Chapter Text
Charlotte Wolfe adjusts her lanyard as she steps onto Darwin Ward. The familiar hum of monitors and muffled chatter greets her like an old colleague. Part-time psych consulting is meant to ease her back into work, two mornings a week, enough time for her family to form some semblance of a new routine. Six months into motherhood, and two months into Jinx’s mental stability, it should feel right.
A nurse hurries past, mask askew, stifling a cough into her elbow. Another lingers by the nurses’ station, wiping her mouth with a tissue. Charlotte pauses, psychiatrist brain already cataloguing. Fatigue? Seasonal bug? Something else? Spotting someone she certainly didn’t expect to see, Charlie nods a hello to Fleur Fanshawe, who scribbles orders with uncharacteristic haste from behind the nurses’ station, “What brings you to these parts?”
Fleur smiles, motioning to one of the rooms, “patient brought up with suspected cardiomyopathy from AAU, but it was then discovered she is four months pregnant.”
“And taking care of a pregnant patient means we’re taking care of two patients.” Charlie nods, offering a smile.
“Exactly,” Fleur clicks a few other things on the computer, “you’re wearing a badge. I take it a congratulations is in order?”
“My stepmum got me the job.” Charlie jests, earning a soft chuckle from Fleur. Another staffer races past, causing her to furrow her brow, “any idea what’s going on around here?”
“First day?” Turning her attention to the young woman, Fleur notices her nod, “apparently there’s a gastro bug ripping through ED and spreading to AAU, from what I hear. I’m staying up here as long as I possibly can and, for the most part, I have that luxury, but you’ll probably get a call about tending to panicked families down there soon enough with the way things are going.” Her attention returns to the computer in front of her, “apparently it’s bad, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Hear what?” Charlie raises her brow, a smirk in the corner of her mouth.
Fleur grins, seeing the younger woman’s face, “Good girl.”
“I’m um...” Charlie glances around the area, “I should see if I have an office or something.” She pauses, “not that I need one, but-”
“Sure you do,” Fleur offers, “just because Sultry Serena is family for you doesn’t mean you don’t get the general privileges of a consultant.” She smirks, “want me to give her a call for you?”
“No, no. I can handle it. Not to worry.” Charlotte knows the woman is joking, “you have a good one, Ms. Fanshawe.” She pats the top of the nurses’ station desktop with her hand as she steps away, reaching into her pocket for her mobile phone, prepared to send Serena a text message either asking where she is or if she has an office, but instead is met with a vibration. A message from her wife, with a video included.
Bernie sits on the floor with Dietrich, because of course she is, with a small cup of chocolate pudding and a spoon. The boy is scooting along, sitting up, with a slight rocking of his body, moving over to his grandmother. She offers him a small portion of the pudding on the spoon, laughing when he instantly hums with delight when the pudding touches his tongue.
Charlie begins to laugh, stepping off the lift, en route to Serena’s CEO office. There’s a tension in the air, a tension that her intuition tells her not to ignore. First day jitters? Possibly, but...this feels like something else.
Serena sits in her office chair, elbows resting atop the desk with her face in her hands. She doesn’t answer, hoping whoever it might be to lose interest and step away instead of-
Slowly pushing the door open, Charlotte peeks her head in, then stepping into the room fully, closing the door behind herself when she isn’t immediately acknowledged. Tilting her head to the side, she looks at the CEO, “I heard you’re having a shit day.” Charlie licks her lips, “penny for your thoughts?”
She wasn’t expecting Charlotte, but feels relief. “I’ve been here since four in the morning.” Serena inhales and exhales slowly, “I’ve done this a very long time, and I’ve...” She shakes her head a little, “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and certainly not in the role in which I’m currently in. Henrik was supposed to return a month ago, and I was going to...” Serena leans back in her chair, leaning her head against the headrest, “take a break. Take time to discuss with Bernie whether I wish to return fully or...retire completely...and just spend time with her.”
Lowering herself into one of the chairs in front of the desk, Charlie watches the other woman, “has Henrik given a reason for his delay?”
“He is um...he was given custody of his grandson. I don’t know the details or completely understand the situation, but I also haven’t asked. He’s been attempting to get the boy settled and get his schooling situation under control.” Serena nods, “and it...it was fine, honestly. I understand the change in focus and giving his grandson extra attention and affection. Russ, Henrik’s partner, has already returned to his position as AAU consultant roughly a fortnight ago. Just in time, honestly.” Serena explains, bringing a hand up to place over her eyes, “he jumped into the fire. I haven’t even had the opportunity to speak with him.”
Charlotte starts, “I have yet to meet Russ-”
“Farber. Russ Farber.” Serena informs quietly.
“-though it begs to question the rest of the unasked, right?” Charlotte questions, “let’s say, hypothetically, Henrik speaks with his partner, and they decide that Henrik won’t return. They decide that it would work best for their family if Henrik were to stay home with his grandson and Russ continue to work.” She shrugs, licking her lips, “if that happened, what would you do then?” Charlotte watches the woman’s face, “or have you not thought of it?”
Serena exhales slowly, “suppose I haven’t.”
“Or even, let’s think of this in another way.” Charlie starts, “in the position that you’re in right now, what if you were to get sick?” She shrugs a little, “can’t work, especially around patients. What happens then?”
“I’d...call the board of directors, I suppose.” Serena offers, “Max McGarry is deputy, she’d take over.”
“Why didn’t she take over before?” Charlotte focuses on the woman in front of her.
“So that she could focus on Neuro. At the time I took over, she was the only consultant available for the ward.” Serena explains, “not the best situation, but there’s another consultant present now.” She adjusts herself in the chair, leaning forward again to fold her arms on the desk, “the problem now is that we have this whole other situation with this norovirus strain, and we need to worry about cross contamination between the wards. It’s bound to happen a small bit, but there are some wards where cross contamination would be catastrophic.”
Charlie watches her former lover, knowing her better than she knows herself at times, especially when they were together. “Sounds like you’re massively overwhelmed, understandably.” She lifts a hand up, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear, “what do you think would be a good option to alleviate that stress that you’re experiencing?” She pauses, “other than eradicating the virus?”
Watching as Serena gives the question obvious thought, but doesn’t answer, Charlie continues, “may I offer a word of assistance?”
“Feel free, I’m lost.” Serena mutters quietly.
“You are not responsible for the preservation of Henrik’s position at this hospital.” Charlotte states clearly, simply, “you are also not responsible for the happiness of anyone except yourself. The only thing you’re responsible for are your own actions or inactions.”
“I was made to do this,” Serena licks her lips, knowing that she’s right, “and I shouldn’t feel lost. I should know exactly what you do.”
“According to your scholastic achievements, absolutely, but you are more than that.” Charlotte continues, “education doesn’t prepare you for an outbreak. It prepares you for the basics and gives you the tools to form your own conclusions for more complex situations. To add onto that, as crazy as it sounds, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in this business, you’re always going to come across a case presenting in a way that you’ve never experienced before.” She shrugs absently, “which is why we have medical journals and other documentation to help us figure it out.”
Charlie straightens her back a little, “so, looking back through the past decade, has there been another mass outbreak that you can draw knowledge from in order to better formulate protocols for your staff and wards?”
“You mean Covid.” Serena mutters quietly.
“I mean whatever you think I mean.” Charlie raises her eyebrows, “do we know the transmission methods of this one yet?” When Serena shakes her head negatively, she continues, “I rest my case, your honor.”
Serena exhales a breath she was unaware that she was holding, “well, I thank you for your little visit then.”
“It wasn’t exactly my original intention,” Charlie admits, clasping her hands in her lap, “do I have an office?”
“An office? Charlie, you have-” Serena stops herself when it dawns on her that no one has probably showed her around or explained anything except being on call, “that’s my fault. You have an entire wing. Office and all.” She pauses, “and it’s bigger, like this one, for one-on-one therapy when needed. We’ve been hiring ad locums, but it’s all yours.”
“Ah.” Charlie raises her brow, “I should probably find it then.”
“What did you do with your things when you came in?” Serena smiles a little to herself, amused.
“I was called up to Darwin when I came in. One of the staffers showed me to the employee lockers and I’ve nicked one for the day.” Charlie shakes her head, “tensions are high and people are busy. Just an oversight, I reckon.”
“I apologize still,” Serena sighs, “you deserved a better welcome.”
“I was expecting a parade.” Charlie starts to smile, seeing as Serena seemingly starts to relax, “now, do you want to see that video of your wife giving my son his first taste of chocolate?”
“Absolutely,” Serena smiles to herself, leaning forward ever so slightly, knowing that bringing Charlotte on as a psychiatric consultant was the best decision possible.
Jinx leans down, lifting her son into her lap when he scoots up to her feet. She flinches slightly, but smiles at the boy when he babbles to her, excited, “I did see that.” She nods, as if understanding the baby, “I sent Mum a video to show her the trouble you and Gram are getting up to.”
Bernie grins, carrying a basket of dried laundry into the living room space, “part of the new job description to spoil.”
“Speaking of, I thought I’d get your opinion on it before mentioning anything to Charlie.” Jinx licks her lips, her son crawling on her to find a comfortable spot, something she’s used to and adores, regardless of how painful it might feel to her. “The um...an old acquaintance of mine has reached out to offer me a job,” She licks her lips, “nothing, um...I wouldn’t be deployed or anything like that, but...”
“Jinx, I can’t tell you what to do.” Bernie responds quietly.
“I know,” Jinx inhales and exhales slowly, “one of them is what I wanted to do if...if things were normal when I returned, training new recruits or just working in the recruitment office.”
“Except things weren’t normal.” Bernie swallows, falling quiet for a moment as she folds clothing, “roughly a decade ago, the Humvee I was in, hit a roadside IED. At the time, I was flown home to Holby City, but...I could have easily died in the chopper on the way given my injuries.” She explains the story while still focusing on the small baby clothes in her hands, “I know that I didn’t participate with the Army for a while and...then I remember being...”
Jinx can see how difficult this is for her mother-in-law, “Bernie, it’s-”
“There’s...a lot that my memory blocks, but I know, for some reason, I was eager to get back...to deploy again. Regardless of the relationship I had with Serena or anything else.” Bernie pauses, “the Army asked that I return to train other medics, even after the trauma of the first time...and I went.”
“So you think I’ll do the same thing...” Jinx states, just above a whisper.
“I think, though it’s been two months, you’re still fresh off of an inpatient hospital stay.” Bernie answers quietly, glancing down at her grandson, still leisurely leaning against her, chewing on his hand, “I was in Spain for seven months to heal. Our situations were different, of course, but...” She swallows, “seven months...and I didn’t have an infant.”
“She doesn’t want me alone with him.” Jinx bites the inside of her cheek, her eyes damp as she looks at the boy, “she doesn’t trust me.”
“Two months,” Bernie replies softly, “trust takes time, please consider that.” A flash of Charlotte’s blood on the rug flickers across her mind and she forces herself to breathe past it, “I'll try to give you space and-”
“No, it’s okay.” Jinx feels her jaw tightening, “It’s my fault.” She carefully pushes herself from the sofa, “I uh...I’m in a bit of pain. Would it be...” Jinx doesn’t know why she’s asking, but feels like she needs to, “would it be okay with you if I take some meds and have a lie down?”
“Yes, of course.” Bernie offers a gentle smile towards her daughter-in-law. She takes a slow, deep breath as she watches her walk away, her smile fading. Looking down at her grandson, pressed against her side still, Dietrich leans his head back, looking up at her. His brilliant, gummy smile warms her chest and draws a grin out of her before she can stop it.
Things will be okay.