"Are you serious?" Natalie asked.
April seemed to hesitate for just a moment before giving a determined nod of her head.
Natalie rubbed her eyes, trying to take stock of this surreal situation. She had just hung her coat in her locker, making a disgusted face at the weary petite Japanese woman staring at her from the other side of the mirror, and was about to pull her maroon scrubs off so she to change and drag her carcass home when she heard a determined grunt as an unseen occupant stood up. The approaching footsteps turned out to belong to April, one of the experienced nurses that often worked in the same area as Natalie. She hesitated to think "senior nurse", since Natalie doubted the other woman was much older than her own 27 years old. April must be heading home as well, Natalie thought, yet she noticed that the other woman had not yet shed her floral print scrub top or black pants for more comfortable clothing.
Natalie had been offered and accepted a new position at this hospital in December. And, of course, things went to shit soon after. She was a more than capable doctor, even if she was still learning where the break room was or the names of her coworkers.
But one name she learned quickly was April's. Natalie knew *about* April, from overheard comments and break room chatter. April was quick but not harsh, commanding but not demanding... She occasionally had disagreements with some of Natalie's fellow doctors, occasionally correcting and occasionally deferring. Natalie felt "driven" might apply to the other woman. They had never really talked, Natalie reflected, but their encounters had generally been awkward. One flashback would show April giving a quick instruction to another nurse before reluctantly deferring to Natalie's delayed direction. Another would see Natalie opening a door and rushing through, nearly running into April as she rushed the other direction. Unfortunately, the sandy blonde nurse was gone before Natalie could call out in apology.
This particular night was a long one. Of course, everyone was on edge. Patients were suffering in the grip of the virus; the staff was stumbling over each other as they worked around this new protocol or that new guideline. Natalie's 12-hour shift should have ended two hours ago. Yet Natalie was certain that she had seen April throughout her shift. Or maybe that was yesterday, or last week. The increased pace of their work had turned near-misses into actual collisions, Natalie's head bouncing off the taller woman's shoulder or accidentally opening a door into the nurse's back. Mirrored glances of frustration were worn as both women rushed off in opposite directions to help wherever help was needed in their respective roles.
Natalie wasn't surprised that April didn't seem to like her very much. She half expected to hear of gossip among the nurses about a certain "arrogant little Asian bitch" of a doctor. The other half-expectation was for an encounter somewhat like this one. But... Not like this one.
"You want to fight me?" Natalie asked wearily, earning a sharp nod from April. Natalie just wanted to leave, but the women were in the back of the locker room, and April stood between Natalie and the exit. So, Natalie opted for attempting to reason with the other woman instead. "Look, we're both tired, we're both frustrated, let's just..."
"No!" April shouted, her voice rich with emotion, shades of frustration and anger and something else Natalie couldn't identify echoing in the empty locker room. "We're going to settle this right goddamn now!"
"But how?!?" Natalie asked, her voice rising, too confused to ask what "this" was. "We shouldn’t be breathing and gasping and grabbing at each other," the Japanese woman stammered, at a loss at how to even describe a fight much less participate. And at that, April's voice did flicker with hesitance and confusion. Natalie crossed her arms over her chest, hoping that the usually sensible nurse was coming back to reality.
"Stand over there," April commanded instead, pointing to a spot near where lockers disappeared, making room for showerheads and bathroom stalls. Natalie shot a frustrated glare but moved to the indicated spot, while April paced across from her, leaving about six feet of generic tile between them. "Now," April started with uncertain determination, "slap me."
Natalie just stared. "I could never reach...!"
"Slap me!"
"But!"
"Slap me!!!"
Natalie's right hand cut through the air instinctively, reaching up to where she might have to reach to tag April's cheek. The attack felt like utter nonsense to the doctor, and yet the nurse's head whipped to the right to her shoulder, her left hand coming up to touch her cheek.
"What in the hell..." Natalie started, but April cut her off when her own hand swiped down through the air, and Natalie couldn't help but yelp as her own head felt like it was knocked to the side, even finding herself taking a step back. She touched her cheek as her heart raced, looking at April from the corner of her eye. April's shoulders were hunched forward as she looked at Natalie with wide eyes, the nurse's gaze filled with electric power. Natalie's pulse raced as she clenched her teeth and turned back to her opponent, putting her full weight and strength into a retaliatory attack that swiped through the empty air, aimed more clearly at April's cheek.
"Owww!" April shouted in surprise as the shorter woman's attack spun her around, making her stagger towards the lockers as her wavy hair bounced with each heavy step. Upon turning to face her opponent again, April almost felt a physical resistance as her gaze clashed with Natalie's, sharp lightning meeting cold determination, the doctor's feet spread to about shoulder length. And while April could have been imagining it, the doctor's face seemed to jut out just slightly, daring April to keep trading blows. "You bitch!", the taller woman snapped, instead reaching forward and down into space, where Natalie might be in a different situation. For her part, Natalie could almost feel April's grip in her short jet-black hair, reaching up to grab at imagined wrists. April's fingers curled tighter as she stepped forward and Natalie's hands shook as she took a step back. "You show up and rush around like you own the damn place," April hissed as she took another step forward, forcing the tongue-tied doctor to retreat. "Always so slow to help a damn patient yet moving so fast that you're always running into people!" Another step brought a metallic rattle as Natale's shoulder blades hit the locker doors, April looming over her from halfway across the locker room.
"...I'm the bitch?" A soft, yet sharp question escaped Natalie's tight lips as she glared at April. Her right hand let go of a phantom wrist to grab at the waves of hair that would be behind April's left ear, forcing the taller woman's face down to her own through sheer force of presence. Natalie's left hand grabbed at an imagined collar, further contorting the other woman's upper body as the petite doctor pushed her opponent away from the lockers. "You've never given me one chance to apologize to you, you never have time to tell me what I did wrong!" Each word came out louder than the last, Natalie's arm's straining as she forced April back to a more neutral position back in their arena. Strangely, Natalie found that she couldn't push April back even further, even though there was still no contact between either woman. Instead, both stood still, April breathing through clenched teeth and Natalie though an open mouth. To Natalie's surprise, April let out a frustrated grunt and waved her hands in the air, Natalie's fingers clenching tightly to try and hold on to whatever she was holding onto. But April reached up to pull her scrub top off and threw the garment to the ground with enough strength that Natalie jumped backwards in surprise, her arms rising to cover her face, peering at the blonde from between her forearms.
April's whole body was tense, the slightest definition of muscles showing on pale skin, a surprisingly large chest supported by an unremarkable gray bra. But the woman that was revealed struck Natalie as being very "April". There was strength, but it was functional, purposeful. Not there to be shown off in athletic competition or displayed to attract a lover, but simply to support the woman who needed strength to lift a patient or push a bed. And in a flash, that strength was directed at Natalie, grabbing for her collar. The doctor stumbled backwards frantically, but one of April's hands seemed to get its directed hold as the distance between them never increased. Natalie wove around benches and corners, but April's unrelenting footsteps were right there. As Natalie rounded a fourth corner, April's free hand swung up and caught hold as well, forcing Natalie to hop over April's discarded top as she stumbled to a halt. April stopped running as well, and Natalie let her body whip around, pulling her top over her head and throwing it next to April's.
"There, you damned lunatic!" Natalie shouted, her eyes wide as she confronted a wide-eyed April. Natalie's build was much smaller, her shape softer. A black sports bra was enough to manage the doctor's chest, but her shoulders rose and fell with a hot fury as she stomped towards April. The nurse took an involuntary step back but bared her teeth and lifted her right hand to swat at the advancing woman's face. But Natalie swung her left arm out, batting the intended strength away with enough will to make April whimper. A desperate left swing from the blonde was quickly batted away by the onyx-haired woman. Natalie let her temper flare as she advanced on the stunned nurse, April retreating until another metallic rattle filled the air. Pinned between lockers and Natalie, April snarled with wordless fury, weeks of anguish filling the locker room as she sought to overwhelm the smaller woman's will.
But as April lunged, Natalie's hands shot up to grab at the ghost of April's throat, forcing the nurse to stop in her tracks. Another step forward from Natalie put April's shoulders back against the lockers, the taller woman whimpering and struggling against the pressure she felt from the petite woman's spirit. And for her part, Natalie was struggling as well. Her shoulders shook, and her brow furrowed as she tried to control the raw emotion pouring out of April's body. Even with the six feet remaining between them, the women warred and clashed and struggled until April's shaking hands reached for her throat instead of Natalie's body.
"Is this what you wanted, April?" Natalie hissed as she clung to the other woman's spirit. "I KNOW you're working hard! I KNOW I can be clumsy or seem indifferent!" Natalie's hands strained as she felt her own tension, the weight of weeks of chaotic struggles and heart-breaking failures pouring out of her mouth, April's face flushing as she was struck with the full force of Natalie's presence. "I'm sorry that I've been the occasional pain in your ass, but this is not the time for us to be fighting, we should be WORKING TOGETHER!" the doctor yelled at nearly the top of her lungs, her voice quivering and her fingers trembling in the air between the two women. And as the red flash in her vision faded, Natalie saw two streaks on April's cheeks reflecting the fluorescent lights, the skin underneath pink with exertion.
Natalie's arms and April's body fell at the same time, the nurse stunned into inaction. But slowly, yet with in inevitability of a tumbling avalanche, April lowered herself to the locker room floor, burying her face in her hands to cover anguished wails that flowed from deep within. Natalie dropped to her knees as she looked at the other woman, gasping for air as she realized the other emotion that was laced in April's demands for a fight. Natalie recognized that painful loneliness, when you're surrounded by people but not connected to any of them. When you are frantically, busily isolated. When the world is on your shoulders, and there's no one next to you.
So, Natalie crawled, and the distance disappeared. 5 feet... 3 feet... 1 foot... Natalie took a seat with her back to the lockers. She pulled April's head into her lap. Natalie's arms supported April's shoulders and April clung to Natalie's waist. In this space, alone together, the women shared their strengths and weaknesses with one of the very few people who could completely understand, their broken sobs and supportive whispers fading into the early morning hours.
The End
Epilogue: They didn't get COVID-19. But you can imagine whatever else you want to.
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So, I've never actually finished writing anything. But this idea got stuck in my head and this was the only way to get it out. A writer with experience in the health care field could have made their conflict more believable. A writer with a worldlier mindset could have done a better job of tying this into current events, something that I felt so clumsy in trying to do. And any number of you could have written a sexier story. But this is mine. So there.
Wash your damn hands!
