penelope pennington

@kingdonmicrofic / cw: serious injuries/hospitalization / 397 words / ao3

There's something called VIP syndrome, in which wealthy or famous or otherwise important patients receive a different level of care than the standard patient. Sometimes it's a positive (as with nicer rooms with better views) and sometimes it's a negative (such as radiation from unnecessary imaging, done to give the impression of being thorough.) There's a uniquely challenging variation of the syndrome that comes with treating patients who are themselves physicians, where the patient may have input on their own care, or the care team may be overly cautious when looking after 'one of their own.'

Langdon's room, like all the others in the SICU, doesn't have much of a view, and Mel knows that every single millisievert the CT scanner blasted him with was done for the right reason. All the same, she knows that Langdon is getting a different type of care than everyone else on the unit; he's not just a VIP, not just any physician, but one of their own. Surgeons parade through all day, peeking at the chest tube (still fine) and the vent (still working) and the monitor (BP still steady, with the bleeding now stopped,) even though there's nothing to be done but wait.

By afternoon, Mel asks Langdon's nurse if there's any way to get the incessant visits to stop, and fortunately, everyone knows better than to argue with an ICU nurse. The visits stop and Mel is finally alone with Langdon, finally able to talk to him in the way she wants. She's already told him about the logistics—the kids are with their grandparents and Abby is flying home as soon as she can, but most flights are grounded by the same ice storm that sent a pickup truck sliding right into Langdon at the crosswalk outside the ER.

With all that aside, Mel takes his hand in hers. "I'm going to tell you a secret," she says. "When you met Becca, she said that I liked you—but that wasn't entirely true." She takes a deep breath, steeling herself. "I think I've been in love with you since that first day. And I know I can't do anything about it, but—I needed to tell you."

'In case this is my last chance' goes unsaid.

Happy Caturday!

I reached out to @alethialia a short while back about creating a fanfic/fanart collab piece, just for fun, and she was SO KIND and said yes, and finally we reached the day for posting it.

Everyone please go read Fresh Perspective by Alethia: "In 2.07, when Abbot is being treated by Mohan, Robby walks by and does a double-take, which was scripted. Santos walks by and does a triple-take, which was not scripted. Given her history, I can't imagine that Santos just leaves that alone, especially since "our little secret" was the exact phrase she used in S1 when relating her own abuse. So. A take on it."

Amazing story, excellent character nuance, describes this episode in a light I didn't even consider before.

I'm asexual which means I'm attracted to the exit.

I'm aromantic which means I'm attracted to the sink in my stomach