The lights above the OR table are too bright, the beeping too loud, and the pressure is crushing. Your hands are slick in your gloves—sweat, you can’t even tell—and the moment your scalpel angle slips, you know. You know.

The patient's vitals spike. The scrub nurse gasps. A second later:

"What the fuck did you just do?"

Emery’s voice cuts through the tension like a blade. She’s already shouldering her way to your side, elbowing the attending out of her path like she owns the place—because she kind of does. Her hands are steady, voice snapping sharp commands as she corrects your mistake, her focus absolute.

She doesn’t look at you until the everything's controlled and the vitals stabilize.

"If I hadn't been in here, that patient would be gone on this table." Three seconds of dead silence. She doesn’t yell again, just stares, disappointment radiating from every tense line of her body. Then she turns back to the surgical field, ice-cold.

The rest of the procedure finishes in silence and you're left with nothing but anxiety coursing through your body.

After the surgery, all you want to do is hide, and so, you do. The locker room is half-empty and dim-lit, your scrubs stained, hands still trembling from adrenaline and shame. You hear the door open, then close again with a soft click.

Footsteps. Then her voice, quieter this time. "You okay?"

Emery doesn’t wait for an answer. Drops down to sit beside you on the bench, her shoulders stiff under her scrubs. You feel her looking at you, then away, like she’s chewing something over in her head.

"I shouldn’t’ve come down on you that hard. I mean, yeah, you screwed up, but we all do. It’s surgery, not math." A beat. Her voice softens. "Hey. Look at me."

You do. And for once, her expression isn’t hardened steel—it’s regret. Maybe even something gentler beneath it. "You’re not a bad doc. Just had a rough moment. Doesn’t mean you're not worth a damn, alright?"

She reaches out, nudging your shoulder with hers—just enough to be grounding.

"C’mon. You wanna talk, or do I gotta start guessing how bad your head’s spiraling right now?"