless.


Why was he thinking all this? He didn't want this to turn into those boring, non-accurate medical shows. "When one of the machines becomes available, yes." How did he express it to her exactly; telling someone they were doing okay and actually proving it to them were two different things. But there was something coming, and they needed to rush towards it. "Come with me, something's coming in." Though he grabbed her arm momentarily, he didn't completely pull her and hoped she'd come with him. If there was ever anything that was proof, it was working in the moment. And this seemed like a big emergency.

 

[shygirl3]

He nodded, that's good right? I got it right? She bit her lip and he spoke. She breathed a sigh of relief when he spoke. Okay, Samantha you did something right...for now at least. Sami then realized how easy her patient actually was and became sort of paranoid that she got the easy patient so she didn't screw up a serious case. She scowled a bit thinking how the over achiever had probably brown nosed her way to neurosurgeon or something by now.


Sami's face turned a bright red when he touched her arm. She felt her face getting hot and immediately looked away, "okay." she said softly as she followed him out. She turned a gave the girl a small wave and a smile. You're blushing? You idiot, he was just trying to get your attention. Nothing more. She mentally slapped herself. As she followed behind him she began to wonder why she was even blushing. He was just her boss after all. Nothing more.


As she walked behind Dr. Summers her mind wandered a bit, she pictured Emily getting stuck in an mri machine or something and she couldn't contain a small smirk that came across her lips. Samantha remembered where she was and quickly wiped the smirk from her face. "So...any news on what kind of condition the patient's going to be in?" Sami asked quietly. She was just trying to fill the silence and make small talk as they walked.

 

[lafeae]

"Don't know," he said, picking up the pace and heading to the bay doors as he heard the kerfuffle of EMTs and nurses as they brought in a gurney. The man was packed onto the stretcher, on the orange board and in a neck brace. There was plenty of blood covered up by towels to try and keep it at bay. "What's the situation, Jim?" Leon asked, and he looked back to Sami and hoped that she followed suit as he walked along side the gurney.


"There's....there's a lot," said EMT. An older gentleman that looked like he belonged more on a biker gang than working as an EMT. "Multiple lacerations from glass. Guy fell out a window...or so they said..."he mentioned, clearly not believing it all that much. Again, speculation wasn't in their nature. At least not unless the cops arrived. "We've gotten some of the bleeding."


"I can take it from here. Dr. Evans, I'm gonna need you to help me stop the bleeding, stabilize him before we transport him to the OR." He said, and a few nurses walked alongside them as the gurney was moved into one of the free spaces. He removed the towels to see the cuts all over the man's face, stuck in a face of pain. "We need to stop off the bleeding, alright?"

 

[shygirl3]

Sami was walking next to Leon when all of a sudden he picked up the pace, Samantha had to practically jog to keep up with him. Damn, he walks fast. She managed to keep up and her eyes locked with a stretcher coming towards them. Blood, there was a lot of blood. She had never seen so much up close before, only in pictures mostly. She was mesmerized, she stared at the towels soaked in blood. It was weird, she heard the people talking around her, but she was focused on the blood instead of the words. The wounds told more of a story. Sami was snapped back to reality when she heard her name.


She gave Dr. Summers a nod and stepped towards the gurney. She helped removed the towels and began to tend to the wounds. As she worked she glanced up at Leon, but quickly looked away. Sami was curious if Leon agreed with Jim's speculation or not. Samantha was curious about what other wounds might be present, but stopping the bleeding was her number one concern. It looked like the patient has lost quite a bit of blood already.


Working quickly and diligently, she finally got some of the bleeding to stop. Hopefully it was up to Leon's standards, she hated disappointing people and so far her first day has not been her strongest. Samantha was determined to get this patient right. As she continued to help stabilize the patient, it was clear she was concentrated. She was chewing on her lip, partly out of nerves and partly form concentration.

 

[lafeae]

As Sami began in on her task, Leon used scissors to sheer off the shirt and reveal the cuts that had made their way through the fabric, revealing the bad cuts, and as he looked at the bubbling of blood around the lung, he knew either something had stabbed deep...or someone. Thing beyond speculation.


Getting the man on oxygen, reading his saturation, and quickly moving onto putting iodine in his neck and quickly cutting a howl for a tube. All the while looking to Sami and seeing as she jumped right in. But he didn't have the chance to actually review or critique the work. As long as blood was stopped and glass was out. "Need an OR stat!" He yelled out to a nurse who barely poked out. All the while, he was screwing in a tube and attaching a blue bulb of a bag to it, pumping steadily.


"Evans, change places with me please, keep him breathing," because they had cleaned him up for the most part, and just needed to finish setting him. "He's gonna be moving in a minute if we can't get transport here fast enough..."