Chapter Text
Yolanda didn’t make it a habit of getting to work exceptionally early. There was no point, it didn’t get her into theatres any earlier, and while there might be the odd case she followed up after she closed her incisions, that wasn’t the norm, so she always made it a respectable ten minutes before her shift, enough time to change and be out in the hallway before handover begun. Of course, she always managed to walk into the building an extra twenty minutes earlier than that, when she knew Emery was on. Opposite schedules means the friends had to make time, if they wanted to see each other, so the ritual had been created. So it comes as second nature to walk into the building, the first hint of dawn on the skyline, beating the rush of staff into the hospital, and even snagging an empty elevator up to the surgical floor, Yolanda grabs a pair of scrubs out of the dispenser and makes a beeline to their designated meeting spot. It’s empty, when she first gets in there, and that doesn’t bode well for the day she’s going to have, if Emery was still in surgery. She stripped off her clothes right there, having spent too long changing in front of other people to have a scrap of shame left, but no one dares coming in, not when they’d be able to see the schedule. See who was on. It was an open secret, that they weren’t to be interrupted. So when the door opened just as she was tugging her shirt over her head, Yolanda didn’t bother to turn, because she knew exactly who it would be. Would recognise the sound of her footsteps, at this point.
“Hey.” She muttered, tugging the scrub top on, tugging it down and tucking it into her pants. Emery kicked off her clogs, throwing herself onto one of the couches so hard it moved an inch across the floor with a screech and without acknowledging that she heard Yolanda at all. “That bad, huh?”
“They’re really going to send both of us to these damn conferences, aren’t they?” Emery spreads herself out across the couch, and she thinks it might be the first time her friend managed to sit down all night. Feet dangling over the arm, head tipped back onto the pillows, she looks like she’s been dragged through the shift kicking and screaming. She’d already let down her hair, and it spread across the fabric.
“That’s what you want to talk about?” She hadn’t replied to the email from Gloria yet, but tomorrow was Monday and it was a little hard to hide from her, when she could see Yolanda’s entire schedule with a click on her computer. At least Robby had more space to hide. Gloria hadn’t so much as sent an invitation to the string of medical conferences happening across the country, but a summons. Like jury duty, there had to be a valid reason not to go. Yolanda had spent the better part of the weekend trying to think of one, but nothing came to mind. It was delaying the inevitable, when she could be spending the time packing instead.
“It’s what we’re going to talk about.” Emery flicked her eyes to Yolanda, her mouth set in a stern line. She could argue, and push the topic, but they had maybe ten minutes before they were expected out there for handover, and if she pushed too hard Emery would stop talking altogether. Their friendship consisted of picking her battles, and she knew this one wasn’t something she could win. And might not even want to, seeing as she’d be out there soon enough, cleaning up the rest of the mess. So, if she only wanted to talk about the inconvenience of the conferences, then that was what they’d do. For now.
“Fine. Is it really going to be that bad?” Being the optimistic one wasn’t her strong suit, but they couldn’t both be fucking miserable about it. It would make for an awful trip. “I mean, it’s time off work, we get a meal stipend, and the hotels are paid for. How about you stop acting like you’re being put down like a sick dog, and try and think of it as a vacation. Hell, it’s even a working vacation, so you don’t have to feel like you’re not doing anything.”
“I didn’t ask for time off, I don’t need a meal stipend, and you know they’re going to stick us in shitty hotels. I hope you enjoy bedbugs.” That was enough to spur a hint of a smile, one that curled on the side of her mouth, and seemed to break through Emery’s sour mood. “It’s going to be a fucking nightmare. We’re going to be talking about this when we’re ninety.”
“You’re being dramatic.” Yolanda rolled her eyes as she stuffed her pockets with all the pieces that made her day go smoother. She grabbed her phone, and managed not to smile at Trinity’s good morning text, because she knew that would open her up to ridicule. Until she realised it came with a photo, and then she couldn’t help but smile. Certainly an invigorating way to start the day. She locked her phone, throwing it back into her bag, and offered Emery her hand. Time was up, and they had to move. “Is spending nine days with me really going to be that bad?”
“Oh please, don’t forget I was CC’ed into that email. I saw the invite list. Like I’m going to be able to drag you away from your little intern.” Emery knows Trinity’s name. Yolanda knows it, and Emery knows she knows. It doesn’t stop her from referring to Trinity with nicknames that range from neutral to downright unpleasant. Little intern was practically a term of endearment. Still, she takes Yolanda’s hand and pulls herself up and off the couch.
“You’re going to be nice to her.” It’s not a request, or a question. Emery just snorts as she walks out of the staff room, and Yolanda’s not entirely sure what she was expecting, because that should have been it. But, it switched her mind from trying to brainstorm ways to get out of the conferences, to ways to get Emery Walsh to enjoy herself while doing something that wasn’t cutting open a human. Somehow, it seemed like an even bigger task.
It was a long, long twelve hours before Yolanda finally stumbled out of PTMC, sitting in her car for a solid fifteen minutes before she even put the key in the ignition, the longest stretch she’d had to rest her legs since walking in to the building. Days like that were few and far between thankfully, but she did almost feel a little guilty, leaving Emery to what she knew was going to be another bad night. Not bad enough to pull any extra hours, though, because she had a feeling she knew what she was going home to. The car ride was thankfully short, no one had parked her her assigned space today, and soon enough she was standing in front of her door, key sliding into the lock. The hallway light was already on, a pair of familiar shoes haphazardly thrown next to her shoe rack. Yolanda couldn’t hear anything, which could mean a million different things but was miles better than the day she’d come home to the smoke alarm blaring and Trinity cursing in the kitchen. This was peaceful, and exactly what she wanted.
“Hey, baby.” Yolanda called out. She waited a moment for a reply, but was met with more silence. She stripped off her coat, hanging it on the hook, before putting her shoes back in the empty space in the rack. The kitchen and living room were both dark, and she dumped her sweater on the empty couch before wandering further into the apartment. She couldn’t hear the shower running, so unless Trinity had decided to leave her place barefoot, there was only one more place for her to be. She wanted to be annoyed by the chase, but that would be a lie, and not even a good lie because she couldn’t stop smiling. The day had been a train wreck from the moment she’d stepped on the floor, consult after consult, not a single straightforward surgery. She’d been exhausted when she’d walked through the door, but this put a little energy back into her step. “If you make me come and find you, you’re not going to like the result.” Except she would. They both would. They’d done this song and dance before.
“In here.” Trinity finally calls, beckoning Yolanda back to the bedroom. Trinity was already laid out on the comforter, one of the books from the bedside table abandoned in front of her. It was a little hard to tell whether the scene was staged or not, but the smile that split Trinity’s face when she entered the room was real, and that’s all that mattered. She popped herself up on her elbows, seemingly content to watch as Yolanda carefully stripped off the rest of her clothes, folding them away neatly before changing back into the lounge pants and singlet she’d worn the night before. “How was your day?”
“Shit. But it’s over, so it doesn’t matter.” She climbed onto the bed, using her weight to roll Trinity towards her, landing on her back and looking up. She leaned down to kiss her, one hand cupping her face, calloused thumb rubbing circles on her jaw. She smelt like the expensive body wash Yolanda kept in her bathroom, and when she tugged a dark lock of hair, it was still slightly damp. “How was your day off?”
“Well, not to rub it in, but it was great. I went back to sleep after I texted you, then got through three loads of laundry, read the articles Mohan suggested, and went for a run.” She twisted out of Yolanda’s grip, but still stayed close, sitting back on her thighs. ”Anything I can do to make your day better?”
“An excuse to call in sick tomorrow would work.” She tosses the book to the side and pulls Trinity into her lap, and they move in tandem until Trinity’s straddling her hips, pressing feather light kisses along the column of her throat. Yolanda can feel the tension bleeding out of her, and for once let’s Trinity take charge, just holding her close as she sets the tempo. Hands trailed under her singlet, squeezing at her sides as Trinity finally slotted her mouth against Yolanda’s, a lazy pace of two people with nowhere to be, at least for now, and maybe she got a little too relaxed, because the jaw cracking yawn sent Trinity into a fit of giggles. She pressed her forehead against Yolanda’s shoulder to suppress them, but her shoulders still shook with it.
“You good?” Trinity asked once she pulled herself together, cupping Yolanda’s face in both hands. “‘Cause it would be really bad for my ego, if you fell asleep during sex. Just so you know.”
“Fuck.” She sighed, shoulders slumping. “Look, I can’t make any promises. Emery handed over a shit-fest of a surgical floor, and she wasn’t even sorry about it. It’s fine, I got her back with half the cases I’ve left her with tonight, but… God. That was really bad, without a reason.”
“It’s a full moon.” Trinity supplied, hands slipping up to run her fingers through Yolanda’s hair, massaging down into her scalp, and it had her leaning into Trinity’s chest with a deep groan.
“You know I don’t believe in that.” She muttered, half muffled by Trinity’s shirt. She felt the laugh, more than she heard it, felt her face jostle against her, took the time to take a deep inhale of the body spray Trinity favoured on her days off, the one from Lush with the stupid name. She’d bought a bottle to keep at her place, ostensibly so Trinity didn’t have to lug it back and forth. On weeks their schedules just didn’t line up at all, she’d spray it in the air and let the scent linger.
“Says the woman who asked me my star sign.” It was barely a conversation, but Yolanda was having trouble concentrating when Trinity’s blunt nails draped against her scalp and made her shiver.
“It seemed like the most subtle way to ask if you were gay. And it worked, didn’t it?” She tried not to sound so fucking proud of herself, but it was hard when things just continued to work out in her favour. She had the job, and the accolades, and the girl in her bed. Movie ending, really. Let the credits roll. Her breathing started to even out, and Trinity showed no sign of stopping her ministrations. “Look, if you don’t want me to fall asleep, you gotta get your hands out of my hair.”
“You’re tired. We’re going to sleep.” But Trinity did release the hold on Yolanda’s hair, a hand under her chin pulling her face up for another quick kiss before pushing her back towards the pillows. “I’m not going to complain about an early night. I picked up a shift tomorrow.”
“Oh, so you have one day off in, what… Nine? That’s not sustainable.” Yolanda doesn’t bother to be gentle as she grabs the front of Trinity’s shirt, pulling her down onto the bed.
“Yeah, well, because of that damn intern mixer at the conferences Robby’s making me go to, I need to try and save some money. Not like it’s paid leave.” She settles across Yolanda’s body, head on her shoulder. It’s a king, there’s more than enough room for them to spread out. Yolanda tightens her arms around Trinity, just in case she gets the idea to move. “Are you going to the conferences? ‘Cause yesterday Robby said no one from surgical had actually RSVP-ed yet.”
“Of course I’m going. Walsh is, too.” The words have Trinity groaning into the pillow, twisting away before looking at Yolanda with wide eyes, an expression so pained she almost wondered if something had happened.
“I was going to say this would be fun, but god damn. She hates me.” She sighs. “I guess it’s good I’ll be meeting you there.”
“She hates everybody, so don’t feel special.” She tugs her closer again, because she’d be damned if she let Emery fucking Walsh be the reason she didn’t get to hold Trinity all night. “And what do you mean, we’re meeting there? We’re going to the same conferences, Trinity. Doesn’t it make sense we go together? Or are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” It was mostly a joke, though they both knew Trinity was more invested in keeping their relationship private than Yolanda was, so there was just the slightest hint of real annoyance in there.
“More like I can’t afford it. I’m driving there. Department doesn’t have the budget to help with flights, and God knows I don’t have the budget.” She sighs. “I’ve worked out most of the route. It’s a few long stretches, but I should be fine.”
“That sounds… Like an option, sure. Or, get this… I could just get your tickets, for you.” She wasn’t loaded, by any means, but her salary was good and she was careful, and had more than enough squared away for a couple flights. Trinity is quick to shake her head, though.
“I wouldn’t be able to pay you back, so it would just fucking weigh on me. It’s fine, it’s like a road trip. Except on my own. And I haven’t really got enough time to sight-see. So not like a road trip at all, but it’s still fine.” She settles down a little closer, and Yolanda knows better than to keep pushing it, because pushing just led to Trinity retreating, and they’d been doing so well on not running away from each other so far. Instead, she reaches over for her phone, and sets a reminder to cancel her flights, before turning off the bedside lamp.
“So, we’re driving with Trinity. We’re going to take my car, and she’s got most of an itinerary worked out. I mean, I’m going to double check because I can’t put it past her not to put a twelve hour drive in there, but you get what I mean.” Yolanda tossed Emery the brown paper bag, a croissant from the coffee van that parked in front of the hospital, then slammed on the lights to the staff room with her now free hand. She was later than usual, only a few minutes to spare, so she was utilitarian in her choices, fuck Emery’s eyesight. Perhaps a little mean, seeing as she was late because she hadn’t wanted to get out of bed. But, even with eyes squeezed shut, Emery still caught the paper bag, reaching in blindly.
“What, no coffee?” She asks, before ripping a chunk out of the pastry like she hadn’t eaten in a week. Yolanda kicked off her shoes, shoving them into a bag and pulling out her work sneakers. “Good morning to you, too.”
“Fuck off. Come on, cancel your flights before you forget. You know you will, if you go home and sleep.” She nudges Emery with her foot before starting to strip off. “You’re my friend, she’s my girlfriend. Maybe, just maybe, if you spend a little time with her, you’d work out that you can be civil. Fuck, you might even like her. Even if you don’t, you can pretend. She thinks you hate her.”
“Wow, she’s smarter than I gave her credit for.” Emery finished the croissant, screwing up the bag and throwing it into the bin from a cross the room. She was still squinting a little in the light, but was now tracking Yolanda as she walked across the room. “Thanks, but no thanks. While being trapped in the car with your ED Cowgirl for hours sounds like a great time, I think I’m going to keep my flights, and meet you there.”
“You’re always complaining that we don’t get to see each other enough.” She jumps to pull up her scrub pants, before shoving her feet into the sneakers. “It’s not even that much more time, when you count having to get to the airport, having to check luggage and then board, and then collect luggage and make it to the hotel. This is a lot calmer.”
“No checked luggage, I travel light.” Emery stretched, arms above her head, cracking her back in three different places. “No offence, but I don’t think I’d even enjoy being stuck in a car that long if it was just you and me. It’s cramped, and no one can ever decide on the music, and the air gets all recycled and disgusting, someone always has to stop for something. Let the…. Let Trinity drive on her own, and fly with me. She’s a big girl, she’ll be alright.”
“There’s a nine hour drive on her first day. I can’t let her do that, with how much overtime she’s pulling she’ll fall asleep behind the wheel.” Besides, she’d already cancelled the flights, quickly navigating the site while Trinity had been in the shower without telling her. She hadn’t wanted to say anything, until she could bring the full plan to her. Trinity would likely be just as happy about it as Emery, but Yolanda knew how to get her way. “Look, I’m not going to beg. But I’d like it if you came with us. So, offers open.”
“Thanks.” She softens, just a little. Just enough to knock Yolanda’s shoulder as they’re leaving the staff room. “Going with her’s a good idea. You’d be a miserable bastard if she died in a fiery wreck, and I don’t want to deal with all of that.”
They’re standing in Trinity’s bedroom, and supposed to be packing, but Yolanda’s done most of it while Trinity sneaks glances down at her phone, hurriedly typing before shoving it back into her pocket. Yolanda doesn’t think of herself as a jealous person, but it does have her narrowing her eyes, and each time eats away at a little of her patience. Eventually, she stops pretending she can’t see it, and openly watches as Trinity frowns at the screen again.
“Is something wrong?” Maybe it was that med student she kept like a pet, in another situation. That was probably the best option Yolanda could think of. In any case, Trinity didn’t look guilty as she looked back up, just a little apologetic.
“Sorry, I was texting Mohan. She’s been last-minute conscripted and she can’t get a single flight with such late notice, and she doesn’t actually own a car right now. So she’s kind of panicking.” She looks pained again, looking between the phone and Yolanda, and she already knows what her girlfriend, the one with a heart too big for her body that’s never been able to leave someone behind, is going to ask. “Can we make room for Mohan? I mean, it would be the nice thing to do, right?”
“It would be the nice thing to do.” She had been looking forward to hours upon hours of just the two of them, but she knew how bad Trinity would feel, if she didn’t at least offer. And, she had to admit, she liked seeing this side of her, the side that she didn’t let the world see. Soft, and sentimental, and caring. It was like it was a secret, just for Yolanda. She sighs tossing the carefully folded t-shirt back onto the pile of clothes on the bed and pulling Trinity closer by the belt loop. She’s furiously typing, and the second it looks like she’s done, Yolanda’s pulling the phone from her grip, too, and it joins the t-shirt. “But I guess is the time to tell you I invited Emery, too.”
“Oh.” She can see as Trinity desperately tries not to make a face at that. She failed, and Yolanda couldn’t help but press a kiss to the furrow of her brow before smoothing it out with her thumb. “I mean, it’s fine. It’s not… She doesn’t like me, so I guess it would be awkward, but if we just didn’t talk to each other then it will be fine. Four of us, though… There’s space for everyone’s stuff?”
“Take a breath, baby. I don’t think she’s going to take me up on it. Less likely, if Mohan’s going to be there. You should have heard the way she ranted after the MCI, about her and Abbot and something about a pigtail catheter and a medical journal from South Korea. Honestly, I only listened for the first five minutes.” She doesn’t miss the way Trinity visibly relaxes to hear that. “And, hey, with her there maybe there’ll be someone Emery likes less than you.” Yolanda laughs, pressing a kiss to Trinity’s cheek to wipe away the appalled look she was wearing.
“I didn’t even do anything to her!” She all but yells. “It’s not my fault she was too busy, and I ended up having to save a patients life. Seriously. God, it’s gonna be bad enough having to see her at all the conferences, I’m glad she won’t want to come.”
“Be nice, she’s my friend.” She finds herself repeating the command, and thinks maybe it’s her own taste in women that has cursed her with the position she was currently in. “Finish packing, you know you’re not going to do it in the morning. I’ll swing past the Thai place, pick us up something for dinner.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Trinity grumbled, swiping up her phone to shove in her pocket. She was more throwing things around the various piles in her room, rather than actually packing, but Yolanda left her to it, knowing the anger would burn bright but short.
“Is the invitation still open?” They’re halfway to Mohan’s apartment when the call comes in, Emery’s contact on her car’s console. Yolanda looks to Trinity for half a second, who’s gone pale in the passenger seat but doesn’t technically say no. It’s as close to a yes as she thinks she’ll get, and it’s her car after all, even if it was Trinity’s plan.
“You know it is. What happened?” She’s still following the little map to Mohan’s, because if she’s correct then Emery would be at the airport and that was going to take forever to navigate. And, at least, they can break the news to her before Emery’s already in the car.
“Flight’s overbooked.” She pauses, and the ambient sound of a busy airport fill the car. “Are you sure?”
“Trinity thinks it’s a great idea!” Her voice is too cheery to be anything close to real, and the both of them know it. She can feel the weight of Trinity’s glare on her side profile, and hear the disbelieving look she knows Emery would be wearing.
“Well… I’ll wait at the pick up area.” Emery hangs up without a goodbye, and Yolanda knows her too well to take offence. Frankly, for someone who hated phone calls as much as her, Yolanda was surprised she’d stayed on the line as long as she had.
“Great. That’s… Great. I’m not giving up the passenger seat, just so you know.” Trinity’s hand grabs the leather, like she thinks she’s going to be tossed in the trunk with the luggage. “Honestly, I’d ask if you had something to do with this, if I thought you had the power to control an airline.”
“I just wished really hard.” She looks at her out of the corner of her eye with a teasing smile. It was hard not to feel like she was winning, again. Maybe she’d regret that, but she didn’t think so. “I manifested on the full moon with a rose quartz and now we’re here.”
“If this is what manifesting gets you, I need you to manifest that the drinks are poured strong this week and my student loan debt gets wiped in a mysterious accident.” Trinity let her head fall back against the seat. “Her and Mohan might end up killing each other in the backseat.”
“They better not. I just got the car detailed.” She ran a finger over the steering wheel. “You’re going to break it to Mohan, right? I don’t really know her well enough for that.”
“Neither do I.” She scoffed, looking out the window. “Mohan sticks to herself, for the most part. She’ll talk about cases, or patients. Sometimes, if you’re really lucky, she’ll tell you what she got up to on a day off. But… I mean, it’s kind of like when you were a kid and you just couldn’t picture your teachers living anywhere else but the school. I just can’t imagine her not in the hospital. I think this is the first time I’ll see her in something other than scrubs.”
“Well… This is going to be interesting.” She can see her plans of actually getting Trinity and Emery to tolerate each other slowly fading. But, maybe… Maybe Mohan being there would take some of the heat off of Trinity, so it wouldn’t end badly. Or maybe everything will crash and burn before they reach the Ohio border.
Either way, it was already set in motion, and there was no going back now. The only way out was through… Through nine hours of driving.