Ten Blade

12.04

"Oh, come on. We're not like that." The man scoffed.

"When you got here, you peed everywhere. It was disgusting." The blond told him.

"True, you did. But then we trained you." Helena nodded.

"Nobody trained me." He furrowed his brows.

"We trained you." The brunette insisted. "It was subtle. That's the art of it."

"Is that why you made me get the food?" He asked, making the short girl giggle.

"Not even that. It's the patients. It's the way that they always look to the man in the room first, no matter who is talking to them." Maggie let out, making Amelia agree.

"Yes!"

"That's a thing?" Alex asked.

"Not for you." The blue eyed brunette told him.

"And then there's the whole other thing." Maggie took a bite of her food. "You know, I just- I thought I was done with that here. This guy just comes in. He's taking consults without even talking to me about it."

"What whole other thing?" Amelia asked, making Maggie shoot her a look. "That? Come on... is that a thing?"

"Of course it is..." Maggie sighed.

"Here?"

"Yes. Here. Anywhere. Ask Edwards. Ask Bailey."

"I can't believe that..." Amelia let out, a bit shocked.

"That's cause it's not your thing." Helena told her. "It's not mine, either. My other thing, besides being a woman, is the accent."

"Seriously?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah." Helena chuckled, a bit dryly. "Do you know how many times I've been told to go back to my country? Or been called something along the lines of 'alien'? Or how much more often it makes people assume I'm a-a nurse, or in the cleaning team?" The short girl took a bite of her food. "And then there's the other thing. The sexuality thing. I've had some privilege, because I married Mark. But, when I was in med school, the fact that I had a girlfriend was a whole thing. One of my professors said it made me look promiscuous, and patients wouldn't trust me if they knew. And then, in one of my clinical rotations, a patient heard me on the phone with said girlfriend, and refused to let me examine him. It's ridiculous, but it's true. These are all things. They're just not your things."

——

"Hey." Arizona greeted Helena, the next morning. "Come out for a drink with me, tonight? It'll be fun. It's trivia night."

"Oh, trivia night is not fun. It is stressful, that's what it is." Helena nodded, looking up from her charts.

"Come on, broaden your horizons. Plus, I really don't want to go alone. You know, women don't tend to buy loners drinks, and I really need to get back out there." The blond pleaded.

"Fine..." Helena sighed. "But you're paying for the sitter for our girls."

——