#rip ava

"You sure know how to make a lady feel special, Connor," Ava retorted, setting her paper cup down on the nurses' desk while passing him the other coffee she brought. She knew he was right, she didn't look to hot if she was being honest, but the least he could have done was pretend he didn't see it.

"What happened to your face?" he asked in a more serious tone, tilting her chin back a bit to look at the damage properly. All under her left eye was shadowed by bruises in various stages of healing, clearly something that had happened over her weekend off. There was a small cut beside her nose too, whatever it was having clearly missed her eye by a small margin.

"Vivi..." she sighed and tried to hide her wince when Connor gently poked at her face, probably trying to feel if there was any damage to her cheekbone or nose.

"How did Vivvy manage something like this?"

"She has been really cranky lately and her tantrums are just... so hard to handle. You know the Ventolin-Albuterol treatments you prescribed?"

Connor hummed in acknowledgement, he had recommended 15 minutes of nebulizer breathing treatments twice a day at their last appointment. The two year old had been dealing with mucus build up during the harsh Chicago winter, so they hoped the bronchodilators would ease her cough a bit. Vivi never liked keeping the mask on her face in the hospital, though she had always been fine with her cannula, so they hoped treatments at home would be less scary.

"I tried to get her to come sit with Sarah for her evening treatment on Friday," Ava continued as she gently batted Connor's worrying hands away, "Vivi decided to throw a tantrum about it and she threw one of her wooden blocks at me."

"Ouch."

"Yeah... It hurt like a bitch," Ava sighed and poked at her black eye out of habit, "My two year old hate crimed me."

That made Connor laugh, earning him a deserved smack on the shoulder from the woman. Ava just glared playfully at him, arguing that it's not that funny.

"It's kind of funny," he replied, "What happened when she realized she hurt you?"

"Oh she was inconsolable," Ava admitted, "We try gentle parenting, of course, but I couldn't help but get upset because it fucking hurt. I don't know if she understood that I was hurt because of her or if she just got startled when I yelled."

"Poor kid. Was she okay?"

"After I had calmed down and Sarah sent me to the couch with a bag of ice, yeah," she sighed a little, "It took a while but eventually she came over to sit with me and wanted me to hold her for her treatment."

"Terrible twos," Connor mused with a shake of his head, "Hopefully she learns she can't act like that."

"Yeah. I really hope so because that could have ended way worse if it hit my eye directly."

Connor was about to reply but a familiar voice spoke up first, "Did you get your vision checked? Corneal abrasions could end your career, Doctor Bekker."

"Doctor Latham," Ava winced but put on a brave face as she looked at their mentor, "Sarah did an initial neuro and eye exam after I got hurt. I have an appointment up in emergency ophthalmology later this evening."

"Ah, very good," he nodded and then looked at them both seriously, "If either of you notice any issues let me know, do not operate if you are not 100%, Doctor Bekker."

"Copy that, Doctor Latham," Connor answered for them both, "I'll keep an eye on her. More surgeries for me today, huh?"