albaxsutton:
To say that Alba was having a rough day was, perhaps, an understatement. Everything had started out fine. She had went to the carnival with Theresa, Mari and Ali, putting she and her mother’s drama on the back burner for a few hours. It had worked for awhile. She ate caramel apples, laughed loudly and spent time with the two people she cared about most. But as her day with her best friends ended, she found those emotions closing in again without her consent. Instead of calling the two again to come and keep her company, she decided against it and texted a person she didn’t particularly care for one way or another. A secretary from work, Cathy, who talked too much but was a lot of fun.
The night passed in a blur after the first round of shots at the closest bar. Then the next thing she knew, she was being rushed to the hospital by a frantic Cathy with a long, deep gash on her hand and a cut on her brow.
She sat on the hospital bed, still in part of her Selena costume, cradling her hand with a towel she had stolen from the bar. With her hair mussed around her face, she was sure she looked a mess. Cathy was there, talking a mile a minute, but she quickly shut up the moment the doctor entered the room. “Thank fuck-” she muttered just before her eyes lifted and she found herself staring at none other than Raul Vargas. ‘I hate my life.’ “She fell off a bar we were dancing on and landed in some glass.” Cathy explained, to her utter horror. She groaned and covered her eyes with her good hand. “Well, I mean, she didn’t fall. Some asshole pulled her off and he fell. I think it was the guy she brutally rejected, so that’s probably why he did it. Oh, and he sort of landed on her and she cracked her head on-” “Cathy, do me a favor,” Alba cut in, her cheeks flushed and her blood boiling because only something like this could happen to her. “Go up front and get me a water?” Cathy smiled and nodded and headed out the door, but not before looking back and mouthing, “he’s hot”. She sighed silently and glanced up at Raul, fidgeting slightly. “… Hi?”
As Raul listened to the recounting of the night’s events, he oscillated between amusement and concern. Amusement because it was Halloween and of course, he would walk into a room to find Alba sitting them nursing a wound; the universe just worked like that sometimes. Concern because she’d mentioned a head injury and there was no telling how serious it was until he’d had the opportunity to run some tests. Not to mention the cuts.
“Good evening, Ms. Sutton, I’m Dr. Vargas and I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” Raul extended a hand in greeting, his lips twitching in slight amusement. Still, he was a professional and this was his place of employment. “Just looking at your charts, I’ll have to order a scan.” There was no telling with head injuries. He wouldn’t be able to ethically rule out bleeds or swelling until he’d had the imaging done. “Unfortunately the night tech isn’t quite as fast as the day guy.” Though what he lacked in speed, he certainly made up for in efficiency and bedside manner. “Please follow the light,” he gently commanded as he shone the small light he’d pulled from his coat pocket in her face, paying attention to the way her pupils dilated before moving the line of the light to the left, right, up, and down. “I’ll have someone come in to look at your cuts. If you’re lucky, you won’t need stitches though I can’t make any promises. Do you have any questions for me?”












