Schrödinger's Psycho

“Trinity!” Victoria exclaimed, immediately chasing after her. She threw the door open, not caring about the sound it made when it crashed against the wall. She glanced around frantically, her heart racing as she tried desperately to conjure up the composure she had when she was with her patients. Then she caught sight of Trinity sinking to the floor in the handicapped stall, and she hurried to her side. “Trinity, baby, what’s wrong?”

“No,” she croaked out, barely above a whisper, as she buried her head in her hands. It didn’t seem to be directed at Victoria; in fact, she didn’t seem to realize Victoria was there at all. She reached out slowly and put her hand on her knee, doing her best not to startle her.

“Breathe, just breathe, okay? You’re safe,” she said softly, stroking her knee with her thumb. Trinity finally glanced up at her, and the mixture of fear and shame swimming in her eyes nearly broke Victoria’s heart. “Baby, I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong. Come on, talk to me.”

“Th-th-the… the guy with the leg lac…” she gasped, ducking her head again to avoid Victoria’s gaze. It sounded like the words took a considerable amount of effort. “He… he…”

“Nathan Biddle?” Victoria asked, her eyebrows pinching together in confusion. “Who-”

“He’s the guy who fucking raped me!” Trinity cried. She shoved her hands against her head and grabbed fistfuls of her own hair, nearly tugging out the half ponytail she had in. “I-I-I don’t know how he found me. I was so careful. I was so fucking careful! How the fuck does he know where I am?”

“Hey, hey, you don’t know that. It could have nothing to do with you. It could just be a coincidence that he’s here.”

She finally looked up at Victoria as she shook her head. “No. No, he came here to find me. I know it,” she said. Her voice was trembling, but it didn’t make her sound any less certain. “The fucker probably cut himself on purpose so he could get in here, just so he could… could… hurt me again.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Victoria said forcefully. She removed Trinity’s hands from her hair gently and clutched them in her lap. She had to bite down hard on her lip to suppress the anger and sadness bubbling under her skin; Trinity didn’t need her to be emotional right now. “You are safe, baby. We’re at the hospital, okay? You are surrounded by doctors, nurses, and security guards, many of whom are your friends, and all of whom will stop him if he tries to do anything. But he won’t. I won’t let him. I’ll make sure you don’t have to go anywhere near him. He won’t even know you’re here. He is never going to hurt you again, Trinity. I promise. I’ll protect you.”

Trinity practically fell into her, and she wrapped her arms around her instinctively. She held her tight and pressed a kiss to her temple as she sniffed weakly, the sound cutting into Victoria’s heart like a scalpel. They stayed that way for a few moments, until Trinity moved to wipe her eyes with shaking hands. “How are you going to do that?”

Victoria swallowed. She tried hard not to dwell on how small Trinity sounded. “I saw a hemothorax on the board, so you should jump on that. It’s in Trauma One, so it’ll be far away from him, and an extra set of hands is always good for those. And they might need a chest tube, and you love doing chest tubes,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I’ll take on his case, so I can make sure-”

“Wha- no! No no no no no no, you can’t do that! Victoria, please don’t do that! I don’t want you anywhere near him!” Trinity pleaded, her eyes frantic. She was now gripping Victoria’s arms so tightly that they were sure to bruise, but Victoria couldn’t care less. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if he hurt you.”

“I’m going to be just fine. I’m going to be his doctor, which means I’ll be the one in control. And Princess said that it was a deep cut, leg versus weed whacker, so he won’t be able to move around easily.” She kept her voice as measured as she could, but it didn’t do much to calm the fear in Trinity’s eyes. “I’ll make sure I’m never alone with him, and I’ll have Ahmad stay right outside the whole time. We can restrain him, sedate him, or both if we need to. Does that sound okay?”

Trinity didn’t say anything for a long few seconds; she just turned and stared blankly at the stall door. Victoria waited patiently. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.

“Hey, come on, look at me.” She reached out and rested her hand on Trinity’s cheek, turning her head slowly to face her again. Then she leaned forward and placed a gentle, lingering kiss on her forehead. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Then can you trust me to keep you safe?” she asked softly. “They’re going to come looking for us any minute now, so we’re going to have to go back out there. Would you be willing to give this plan a try?”

After another moment of silence, Trinity finally nodded. Her labored breathing was finally starting to calm, and Victoria felt like cheering. “Yeah, yeah, o-okay. We can do that.”

“Great,” Victoria smiled. “Do you want me to tell Dr. Robby what’s going on? Or whoever else is on this case with me, so they can help keep an eye on him?”

Trinity shook her head. “No. No, I don’t want anyone to know. It’s embarrassing.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. It wasn’t your fault.”

Trinity scoffed, and to the untrained ear, it might’ve sounded like her normal teasing scoff. But Victoria knew her far better than that; she could hear every bit of pain and self-loathing that was buried beneath it. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Robin Williams.”

“Trinity. None of what happened to you was your fault,” she repeated seriously. She laid a delicate hand on her thigh, right where she knew Trinity’s scars were hiding under her scrubs. “No one is going to judge you for any of it, especially not anyone here. I promise you, you are safe, baby.”

“Tell Dennis. He knows about what happened. I’ll feel better if he’s in there with you.”

“Okay, I will.” She gave her a few more kisses, one on each of her cheeks and one on the tip of her nose, the way she knew always made her smile. She wasn’t sure she could quite call Trinity’s expression a smile now, but she’d take it. “Are you ready to go back out there?”

She took a deep, shuddering breath and gazed into Victoria’s eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready.”

Victoria waited with her as she splashed water on her face from the sink. Then she gave her hand a comforting squeeze, and they stepped back out into the ED.

Trinity practically sprinted to Trauma One, and Victoria tried to ignore the way her chest tightened as she watched her go. “Hey, what happened to the guy with the leg lac? Nathan Biddle?”

“Central Thirteen,” Dana answered. “I think McKay’s with him now.”

“I’ll help her.” She turned away too quickly to notice the perplexed look Dana gave her. She scanned the ED as she went, breaking into a slight jog when she spotted him. “Dennis!”

He whirled around, his surprise at being called his first name at work written on his face. “Hey, what’s up?”

She led him to the least occupied spot along the wall, and he crossed his arms, his concerned expression growing to match hers. “I need you to help me with this leg lac patient.”

“Why? You’ve done tons of those before. And I thought Dr. McKay was already on that case.”

“It’s because of who the patient is,” she said. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she leaned in so she could whisper to him. “He’s the piece of shit who raped Trinity.”

His eyes widened in shock, then narrowed with rage so quickly it would’ve given her whiplash if she hadn’t done the same thing a few minutes ago. “Is she okay? Where is she?”

“She’s helping out in Trauma One, and I think she’s fine. But I told her I’d treat him so I could keep him away from her, and she wants you to be in there with me.”

“Okay, got it. Yeah, of course,” he nodded. “Let’s get this motherfucker discharged as fast as possible.”

She got Ahmad to stand outside, just like she promised, and they headed in. Dr. McKay looked up at them in bewilderment as they walked through the curtain.

“Hi, Mr. Biddle, is it? I’m Dr. Javadi, and this is Dr. Whitaker. We’re going to be assisting Dr. McKay with your treatment today.”

He responded with a disinterested huff. She could tell by looking at him that he was at least in his late forties, and the thought made Victoria sick to her stomach.

“Oh… kay. Well, as Mr. Biddle was just explaining to me, he was doing some yard work and accidentally caught his leg with a weed whacker. Judging by the amount of blood, I don’t think he’s cut an artery, but I was just about to check him.”

“We’re on it,” Victoria smiled. She’d never been so grateful for the trust she’d built with Dr. McKay over the years. Most of the other doctors would’ve questioned her insistence on jumping in on such a low-stakes case, but she just stepped aside while she and Dennis gloved up and got to work.

She did raise an eyebrow at them when Dennis jabbed his leg way too hard while testing for pain, and when she stabbed him in the wrong place with the needle a few times while giving him stitches. She knew them both well enough to know that these mistakes had to be intentional. But she also knew them well enough to know that they wouldn’t treat a patient so harshly without a reason, and one glimpse of Ahmad standing outside was enough to convince her not to say anything.

Unfortunately, though, Dr. McKay wasn’t psychic. And as much as she wanted to, Victoria knew she had already pushed her luck too far to protest when she was asked to get more bandages. But Dennis was still there, Ahmad was still standing outside, and so far, he hadn’t been any more trouble than the average difficult patient who felt inconvenienced by having to be in the emergency room. Surely things couldn’t get too out of hand in the minute she would be gone.

But her false sense of security was dashed when she saw Dr. Robby walking out of Central Thirteen. He glanced around the ED as if he were looking for someone before approaching her.

“Hey, have you seen Dr. Santos lately? Your leg lac patient in there is asking for her.”

“NO!” Victoria exclaimed.

He looked taken aback. “No?”

“No, you cannot let him see her! You can’t let him anywhere near her. Please, Dr. Robby.”

The surprise and apparent amusement he felt at seeing one of his most cooperative residents talk back to him melted away, leaving only the utmost seriousness behind. “What happened? What did he do?”

Victoria swallowed. But thankfully, Robby stepped forward so she wouldn’t be overheard. “He raped her. It happened years ago, but-”

“How bad is it?”

“I don’t know all the details, but she had a panic attack when she saw his name on the board, so… pretty bad.”

“Fuuuck. Okay, where is she right now?”

“She’s assisting with the hemothorax in Trauma One.”

“Okay, that’s good. We can keep her there until he’s discharged. He should be ready to go once he’s bandaged up and we’ve prescribed pain meds and antibiotics. Is she okay with letting the staff know what’s going on?”

“Uh, she doesn’t want anyone to know, but I think she’d rather we told everyone than have to see him again.”

Robby sighed. “In that case, I’m going to tell Dana and McKay so they can keep an eye on things, keep it on a need-to-know basis. I’ll stick around to run interference if need be, but you get him finished up and out of here as soon as possible. And we’ll put a note on his chart to make sure she doesn’t have to see him if he comes through here again. Now, go get McKay and tell her to come talk to me, okay?”

“Got it,” she nodded, finding herself once again in awe of his ability to take charge of a situation. “And thank you.”

“Yeah, of course. We’re not gonna let anything happen to her.”

Victoria felt a little guilty about ignoring Trinity’s wishes, but the feeling was overshadowed by how relieved she felt now that Dr. Robby was involved. She would do anything to protect Trinity, but she had very little control over what happened in the ED. Dr. Robby, on the other hand, was in charge of everything. And like Trinity herself, despite his fun-loving attitude, he was always incredible in a crisis, and he cared about his people more than anything. Victoria trusted him completely, and even if she was embarrassed, she knew Trinity did too.

Trinity was in full autopilot when she did the chest tube. Thankfully, Dr. Mohan was grateful for the help and didn’t question her sudden appearance in Trauma One. She was too focused on the patient to notice her subdued demeanor; focused, the way Trinity should have been. But somehow, she was still able to do everything right. It would’ve been impossible if she weren’t such a talented doctor, a fact she would’ve loved gloating about if she didn’t have a war waging in her mind.

Still, doing the chest tube provided a decent enough distraction. She felt safe here in her element, and her hands stopped shaking as soon as she put on her medical gown. She knew she couldn’t afford to panic- her patient couldn’t afford for her to panic. So, although she felt like her mind may never stop spinning, she forced her body to appear like everything was normal, the same way he’d taught her to do so long ago.

She heaved a sigh of relief once the patient was stable. It was a routine procedure she’d done dozens of times at this point, but saving a patient’s life was always satisfying. It almost calmed her down.

But of course, as soon as she thought that, something started beeping. It took her brain a few seconds too long to catch up and realize what it was.

“Shit! Dr. Santos, get an attending!” Dr. Mohan ordered. Trinity hesitated.

“Uh, a-are you sure? I can hold the-”

“I’ve got it, now go!”

She didn’t know her heart could pound any harder than it already was, but she did as she was told despite it. She hurried out onto the floor, and thankfully, she spotted the person she was looking for almost immediately.

“Dr. Al-Hashimi, Dr. Mohan needs you in Trauma One.”

“I’m on my way,” she nodded.

Trinity was about to follow her back into Trauma One when she saw him. He was glancing around as he hobbled across the floor, clearly searching for her. She tried desperately to convince her feet to move, to think of somewhere to go or something to do, of some way to look busy- she was busy, she was a doctor, and this was her hospital- but then his eyes locked onto hers, and she knew it was hopeless. She was frozen in place.

“Trin-Trin!” he called, his too sweet and all too familiar voice drilling into her skull. He threw his arms open wide, an excited grin on his face, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

“Sir, we need to get you back to your bed. You shouldn’t be putting any weight on your leg,” she heard Princess say as she approached him, but he shrugged her off.

“Nah, it’s fine. I know her, I’m her old softball coach,” he explained cheerfully. “Trinity Santos is my girl! The best pitcher I ever taught. She was only in high school, but she played like a pro! You should’ve seen her, she was one of a kind.”

The chaos of the ED had completely fallen away. All her senses had locked onto him, every nerve in her body on high alert but unable to move. The only other sensation was the phantom feeling of his hands all over her, touching her, trapping her, claiming her-

“And look how much you’ve grown,” he continued, his eyes dipping downward hungrily. “All grown up and a doctor now, wow. I’m proud of ya, honey.”

Trinity hadn’t eaten anything in over seven hours, but she was certain she was going to throw up. She gasped involuntarily as he stepped toward her, and tears sprang to her eyes. Then she heard the thundering of footsteps as Dennis raced in and stood between them, throwing his hands up as if he were facing a charging horse.

“Hey! Hey, you need to stop talking to her and get back to your bed right now.”

Coach Biddle’s response was drowned out by the rush of emotions she felt when she saw Victoria run out behind Dennis. Her eyes widened in fear when they met Trinity’s, and she motioned as if to shoo her away before jumping into action.

“Mr. Biddle, you need to go back to your bed now. Harassing medical workers is a felony!”

“Harassing what? I ain’t harassing anybody! I’m just talking to my old friend here,” he insisted. Then he took another step toward her. “C’mon, Trinity, come give your old coach a hug and kiss.”

“You stay the fuck away from her.” Victoria was angrier than Trinity had ever seen her, her voice ringing out across the ED, low and dangerous. Then what happened next happened in a blur, and whether it was because it happened so fast or because she was crying now, Trinity didn’t know.

She watched helplessly as Coach Biddle shoved Victoria. Then Dennis jumped in between them, his hands on Coach Biddle’s chest, all three of them shouting. Dr. McKay called for security, and Dr. Robby ran in faster than she’d ever seen him run. And before she could process any of this, she was dragged from where she’d been rooted to the floor and led into the break room by Perlah and Dana. She didn’t even realize she was hyperventilating until they sat her down in a chair.

“Hey, hey, deep breaths. Come on, Trinity, slow down. In and out, in and out. It’s okay, sweetheart, you’re okay. You’re safe now, we got you.” Dana was beside her, rubbing her back; slow, soothing circles that did little to help. Perlah crouched down in front of her and took one of her hands in both of hers, squeezing in an attempt to ground her.

“Kumalma ka, mars. Tumingin ka sa akin. Ligtas ka na. Hindi ka na muling sasaktan ng halimaw na iyon. Ako na mismo ang maghahatid sa kanya palabas dito kung kailangan ko. Tutulungan kita na malampasan ito.”

They stayed there with her for a few moments as she cried, waiting patiently as her breathing slowed. And once she finally got some of her bearings back, she tore her hand away from Perlah and began rubbing her tears away, her face burning with shame.

“Do you want me to get you anything? Some water or some tea? Maybe a sandwich?” Dana asked her in the same voice she used to talk to patients. But Trinity just shook her head, too out of it to be offended.

“I can stay with you if you want,” Perlah offered. “Or we can give you some time alone. It’s your choice.”

Trinity shook her head. “Victoria,” she finally said. “C-can you get Victoria? Please?”

Dana and Perlah shared a look.

“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll send her in as soon as she’s available,” Dana said gently, patting her on the back one last time.

“Magiging okay ka,” Perlah whispered in her ear, squeezing her shoulder as she stood up. She gave her a reassuring smile as she left the room, and Trinity tried to look like she was grateful.

As soon as the door closed, she hid her head in her hands and sobbed. Her whole body was shaking, and she didn’t have it in her to try to stop it. For the past decade, she’d been able to put him almost completely out of her mind. The nightmares only really plagued her around the anniversary of Asha’s death, and she’d been able to convince herself that he wasn’t a threat anymore. Sure, he was still out there somewhere, but he was nowhere near her.

But seeing his face again had put her right back in it. That was the worst thing about all of this: the realization that, even after all this time, she hadn’t changed at all. She was still that same helpless little girl that he’d picked out as such an easy mark. She still couldn’t say no to him. If nobody had stopped him-

But just as the thought to check if there was a scalpel in the break room crossed her mind, her spiraling was interrupted by a soft knock on the door, followed by the sound of it opening. “Trinity, baby, it’s me. Can I come in?”

She wiped her tears away and nodded vigorously. But the dam behind her eyes broke once more the moment she saw her face.

“Vicky,” she whimpered, reaching for her. Victoria immediately ran to her, and they held each other tightly. Trinity let out a broken sob as she buried her face in her stomach.

“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m here. I’ve got you, I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” she repeated softly, sounding a little like she was going to cry too. She ran her fingers through her hair soothingly, the way she knew she liked. “I’m so sorry, Trinity. I’m so sorry you had to see him. I should’ve kept a better eye on him; I never should’ve left his room. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Wasn’t… wasn’t your fault,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes again. Then she stiffened. “Wait. H-he touched you. He pushed you! Oh my god, Vicky, are you okay? Please-”

“I’m fine! I’m fine. Don’t you dare worry about me right now,” she answered, cupping her face with her hands. Trinity stilled and gazed up at her pitifully.

“Did he hurt anyone else?”

“No. No, Dennis and Robby stopped him. He took a swing at McKay, but apparently she and Dana have been taking self-defense classes together,” Victoria said with a small smile. “She dodged him faster than you would believe.”

“Okay, good. That’s good,” Trinity replied, her voice devoid of emotion. “What’s happening with him now?”

“I’m not sure, but Ahmad had to tackle him to the ground, so the police have definitely been called.” Victoria stroked her cheek, and she leaned into her touch. “How are you doing, baby?”

“Terrible,” she shuddered. “You saw me, I… I couldn’t move! I’m still fucking helpless against him! I hate that he still has this power over me. I still can’t say no to him. I’m still… weak. I haven’t changed at all.”

“That is not true,” Victoria insisted. “You have grown so much, just in the few years I’ve known you. Every single day, you’re better than you were the day before. And you are not weak. You are the strongest person I’ve ever met, Trinity. But you don’t have to be strong all the time. And I’ll be here to hold you up when you’re not. Always.”

If it were coming from anybody else, she wouldn’t believe it. She would shrug the reassurance off like she always did and keep listening to that incessant little voice in her head that tells her she’s not good enough. But this was Victoria. Her Victoria. She would never lie to her. She was the only person Trinity had ever trusted more than she trusted herself, so maybe she could believe her about this.

“I love you,” Trinity breathed, her voice heavy with emotion.

“I love you, too. So, so much.”

She could see in Victoria’s eyes how badly she wanted to kiss her, but she didn’t. She knew they made her feel suffocated when she was like this, and the quiet consideration just made her chest ache with love even more. So Trinity moved her hands under Victoria’s hoodie and curled her fingers into her scrubs, and the small curve of her lip told her that it was enough.

Trinity lay her forehead against her stomach again, and Victoria began gently stroking her hair once more. They didn’t speak for a while, the comfortable silence finally starting to calm her. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but she didn’t care. She would take every second of this she could get.

Then, just as she felt the ghost of Victoria’s lips on the top of her head, a knock sounded from the door before it creaked open. “It’s Dr. Robby. Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Trinity answered as she sat up, her voice hoarse from crying. She wiped feebly at her eyes as Victoria sat in the chair beside her. She only stilled when Victoria’s hand slipped into her own.

“Hey, how are we doing in here?” he asked softly.

“Fine, I guess,” Trinity shrugged. She kept her eyes glued to the floor. “Could be a lot better, though.”

“Yeah, I bet.” He gave her a small smile and pulled up a chair so he could sit across from her. “I’m very sorry that you had to go through that. But we are taking every precaution to ensure that it never happens again. We have made a note on his chart so that, if he ever ends up as one of our patients again, we will be notified ahead of time so we can make sure security is monitoring him and so that we can make sure you are not in his vicinity during his stay. We will also be able to send him to another hospital as long as he isn’t in critical condition. And the whole security team has been informed of the situation, so he’ll be stopped if he ever tries to get in here by force or by some other means. As you know, I take the safety of my employees very seriously, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure this never happens again.”

“Thank you,” she said shakily. “Is he-?”

“He’s still here, yes. We still need to get him his aftercare instructions for the laceration on his leg, and now we need to treat him for the concussion he got when Ahmad tackled him. But he is restrained now, and Olsen is going to stay posted outside his room this time. He won’t be able to do anything, and we’re gonna get him discharged into police custody as fast as possible.”

“Wait, police custody? What’s he being charged with?”

“That is up to Dr. Javadi,” Robby answered, nodding to Victoria. “If he violated any restraining orders or something like that from before, then that’ll be between you and your lawyers. But for what he did today, he didn’t physically harm you, so you won’t have to testify if you don’t want to.”

“Okay,” Trinity said, nodding slowly.

“You know, the hospital provides a lot of very helpful resources to its employees. I think Kiara and Dylan are both working today, I can ask them to get you-”

“She knows about the therapy resources,” Victoria blurted. They both turned to stare at her, and Robby raised an eyebrow. Her eyes widened guiltily, but Trinity could tell by the set of her jaw that she didn’t regret interjecting. She gave her hand a grateful squeeze.

“She’s right, I do.”

“Okay, that is good.” Robby redirected his attention back to Trinity. “And you should also know that if you need to talk, or if you need anything at all, you can always come to me.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course. I hope you know that we are all here for you,” he said, reaching out to pat her knee comfortingly. Trinity flinched and jerked her leg away. “I am so sorry. I should not have done that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-”

“I-It’s fine,” Trinity said, taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes tightly. She could feel Victoria scooting closer to her, but the grip on her hand was still their only contact. “We don’t have to talk about it. I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Robby said calmly, leaning back in his seat. “You know, if you want, I think we can handle-”

“I’m not leaving.” She looked up at him now, her eyes steely. He just nodded.

“In that case, I’m gonna let you stay in here until he leaves. Then, if you still need some more time after that, you can sit at the desk and catch up on your charting until we need you again. Does that sound good?”

Trinity nodded.

“Can I stay with her?” Victoria asked. Trinity gazed up at her, and Robby glanced between them.

“Is that something that you would want, Dr. Santos?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly, her eyes not leaving Victoria’s. “If she can, yes.”

“Okay. I can’t guarantee anything, but Dr. Javadi can stay here with you for as long as we can spare her.”

“Thank you,” they said in unison, Victoria’s voice much stronger than Trinity’s. Robby gave her a reassuring smile.

“Alright, I will give you some space. I trust you to know when you’re ready to come back to work.”

She responded with a small half-smile. It was all she could muster right now, but it was no less sincere. Robby nodded like he knew.

“Can I hold you?” Victoria whispered in her ear as soon as Dr. Robby left. Trinity nodded, and Victoria draped her arm around her shoulders. She leaned against her, pressing her nose into the shirt peeking out from the top of her scrubs and inhaling deeply. Underneath the acrid smells of the hospital, she could still catch a faint whiff of her apple-scented body wash. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend that they were back home, cuddling on the couch. “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you,” Victoria murmured. She pressed her cheek to the back of her head, and her other hand snaked slowly around her stomach. Trinity sighed.

“How is it possible for everything to go to shit so fucking quickly?” she asked. “Just half an hour ago, I swear everything was great.”

“Well, considering we work at the epicenter of things going to shit quickly, and we still don’t know, I don’t think we ever will,” Victoria chuckled. Trinity almost smiled.

“I thought I was finally done with all of this.”

“I know, baby. I know. But it’s over now. You’ll never have to see him again.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You heard what Dr. Robby said. He won’t be able to get in here again, and you won’t have to see him if he’s a patient. Security will stop him.”

“But what if he finds a way to find me out there? He clearly has no problem with stalking me.”

“He’s not going to do that. I’m going to press charges for what he did today. The hospital has great lawyers, and my family has the money for even better ones if I need them. I’m going to make sure he goes to prison for as long as possible.”

“But he’s just going to get out again,” Trinity argued. She clenched her fist around the hem of Victoria’s scrubs. “It’ll be just like today. Years will pass, and I’ll finally be able to put that fucker out of my mind and move on… but then he’s just gonna come back and ruin my life all over again.”

“Well, if he ever does come back, I’ll kick the shit out of him.”

If her goal was to stop Trinity’s racing mind in its tracks, then Victoria succeeded. “What?”

“If I see that fucking creep outside of this hospital, then I’m not bound by my Hippocratic Oath,” she said matter-of-factly. “Although some of what I yelled at him earlier definitely violated it, but Robby and McKay didn’t seem to mind.”

Trinity lifted her head off her chest to look at her. Her eyes were completely serious, and the sight was enough to make her smile. “You would really do that for me?”

“Of course. I would do anything for you.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, and Trinity leaned shamelessly into the touch. “You’re right, I can’t promise that you’ll never see him again. And I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep you from seeing him today. But the one thing I can promise is that, if you do see him again, you won’t have to go through it alone. I’m always going to be here for you, Trinity.”

Trinity inhaled sharply. She felt like she was going to cry again, but for a completely different reason this time. Thankfully, though, it didn’t seem like she had any tears left in her to shed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

Trinity grasped her hand, and they gazed into each other's eyes for what felt like forever. But it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds before they were interrupted by yet another soft knock on the door.

“Hey,” Dennis said, his head appearing in the doorway. “The trash has been taken out. I watched the cops drag him out of here myself.”

“That’s great,” Victoria grinned, turning to Trinity for confirmation. She nodded.

“Yeah, thank god.”

“Are you, uh… you ready to get back out there?” Dennis asked nervously.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Trinity sighed. She wiped at her eyes one last time and glanced between them. “How do I look? I-I don’t want the patients to know I’ve been crying. It’s a bad look.”

“You look fine,” Dennis smiled.

“Maybe splash some water on your face,” Victoria said sympathetically. Trinity gave an amused huff.

“Gee, thanks, Huckleberry.”

“What, I just- I… uh, sorry.”

Trinity shook her head as she stood and walked toward the sink. She could hear Victoria muttering something to Dennis as she splashed water on her face, but she didn’t care to know what they were saying. It was better to have them talking about her behind her back than anyone else. “Alright, let’s go.”

She followed Dennis out of the break room, and Victoria trailed behind her. He gave her a little wave before hurrying off to help one of his patients, and Trinity gazed up at the triage board once again. It didn’t hold any ghosts from her past this time, and she let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Javadi, Dr. Al-Hashimi wants you in North Four,” Dana said when she spotted them. Victoria nodded.

“Hey, I love you,” she said quietly, resting her hand on her arm for just a moment before dashing off. Trinity watched her go, then turned to see that Dana’s attention was now on her.

“How you doing, kiddo?” she asked kindly. Trinity avoided her eyes.

“Fine.”

“That’s good,” she smiled. “You let me know if you need anything, okay?”

She nodded, giving her her best attempt at a convincing smile.

“Trinity, you’re back!” Mel exclaimed, suddenly appearing beside her. Trinity sighed.

“Yep. In the flesh.”

Mel tilted her head slightly as she thought for a moment. “You know, I have a patient in South Eighteen. A young woman, Peggy Francis, with partial burns on her chest and legs and a dislocated shoulder. Would you like to help me with her treatment?”

“You know what? Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like the perfect case,” she agreed. Mel grinned at her as she turned to follow her. “Thanks, Mel.”

“Of course,” she smiled back.

Peggy Francis had accidentally poured boiling water on herself while cooking and had dislocated her shoulder when she fell. She’d been brought in by her sister, and they were two of the most cooperative people Trinity had ever worked with. Thankfully, the burns weren’t too serious, and they were able to get her treated and discharged in just under an hour. It was exactly the kind of case that Trinity needed to feel normal again. And she would’ve stayed that way if Samira hadn’t cornered her as soon as she walked back out into the hallway.

“I heard what happened. I’m so sorry, Trinity,” she said, concern written on her face. Trinity rolled her eyes. “I would never have sent you out to find Dr. Al if I had known. I never meant to-”

“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.”

“Yeah, but still… I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” Samira gave her a piteous look, and she wished the floor would open up and swallow her. “I’m here if you want to talk. Or if you just want to grab a drink.”

“Thanks. But I’ve got more patients to see, so…”

“Oh, yeah, of course.”

Samira stepped aside, and she fled the interaction as fast as she could without running away. The entire rest of the shift was like that. As soon as she thought she was in the clear, somebody else would come up to her and ask if she was okay. One of the med students even approached her with that look on their face, but at least they had the sense to back away when she fixed them with what Dennis called her “evil eyes of death”. Only Princess and Perlah seemed to talk to her normally, but even the looks they gave her made her feel like shit. She’d never wished she could undo a shift so badly before. She’d certainly had a lot of bad ones, but none of them had ever threatened to brand her as the poor little rape survivor who had a breakdown at work. That was a thousand times worse than being a pariah; she’d much rather everyone hated her than pity her. But no matter what she did, it seemed she could never escape being defined by what had happened to her.

Still, she was able to make it through the last few hours of her shift the same way she always did. And she managed to dodge Kiara, whom Dr. Al-Hashimi had apparently called down on her behalf. But it wasn’t until she had taken off her scrubs and met Dennis and Victoria at the lockers that she finally felt the weight start to lift from her chest.

“Are you ready to go?” Victoria asked her with a cautious smile. Trinity nodded.

“I’ve been ready to get out of here for most of the day.”

“Trinity, wait!” she heard Cassie call just as the three of them turned to leave. She glanced behind her to see her jogging over from her own locker. “I wanted to give you this.”

She handed her a business card, and Trinity stared at it skeptically. “What’s Full Throttle Amusement Park?”

“It’s a rage room. Go there and ask for the owner. Tell him you know me, and he’ll help you get an appointment sooner. I spent a lot of time there when I was going through my divorce.”

“Oh, uh… thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Cassie gave her a warm, maternal smile. Then she shared a pointed look with Victoria and Dennis. Trinity rolled her eyes. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too,” Victoria said politely, and Dennis waved goodbye. Trinity flashed her a smile that wasn’t quite as fake as the one she’d been wearing all day.

“Alright, let’s get the fuck out of Dodge,” Trinity muttered.

They didn’t talk much during the drive back to the apartment. Victoria and Dennis didn’t complain when she sang along to her playlist of Mitski and Billy Joel the whole way, content to let her call all the shots. Some part of her wanted to be mad about it, but she just didn’t have it in her.

“So,” Dennis said, breaking the silence once they got inside and set their stuff down. “Trinity, are you-”

“I swear to god, Huckleberry, if you ask me if I’m okay-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ll punch me in the throat or staple my tongue or do something else equally painful,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I was just going to ask what you wanted for dinner.”

“Oh.” Trinity felt heat creeping up her neck. She ignored the way Victoria was snickering beside her. “Sorry. Um… how about Mexican? That little place we like down the street.”

“Oh, yeah, I love that place,” Victoria chimed in, and Dennis smiled.

“Sounds good.” He pulled out his phone and opened their website. “I’ll place the order.”

“I want a-”

“A beef chimichanga with extra refried beans, I know,” he smirked, glancing up at her. “You want the usual, too, Victoria?”

“Yeah, thanks, Dennis.”

“Okay. And I will make sure to get extra guacamole this time.” He tapped a few more things into his phone before looking up at them with an almost triumphant expression. “I’m gonna go change, and then I’ll head out and pick it up.”

“Great, thanks,” Victoria smiled. Trinity gave him a small nod.

“Oh, and I talked to Robby before we left,” he said, turning back around to point at Trinity. “I’m going to cover your shift tomorrow.”

“Wait, what?”

“I knew that Victoria had tomorrow off, and I figured you could use an extra day to, y’know… process before going back to work. And I can always use the extra hours.”

Trinity stared at him blankly for a few moments. His kind smile slipped from his face, giving way to wide-eyed anxiety. He glanced at Victoria for help.

“But if I was overstepping, then of course you can still go i-”

She cut him off by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. He let out a strangled grunt of surprise, but eventually he wrapped his arms around her, too. “Thank you, Huckleberry,” she said softly, and she felt him chuckle against her. She squeezed him tighter for a couple more seconds, then she pulled away and rubbed her eye. The way they were staring at her was too much for her, so she turned her head away. “Fuck, I love you guys.”

“We love you, too,” they said together, smiling at her. Victoria put her hand on the small of her back, and Trinity gazed into her eyes.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Dennis whispered, slipping away toward his room. Trinity sighed.

“You good?” Victoria murmured.

“Yeah, it’s just… today was a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna go take a shower, is that okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Take your time.”

There was so much love in Victoria’s eyes that Trinity didn’t know what to do with it. She wanted to kiss her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it just yet. So instead, she just smiled and stroked her hip with her thumb. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Ironically, it felt a little like she was moving through water as she got ready to shower. She didn’t quite feel like a person again yet, but she told herself that it would pass. It had to, it always did. And she might have cried a bit more when she undressed and stared down at her naked body, but it didn’t count as long as Victoria and Dennis couldn’t hear her over the sound of running water.

Dennis was already setting the food up on their TV trays when she emerged from her room a while later. Victoria had changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a hoodie that she stole from her closet, and the sight made her heart swell with affection. She held her arms out as soon as she saw her, a big, sappy grin adorning her beautiful face, and Trinity hurried over and collapsed into her arms.

“You feeling better, baby?” Victoria whispered. Warmth bloomed in Trinity’s cheeks.

“Yeah, a bit.”

“That’s good.” Victoria touched the tip of her nose to Trinity’s, forcing her to smile.

“Okay,” Dennis said loudly, flopping down on her other side. “What are we watching tonight? 'Those Old Scientists'?”

“What’s 'Those Old Scientists'?”

“One of my favorite Star Trek episodes,” Trinity smiled sheepishly.

“Her comfort episode,” Dennis corrected with a smirk.

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds pathetic.”

“But it’s accurate.”

She gave him a half-hearted punch on the arm and smiled in spite of herself.

“Which show is it from?” Victoria asked.

“It’s a crossover of Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks,” Trinity explained eagerly. “I think I’ve shown you an episode or two of both of those, but I can answer all your questions if you have any.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” Victoria taunted, her voice ringing with disinterest. “I’m happy just sitting here and looking pretty.”

Trinity laughed. Her first real laugh in over eight hours, and god did it feel good. “Damn, Crash, tell me how you really feel.”

“I feel like your favorite show is really fucking boring.”

Trinity laughed even harder, allowing her head to fall onto Victoria’s shoulder. Victoria laughed with her. “Yeah, okay, whatever. Good thing you’re really good at looking pretty.”

“I’m the best at it.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Can you not flirt in front of my burrito?” Dennis complained, reminding them that he was still there. Trinity rolled her eyes.

“Fuck off, Huckleberry,” she smirked, and Victoria snorted. He flipped them off with a smile on his face.

“Are we watching this thing or what?” Victoria asked.

“Oh, you want to watch it now?”

“No, but I know that if we don’t, you’re gonna whine about it all night.”

“Excuse me?” Trinity gaped at her mockingly. Victoria just grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Can we just watch it already?” Dennis interrupted again, and she finally turned to look at him. “You know she’s right.”

“Yeah, she always is,” Trinity scoffed. Victoria gave her a self-satisfied shrug.

They did eventually start the episode. At first, Victoria didn’t pay it any attention, as Trinity expected. But even she couldn’t resist the allure of Uhura, Lieutenant Ortegas, and Mariner all in one scene (and even Trinity could understand why she liked Captain Pike). And while she usually hated it when people (Dennis) interrupted her shows or movies, she was more than happy to tell Victoria more about Star Trek. She wasn’t convinced she was actually absorbing any of the information she was rambling at her, but the dreamy smile on her face was so adorable she didn’t care.

“Alright, I’m gonna go to bed,” Dennis announced when the episode ended. And Trinity, who was now in a much better mood than she’d been in for most of the day, couldn’t keep the terrible joke from tumbling from her lips.

“You mean you’re gonna hit the hay, farmboy?”

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” he replied, with the expression of someone far too used to her to be annoyed. She felt her breath catch at the sight.

“Oh, no, Dennis, you don’t have to clean up,” Victoria exclaimed when he began gathering up their silverware. “You’re the one who bought dinner, let me get it.”

“Okay, thanks,” he smiled. “In that case, you guys have a good night.”

“You too.”

Trinity watched from the couch as Victoria headed for the kitchen and Dennis headed for his bedroom. Then Victoria disappeared from view, and she leapt to her feet as if she’d been snapped out of a trance.

“Dennis, wait!” she called out as he grabbed the doorknob. He gazed at her with his sad puppy dog eyes as she walked over, and her skin prickled with discomfort. “I should’ve asked you this earlier, but… are you okay? I didn’t see everything, but I know that he got kinda physical with you. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine! He was mostly just screaming in my face,” he chuckled awkwardly. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Okay, good.” Trinity heaved a sigh of relief. “I wanted to say, uh… thanks for… stopping him.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said softly. The sincerity of it made her chest tighten. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“Yeah, I do. You could’ve just let security do their jobs; you didn’t have to jump in like that. And you took his case on top of all your other patients just so Victoria wouldn’t have to be alone with him.”

“I would do it all over again,” he said kindly. “I wasn’t gonna let him hurt you. And I’m sorry I couldn’t keep him in his bed.”

Trinity pursed her lips and stared at the wall. “Don’t apologize, Huckleberry. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Okay, then I won’t.” She didn’t need to look at him to know he was smiling. “I take it back, I’m not sorry at all.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “So you just lied to me? You wouldn’t do it again?”

“No, I would. But I think if I saw him again, I’d have to introduce him to our mutual friend Krav Maga.”

Trinity snorted, and they grinned at each other. “You really think you’re ready for that? Your form is still pretty shit,” she teased.

“Hey, you said I was getting better last time!”

She laughed, and he smiled at her fondly. A warmth was settling in her chest, a warmth that she usually ignored when it came to him. But she couldn’t ignore what he’d done for her, or the way her fear had spiked when she saw him approach the most dangerous man she’d ever known. “Better doesn’t mean good,” she retorted, but the jab was half-hearted at best. “Seriously, though, thank you. I, uh… I really appreciate you, y’know… just everything.”

“Good night, Trinity,” he smiled. Of course, he knew better than to comment on her uncharacteristic display of vulnerability. It made it easier for her to hold his gaze.

“Night, Huckleberry.”

He retreated into his room, and Trinity took a deep breath before turning around. And when she did, she noticed Victoria watching her from the kitchen doorway with a lovestruck smile on her face.

“What?” she said defensively as she walked back to her. Victoria shrugged.

“Nothing,” she sighed. “That was really sweet.”

“Oh, fuck off, Crash,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes. Victoria giggled.

“Come here,” she said lovingly, beckoning her with outstretched arms. Trinity closed the gap between them, and Victoria pulled her into a hug. She sank into her embrace, and she could feel Victoria breathing her in. Then Trinity yawned. “Are you tired?” Victoria asked, her voice bubbling with amusement.

“What do you think?”

“We can go to sleep now, you know,” she smirked. “Unless you want to watch more of your boring space show.”

“Hey! Can you not be so mean about it? I’ve had a hard day.” She stopped smiling just long enough to give Victoria a dramatic pout.

“Awwww, poor baby,” she teased. “We should go to bed, though. And we both have the day off tomorrow, so we can sleep in as long as we want.”

“Hmm, that does sound nice,” Trinity mused.

“So you wanna do that, then?”

“Give me one second.” She grabbed her bottle of beer from the coffee table and gulped down the last few sips. “Okay, now we can go to bed.”

Victoria just shook her head and smiled.

They got ready for bed in a comfortable silence. Their routine was still the same as it always was, and the familiarity of it was soothing. If she ignored the elephant in the room, Trinity could pretend tonight was like any other night. But it was a pretty big elephant.

“How are you feeling now, baby?” Victoria asked her when they finally crawled into bed.

“Better than I was,” she sighed. “But still not great.”

Victoria just nodded. Then she reached out slowly and took Trinity’s hand, her touch gentle and grounding all at once. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. And I know you already know this, but I have to remind you that you can always talk to me. Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, laying her head on Victoria’s shoulder. “I just… it’s not even about today. I mean, today was fucking awful, obviously. But I know I can get over it. I did it before, I always do. But now everybody knows, so… my work life is basically fucked.”

“What do you mean?”

Trinity would’ve scoffed rudely at her ignorance if it weren’t for those big, beautiful doe eyes filled with genuine confusion and concern. “I mean, everybody at work knows that I was raped now! Or they know that I was abused, or at the very least, they know I had a fucking breakdown in the middle of the shift. They’re all gonna treat me like I’m some fragile little kid who could shatter at any second from now on. It’s already happening! After I went back to work, I swear, someone came up to me every twenty minutes and asked me if I was okay with that stupid fucking pity look on their face. Now, everything that I’ve done over the past four years, all my skills as a doctor, the reputation I tried so hard to build, and all the respect I fought to earn is just completely gone. He destroyed it all. Again.” She was breathing heavily again, out of anger this time. She tried to take a deep breath and calm herself, but it might’ve been the wrong move; when she spoke again, her voice sounded sad and scared and weak. Exactly the way she didn’t want to be. “I don’t want to go back to being the girl who was raped, or the girl whose best friend died. I just want to be me. But he took that away, just like he did last time.”

“I promise you, my love, that is not going to happen.”

Now, Trinity did scoff rudely at her. “I just told you, it is happening! You think I don’t know how this works? Rumors spread like wildfire in that place. It’s already reached psych because Al-Hashimi decided to call Kiara for me. It’s only a matter of time before it gets to the OR, and Neuro, and the ICU, radiology… pretty soon, you and Dennis are gonna be the only ones in the entire hospital who treat me like a person.”

“Baby, everyone was asking if you were okay because they care about you, not because they pity you.” She hid it well, but Trinity could hear the disbelief in her voice. “You don’t think I asked because I pity you, do you?”

“Well, no, but-”

“It’s the same way with everyone else. I mean, they don’t care about you nearly as much as I do, of course. But they do care about you. And you know as well as I do how busy the ED is. So much happens in one shift- hell, in just one hour- that everyone will have forgotten about this in a few weeks. And it’s not like the other departments really care about us. Sure, everyone might be… a little cautious with you for a few days. But I really don’t think you need to worry about it ruining your reputation. Everyone knows you’re so much more than that.”

Trinity let out a skeptical little huff and grumbled, “Yeah, right.” She suddenly itched to pull away from Victoria, but she forced herself to stay put.

“Trinity, look at me,” Victoria commanded. Her voice was equal parts gentle and stern, a tone she knew always turned her into putty in her hands. Trinity did as she was told. “How many code hula hoops have we seen since we started, hmm? Do you remember? Do you remember when Dr. Al-Hashimi told us about her seizures? And you’re not even the first person to have a panic attack at work. Do you remember when Samira had one and thought it was a heart attack? Or do you remember when McKay almost got arrested on our very first day? Pretty much everyone there has had something really shitty happen to them or come to light at work. But are any of those the first things you think of when you think of them?”

She thought for a moment before shaking her head and swallowing. “No,” she answered quietly.

“Exactly,” Victoria smiled softly. “And nobody is going to think of this when they think of you. Trinity Santos is not the girl who was raped. Trinity Santos is the amazing, brilliant, badass doctor who puts saving people’s lives first, no matter the consequences, who always advocates for her patients, is great with kids, and has a nasty habit of accidentally scaring the med students. That is how people know you because that is who you are.”

Despite the tears now dampening her eyes once more, Trinity giggled. Victoria beamed down at her. “Thank you, baby.”

“Of course.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, her fingers trailing slowly along her jawline before falling away at her chin. “I think the only reason anyone would remember this is if someone gave you a shitty nickname about it, like Crash. But I can’t think of anyone who would be cruel enough to do something like that.”

“Hmmm, yeah, neither can I,” Trinity grinned. They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes for a minute, their faces so close she could feel Victoria’s breath tickling her upper lip. But no matter how badly she wanted to let this little spark of joy be the light at the end of the tunnel, the bad thoughts came back up anyway. She watched the smile slip from Victoria’s face as it fell from her own, and she turned her head away as a single tear dripped down her cheek. “I know you’re right about work,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “But I did get raped. And it fucked me up. I don’t like being reminded of how much it fucked me up.”

Victoria’s voice cracked when she spoke. “I know, baby, I know. But it’s over now. Just remember you’re not back there. You’re right here, with me. Safe in your house, in your bed, in my arms. We’re not going anywhere.”

“I wanted to cut myself after I saw him,” Trinity whimpered after a few moments of silence. She felt Victoria freeze beside her, and she was pretty sure she was holding her breath. “I didn’t. But I wanted to. I couldn’t think of any other way to make the pain go away. But then you walked in. And I… I’ve never had that urge without doing it before. But I didn’t need to. Because I had you. I think deep down, even when I was fucking panicking, I knew I was gonna be okay. Because I knew you were out there protecting me. I didn’t have that before. I’ve never had anyone to look out for me. And I think even if you hadn’t stopped him, if he had… I still would’ve been okay. I mean, I survived it once, but also… I have you to live for now. I couldn’t have made it through today without you, Vicky.”

“Oh, baby.” Victoria immediately shifted to wrap her arms around her, and Trinity curled into her, burying her head in her neck. She finally allowed herself to let go of all the fear, anger, and grief that she’d been holding onto since she spotted his name on the board. Hell, some of it she might’ve been holding onto since the day he first called her into his office after practice. Victoria rubbed her back as she wept, not caring about the hot tears spilling onto her skin. Trinity wasn’t processing any of the words she was whispering in her ear, but her voice was comforting nonetheless. Everything about Victoria was comforting. Somehow, it made her want to cry even more, knowing she had her to keep her tethered. She’d always been so afraid of falling, but now she knew Victoria’s arms would always be a soft place for her to land.

“Thank you,” she croaked out a while later, once the tears had stopped and her body finally felt lighter. “For everything. I love you so fucking much, Vicky.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me,” Victoria breathed. She pulled back and cupped her face in her hands, then began tenderly wiping away her tears. “I love you more than anything.”

“Fuck,” Trinity sniffled. “That felt a lot better than crying at work.”

“I’m sure it did,” Victoria chuckled. Then Trinity yawned.

“Can we go to sleep now?”

“Of course, baby,” she said softly. In place of a good night kiss, Victoria slowly leaned closer and rested her forehead against Trinity’s. Time seemed to slow down for them for just a moment, and Trinity let out a contented sigh. “But you should probably drink some water before we turn off the light.”

“Who are you, my doctor?” she mumbled, a smile pulling at her lips as she reached for her water bottle on the nightstand. She didn’t need to see her to know Victoria was rolling her eyes.

Once she was satisfied that she had drunk enough water, Victoria turned off the bedside lamp. Then she pulled the blankets up over them, not-so-subtly repositioning them so Trinity would be the little spoon. She settled with her arm around her waist and her nose pressed against her shoulder blade, their hearts beating calmly as one. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Trinity.”

“Me too,” she whispered. Victoria squeezed her gently from behind and placed a feather-light kiss on her back. “Good night, Vicky. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Good night.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Trinity slurred, drowsiness already encroaching on the edges of her mind.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Sometimes I scare the med students on purpose.”

And the beautiful, melodic sound of Victoria’s laughter filled her ears as she drifted off to sleep.