Convo: Ryan - Blog Posts
“Well, let’s chalk it up to being a team effort from everyone shall we?” Julia wanted him to know she was grateful but a pet peeve of hers was when she ended up in a circular flattery situation where everyone was trying to argue someone else was more worthy of the compliment. She just felt like it was inefficient - and after all efficiency was one of her favourite things. “I’m very grateful to you all and I’m sure the family will be as well.” Even if the worst happened, which was always a terrible thing to have to deal with but Julia was making a point to set aside that concern as she walked further away from the little girl’s hospital room. It would weigh on her heavily enough when she returned to caring for her so for now she would select to put it into the pit deep down where all her stresses were squashed. Threatening one day to make an appearance when it overflowed no doubt. That was a horrific thought.
Nodding once with a grateful smile she accepted, letting out a small humming noise, because coffee was something she was always willing to take if it was on offer. “Ryen, lovely to meet you too.” There was an air about him that made the woman unsurprised that his career was what it was, because even in his handshake there was safety in the firmness. Assurance that he was about to do the most extreme of rescues - she was almost envious of that level of assurance being exuded. Punching the elevator number they needed for the cafeteria she glanced over at him as it was mentioned his partner had spoken about her before they’d even arrived at the hospital. It was an ego boost for sure, especially for someone who poured their everything into their work. “Well, that was very kind of them to say. They’re right though, i’m new to this hospital. I’ve been in Boston since finishing medical school but when the job here came up I realised I would be a fool not to take it. I’m from New York originally so it wasn’t too jarring of a move.” The doors slid open to reveal another floor of the labyrinth like hospital, prompting her to lead the way towards clattering that signalled various people trying to fuel themselves for whatever they had upcoming. “Are you from here?” @caddel
“—our EMTs give their all till we can do that, so…” it wasn’t fair to take credit, it is always a team effort ( sometimes is an effort alright, between a couple of them and the Chief trying not to murder one another on the scene ). even after all these years having experienced people’s true, honest gratitude, and thankfulness for what they do, it’s always nice to know their good efforts do make a difference. most of the times; and the times which they don’t are the ones they hold on and haunt them. like, in this instance, that they know how difficult the situation is for the girl —they know they did the best they could, and still they don’t know if she is really going to make it or if they really did make any difference. and yet he would rather have the chief on his back any time rather than live and bear the guilt of not doing enough. he smiled at her words, a soft but sincere smile. the only thing he really heard a lot of was usually a good mixture of ‘fuck, Caddel!’ paired with ‘don’t you fucking dare,’ topped up with, his personal favorite, ‘that’s a fucking order, ya hear?!’ as if any of these would ever be enough to persuade him to not do what his mind was already fixed on. “let’s hope we did for her…” he offered. he had promised they would do their best to her mom, and Dr.Sato had done her best too, he was sure, he wanted to bring the woman no other news than her little girl pulling through.
a soft smile tugged on his lips at her words; he doesn’t have to, he wants to. “please, take it as a thank you,” he offered. the outcome might still be unclear, but she had rushed to receive the patient at the ER as soon as they had entered —them transporting a patient instead of the ambulance wasn’t a very common occurrence, but when they did it meant there was no room to wait for another ambulance on scene or the EMTs couldn’t leave scene, but the patient had to be admitted immediately. they had, of course, the station’s ambulance for that, most of them were trained on basic care, but tonight there was no room to wait, hence they had gotten in the first truck and drove over. they always called while on the way, to let the hospital know they were coming in, what to expect, and they would still have to rush them to the ER before anyone came to look at them. “nice to meet you, Julia,” he nodded, shaking her head. “please just call me Ryan,” he added as they began walking to the elevator. his mind was still stuck on the little girl, but it would not do them any good to keep talking about it. “my partner said you are new here,” he said instead, “and you have quite a reputation of being, quote, the best at what you do.”
“Well I’m used to it - then again I’m preaching to the choir. You all work incredibly hard, we’re grateful for how swiftly you get the patients to us. I know you must hear this a lot but you have likely made the different between her making it and not with your quick thinking.” At least that was what Julia hoped. Obviously she wanted every patient to come out the other side feeling a whole lot better than when they came in, but she’d take the wins where she could get them that was for sure. She knew how these things went, even if she was new to this particular hospital it never really changed no matter where you were, and thus Julia knew there would be journalists sniffing around in no time. Hence the need for coffee in her veins before that happened.
At the acceptance of her invitation she gave him a soft smile, quite glad she wasn’t going to have to sit in front of a cup of coffee with nothing but her own thoughts. If he’d declined she probably would have just taken charts with her to work on so as not to…well…think. “Just don’t hold it against me if you don’t agree.” Nodding in the direction of the canteen which was indicated by a sign hanging just down the hallway, although she knew that it would require them to take the elevator down three floors first. “You really don’t have to do that, you works incredibly hard yourself, I don’t think there is a way to quantify the effort put in. It’s always team work.” Holding her hand out towards him she reintroduced herself politely. “Julia, Doctor Sato is for when I’m working on a case, this is a break from that.” @caddel
“—as must be you, too, Doctor,” he retorted, politely; it was not his job to stand there and wait for an update, that was true but then again…where was he supposed to go? whether the little girl lived or not, and he didn’t even want to think of that possibility, he wanted to be there and be told in person; she deserved that much. her mom had been taken to a different hospital and she was going to be asking after her baby —damn, she was asking while EMTs worked on her trying to stabilize her for transport— and when he would look at her to tell her of whatever happened to her baby, at worst case scenario, at least his conscience would be a little bit lighter knowing they had tried. either way, an accident like this was still gonna make it in tomorrow’s newspaper and when mentioning them, he would rather it be told the fire department had tried to rescue all parties involved but failed than not having tried at all. listening to the doctor’s update, though limited, he let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. of course, he understood that she couldn’t give out information to just anyone, but he was thankful for what little she could share, nonetheless. his partner had said they should take her here, he had heard of this amazing pediatrician working there and Ryan had no reason to doubt him; judging by the severity of the injuries she had sustained and the update, he had to be damn right about Doctor Rebeiro. the EMTs hadn’t even known how or where to begin working on her when he pulled her out.
Ryan was about to thank her, allow her to also get on with the rest of her shift, or take a break after so many hours being cooped up in there when her preposition caught him a little off guard; he still was about twelve hours shy from finishing his shift at the station, but he had been away for over three hours, a little bit more was not gonna hurt. he laughed a little at the comment —remembered that his partner never brought coffee as he was supposed to. “then I’ll take the word for it,” he responded. “but, please, my treat. a little thank you for your hard work.”
Julia always found these kinds of the cases hard - obviously they all were, she was a doctor, but she’d gotten incredibly good at compartmentalising. If she had to go on a talent show that would probably be what she went for because really it was like an elite sport for the woman at this point. She’d spent the last three hours on the same case which was always draining but one the plus side things were looking a lot more positive than they had been when the one year old was rushed into the NICU. Slipping their chart back into the pocket at the end of the crib she let out a soft sigh, wishing she could just melt onto the floor in the foetal position for a little while to disassociate but she had to wait. She had to finish up her shift. Maybe then she could go home and crawl under the duvet for a little while. She wouldn’t cry. Julia rarely did when it came to patients she’d cared for during the day, it was few and far between, but she’d allow the emotion to wash over her in a way she wouldn’t while she was donning her scrubs and stethoscope.
She was surprised to see the man still sat in the waiting room but it warmed even her very tired heart. It wasn’t a requirement of the job she was almost certain yet here he was waiting no doubt to hear about the little girl, it was enough to have a little smile grace her features. “Mr Caddel - I didn’t expect to still see you here. You must be exhausted.” Voice empathetic since it was four in the morning at this point. “I'm Doctor Rebeiro. You did an excellent job timing wise, it saved her a lot of potential complications. Obviously what I can tell you about the patient is limited since you’re not immediate family but I can reassure you that despite the upper airway burn the patient is responding well to intubation. We thought it best to air on the side of caution considering they’re so young.” Julia considered him with a compassionate expression. “Have you eaten anything, had something to drink? I’m due my break if you’d like to join me in the cafeteria. I can promise you the coffee isn’t as bad as it’s rumoured to be.”
—jacket was discarded on the chair beside him, along with his helmet; head leaned back against the wall behind him. his partner has gone to grab some coffee, but he knows that he needs a moment, too. every time he closes his eyes, the scene is there; the car engulfed in flames, the screams, the pleading. haunting. a car accident is always bad; it’s even worse when families are involved. as a parent-to-be, he cannot quite grasp the agony and worry, and on top of having to deal with one's own well-being. they had, once again, gone above and beyond; of course, there were orders he had to conveniently overlook, but he was there to help out unless he absolutely couldn’t —and Caddel had trouble knowing when to stop trying. the phone rang beside him and he glanced at it before ignoring it; there would be time to deal with whatever consequences later. ‘I gotta take the utility truck back,’ his partner said as he came back and he simply nodded; and watched his phone ring once more for a second.
the door opened and he was immediately up. he wanted to hear that they had at least made it in time, judging by the amount of time that had passed since they first rushed inside, news had to be somewhat positive, right? he couldn’t even find it in him to ask anything upon seeing the young doctor walk out; simply stood there expectantly, waiting. (@drjuliarebeiro)