Ending up back in the emergency department hadn’t been his plan. With the systems down and his runners being damn slow, Brendon needed to rush down to grab a chart for a patient himself. Not his favorite thing but everyone had to work together in times like this.

Before he managed to get to the hub, his eyes caught on something. For a minute, he couldn’t figure out what. Then, he glanced to his left. A combative patient with the door closed and only one nurse.

Who got caught in a headlock. Brendon swore as he rushed to the door.

“I need extra hands!” he called over his shoulder as he shoved the door open, barely remembering to prop it before stopping at the bedside.

Drunk. Of course the man was drunk. Alcohol hit Brendon’s nose first when he got close enough to grab the patients wrist and work to twist it off the nurse. He heard her gasp. A good sign, meant the hold had broken at least a little. It took a little more force to get the man to release properly. Brendon made sure to shove himself between the man and the nurse, pushing her back toward the door and hopefully to someone who could get her checked out.

“Get off me!” the patient shouted. Brendon grunted as he caught a knee to the gut. There were sounds of more people coming in and hopefully one of them had grabbed restraints. Brendon may have been confident in his strength, but drunk bastards who wanted a fight got a fight.

“Can you get his arm a little closer?” someone said. Brendon barked a laugh and looked up. It was the resident from the detached leg trauma. At least he had the restraints.

“You wanna try this?” Brendon snapped. The resident shrugged and turned, handing off the restraints to a nurse behind him. Brendon thought he recognized her. Pearl, maybe?

A moment later, the resident shifted and leaned over the railing. His badge said “Whitaker”. He took the arm from Brendon’s grasp easily enough. It still took a minute for Brendon to give up the limb. Whitaker may have trusted himself, but Brendon sure as shit didn’t. Although when Brendon gave in, Whitaker managed to hold his own with just one arm.

“I’ve got his left,” Whitaker said, “Worry about your side.” Brendon tilted his head and adjusted his attention.

Not even five minutes later, they had both arms in restraints and Brendon pushed a sedative to stop him from kicking and screaming. He pulled the needle out and chucked it in the sharps. The room started to clear out, save for Whitaker who double checked the restraints.

“Think we should do the legs?” Whitaker asked and looked up. Brendon huffed as he headed for the door.

“Your decision,” he said, “I came here for a fucking chart.” His heart still beat in his chest as he looked around the ER. No wonder Yolanda liked it down here. It fit what she liked perfectly. Calling them ER cowboys apparently fit the bill.

At the central station, Brendon saw the nurse who left the door shut with Dana. A bottle of water had been shoved in her hands and Dana sat next to her saying something. A burst of concern and annoyance filled him. There would be some bruising around her neck. Already he could see the point where the mans arm had locked her in on the sides. It would be a nasty bruise.

Brendon abandoned his search for a chart to walk up to them instead.

“What the hell was that?” he said. Both nurses looked up at him. He ignored Dana as he crossed his arms and stared down at the nurse in front of him. It wasn’t someone he recognized. Must not have been here long. Definitely not long enough to understand simple practices.

“He—They gave him Versed,” she said, “I thought he’d be out for longer so I—”

“You keep the door open when you know they’re a combative patient.”

“Lay off, Shark,” Dana interrupted, “Let her catch her breath. It’s her first day.”

“That’s obvious.”

“I just thought—” the new nurse started.

“What? You thought you’d be fine going into a patients room alone when you knew what they had to do to get him here?” The nurse ducked her head to avoid his gaze and sipped from the bottle of water. Brendon leaned down to try and catch her eye. “They stop teaching common sense in nursing school?” The nurse pushed the water to Dana and stood. Shock went through Brendon as he leaned back to avoid getting his nose broken. She muttered a sorry before she rushed off. Brendon watched her disappear into the bathroom. He scoffed.

“The hell’s wrong with you!” Dana asked. She stood, screwing the lid onto the bottle before slamming it on the counter. He leveled Brendon with a glare he’d seen a dozen times before. It didn’t make him shrink the first time and it sure wouldn’t make him shrink this time. (It did scare him, though he would never tell anyone that.)

“What she did was—” Brendon started.

“Nope.” Dana raised her hand and shook her head. “No, I do not want to hear it. You need to go apologize.”

“Apologize? For what? Teaching her a lesson?” Brendon almost laughed. The nurse needed to hear it. It would stick one way or another and he knew how little people remembered something if they were told softly.

“For making her cry for Chrissake!” Dana said. “She was just assaulted. That’s enough to wrack anyone’s nerves. Then you come over and start blaming her. Women deal with that shit enough already. Go.” Brendon bit his tongue as some guilt washed over him. Right. In the back of his mind, he knew that. It just… hadn’t been at the forefront.

Brendon sucked on his teeth and looked towards the bathroom the nurse had locked herself in. The chart needed to be up to his floor five minutes before any of this shit started. He could just grab it an leave. Instead, he sighed.

“What’s her name?” Brendon asked. He still looked through the charts and grabbed the one he needed. Dana eyed him for a moment.

“Emma Nolan,” she said, “And you better bring me my clipboard back.” Brendon didn’t answer. He grabbed the water bottle as he walked toward the bathroom. Most people moved out of his way as he walked.

When he stopped in front of the door, he hesitated. There weren’t a lot of times Brendon did apologies. No doubt he’d stick his foot in his mouth. Plus the whole thing about it having happened two minutes ago. To avoid making any actual progress, he stared down at the chart and glimpsed it over.

There were quiet sobs filtering through the door. Brendon blinked at the paper in front of him. This he never heard. After one of his lectures, students tended to disappear. He never happened to know where they went or what happened. Sometimes, another resident would disappear with them. He figured that meant they were getting support. Now he wondered how many of them hid themselves inside bathrooms or somewhere else to… cry.

After a few seconds when there was a pause between the shuttered gasps, Brendon raised his fist and knocked on the door. It went silent inside before he heard shuffling. Brendon leaned against the jamb on the opposite side of the opening of the door. Better to give her some space.

When the door did open, Emma looked at his chest instead of meeting his eyes. A wince pulled at his lips. He reached out with the water bottle, offering it to her. She hesitated, eyes flicking up, before taking it.

“Thank you,” she said. More than polite.

“Yeah,” Brendon said. He watched as a tear rolled down her cheek before she brushed it away. She took a few sips of water before putting the lid back on. “How are you feeling?”

“Um,” Emma opened the door a little more, “Fine.” Brendon nodded and dropped the clipboard to tap it against his thigh. Emma’s eyes were still red and a little puffy. The bruises around the back of her neck were becoming more defined.

“I just wanted to apologize,” Brendon said as he pulled his gaze away from those bruises, “For what I said earlier.”

“Oh.”

“It was… Inappropriate.” A beat of silence followed. Brendon had to look away from Emma’s scrutinizing gaze. Instead, he found a spot in the hallway to study. A few nurses and doctors passed through giving him an odd look. He never stayed away from his department for long.

“You don’t do this often, do you?” Emma asked. Brendon sucked on his teeth and nodded.

“No,” he said, “Your charge nurse sent me over and she scares me.” Brendon looked around their little bubble. No one else was close to them so he relaxed a little. “Don’t tell anyone I said that.” Emma giggled a little and Brendon relaxed further.

People around him were tense. No one cracked jokes or cared to try and laugh. His surgeries either had nothing playing or on the odd days he needed something else, they were classical songs. Nothing from the century or even millennia. No one spoke unless they were talking about the patient in front of them and the current operation.

“Thank you for the water,” Emma said. She ran her hand under her eyes again and stepped out of the bathroom, letting the door close behind her. “And the apology.” Brendon lifted a corner of his mouth in response. In his hand, the clipboard got pulled away. He glanced down to see Emma taking it and pulling the papers out. She handed them to him.

“Hope the last hour treats you better,” Brendon said. Emma smiled and started walking back to the central station with the clipboard. When she made it, Dana looked over to him, a slight glare, but lesser once Emma started talking to her.