Chapter Text
Bernie Wolfe is running late, and yet decides to stop at the little coffee shop on the first floor of the hospital. Her first meeting with the staff on AAU started two minutes ago, and she’s still in line, waiting. She shifts her weight back and forth and has to stop herself from tapping her foot. She glances at her phone again, checking the time, and huffs when she sees its now gone 09:04. Four minutes late, and on her first day too. Not a great way to make a first impression.
Since leaving the army, being on time hasn’t been Bernie’s strong point. As soon as the routine of the military left her, so too did her internal clock to get places on time. She’s perpetually late, her hair always a little windswept, and her body always under caffeinated. There hadn’t been time to start the coffee maker this morning, having slept late and dashed about her flat, gathering her clothes and bits before heading out the door in a frenzy.
But she’d made it to the hospital in time, having driven a little too quickly through the city in her little car. Zipping through and arriving with exactly five minutes to spare. Or so she thought.
The service at Pulses is slow, but she’s dying for that latte, and keeps waiting, hoping it will appear in the next thirty seconds. She could claim she got lost in the winding corridors of the hospital, or say there was traffic. But she’s staying until she gets that coffee. She’s already late in any case. Bernie is next in line to receive her drink when the woman in front of her holds up the little takeaway cup and demands to see the manager. Bernie nearly groans in frustration. Not now please, I’m late!
A petrified manager steps forward and the woman calmly and coolly states that the drink she was given was not what she ordered. The trembling manager stammers and trips as she hastily returns to the machine and thrusts a new, perfectly made drink into the waiting hands of the inpatient woman.
“Thank you,” she says in a clipped tone, then turns on her heels and almost walks straight into Bernie.
Fuck, Bernie thinks. You're absolutely stunning.
She has brown eyes that are sparkling, her top is a deep blue, and her face is so close to Bernie’s that for a moment Bernie thinks she can feel the other woman’s breath. But the moment passes, and as they both step away from one another, Bernie sees that the woman has lovely eyebrows. Perfect eyebrows in fact, and both perfect eyebrows are raised, as if unimpressed and simultaneously annoyed by the sight of Bernie. She's confused by the woman's annoyance, until Bernie realizes, with a sinking feeling, that she had in fact actually said the words out loud. She'd said “Fuck, you're absolutely stunning,” right to this woman's beautiful face. She feels herself blush bright red and looks away, mumbling a soft apology before grabbing her latte and stalking away toward the lifts. She enters the first one that opens, punches the number for AAU and prays she never sees the woman again.
She walks down the corridor and opens the door to AAU, using her brand new badge from security, another stop that had made her not just late, but extraordinarily late. She finds someone who is kind enough to point her in the direction, meets Fletch, who leads her to the locker room and mentions that they're running a bit behind themselves. She quickly changes into the provided scrubs and hopes she will be able to sneak into the morning meeting unnoticed. These are typically run-of-the-mill meetings, daily admin stuff and patient assignments, so it’s not the end of the world to have missed the first few minutes, she reminds herself. And it seems to still be going on, long after it should have ended.
However, the second she steps onto the ward, there is an audible silence. The gathered staff, parts like The Red Sea and there, at the front, is a woman, wearing a blouse in a very familiar shade of blue. Her bright red lips that were previously smiling immediately change into a frown. And while the entirety of the staff turns to look at her, coffee in hand, Bernie recognizes that this woman is in fact the woman from downstairs. She also takes this important moment to audibly gasp, and then swears under her breath for the second time that day.
“Bullocks.”
The staff, seemingly nonplussed, collectively turn their heads to look back at the other woman. She glances down at a notepad, and then reaches for her own coffee cup before taking a slow sip, as the staff on AAU waits with bated breath for their leader to react to such an intrusion.
“Miss Wolfe, is it? Thank you for joining us.”
Bernie clears her throat, and manages to say, "Thank you. It’s good to be here.” She looks around and then back at the woman who must be Serena Campbell.
Her new boss.
The shock is a little much, and Bernie's not too sure if they wanted a speech, but her brain is still uncaffeinated and she feels a little breathless when Serena keeps looking at her. And then Serena is looking back at the nurses and other young doctors. She's talking about discharges and turnovers, and elective surgeries to be in the smaller theatre, with the main theatre being left opened for any incoming trauma. The trauma bay is why Bernie was so heavily recruited by Henrik Hanssen. She's a trauma specialist who no longer has an outlet for her particular set of skills. And Serena Campbell was a woman with a keen eye for business who saw a need and built a trauma unit, hoping to find a co-lead somewhere along the way. It was an "if you build it they will come" kind of mentality, built on precise risk analysis and hope, and Bernie had been intrigued by the pitch. After all, the hospital was close to her children and she needed a job. So she'd said yes, and here she is, face to face with a legend. And Bernie had made a fool of herself not once, but twice. Serena clears her throat and turns her eyes directly to Bernie, who had definitely stopped listening once she'd noticed Serena's collar bones. Serena seems to pick up on Bernie's apparent disinterest in the conversation, and quirks her eyebrows again. Bernie suddenly and desperately hopes the floor will open up and swallow her whole. No such luck though.
“Right,” Serena exclaims, “let’s get the day started, shall we?”
The crowd disperses, and Bernie follows Raf to the trauma bay and familiarizes herself with the supplies and equipment. She meets the F1's, and can't help but think of all the young cadets she's trained over the years. The Red phone rings once and she jumps right in. For a moment, she notices Serena standing in the window of her office, watching. It feels like some sort of test, so Bernie barks orders and leads her new team. She praises Morven at the end of it, and isn't quite sure what to do with herself when she finds herself being hugged. Morven's smile is infectious and Bernie feels herself smile back. It's not until she's about to leave for the day that Bernie realizes she should have an office. Or at least a desk.
Raf tells her she's sharing an office.
With Serena.
"Something to tackle tomorrow, I think," Bernie tells Raf and Fletch, who share a knowing smile. Serena Campbell's icy, yet universally renowned reputation precedes her, and they're understanding to say the least. They must know Serena Campbell better than anyone, having worked with her for years.
Bernie walks to the ward doors and goes to change back into her street clothes. The normal change of shift happened a few minutes ago, so the locker room is completely empty when Bernie pushes through the double doors. She's slightly relieved, having forgotten how draining it is to be with people for twelve hours straight. She sits down on the wooden bench and suddenly feels very tired. She changes slowly, puts on her street shoes, pulls her short hair back into a ponytail, and goes to stand by the sinks, splashing her face with some cold water. She squints at herself in the mirror.
Starting a new job at 50 should be terrifying, but if this shift proved anything its that trauma here will be essentially the same as field medicine. A broken bone is a broken bone, whether it be in the desert of the Middle East or in the rain-drenched streets of Holby. But Serena Campbell, with her sparkling eyes and perfect eyebrows had not been something Bernie expected. Shake it off soldier, she tells herself. Being attracted to her new boss is not something she needs. She needs this job to pay the bills, and she plans to fly under the radar, do her job, and stay on the straight and narrow. No pun intended.
Armed with that thought, Bernie takes a deep breath, looks at herself one more time, nods, and heads home.