With Tongues of Fire

|03|

The hospital was quieter than usual, though that still meant that everyone was juggling more patients than they had brain power to carry— and considering the senior consultant on the ward had called in sick, Ai had to find another consultant to run her decisions by.

Ai had thought that her 2 year foundation programme would have given her enough experience for her to figure out what she wanted to specialise in next month when she finished her course, but all it had given her was stress, irritating colleagues, and questions about whether she actually wanted to do something she wasn't sure she really felt passionate about anymore for the rest of her life.

"So, when will I be able to see the doctor?" The man furrows his brows, looking at Ai's interpreter for an answer.

Ai bit down on her tongue, a hot flare of irritation crawling up her throat. She had lost track of the number of incidents like this that she had faced today alone, and she was barely even halfway into her shift.

'Sir, I am the doctor.' Ai's interpreter, Rita, translates for the man sitting on the chair in front of her. 'But if you'd like me to find another doctor to repeat exactly what I've just said, I'm happy to do that.'

"Please do." The man nodded with an almost expectant look, though the rounded belly on his middle made him look more santa-esque than intimidating. Other than that, there was nothing Santa-like about that bitter man, he was most definitely a jerk.

As Ai left the room, the man grumbled openly about incompetent female doctors who couldn't do their job, much less speak. Ai was almost tempted to go back in there and remind him she was deaf not mute, and thinking that she couldn't hear him isn't an excuse for him being a dick hole.

Instead, she clenched her fist, keeping her chin up. She had worked hard to be where she was, she was the best doctor in her cohort; she would never explain or defend herself against ignorant people like that. It wasn't worth it— those people were far more deaf than Ai ever could be.

'Hey you okay?' Rita smiles sadly, 'that guy was an ass.'

'Yeah I'm fine, it happens more often than you think.'

'I'm so sorry.' Rita gave her a sympathetic look, which only served to worsen the feeling in Ai's gut. If there was anything worse than being disrespected, it was being pitied. Rita didn't notice, signing with a heavy sigh, 'this world is so full of people who don't even try to understand others. If it's worth anything, you handled him well.'

It wasn't worth very much, though Ai would never say it aloud. Defending her identity had become a normal part of her life a very long time ago; she knew how to fight her own battles. Yet still, she couldn't help but feel hurt that nobody ever joined her in the fray— she was alone, she could not rely on anyone to fight with her, fight for her.

'Yeah well, it's not my first rodeo...' Ai looked up to see another doctor on her team heading down the corridor. 'And I doubt it'll be my last either.'

***

Rachel had made herself available as soon as Ai had messaged.

Her new husband, Killian, had been more than supportive, having guessed what had happened between his cousin and his wife's best friend. So Rachel had left her daughter at home with her father, in order to be there completely for her friend.

Ai could tell she was still nervous about it since it was the first time she had left them completely alone, and even though she would not have complained in the slightest seeing her niece, she was grateful that Rachel wanted to give her full attention to her.

The two decided to head to a small café close by to the hospital since Ai only had an hour for her lunch break before she'd have to get back.

'So Soulmates?' Ai signed, leaning forward to take a sip of the coffee next to her chicken pasta salad. She watched intently, waiting for Rachel to start laughing, or to call her crazy— anything to convince her that Sebastian had only meant it metaphorically.