Work Text:
THE SET-UP
VICTORIA
“This can’t be right.”
Whitaker looks across at Victoria where he’s pulling his bag out of his locker. She’s standing frozen, one hand on the strap of her backpack while the other holds her phone in front of her face.
“What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head slowly, not looking up from the screen. “Patient satisfaction scores. I just got mine, from the start of my sub-I, Dr. Al-Hashimi sent them to me.”
“So?”
“I got a 3.12.”
“Oh!”
Victoria shakes her head, looking up at her friend where he’s watching her sympathetically. No way he’s ever gotten under a four star average, he’s basically Samira.
“That’s literally impossible, right?” Victoria knows she’s not the best socially, but she didn’t think she was that bad. It’s not like she’s–
“What’s impossible?” Santos asks, coming around the corner. She opens her locker and quickly shrugs her bag over her shoulder before slamming the door shut again and looking between Whitaker and Victoria, one eyebrow quirked.
“Her satisfaction score.”
Santos tilts her head, looking quizzically at Victoria. “Oh? Did you break the scale, Crash? 5.1 stars out of five?”
Whitaker shakes his head. “Not quite.” At Victoria’s chastising look her winces and apologizes. “Sorry, sorry.”
Victoria sighs, looking back at Santos where the R2’s standing, arms folded, across from her. “I got a low score. It’s fine. Probably just a fluke, I’ll improve it soon.”
Santos’ voice softens slightly, becoming a little bit less teasing. “I mean… how bad was it?” She asks. “I just walked past Ogilvie panicking because he got a 4.1.”
Victoria’s head snaps back down to her phone, where “3.12” is mocking her in bold font. “He did better than me?”
“Oh.”
There’s a moment of silence where Santos and Whitaker engage in a conversation just using their eyes, Victoria’s head turning from one to the other like she’s watching a tennis match. After a second Santos sighs, and looks back at Victoria.
“Look…” she says. “At least you probably did better than me.”
“I’d hope so!” Victoria exclaims, louder than she had planned. It’s not that Santos is bad with the patients, she just famously doesn’t really care about bedside manner unless it’s a pediatric case.
Whitaker ignores her, kindly, and turns to Santos as well. “What’d you get, Trin?”
She sighs. “3.12. I didn’t even realize they went that specific.”
“It’s the new system Dr. Al’s using,” Whitaker explains as his eyes widen and he tries very hard not to look at Victoria. Which she would appreciate more, if she weren’t currently having an existential crisis.
“Oh, of course it is,” Santos continues, oblivious. She notices Victoria’s frozen expression and frowns, waving a hand in front of her face. “Hello, Earth to Crash. What, are you stunned by how badly I did?”
“That’s not it,” Whitaker mutters under his breath.
Santos’ eyes flicker over to him, a smirk rising on her face. “Oh? Do tell.”
“It’s nothing,” Victoria cuts in as she notices Whitaker’s mouth fall open to start explaining.
“Aww, come on, Crash,” Santos cajoles, widening her eyes and pouting slightly. “You have to tell your friends things, it’s part of the whole deal.”
Victoria sighs. Santos’ll find out anyway, Whitaker famously can’t keep his mouth closed, so it might be better if it comes from Victoria herself. “Fine. I got the same as you,” she admits.
“Really?” Santos asks, her pink mouth dropping open. Not that Victoria’s looking at her lips. She isn’t. She wouldn’t look at Santos like that, not ever. Even if she looks unfairly good coming off of a twelve hour shift in the ED, her hair freed from its tight ponytail and falling into her eyes.
Whitaker replies, unaware of Victoria’s internal struggle. “Yeah, down to two decimal places and everything.”
“Woah,” Santos says, her eyes lighting up. “That’s a new low for you.”
“Ugh!” Victoria definitely wasn’t looking at her lips.
Her most annoying coworker raises her hands, like Victoria remembers from her brief equestrian lessons as a kid. It’s how you calm down a stressed out horse. The comparison coming to mind doesn’t soothe her in the slightest. “I’m joking, I’m joking. You’ve got ages to improve it.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell her before you got here,” Whitaker sighs.
“I’ve got an idea,” a voice says from around the corner. The three of them jump, Santos turning around and shaking her head at who she sees there.
“Fuck me. How long have you been listening to us?”
Dr. Shen shrugs, the ice in his coffee rattling slightly as he does. “Don’t worry about that. You should make a bet.”
“A bet?” Victoria echoes.
“I’m listening,” Santos grins, her ears practically perking up.
Victoria resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Of course you are.”
“Shh, let the man speak.”
“Whoever improves their score the most in the rest of Javadi’s time in the ED, wins,” Shen continues. He takes a slurp of his ice coffee and shrugs. “Simple.”
Victoria nods her head slowly as she thinks it through. She enjoys a competition, of course she does, and this is one she’s certain to win. She looks up at Santos where the older woman’s staring at her face, waiting for her response. “Okay, fine. A bet. But I don’t want your money.”
Santos raises her eyebrows in question. “Fine by me. What do you want instead?”
“Something of yours.”
“Oh?”
“You give me your car.”
“My car? You want my car?” Santos echoes, frowning deeply. She crosses her arms even more tightly across her chest, her bag almost slipping off her shoulder in response to the motion.
Whitaker looks at Victoria in concern, like he’s worried for her state of mind. Understandable, if you’d seen the thing they were talking about. “Seriously, her car? That thing’s a deathtrap–”
“Hey, be nice,” Santos cuts in with an offended gasp. “She’s vintage.”
‘She?’ Victoria mouths as the two roommates continue to bicker across her. Shen watches them, unbothered as usual.
“It broke down last week and we were trapped in it because the door handle fell off. I thought we were going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“That’s not how that works,” Victoria says under her breath.
Santos pokes a finger into Whitaker's chest. “I can start making you pay gas money at any point. You remember that, right?”
He sighs. “Okay, okay.” The two of them turn to Victoria in sync, and he continues, “But seriously, Javadi, you want her car?”
Victoria nods serenely. “Yes. To get rid of it though, not to drive.”
“What?” Santos yelps.
“It’s a cry for help, Santos.”
Victoria can see it right now. An extremely old jeep, incredibly battered green paintwork revealing the results of people constantly dinging it. A concerning number of bumper stickers advertising children being the star pupils of middle schools there’s no way Santos has stepped a foot in. The back windows don’t open. The door to the fuel hatch is held on with duct tape and a dream. It makes noises beyond human comprehension.
What makes it worse is that Santos can definitely afford a better car and yet hasn’t bothered to get one because, quote, ‘I don’t trust car salesmen and she hasn’t killed me yet’. Comforting.
Santos tuts, shaking her head slowly. “She’s a babe magnet, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Wow.”
Shen claps his hands together once. When their eyes have all snapped back to him he smiles. “Okay, if Santos agrees, then the car’s on the table.”
Santos sighs deeply. “Sure. It’s not like you’ll be winning anyway.”
“But what’ll be your stakes, Javadi?” Shen muses, rubbing one hand over his chin thoughtfully. “Santos losing her babe magnet seems pretty terrible… What's your worst nightmare?
“Ugh, being one of the girls she tries to pick up with it.”
“Rude.”
“True.”
“Okay then,” the attending continues, “If Javadi wins, she gets Santos’ deathtrap of a car. To do with as she pleases.”
“Sounds good to me,” Victoria smugly replies. She has big plans for the car. Involving fire, maybe. Or her dad’s toolkit. It’ll be cheaper than a rage room.
“And if Santos wins, she takes Javadi on a date.”
Victoria’s head swivels between Santos and Shen, watching a gleeful look come over the R2’s face. “Hey, that’s not what–”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Santos interjects. She looks Victoria up and down assessingly, like she knows how much it riles her up. “What, are you scared I’ll win?”
Victoria sets her jaw. Through clenched teeth she says, “Not at all. I just thought you had a girlfriend, won’t she be jealous?”
Santos hesitates for a second, and Victoria notices how Whitaker turns to her slightly. Then the moment’s gone and Santos unfreezes, replying cockily, “You thought wrong. Get ready to be wooed.”
“Get ready to watch your car go up in flames,” Victoria spits back.
“Don’t you have to shake on a bet?” Whitaker wonders out loud, as Santos and Victoria continue to stare at each other, neither one wanting to be the first to break eye contact.
“I don’t think they can hear you,” Shen replies idly.
“Yeah, they do this.”
Another voice breaks through the relative quiet of the locker area as Al-Hashimi rounds the corner and pauses, confused, at the group gathered in front of her. “What’s going on over here? I thought you three went home, and Dr. Shen, Dana’s looking for you.”
Shen nods and smiles apologetically, before turning to leave. “Oh, right. Catch you guys later.”
After his footsteps have faded away, Al-Hashimi turns expectantly back to the trio. “So?” She asks, folding her hands together in front of her.
There’s no answer. Santos raises her eyebrows and bites her lower lip, looking just below Al-Hashimi’s eyeline. Whitaker crosses his arms and stares at the floor. Victoria looks between the three of them, her eyes no doubt bugging out of her head and betraying the mild panic she’s feeling.
Al-Hashimi smiles, looking slightly confused. “I don’t bite.”
“We were talking about how Dr. Santos and I need to improve our patient satisfaction scores,” Victoria blurts out, it all coming out as one word. She ignores the looks that Whitaker and Santos both send at her in response, her face burning.
“Oh,” Al-Hashimi says, blinking a few times in surprise. “That hardly warrants any secrecy. I’m glad that the two of you are taking it seriously. These type of metrics reflect the impact our work has on our patients, it isn’t as trivial as you might think.”
“Of course,” Whitaker agrees, nodding furiously.
“Have you thought about how you might go about doing so, student doctor Javadi?” Al-Hashimi asks Victoria, her eyes wide and questioning.
“Oh! Uh…”
Al-Hashimi turns her gaze away from Victoria. “Dr. Santos?”
Santos shrugs loosely. “Dr. Shen jokingly proposed a bet. Which is obviously very unprofessional, and we won’t be engaging in it.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Al-Hashimi replies. “I think that sounds like fun. I would put money on it.”
Whitaker shakes his head. “Oh, that’s not the kind of bet he meant–”
“Whitaker,” Victoria whispers loudly, cutting him off. He at least has the decency to look embarrassed, whereas Santos is watching them with a shit-eating grin plastered across her face.
“Sorry,” he whispers back.
“Well, it seems like you have some kinks to iron out. But not a bad idea, if it raises your scores. As long as you focus on the patient aspect, rather than just winning.” Al-Hashimi punctuates her last point with a raise of her eyebrows.
“Of course,” Santos nod, fighting to keep a serious expression.
“Really?” Victoria asks, still shocked.
Al-Hashimi nods at her. “I’m not the robot some people seem to think I am,” she says serenely with a pointed look at Santos. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Santos echoes, looking impressed.
Whitaker copies her.
Victoria finally knocks herself out of her shock, and calls “Goodnight, Dr. Al-Hashimi,” after the attending’s retreating back. She turns to Santos. “Robot? Are you kidding me?”
Santos shakes her head. “I never said that.”
“Yeah,” Whitaker muses. “I think your exact words were Robo-Doc.”
“Exactly.”
Victoria shuts her eyes for a second. Takes a deep breath. “Oh my god. She can hate you all she wants, but I need her to like me. She’s our chief attending for the next four months, at least.”
“She doesn’t hate Trinity,” Whitaker replies immediately. Always so protective of her. Victoria would think it was sweet if she weren’t so annoyed right now.
“Yeah,” Santos continues. “And channel that anxiety into something productive, Crash. She’ll like you a little more if your mommy issues pay off and you end up with the second-lowest patient satisfaction scores.”
Whitaker turns away from Victoria, coughing a second too late to conceal his laugh.
Victoria’s mouth falls open. “My–I do not have–” she stutters lamely.
“Sure, sure,” Santos cuts in, putting Victoria out of her misery with the wave of a hand. “Do you want to shake on it?”
“Fine.”
Whitaker clears his throat and moves so he’s standing between them. “By the power vested in me–”
“No one vested anything in you, you quit seminary school,” Santos says with an eye roll.
“And isn’t that what you say when you marry people?” Victoria adds. “Not when you’re officiating a bet.”
“By the power vested in me,” he continues, looking between them, “As the person here to witness the conditions of the bet, I now pronounce you better and better. Wait, is that right? Bettee?”
“Just get this over with,” Victoria practically begs. She’s exhausted, and this isn’t helping her feel any better.
“Sorry, sorry. Shake on it.”
Santos reaches out and grasps Victoria’s hand firmly in hers. They shake on it quickly, Victoria willing her palms to not sweat in response to Santos’ surprisingly warm hand.
After they’ve shook on it, a look of confusion flashes over Whitaker's face. “Oh shit, wait–when does this run until?”
“The end of my sub-I,” Victoria explains tiredly. She picks her bag up from where she’d leant it against her locker and turns to the exit, the other two following her. “Weren’t you listening before to Shen?”
“Wow, you really think I need that long to beat you?” Santos teases from her spot between Victoria and Whitaker.
“I’m just trying to give you some chance to catch up,” Victoria frostily retorts. God, she’s so tired. She doesn’t want to think about how her parents will react if they find out about this.
Santos coos at her. “Aww, so generous.”
“Okay, for the next four weeks then,” Whitaker says to himself.
Victoria cranes her head around Santos to look at him. “Can you make a group chat so we can send our scores as they update?”
“Uhm…”
“Or, I can do it,” she continues at the concerned look on his face.
“That’s probably for the best. Ah, this is so exciting!” Santos sighs, throwing her arms around both Victoria and Whitaker and pulling them into her as they keep walking.
Victoria pushes back at her. “Get off, you’ll sweat all over my clothes.”
Santos just pulls her in even closer. “Shh, accept it… soon you’ll be on a date with me, and then–”
Whitaker cuts her off. “Okay, I don’t want to hear any of that!”
Santos laughs as they walk out onto the street. It’s almost loud enough to block out the nervousness Victoria feels at the agreement she’s just made.
WEEK 1
CHAT: THE GREAT SANTOS-JAVADI BET OF 2026
Chat information:
Members: 32
Chat description:
SCORES:
VICTORIA JAVADI: 3.12
TRINITY SANTOS: 3.12
RULES: SANTOS LOSES = JAVADI GETS HER CAR; JAVADI LOSES = SANTOS TAKES HER OUT
V. Javadi: can we change the chat description? it sounds like santos is going to kill me if she wins
V. Javadi: actually nvm that might be better than the alternative
T. Santos: WOW
T. Santos: i didn’t know you were down for trash talk
T. Santos: crash talk?
P. Ellis: no
T. Santos: ur no fun parker
P. Ellis: you know that’s not true
V. Javadi: …
D. Whitaker: okay sorry im late hope i didn’t miss anything
D. Whitaker: day one of the bet!
P. De La Cruz: will you be giving a running commentary whitaker?
D. Whitaker: i will be… trying my best!
P. De La Cruz: aww
D. Whitaker: ahmad wanted me to remind everyone about the betting board. it’s separate from this chat, don’t confuse the two please
T. Santos: ty huck, so helpful
V. Javadi: tysm whitaker. can we get to business pls
D. Whitaker: right right
D. Whitaker: let the games begin?
[Two hours later]
P. Alawi: why did i just see santos and javadi almost get into a physical fight by trauma one?
D. Whitaker: oh no
P. Alawi: do they not see how this might have the opposite effect
P. De La Cruz: javadi seems to have realized this
P. De La Cruz: ooh she’s headed for chairs… interesting strategy
D. Donahue: dana says get off your phones
D. Donahue: and also she’s putting money on javadi
T. Santos: …wow
T. Santos: now i have to win to prove her wrong AND to give crash her worst date ever.
T. Santos: it’s not much but it’s honest work
D. Whitaker: ???
WEEK 2
CHAT: THE GREAT SANTOS-JAVADI BET OF 2026
Chat information:
Members: 36
Chat description:
SCORES (UPDATED START WEEK 2)
VICTORIA JAVADI: 3.18
TRINITY SANTOS: 3.23
RULES: SANTOS LOSES = JAVADI GETS HER CAR; JAVADI LOSES = SANTOS TAKES HER OUT
V. Javadi: trinity santos, are you ready to go down…
N. Toomarian: oh!
M. Diaz: maybe reword that sentence dr j
D. Whitaker: …anyway
D. Whitaker: against all odds (?) trin won last week
V. Javadi: yeah WE KNOW THANK YOU WHITAKER
M. Diaz: woah
M. Diaz: a whole new side to her
D. Whitaker: javadi are you feeling okay?
V. Javadi: SO GOOD
T. Santos: :) im feeling great
V. Javadi: AND NOBODY ASKED
V. Javadi: BRB
J. Shen: why is javadi trying to bribe kim for something
T. Santos: oh?
J. Shen: i think i heard the words ‘i’ll make it worth your while’
T. Santos: interesting… im investigating
[Ten hours later]
V. Javadi: hahaha
V. Javadi: i can’t believe you fell for that wow
T. Santos: …
T. Santos: go fuck yourself actually
D. Whitaker: woah woah woah
D. Whitaker: what’s going on
P. Alawi: javadi tricked santos into trying to snoop around kim instead of taking the best cases
P. Alawi: so she’s been a little distracted
P. De La Cruz: and she snapped at an asshole patient :(
P. De La Cruz: not that i can blame her
V. Javadi: im actually so good at this wow
T. Santos: sure you are
T. Santos: have you never heard of a double bluff?
V. Javadi: what?
WEEK 3
CHAT: THE GREAT SANTOS-JAVADI BET OF 2026
Chat information:
Members: 41
Chat description:
SCORES (UPDATED START WEEK 3)
VICTORIA JAVADI: 3.29
TRINITY SANTOS: 3.27
RULES: SANTOS LOSES = JAVADI GETS HER CAR; JAVADI LOSES = SANTOS TAKES HER OUT
D. Whitaker: week three!
D. Whitaker: javadi scraped the win last week, she’s 0.02 points above santos
D. Whitaker: but we’re only half way
P. Ellis: you’re really liking this role huh whitaker
N. Toomarian: i was gonna say…
D. Whitaker: …
M. Diaz: sooo what are we expecting this week
M. Diaz: more backhanded stuff? or the fighting again
T. Santos: i’ll never tell
V. Javadi: im going to sabotage her
C. McKay: This is such an interesting side to you Victoria!
V. Javadi: cassie. i did not know you were on this chat!
C. McKay: I'm having fun
V. Javadi: oh good
T. Santos: 😭
V. Javadi: this is my week though i can feel it
V. Javadi: again :) bc i won last week
T. Santos: sure, if that’s what you want to think
M. Diaz: what are you planning santos?
T. Santos: oh i’ll never tell
WEEK 4
CHAT: THE GREAT SANTOS-JAVADI BET OF 2026
Chat information:
Members: 48
Chat description:
SCORES (UPDATED WEEK 4)
VICTORIA JAVADI: 3.35
TRINITY SANTOS: 3.39
RULES: SANTOS LOSES = JAVADI GETS HER CAR; JAVADI LOSES = SANTOS TAKES HER OUT
D. Whitaker: after… whatever it is trinity did last week to win
V. Javadi: i still think she cheated
D. Whitaker: it’s week four! final stretch
T. Santos: may the best woman win
V. Javadi: i will, thank you
P. Ellis: you walked into that one, santos
P. De La Cruz: what has happened to javadi…
C. McKay: javadi are you okay?
V. Javadi: i can win this still :) i will win this
T. Santos: crash it really doesn’t matter
V. Javadi: ??
T. Santos: i mean i DO need a new car
P. Ellis: ohh i see what this is
V. Javadi: what
V. Javadi: what is it
C. Henderson: false sense of security
C. Henderson: she’s going to pull one over on you
T. Santos: or im just being nice?
P. Ellis: no crus is right
P. Ellis: it’s either that or she has the yips
D. Whitaker: ohh that could be true
D. Whitaker: she looked nervous this morning
D. Whitaker: but i thought it was just bc of the smoke coming out of the engine
C. McKay: Hi sorry, the what?
T. Santos: oh that happens sometimes
T. Santos: it’s fine as long as it isn’t a weird color
J. Shen: you really need a new car.
T. Santos: that’s what i said??
THE WINNER REVEALED
VICTORIA
“Okay, gather around,” Whitaker says from where he’s standing at the hub. A small crowd is forming around him as everyone from day shift gets ready to leave. Victoria's morbidly reminded of how Dr. Robby gathered them like this on her first day, after the shooting that turned her away from emergency medicine in the long run. She shakes the thought from her head as quickly as it came, looking back at Whitaker. “Final scores for the bet are up.”
From across the throng of people, Victoria watches as Santos points two fingers at her eyes then at Victoria. It’s not intimidating–Santos is an angry person, but not scary at all, she’s just pretty lame–but Victoria’s nervous. She wants to win. She’s competitive as fuck, of course she is. She started med school at seventeen. Victoria Javadi is a winner.
She folds her hands together as Whitaker clicks around on his phone for a second, frowning as he tries to find the right email.
“Oh my god, Whitaker. We want to go home,” Donnie sighs. “Give it here.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
After a few seconds Donnie smiles and gives it back to the intern. “Here.”
“Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
Victoria rolls her eyes, ignoring how opposite her Santos does the exact same.
“Okay, then… So. Santos has, up from 3.12, an overall score of 3.45!”
“Not bad,” someone mutters.
“Thank you,” Santos replies, flicking her hair with one hand.
Victoria stares Whitaker down as he pauses for a second.
He snaps back to it after catching sight of her glare. “Right! Sorry. And Javadi has… oh wow.”
“Out with it, Whitaker.”
“It’s close. She has a score, up from 3.12, of… 3.46.”
“Oh thank god,” Victoria exhales, suddenly aware of how she’s been holding her breath. She mock-curtsies as the group claps, then spins round to face her nemesis. “Get ready to say goodbye to your car, Santos.”
Santos walks over to her as the group dissipates. “Cruel. Just cruel. I call for a rematch.”
Victoria shakes her head. “Nuh-uh! Done. Over. The past four weeks, that was the deal.”
“Fine,” Santos concedes shockingly easily. “You win.”
“That’s right, I do. Keys please,” Victoria says with a smile, holding out a hand.
As Santos is digging in the front pocket of her bag with an amused smile on her face, a voice cuts through the room.
“Wait a second!” Al-Hashimi interrupts, her iPad held out in front of her. She pauses in front of them. “Dr. Santos had several patients from the second week who were unable to do their survey until right now.”
“What,” Victoria says, horror striking her. Maybe it’s bad. It’ll probably be bad. Right?
Santos turns to Al-Hashimi, frowning slightly. “Who?”
“A Mr. Martinez, and his daughter Ana, and then also an Iris Webber,” Al-Hashimi reads off of the screen.
“Oh,” Santos replies. She looks surprisingly worried, her brow furrowing. “Are they…”
“They’ve greatly improved,” Al-Hashimi smiles. “The Martinez family are all out of the ICU, and Iris is getting treatment.”
Santos exhales audibly. Her face relaxes a little. “That’s great.”
Al-Hashimi nods, smiling back at her. “And with their scores in, it brings your average to… 3.74.”
Victoria watches as Trinity’s mouth drops open. She’s sure her face is doing the same thing.
“What,” she hears herself say. Is this what people mean when they say they’re having an out-of-body experience?
From behind them, she can hear the Greek chorus of the ED begin to comment on their situation.
“No way,” she thinks Shen laughs.
“Oh, this is good,” Crus murmurs.
“Did someone tape this?” A voice she doesn’t recognize quips.
From his place in front of Victoria, Whitaker looks between her and Santos, his head swiveling back and forth. “So this means…”
“No,” Victoria whispers.
“...That Trinity won,” he finishes.
“No.”
“So…”
Victoria feels an arm land over her shoulders. Santos’ voice, soft in her ear, laughs. “Get ready for the best date of your life, Crash. And we’re gonna be riding in style.”
“Oh please no.”
“We’re both off Saturday night, right?”
“You are,” Al-Hashimi says. She looks amused. Victoria decides in this moment that she hates her. Fuck what she said before. This woman is evil.
“Amazing,” Santos replies with a grin. “I have big plans.”
Somewhere behind them a voice yells, “Can you send me pictures?” And Victoria turns her head instinctively, burying it in Santos’ shoulder so she doesn’t have to face the room.
“Poor Crash. You’ll have fun, I swear.”
Victoria just groans in response. Fun. Sure.
CHAT: THE GREAT SANTOS-JAVADI BET OF 2026
Chat information:
Members: 48
Chat description:
SCORES (FINAL UPDATE)
VICTORIA JAVADI: 3.46
TRINITY SANTOS: 3.74
RULES: SANTOS LOSES = JAVADI GETS HER CAR; JAVADI LOSES = SANTOS TAKES HER OUT
Whitaker: in a shock upset, trinity has won by a landslide!
Whitaker: the date will take place this coming saturday
Whitaker: ahmad says come and get your money tonight or tomorrow
[D. Whitaker has closed this chat]
THE DATE
7:26 PM – TRINITY
Trinity closes her eyes where she’s leaning backwards across the bench in the shower room.
“Why did you think it was a good idea to go to this straight after work? I'm exhausted,” Javadi’s voice echoes from where she’s getting changed in one of the bathroom stalls.
“Can't a girl want to show off her date?” Trinity drawls, moving her arm so it can cushion her head. Much better. “And you’re in psych now, that’s not that bad.”
“Are you serious?”
“Besides, it's more fun if we start here. This is where it all began, Victoria!” She says with a flourish, despite knowing that the younger girl can’t see her.
“Are you feeling okay?” Javadi replies after a few seconds of silence.
“What?”
“You just called me Victoria.”
Trinity sighs. “So?”
“As in, my actual name.”
“Of course I did. We're going on a date.”
“I hate you,” Javadi sighs.
“Aww.”
“So much.”
“It's such a fine line between hate and love, don't you think?” Trinity muses, playing with one of the silver bangles on her wrist.
“Not really, no!”
“Shame. Okay, you can come out now.” Javadi could have come out several minutes ago–it didn’t take long at all for Trinity to change into the navy sweatpants and pale yellow baby tee that she’s wearing now–but Trinity likes making her sweat. Sue her.
Javadi walks out. And Trinity bursts out laughing immediately.
It’s not what Javadi’s wearing–a pair of jorts she knows the younger girl would never have picked out herself, and a dark purple t-shirt emblazoned with patchwork lettering spelling JUST LOST A BET across the chest–it’s her expression. She looks like a pissed off kitten. How can Trinity not laugh at that?
“I hate you,” Javadi lets out from between clenched teeth.
“It's not that bad! And we match!” Trinity counters, wiping a tear from her eye. She needed this, wow.
“Your shirt doesn't say anything–” Javadi begins, shutting her mouth as Trinity stands up and turns around. “Oh god.”
“Yeah,” Trinity sighs happily. WON A BET is splayed across her ass in matching lettering to Javadi’s shirt. Alternating blue and purple gingham. She thinks it’s cute. And funny, although clearly not to the younger girl.
“Did you have those custom made?” Javadi mutters, as Trinity looks back at her. Her gaze is frozen on Trinity’s sweatpants, only snapping back when Trinity turns back around.
“Nope. I made them. And your shirt.”
“What?” Javadi squeaks, looking down at her offending top.
“I'm a woman of many talents, Crash.”
Javadi raises an eyebrow in response to the nickname. Or the claim. Trinity isn’t sure.
“We aren't on the date yet. But point taken.”
Javadi’s face smoothes out a little, then she groans. “I can't believe you wrote mine on my chest but you get to have it on your…” She gestures vaguely.
Trinity rolls her eyes. “My ass, Victoria. You can say that, it won't bite.”
Again, Victoria just raises her eyebrows.
“Well, only if you ask nicely,” Trinity corrects, winking at her.
“Ugh.”
“Come on, we'll be late,” Trinity sighs, picking up her battered gym bag.
“Where are we going?” Javadi asks, following her to the doorway.
Trinity shakes her head. “Shh... you'll find out soon enough.” She stops in her tracks suddenly, remembering something. “Wait, one last thing.”
“What is it?” Victoria grumbles. “Do we have matching hats too?”
“No. This is serious,” Trinity says, looking the younger girl in the eye.
“Okay..?” Javadi says back, looking concerned.
“Whatever happens tonight…” Trinity sighs, like she’s deep in thought. “You have to promise not to fall in love with me.”
Javadi drops her gaze, sighing and running a hand over her face. “That won’t be an issue.”
Trinity grins. “Perfect. Let’s go then.” She holds out an arm to Javadi, who takes it without any audible complaint. Her face is a different story, but small mercies.
She can feel Javadi try to hide her face as they walk into the ED. It’s obviously completely ineffective, but the sound that erupts when people notice them makes it probably even more excruciating for the younger girl.
“Wow!” Trinity hears from the nurse’s station.
Ellis walks up to them, grinning madly. She gestures to Javadi’s shirt, oohing and ahhing. “Oh, this is beautiful. Did you make the shirt yourself?”
“I did.”
“Wow.”
“Can we please go,” Victoria begs, eyeing up the small crowd forming around them.
“No, I have to show you off!” Trinity gasps. “Do a spin for them. A few times.”
Victoria stares at her for a second, before turning slowly on the spot. She mouths ‘I hate you’ when she turns back round to Trinity.
“Hey, are you recording this?” Ellis asks Shen over her shoulder.
The attending scoffs. “Of course.”
“Wow. Nice outfit, Javadi,” Abbot says from behind them. Trinity swallows a laugh at Javadi’s increasingly pained expression.
“Thank you Dr. Abbot,” she manages to get out, strained, after a few seconds of silence.
After a few more minutes of photoshoots, people complimenting her sewing skills and knack for design, and Javadi giving her the evil eye, Trinity claps her hands together.
“Okay, we need to go,” she sighs. Tragic, really. She would probably have just as much fun parading Javadi around the rest of the hospital. “Our plans await.”
“Take lots of pictures,” Ellis shouts to her from across the room when she sees them leaving.
“Who do you think I am? Of course.”
8:25 PM – VICTORIA
“Will you tell me where we're going yet?” Victoria whines, head lolling against the passenger seat as she looks over at Santos.
“No, that would ruin the surprise,” Santos replies without looking over at her. Probably for the best. Victoria shudders to think of what would happen in this car if Santos took her eyes off the wheel for even a split second.
“Seriously?” She continues complaining. “First you dress me up like some kind of discount Britney Spears–”
“You think so highly of yourself,” Santos interjects.
“Then you try to kill me–”
“Oh my god, my car isn't that dangerous.”
“Wrong. And now you won't even tell me where we're going. Cruel,” Victoria huffs, shaking her head.
“You lost the bet, Victoria. And besides, I did say this was going to be your worst first date ever.”
She did, Victoria has to admit. “Thank you so much for that.”
“You're welcome.”
Victoria sucks in air through her teeth sharply, thinking. “How many terrible first dates have you had for you to be such a pro at planning one?”
“Too many to count,” Santos chuckles drily.
“Really?”
“Don't sound so surprised. I'm a catch.”
Victoria frowns at her. “And yet they don't bother to plan nice first dates.”
“Touché.”
“So what was your worst one?” Victoria continues. She’s a curious soul after all.
“Uh, let me think…” Santos hums. She snaps her fingers where they’re held at a very lax ten and two on the wheel. “Okay, okay, got it. MS2, we went to a really shitty bar, she was super high and sulked when I beat her at pool. And then got really weird when I wouldn't sleep with her after that.” She frowns, clearly thinking. “And then she kept commenting weird stuff on my instagram too after, I had to block her…”
Victoria blinks at the R2. “She just sounds insane.”
Santos ducks her head in agreement. “A little bit.”
“I kind of figured you'd be the problem,” Victoria says under her breath without thinking.
“Wow.”
“That just slipped out,” Victoria giggles. True, but it is what she was thinking.
“Now I know how you truly feel about me,” Santos says, sighing dramatically.
“I'm sorry.”
She shakes her head. “No, no, the damage is done. Now you have to tell me about your worst first date.”
“Oh…” Victoria says, suddenly very interested in picking the skin around her nails.
“Come on, Crash. Spill. We've got ten minutes to kill before we get to the first stop.”
Victoria takes a deep breath. “I... don't have one,” she admits, looking over at Santos.
“Oh, of course. You would have a perfect love life.”
“No, I mean... I've never been on a real date, so. Which is pathetic.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Embarrassing,” Victoria says, looking down at her lap again. She doesn’t want to see the judgment on Santos’ face.
In the corner of her eye, she sees Santos shrug and look over to Victoria briefly. “It's not really.”
“Seriously? You think that?” Victoria laughs self-deprecatingly. She looks back at Santos, not seeing any level of mockery on her face.
Santos nods. “Yeah. At least you've never accidentally dated a serial killer.”
“Have you?”
“And you're twenty one, Victoria,” Santos continues, ignoring Victoria’s interjection. “So you're basically a toddler.”
“Thanks,” Victoria replies, rolling her eyes.
“And hey. This can be the worst date ever, and then it'll all be uphill from here!”
“So you're doing me a favor?” Victoria asks, finding herself smiling slightly at the statement.
“Basically, yeah! I'm so kind,” Santos grins.
Victoria nods. “You're so kind. And so humble.”
“Yeah, that's me.” Suddenly Santos’ phone starts vibrating from where she placed it between them. “Hey, would you see who that is?” She asks.
Victoria picks up the navy blue phone, balking when she sees the contact name. “It's Dr. Al-Hashimi.”
Santos bites her lip. “Shit. Can you pick up for me?”
“Sure.” She swipes up to accept the call, pressing on the speaker button quickly. “Hi, Dr. Al-Hashimi. Sorry, it's Victoria, Santos is driving. You're on speakerphone.”
“Good evening, Dr. Javadi, Dr. Santos,” Al-Hashimi’s voice crackles through the speakers. “Dr. Santos, I'm so sorry to interrupt you both but we've had an issue come up and we need someone to cover for a couple of hours in the ED. Would you be able to come in? I wouldn't ask if anyone else was available.”
Victoria turns to Santos, watching as her face falls for a split second before she sighs, unsurprised. “I... yeah, of course. I might have to bring Javadi with me though, I hope that's okay.”
Victoria widens her eyes at Santos, pulling her best ‘are you serious?’ expression, but the traitor’s eyes are still glued firmly on the road. Of all of the traits she hadn’t expected from the R2, a safe driver is probably up there with the least likely.
“Of course.”
When they arrive back at the hospital twenty minutes later, Santos is immediately pulled into trauma two. Javadi watches her slightly wistfully through the glass doors as she dons a trauma gown and goggles straight over her street clothes, immediately in her element.
“What's going on?” She asks Lena after a minute of watching them.
“MVCs. Pile up on the highway,” the charge nurse sighs. “And Crus is running late because he's stuck behind it, naturally, and we couldn't get in touch with Mohan for once for some reason, so your girl was the next best choice.”
“She's not my girl,” Victoria retorts instinctively. It’s a laughable thought, really. Trinity Santos? Her girl? Funny.
Lena looks over the top of her glasses, eyes landing pointedly on Victoria’s shirt. Victoria blushes in response. Charge nurses. Do they come with the glasses, or are they bestowed on them with the job position?
If it’s not clear, Victoria’s so, so tired.
“Why don't you wait upstairs hon?” Lena says, narrowing her eyes in mild concern at Victoria. “I'll send her your way when she's done.”
“Thanks,” Victoria breathes out, relieved for the excuse to get out of the freezing cold ED. She pauses at one of the ED’s many vending machines to buy a soda and some chips before braving the staircase to the roof.
9:01 PM – TRINITY
“Hey.”
Javadi jumps where she’s sitting against one of the brick walls of the stairwell, legs splayed out in front of her. “Oh. Hey. You scared me.”
“Sorry,” Trinity says, walking over to Javadi and sliding down the wall to sit next to ger. “You know, when Lena told me you'd gone upstairs, she implied it was to one of the on call rooms, not…” she gestures around the rooftop, the sky dark. It’s still oddly bright up here though despite that, the city’s lights never leaving much place for a proper starry night sky to appear.
“Ah. Well, no,” Javadi sighs.
“Avoiding someone?”
“So many people, if I'm honest.”
“I know the feeling,” Trinity admits softly.
“Are you done already?” Javadi asks, turning her body to face Trinity.
Trinity shakes her head. “Nah. But they don't need me right now, fingers crossed, so Al-Hashimi sent me away to get some rest. She'll page me or something when she needs me back.”
Javadi smiles at her for a second, before turning back to the phone in her lap.
“Was that a smile?” Trinity asks, delighted. “Are you happy at the thought of me leaving you alone?”
Javadi shakes her head. “No. I was just thinking, maybe this is a terrible first date story after all.”
“How so?”
Trinity watches Javadi as she puts on a slightly teary voice, pressing a hand over her heart. “We don't even get to the date, she just abandons me to go back to work. Leaves me all alone on a rooftop, at night.”
“It's July. It's balmy up here.”
Javadi shakes her head. “In my retelling I think it'll be February, and the middle of a storm.”
Trinity copies her head, head shaking in disbelief. “So that's what you've been doing up here? Workshopping your story?”
Javadi shrugs. “A bit. And planning some videos.”
“Can I see?” Trinity asks, peering at the phone in the med student’s lap.
“You haven't watched them?” she asks, surprised.
“Nah.”
Javadi nods slowly. “Sure. Okay then.” She opens her phone and pulls up a video, passing it to Trinity.
“Aww, this is cute.”
“Don't make fun of me,” she mumbles.
“I'm not,” Trinity replies, bumping her shoulder into Javadi’s. “You're good at this.”
She feels Javadi look at her without pulling her eyes up from scrolling the account. “Thank you.”
“Oh my god, you have so many followers,” Trinity gasps.
“Yeah.”
“Do you ever get stopped on the street?” Trinity looks up, and freezes at the awkward expression on Javadi’s face. “I was kidding. Oh my god. Tell me.”
Javadi sighs, rolling her shoulders back. “It wasn't on the street. It was here.”
“What?”
“A patient came in on the fourth of July, asking for Dr. J.,” she shrugs, looking a little bit smug.
Trinity can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of her at this. “Oh my god.”
“So that's how Langdon found out about this,” Javadi continues.
“Ah.”
Javadi turns to her, and pauses for a second when she sees whatever expression is on Trinity’s face. Nothing, hopefully, but that isn’t exactly normal for her.
Javadi’s mouth opens and closes a few times before she speaks again.
“I meant to ask earlier,” she begins.
“Yeah?”
“Garcia doesn't have a problem with this?”
Trinity frowns, confused. “What do you mean?”
“You guys are... whatever you are,” Javadi says, scrunching her eyebrows together.
“Yeah. We're something,” Trinity agrees.
Javadi nods. “Right. So shouldn't she have an issue with her girlfriend–” she cuts herself off at Trinity’s wince “–or whatever you are to each other, going on a date with someone else? Even if it's a joke.”
Trinity sighs, leaning her head back against the still slightly sun warmed brick. “I don't know.”
“Oh?” Javadi asks eagerly. The gossip fiend.
“I haven't mentioned it to her,” Trinity admits.
“She doesn't know you won the bet?”
“She doesn't know there was a bet. We don't exactly have long talks, staring into each other's eyes,” Trinity says, turning her head to meet Javadi’s dark gaze.
Javadi’s face falls slightly. “Oh. Sorry for bringing it up.”
Trinity shakes her head. “It's fine. It is what it is.” She suddenly looks down at her phone where it’s resting in her hand, thinking she felt a vibration.
“Does Al-Hashimi need you back?” Javadi asks, sounding slightly… disappointed? Surely not.
Trinity shakes her head. Just an email promising ‘BIG DEALS ON MICROSOFT TECHNOL...’ “No, all good.”
Javadi moves so that she’s sat facing Trinity, leaning back on her palms. “I feel like now, because the plan's all gone a bit off the rails…” she smirks.
“What?”
“You have to tell me what we were going to do.”
Trinity rolls her eyes. “Fine. First, karaoke,” she says, and watches as Javadi’s smile immediately gets wiped off her face.
“I can't sing,” the med student says with horror. Her eyes are wide, pupils blown. In another life, Trinity thinks, she would have made a great scream queen.
“I know,” Trinity says with a beatific smile.
“How do you know that?” Javadi says, her face still frozen in fear.
Trinity shrugs. “I have my sources.”
Javadi’s face falls. “Chantanah?”
Trinity gasps. “I would never reveal my source. Who do you take me for?” At Javadi’s glare, she throws her a bone. “But pinoys do stick together.”
Javadi shakes her head in disbelief. “I'm going to kill her.”
“Don't you want to hear what we were gonna sing?”
“Not really.”
Too bad. “We were going to start with Brown Eyed Girl, because, well.”
“I'm a brown eyed girl?” Javadi sighs, blinking said eyes tiredly at Trinity.
“Exactly. Then I had Bet on it from high school musical, because–”
“I lost a bet. Got it.”
Trinity grins at her. “Then I was going to let you have a break–”
“So generous–”
“–and I was going to serenade you.”
Javadi stares at her incredulously. “Serenade me?”
“Yup,” Trinity says. She doesn’t know how she’s expecting Javadi to react to this, maybe roll her eyes or sigh, maybe even throw herself back dramatically on the concrete of the roof so that she doesn’t have to look at Trinity’s face any more. Anything, really, but–
“Okay then. Do it.”
Trinity blinks, shocked, at Javadi’s determined face. “Here?”
“Yeah,” the younger girl nods, like it’s obvious. Duh. Of course, Trinity. Rooftop karaoke, why not?
She raises an eyebrow at Javadi. “You don't wanna know what song it was?”
“Surprise me.”
“Wow. Okay then, Crash. Give me your phone.”
“What for?”
“My backing track, duh,” Trinity says with an eye roll, making grabby hands at the younger girl.
Javadi shakes her head. “Use your own phone.”
“What if someone tries to call me?”
“Is this because you don't want me filming it?” Javadi says with a small shake of her head.
“No comment.”
“Fine,” she groans, handing the device over to Trinity.
“Okay. Thank you.” Trinity taps around on the screen for a second, queuing up the song. She rests it against the wall and stands up, dusts off her pants, and walks a few paces away from Javadi.
“Oh wow. This is a whole performance,” Javadi says as she watches in something between awe and horror.
“Shh. And of course it is, you really need to learn how to commit to the bit.”
“Do I?” Javadi asks, cocking her head slightly.
“Desperately.” Trinity clears her throat. “Silence from the audience, please.”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket to use as a microphone, and turns away from Javadi, looking back over her shoulder as the song begins to play.
“You walked into the party… like you were walking onto a yacht,” She sings, pointing at Javadi where she’s staring, open-mouthed. “Your hat strategically dipped below one eye, your scarf, it was lavender.”
Javadi groans at the lyric change, shutting her eyes for a second.
“You had one eye in the mirror, as you watched yourself gavotte. And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner, they'd be your partner and…” Trinity continues, pointing at Javadi as she moves onto the chorus. “You're so vain.”
She twirls between lines, watching as Javadi fights back a smile. “You probably think this song is about you. You're so vain! I bet you think this song is about you… Don't you, don't you?”
Trinity sings until the song ends, finishing with a flourish of her hands as Javadi claps, slack jawed and gawking at her.
“You never told me you could sing like that,” she says, her eyes wide.
Trinity shrugs, flopping down onto the concrete beside her.
“Seriously, Trinity, you’re really good,” Javadi continues. “I’m shocked you haven’t mentioned this.”
“It’s only useful for karaoke, really. I like having a secret talent,” Trinity admits.
“Hmm… so I can’t tell anyone?” Javadi asks, tapping her chin with her finger.
Trinity shrugs, wincing slightly at the scrape of her bare arms on the concrete. “That’s up to you. Would it count as a bad part of the date?”
“Good question…” Javadi trails off.
“Wow.”
Javadi grins, looking down at Trinity. “Why that song?”
“You haven’t seen How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days?” Trinity gapes. She thought Javadi seemed like a romantic, but maybe she was wrong.
“No, I have,” Javadi says back, offended. “I’m shocked you like it enough to go for it, though.”
“It’s iconic.”
“Agreed. I love Kate Hudson.”
“Me too,” Trinity sighs dreamily, looking up at the night sky. “The dress.”
“The dress.” Victoria echoes, lying back next to her.
Trinity keeps talking. “And, I don’t know. I like a rom-com. They’re fun.”
“That… makes a lot of sense, actually,” Victoria says quietly. Trinity turns to look at her, and finds the younger girl smiling at her slightly, her face lit up by the city below them.
The beep of her pager interrupts Trinity’s thoughts. She pulls herself to her feet, her muscles complaining. “Hang on, I need to get this. You, find a song to sing. Here.” She throws Victoria’s phone back to her, pleasantly surprised at how the other girl managed to catch it without any fumbling.
Trinity walks away from Victoria, closer to the edge of the roof. “Hi, Dr. Al-Hashimi,” she says into her phone. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s great, thank you,” comes the response from floors below. “Dr. Henderson has arrived, so you’re relieved of work. You and Javadi can get back to… whatever it is you were doing.”
“Oh, thank you,” Trinity says. She turns back to look at Victoria where she’s lying on her front on the concrete, bopping her head to whatever song she’s trying out. Thinks for a second, then speaks into the phone again. “But I’m happy to hang around a little longer if you want. It kind of seemed like the calm before the storm down there.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” Trinity answers, turning back to look over the city.
“Thank you, Dr. Santos,” Al-Hashimi says, sounding almost impressed. “That’s very kind of you. I’ll have Lena call you if you’re right about that storm.”
“Great. Thanks, goodbye.” Trinity hangs up, pocketing her phone again, and walks back over to Victoria, the evening breeze pushing her hair back from her face.
“What did she want?” Victoria asks, looking up at Trinity from her spot on the floor.
“Ah, just telling me to hang around for a bit longer.”
“Oh, good,” Victoria beams. “I’ve picked my song.”
“Yeah?” Trinity says, smiling back at her.
Victoria turns the screen to face Trinity. “Yep.”
“Man, I Feel Like a Woman?” Trinity reads. “Isn’t that a little before your time?”
Victoria frowns at her, offended. “I’m keeping on theme.”
Trinity nods at her, faux serious. “Right, right, of course. Okay, let’s hear your best Shania then…”
CHAT: night crawlers 👻🪱
C. Henderson: apparently something’s going on the roof?
N. Toomarian: ???
M. Diaz: oh? not robby back already
(three people reacted 👎 to this message)
P. Ellis: i have intel but it stays on this chat. night crawlers only, okay?
M. Diaz: ofc
N. Toomarian: sure
C. Henderson: yeah yeah
J. Shen: 👍
P. Ellis: okay good
[P. Ellis sent a video]
(Six people are typing…)