Behind Closed Doors

'Nothing Had Changed'

After the first ten seconds of having to speak to her doctor, Alex had to confirm she did not like her. For one, her doctor was a goddamn intern, and she had suffered enough of those during her previous visits with doctor Chapman.

But this intern was also far too giddy for her liking. Plus, she talked. A lot. No, always. At this time in the morning, Alex wasn't in the mood for discussions, or anything that involved words. This intern was lucky she hadn't snapped yet, because Alex was not nice when she snapped. Not nice at all.

The moment Doctor Soso came into the room, Alex knew she was living a nightmare.

'Hello! I'm Doctor Brooke Soso and I'm going to be your doctor. Or, technically, Doctor Chapman is your doctor, but I'm her intern, so I'll be your doctor too! Isn't that great? Two doctors. Actually, if you count the attending as well, then you have three doctors altogether. Really makes you wonder how some patients die here, the treatment is so good don't you think?'

'You don't say kid.'

'Now, I think I need to tell you that there is nothing to worry about. I mean, I've seen patients waiting for hearts. I think there's another one just a few wards down. Yeah, he's been waiting for over a year now, but he's still hoping and I hope he gets his heart, too. When you've been waiting for that long, you're bound to get one, right?' Soso came closer to the bed. 'I'm going to have to listen to your heart. If it's okay, do you mind sitting up a little more because I may need to hear your heart from the back and stuff like that.'

Alex obeyed. She had done this countless times. It was nothing unusual. By the time Soso was finished, Alex prayed she had to leave, but unfortunately the intern stayed put. She slung the stethoscope around her neck, then scribbled something onto Alex's chart.

'You want to know what's been disappointing for me so far?'

Slowly, Alex looked at her. 'Nope kid.' She popped the P.

'Well, I'll tell you anyway. I thought that us interns would all be tight group, you know? Turns out we're all like wolves, just vicious and hungry all the time. I haven't been able to steal any good cases because this girl, who's also an intern, keeps taking all the good ones. And it's so not fair. How am I supposed to learn if there's nothing to learn from? I mean, you're the best case I've had so far. But it's just a heart transplant. Nothing's going to happen until you get a heart.'

'Maybe if you stopped talking to me, you might find a better case.'

'Doctor Chapman wanted me to stay here and talk to you. She told me you're a frequent visitor or, uh, patient. I felt really bad for you as well, because that must suck right?'

Alex cocked a brow. 'Chapman got you to talk to me?'

'Yeah. She's so icy. Scary. But, yeah, she told me to keep you company. She said you liked conversations, especially this early in the morning... She said you two used to always talk and it made you happy, but it also made her forget about work stress.'

'I hate to break this to you, kid, but she's full of crap.'

'Oh. Well, I'm on break anyway, so I might as well stay. Plus it's my orders.'

Alex groaned, and fell back against the pillow. Fuck Piper. She was doing this on purpose, trying to prove something. Trying to look smart. Giving Alex the chatty intern? Big mistake. Without further ado, Soso started discussing the very little pay she gets and how long her shifts are, and how unfair this whole thing is, and that Alex is so lucky because she probably has a job which gives her good pay and decent hours.

Of course that wasn't true. Plus, Alex had a hunch she wouldn't have a job for long. Her boss froze all her transactions, put everything on hold. To do something as severe as that only meant one thing. He was tired of the heart problems, the TB, and whatever else. Alex was brilliant, but her health was dragging her down, and the business couldn't cope. She had to go sooner rather then later.