#001. | 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 ☤ in character

[gaffns]

INBOX: 𝐃𝐑. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 ⸻  @traumadriven [ tyler brendan ] ty clears his throat, using his stethoscope as a fake guitar then proceeds to sing taylor swift's 'should've said no' loud and off-key.

he had just come from treatment four, and headed to one of the computers at the nurses station. it has been a few days since he went to mollys with ripley, hannah and doris. as tyler belted out the song, he kept his face composed as he worked on typing notes for one of his patients. the absolute last thing he wanted was to draw any more attention to himself, and his history. it seems as if doris couldn't contain herself once again.

the resident continued to type, and not look up. the surgeon of course was sent some weird looks. even john felt a small grin start to form, but managed to stop it immediately. the song that the attending was singing may of been about him, but only he knew that && he was not that sixteen year old anymore. nobody does. and he didn't need to make it obvious. he had deep regrets for breaking taylor's heart. not that he had any excuse, but he was going through his own troubles and wasn't thinking straight. so he cheated on the country star turned popstar with another child actress. a downgrade obviously.

as tyler finally stopped, john looked up again, pursing his lips, then back at the screen. he wasn't going to make this his reputation. as much as doris or tyler wanted to tease him about it. ❛ good song. taylor can sing it better though.  ❜ he said, nonchalantly and started to type again.

[gaffns]

❛ i will be honest with you, florence, it isn't great, but I have seen worse. ❜ john said once he got a good enough look. he made sure to look at the whole arm and he is confident that it was only in the lower part of te arm, particularly the wrist area. ❛ all I need is an x-ray, which lucky for you, I can get mike in here and we will know within minutes.  ❜ 

it has been a nasty weather day so the slippery excuse was valid. john took a seat in the doctors stool and looked at his ipad, taking a quick glance at her history. ❛ the only thing I am concerned about is the fact you have been here three times now in less than a year, did you hit your head at all? ❜ as a doctor, he has every right to be concerned. was she one to purposely get hurt for pain killers? was he being overly cautious? maybe. maybe not. this is why he became a pediatrician. but, at the end of the day he just wanted to be sure she was okay. 

❛ i am going to get mike in here, if it is bad enough, I might go ahead and get ortho involved. while we are waiting, are you okay with me doing a full workup on you? I just want to make sure we don't miss anything. ❜

florence didn't like this –– didn't do well with strangers. of course, there had been a slim chance that she'd be able to see the same doctor she had done previously, but at least she'd tried. she'd been through a song and dance with doctor halstead, and would have to sit through the same list of questions from doctor frost now.

"i wasn't watching where i was going, i think the sidewalk was a little slippery ––" she shrugged her shoulders with a wince, pain shooting from her wrist up to her shoulder with each movement. "–– and now i can't even move without my arm feeling like it's going to fall off." she tried to joke, though the pain sitting deep on her face was clear.

"i don't know about tingling or numbness, it hurts too much to be able to feel anything else." she'd tried nursing it for herself, but to no avail. "a had an ice pack on it for a while, but it didn't do much to help." she explained. "it's bad, right?"

[gaffns]

INBOX: 𝐃𝐑. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 ⸻  @fervidus [ kim burgess ] ❛ this sounds a lot worse than i expected. ❜

❛ it is honestly normal, believe it or not. ❜ john told kim with a small smile as he took a seat on the rolling stool in between kim and her adoptive daughter, makayla who was sleeping soundly on the bed. ❛ once she gets her TSH levels back down to a normal level, she will start to feel much better. I can also recommend you to a list of endocrinologist's in the area, it is good to have one so they can closely monitor Makayla's levels. ❜ the resident looks to Kim and back to his patient, smiling at the both of them before continuing, picking up the tablet.  ❛ in the meantime, I think it is best to keep her here for a day or two and see how she adjusts to the medication, and I will page the on-call endocrinologist to come see her also. ❜ 

❛ she is a sweet girl. it is great that you adopted her. I wasn't so lucky myself in my upbringing. I just wish I knew it at the time. ❜ john said, not to suddenly make it about him. but he just wanted to give credit where it was due, and compliment them. he wished that all parents could be like kim and adam, or any of the other good ones he has met ⸻ knowing that despite the bad ones he has come across, they are still few and far in-between.

[gaffns]

INBOX: 𝐃𝐑. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 ⸻  @espres0s [ naomi howard ] 🎄: for our muses to decorate a Christmas tree together.

the task was to decorate a narrow six and a half foot artificial christmas tree that is kept in the doctors lounge; and it was john and naomi that was asked to do it. according to maggie, it was the first year they had this specific one. and honestly, john loved the idea. for the past week or so, every child that was there to get medical attention ( if they were able ) or if they there with family had the opportunity to make an ornament with the hospitals child life specialists in the consultation room, and the turnout was fantastic. among the provided supplies were pipe cleaners, felt, paint, paper, and of course, dreadful glitter that ended up everywhere. lenox wasn't happy.

❛ i love this one. ❜ the doctor held up a specific ornament that was made by a six year old named matthew, who came in for a rare allergic reaction to some holiday ham at a family thanksgiving celebration. this one consisted of a white pipe cleaner shaped into a snowflake, with various shades of blue pony beads all over it. he decides to place it on the front of the tree, hooking it to the closest limb.

❛ i still haven't put up my tree yet. but in my defense, I am here like one hundred hours a week. ❜ he said randomly, chuckling as he placed the next one from the lot of delicate and cute ornaments. ❛ but I just have a small three foot one. it is all I have room for, and it has just been me for a long time. do you have a tree? ❜

[gaffns]

tag drop. 1/?

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❛ i suppose I am, yeah.  ❜ some first day he has had. what are the odds that your first patient at your new hospital was one that literally makes the doctor bleed. he just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that these parents wanted to hide the fact that their teenage son only had months to live with a surgery.

when doctor charles says that he would do the same thing, the resident relaxed. he wouldn't be the first that came forth too, even he had the support of the two department heads. now it was time to go see the kid now that the parents forgave him. ❛ i appreciate you saying that. I uh - promise that this isn't a normal thing for me. I just care about my patients.  ❜

❝ Better to be metaphorical than literal. ❞ he replies as he glances to John just above the rim of his glasses. ❝ And you are opting for the literal.❞

He speaks to the punch that he received from the father of the boy he was treating. He knows his heart was in the right place, the kid has every right to know that he's dying so Charles won't attempt to take some moral high ground let alone give a lecture.

❝ I would have done the same thing.❞ he reassures. ❝ You're going to fit in here just fine.❞

"If you never bleed, you're never gonna grow." to daniel charles ! @gaffns ft. John Frost

[gaffns]

PLOTTED STARTER: 𝐃𝐑. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 ⸻  @traumadriven [ tyler brendan ]

elyse was normally cool and collected. so to watch her confront these parents of his eleven year old patient, accuse them of malnourishing her, stunned the pediatric resident. he understood where she was coming from, the girl was severely malnourished and was a figure skater. in a way, it reminded of him and something he would do; but it was even over the top for him. after tyler dragged the nurse away, john stayed with the patient, and continued on with his exam and stayed with the family for the next thirty or so minutes.

the parents wanted to formally complain, and he had nurse maggie come in to see if she could fight the flame or proceed with it. as john left the room, tablet in hand, he looked at the parents. ❛ once again, I am truly sorry for this. the blood tests will be posted soon and we will know more then.  ❜ he said with a small smile, trying to ease the situation.

he looked around for tyler, and when he saw him through the glass windows in the doctors lounge, he made a beeline for it. ❛ what the hell was that? ❜ john asked, seeing that the nurse wasn't with the trauma surgeon. it was just them. he really didn't want to be mad at the nurse, but this was a tough situation.  ❛ they want to formally complain over that. and I can't believe I am saying this but I think they should. ❜

[gaffns]

the resident sighs upon hearing ripley. he knows that it is possible that men can get their drinks spiked but whoever did it has done it before. he, and his beer were hardly separated all night at mollys, and he didn't have more than two, including the one archer bought. ❛ i feel dizzy, i can feel my heart rate, it is really really fast. and ⸻ i'm hallucinating, I keep on seeing my parents at the other side of the ED. but I know they aren't there. ❜

@gaffns [c]

"we're not sure, but archer says he thinks he saw someone put something in your drink when you weren't looking." ripley spoke, leaning forward a bit, arms folded a bit. "you said you feel weird. weird how?" he wasn't frost's doctor, but he was his friend and he wanted to help in any way possible.

[gaffns]

he loved seeing the healthy relationship between aubrey an tyler. while he wasn't blood, he could feel the love they had for each other. sure it was more common than not, clearly, his parents ruined it for him. he became a pediatrician to protect the little ones that are innocent. when tyler asked a question, he snapped from his thoughts, circling the bed to the other side so aubrey was in between the two of them. ❛ it is hard to say at this minute. for something that just started overnight that rules out a lot. the pain in her abdomen mimics appendicitis to a tee, but the ultrasound disagrees. that is why I would like to order a CT scan, but if it is appendicitis, we have no time to waste. ❜

almost as if she was an angel, trini walked in with the tablet with results, and he took it from her with a small smile. holding it in his hands, he passes it off to tyler so he could look. frowned upon? maybe. but he was still an attending and both ripley and archer were off that day. ❛ very high CRP, but that can still mean other things.  ❜ he looks to trini, asking about the status of the CT, with her saying they were seven patients behind. he gives aubrey a smile, squeezing her shoulder. looking at tyler with his eyes, asking him to speak outside. 

When he came in he smiles at Aubrey and he's quick to give her a hug, and he gives the run down. Not the doctor run-down, but the fatherly run-down of asking how she is, what's wrong, how long has she been feeling like this ... okay, so the two go hand in hand at the end of the day. It's just the matter of how it's asked which is more doctorly or fatherly.

With some talking to the young girl he then turns to Frost. ❝ So, what are we thinking doc? ❞ he asks, handing it over to Frost. He knows he has too - he can't be Aubrey's doctor because he's too close to her. He has to leave this in Frost's hands. But it doesn't mean he can't still be an Attending talking to a Resident and passing questions. He'll even take off his white coat. Right now he's not Doctor Brendan.

[gaffns]

something personal. now he can't deny that he has issues of his own, so john doesn't want to be that person that judges. but this was just crazy. he kept on replaying it in his head and it was one of the rare times he immediately wanted to defend the girls parents, instead of what he usually does, fail to blindly trust. it was clear to him that they wanted the best for their daughter. 

john walked a few steps closer to tyler, joining him at the table. he shrugged his shoulder. ❛ is this something you can tell me to help understand, or does elyse need to tell me herself? ❜ he asked, knowing that tyler knew. how could he not? only seconds passed before he dismissed his question with a wave of his hand. maybe he was better off not knowing. ❛ just forget I asked that. she is just a good nurse. it is just hard to comprehend whatever that was. ❜

when tyler suggested he can go talk to the family, the resident nodded his head. could help, or it could make things worse. it was a gamble. ❛ maggie is with them now, they seemed pretty set in their ways about wanting to formally complain. but I guess if you want protect her record, it wouldn't hurt. you have a personal connection to her. ❜ tyler would know the right thing to say. 

at tylers next question, john handed him the ipad. while he was trauma, tyler was still an attending and he was involved now, whether he liked it or not liked it or not. ❛ after you dragged elyse out of the room, I started to do a full workup on her. i was minutes from paging doctor hadler for cardio when her mom mentioned that one time last week Stephanie was complaining about blood appearing when she was brushing her teeth. So I looked inside her mouth, and she had bleeding gums, which could be a symptom of aplastic anemia. ❜

Needless to say that's not how he wanted the conversation to go, but what choice did he have in the matter? Elyse went off on those parents. Understanding her past he wanted to give her some grace but there is only so much grace to give in moments like this. In this environment one can't just toss around accusations like that. Pulling her away he wanted to have the conversation.

But the conversation turned into a full argument which left him sitting in the lounge alone. He moves his hand through his hair before leaning his head against the table. When Frost comes in he picks up his head and he folds his hands in front of his mouth.

❝ She's letting something personal get in the way...❞ he hates putting it that way but it's the only way he can right now. ❝ I know her intentions were good intentions but it's how she went about it...❞ shaking his head, he then bites on his thumb.

When Frost agrees that they should file the complaint he doesn't want that on her record, but the way she acted was completely out of hand. ❝ Maybe I can talk to them...❞ he's being vague and he knows it, but it's not his story to tell. It's Elyse's. But this girl isn't Elyse's story either. There could be something far more going on here with this girl and they have the duty to help her -- not jump to conclusions.

❝ Did you get anymore from the parents, the girl ? Any indication of what we might be looking at ? ❞

[gaffns]

john gave a small closed lip smile at melanie as they walked through the emergency room. ❛ you are a newer nurse right? i have seen maggie and elyse help you. hey, from what i have seen, you do a good job. you are doctor brendan's sister, right? ❜ john questioned.

❛ can't say I know what this place was like before lenox came around. the day I came in with my jackson monroe patient was her first day officially. ❜ john told her, chuckling. ❛ but something tells me it was better. less toxic. ❜ he hasn't had any personal issues with the co-chief personally, but knew ripley and others have. but ripley was also going through some things, and he really didn't know what. he was new enough to stay in his lane. by now they got to the treatment room with the kid with the broken femur. after the exam and x-ray, they did conclude it was broken so orthopedic surgery was paged.

❝ Just another day. ❞ she replies, and it usually is in this place. It will always keep one on her toes. Not only that, but Maggie and Elyse have been keeping her on her toes with quizzes and such when it comes to her training. They don't want her to get comfortable and fall behind so she appreciates the help. And with her mind clear and focused she's sharper than she's been in a long time.

❝ I'm glad I get to work with you, too. Don't get me wrong, I love my usual rotation..❞ she lowers her voice a little. ❝ But with Lennox around everyone else seems particularly cranky and it's messin' with my vibe.❞