I'm With You

Chapter 17

Miguel was relieved when his shift was finally over - it felt like a lifetime, but he knew it was only because he'd been waiting for it to end so he could return to Elm Tree. He changed out of his work clothes, putting them in the laundry pile in the staff room and he got his things out his locker before he started to walk towards the lab. He'd dropped the blood samples off as soon as he arrived at the hospital for his shift, but he'd been so busy that he didn't have time to return for the results.

"Doctor Lagman! Here, I have your results." The woman who ran the lab said as Miguel approached and she slid two pieces of paper out towards him.

"Thank you." He said simply, giving her a polite smile before he looked down to read over the results, his eyes widening when he saw just how low Eira's iron levels were - it was all signs that she'd been skipping meals for a very long time, she was starving herself as Mackenzie got sick and most likely before that too, focusing entirely on her sister. Mackenzie's levels were more stable, but they still showed signs that she wasn't eating or drinking properly which wasn't all too surprising to him.

"Miguel." Doctor Brookes said, making Miguel jump and he turned his head to look at his boss. "So, the rumors are true - you really did give blood samples to the lab behind my back." He said, raising an eyebrow and Miguel sighed, giving Doctor Brookes the results without saying a word and Doctor Brookes looked down at the pieces of paper, his eyes widening slightly when he saw Eira's results. "This woman is malnourished?"

"She's one of the homeless girls I found with Wendy... well, she found us, to be honest - begged us to help her sister," Miguel said and Doctor Brookes sighed, handing him the papers back.

"Miguel, you can't use our lab for women that aren't patients."

"They're my patients!" Miguel urged.

"They aren't patients of this hospital. These things take time and I know they're homeless, but I don't know what you expect us to do when they have no way to pay for their treatment... I know it's bad and that you care about these girls, but this is your final warning. No more ambulance crews being asked to go in and check on them, no more free supplies... I'm sorry, Miguel, but this is a hospital. Not a charity." Doctor Brookes said and Miguel gripped onto the paper tightly out of pure anger.

"I just didn't think a hospital would turn away two dying girls, that's all," Miguel mumbled, walking away.

"Miguel!" Doctor Brookes called.

"I'll see you for my next shift," Miguel said coldly, turning his head so that Doctor Brookes would hear him but he kept walking. He didn't look back until he made it to his car, sitting in the driver's seat and he let out a long groan, slamming his hands against the steering wheel to get out his frustration but he jumped when his phone started to ring. He pulled out his phone, feeling his anger almost immediately melt away when he saw it was his sister's girlfriend. "Hey, Lauren." Miguel greeted.

"Hi, you're not working, are you? I can call you back." Lauren said and Miguel chuckled, shaking his head.

"I just finished. Where's my sister?" He asked.

"Out grocery shopping... she told me that you're helping two homeless girls. She's worried about you, you know... that they're using you." Lauren said honestly. He'd sent a text to his sister as he arrived to work, telling her that the charity work had gone well but he had two patients in the form of two young homeless sisters, promising to call her later on during his break but he'd had to work through his breaks to help deal with the aftermath of the fires.

"They're in no fit state to even think about using anybody, Lauren... one of them is seventeen and had such a low core body temperature that it's a miracle her hypothermia hadn't killed her yet and the other has such low iron in her blood it's a miracle her malnourishment hasn't killed her yet," Miguel said honestly and Lauren's eyes widened.

"They're that sick? Are they in the hospital?"

"No," Miguel said, laughing with no humor. "They have no money to pay for their treatment. I got a final warning because I gave the lab a vial of blood for both of them just to rule out anything more serious... I'm having to treat them from the shittiest room I've ever seen in my life, yet when we walked in this morning the look of amazement on the older one's face..." Miguel trailed off, feeling the overwhelming urge to cry and Lauren blinked back tears of her own.

"I'll make sure Donna knows you're safe." She breathed.

"Good... I can come over after I'm done with the girls? It's seven o'clock. I can be there for nine and we can have dinner together?" Miguel suggested, relieved when Lauren agreed immediately. It had been a couple of weeks since he'd last made time to just be with his twin sister and her girlfriend, he felt like he'd never needed a relaxing time more.