All at Once

“Hi,” I greet my fellow resident and best friend Sarah, with a tight grin.
“Gabs I thought you changed your scrubs? No offense but puke covered scrubs is not your best look” she cringed
“I did… TWICE. How is it even possible for one person to get thrown up on three times in the span of eight hours.” I sighed before stripping off my puke covered shirt and throwing it into the communal laundry bag. It took me a minute to realize that I was out of fresh clothes so I cut my loses and rummaged through James’s, another resident, locker and took his extra. That’s the thing about being a medical student, you spend so much time with the same group of people that any form of boundaries slowly disappear until what is considered socially acceptable is more of a suggestion than a rule.
“Welcome to pediatrics,” Sarah winked with a laugh before walking off to answer a page.
I sighed. Life as a pediatric resident at UPMC was nothing if not exciting. Our class of 5 had all survived our first year and constantly motivated each other by reminding each other that we were already a third of the way done with our residency. Our work was not easy but it was rewarding and exciting, something I would not trade for the world.
When the clock finally hit 6am I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. One night shift done, and nothing too extraordinary had happened which is considered a mark of success in a hospital. Over the last twelve hours I had set a couple of broken bones, given sutures to a Cub Scout whose parents thought it was a good idea to give him a pocket knife, and done blood work on one of our inpatients. Half dead on my feet I made my way back to the locker room where I met up with Sarah, James, Jill, and Austen.
“Hey that’s my scrub top!” James protested when I walked into the room.
“In her defense she got thrown up on… twice,” Sarah answered for me as a simply stuck out my tongue.
“Real mature Gabrielle.” James rolled his eyes
“But you still love me!!!!” I yelled as I tackled him in a hug and covered his face in kisses
“Ewwww get off of me before I get herpes” he laughed as he shoved me too the floor with a loud clunk making us all roar in laughter.
“Yeah right, like I even have time to get herpes” I giggled while rubbing my sore bottom. “Come on guys lets go home.”
The four people I work with are my adopted family. Jill and Austen met in med school and are engaged to be married. The two of them are inseparable and are the closes thing to perfect I’ve ever witnessed. Smart, kind, and driven they make life look easy. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Sarah, James, and me. The three of us could only be described one way: a hot mess.
We’re still not entirely sure who’s idea it was but somehow the three of us agreed to live together in a small apartment in down town Pittsburg. Constantly sleep deprived, over caffeinated, and under prepared our little group is almost always three minutes away from a complete meltdown. That being said, I would not have been able to survive the last year and a half without them. I’ve heard horror stories from friends at other hospitals about the cut throat relationships between fellow residents, and how lonely their residencies have been. Never have I once felt unloved or unwelcome. Our group is so full of love and support that even when I feel like I’m at rock bottom, I can look around and know my best friends will be sitting on the cold hard ground next to me.
After changing into our street clothes we said goodbye to Austen and Jill who live in an apartment down the street from the hospital. On days when we have to work back to back shifts we just crash at their place and take over their living room floor. James, Sarah, and I pilled into James’s old Volvo station wagon, which Sarah and I had learned early on not to make fun of. As old and rickety as the car is, it always starts, even in the middle of a freezing Pittsburg winter, and is much nicer than taking the bus.
“Hey James could you drop me off at the gym, I think I can catch my 7 o’clock class?” I asked with my biggest smile.
“Only if you stop smiling like that, it looks like you’re constipated.” He replied while pulling over.
“You’re the worst,” I half laughed stepping out of car, “see you guys in an hour, don’t miss me too much!!” I waved as they pulled away.
Half way though my first year of residency I started attending a yoga class at the studio near our apartment to relieve stress. I was absolute shit at yoga but it was still nice to have time set aside for peace and quiet, not something I got a lot of in my line of work, especially when you considered who I live with.
Climbing up the stairs of the studio I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Veronique.
“hey V!” I greeted the petite brunette with a smile.
“Gabrielle! So good to see you, you haven’t been here in a week, no?” she chastised as she pulled me into a tight hug.
Veronique was one of the few people in Pittsburg outside of the hospital I would consider a friend. We had started taking classes around the same time and bonded over how terrible we were at yoga as we tried to keep our giggles to a minimum in order to avoid the glares of the more serious students.
“I know; things have been pretty crazy at the hospital” I started to reply before being shushed by our very serious instructor.
“coffee after class?” she mouthed as we went into downward dog and I quickly nodded my reply.
---------------------
“So there I was, one shoe on, covered in puke with a naked four-year-old clinging onto my leg and I walk into the supply closet to find James with his pants around his ankles going at it with one of the nurses! I’m telling you V, there are some things you can never unsee.” I sighed as she nearly spits out her coffee from laughing so hard.
“I have got to meet these friends of yours,” she said after catching her breath.
“No way Veronique, I like you way too much to do that to you,” I chuckled, “but enough about me! How are things with you? How is Marc and the kids?”
As soon as I mentioned her family Veronique’s face lit up. “They’re good, Marc is not playing now because of his concussion but the team is doing well so I know that’s making him happy,” she said with a soft smile. “Estelle turned three last month, so she’s walking and talking up a storm, and little Scarlett is finally sleeping through the night which you can imagine we’re all thankful for. Here I have photos!”
Scrolling through the photos of their beautiful family almost made my heart burst.
“You have such a beautiful family V,” I told my friend. Ver and Marc’s love story was one of my favorites. Like a fairytale the two had been dating since they were 15. When Marc came to America, Veronique followed him leaving behind her family and friends. She said she only needed the two of them to be happy, though I’m sure it was not easy to leave the comfort and safety of Quebec.
“Thank you Gabi, I love our little family but sometimes I wish I could pause time and spend some more time with Marc. He’s always traveling and everything seems to be moving a hundred miles an hour. I miss my husband.” She confided with a sad smile. “we were supposed to have a date night this evening but our baby sitter canceled. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with the kids, its just been a while since Marc and I have had any adult time, if you know what I mean” she said sheepishly.
“oh V, I’ll watch the girls for you!” I immediately replied and quickly silenced her protests, “no seriously, I’m literally the most qualified baby sitter of all time. You can’t let my years of medical school go to waste, I was born for this” I teased.
“But you have to work, you need sleep, no offense but you look like you have two black eyes, your dark circles are so bad.” She argued
“Why do people always say no offense right before insulting my appearance?? I’m kidding!” I recovered because she immediately looked apologetic for merely pointing out something that I’m sure everyone who walked by me on the street was thinking. “I worked a night shift so I don’t have to go into work until Sunday morning. It’s a Friday night Ver, go out with your hot husband and get your freak on” I said as a threw her a saucy wink.
“You’re too much Gabs” she blushed.
“You’re wrong, I’m perfect and you are going to be thanking me after a long, hot, wonderful nigh of-”
“Okay fine, I get it” she shrieked interrupting me and turning a very unflattering shade of red.
“So text me your address and I’ll be there at 7? I’m more than happy to crash on your couch so go ahead and pack an overnight bag. You deserve a fun night Ver.” I told my friend with a mock stern face.
“You’re seriously the best,” she grinned
“So I’ve been told,” I winked, “I need to get going though and try to do something about these bags under my eyes. I’m in serious danger of looking like a homeless person,” I paused for a moment and sniffed, “and smelling like one now that I think of it,” I cringed and wrinkled my nose.
“See you tonight love, thank you again” Veronique gushed.
“Can’t wait, see you!” I waved before taking off in the brisk Pittsburg air already thinking about a hot shower and my warm, soft bed.

Notes

Hello ladies and gents! This is my first time writing a fanfiction so please let me know what you think! I'm really excited for this story and would love any and all feedback, thanks so much xoxo