Chapter Text
“Mama, we’re going to be late!”
Nicky’s voice sounded through the house as Agatha put the finishing touches on her light makeup. She had promised him they would spend the day at the Lakefront to celebrate his last weekend of summer break. Nicky had woken up at the crack of dawn, his excitement making his little body vibrate with energy.
Agatha still took her time in finishing her makeup, and then took an appraising look at her reflection in the mirror. Her long brown hair was down, and she wondered if it was time for a haircut as it almost reached the small of her back. She wore a light blue button down that brought out her blue eyes even more and tucked it into her denim shorts, just as Nicky showed up at her door.
“Moooom,” he whined, and she rolled her eyes with an amused smile. “Come on!”
“You know, the lake is not going anywhere, mister,” She looked at him through the mirror as he approached her from behind and wrapped his little arms around her waist.
“But the longer we take to get there, the less time we’re going to have to enjoy it,” he countered, and she chuckled.
Pulling him in front of her, she bent down to kiss the top of his head. “Go feed Scratchy and we’ll be on our way.”
Nicky celebrated with a ‘yes!’ and ran out of the room as fast as he could. Agatha shook her head amused at her son’s antics, and took one last look in the mirror, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head for now.
Not bad for forty-five, she thought to herself with a smile.
After checking that they had everything they needed, Agatha put a basket with snacks and drinks in the trunk, before making sure Nicky was buckled in. They lived in Lakeview and it was a 10-15 minute drive to the Lakefront trail. Despite the fact that Nicky had been rushing her, it was still early, barely 9:30, so they’d have plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine and enjoy Nicky’s last weekend of summer break before going back to school.
Getting in the car, Agatha turned the radio on and was half paying attention to what Nicky was babbling about in the backseat and half paying attention to the song playing softly in the car sound system. Singing quietly to herself, she checked on Nicky through the rearview mirror, smiling when she saw his head bobbing to the song absentmindedly. It was such a beautiful day.
She didn’t hear the screech of tires, and she barely heard Nicky’s scream.
And then darkness.
When Agatha woke, the world was a blur of flashing red and blue, the metallic tang of blood, and the low hum of a voice coaxing her back to reality.
“Hey, stay with me,” someone said, firm but gentle.
She blinked up into dark eyes, strong hands checking for injuries with practiced ease. The woman’s hair was pulled back, curls escaping around her temples.
“Your name, ma’am?”
“Agatha,” she rasped, throat dry. “My—my son—”
“He’s conscious,” the paramedic assured her. “Looks like an arm fracture, but he’s stable. My colleague is working on him out here. We’re taking you both in.”
Relief coursed through Agatha so quickly she nearly collapsed back against her seat. That was when she realized her head was pounding. Lifting her hand to her forehead, she felt something wet.
“Yeah, you got a nasty cut there. How are you feeling?” The paramedic asked, securing the C-collar around her neck.
“I…” Agatha swallowed, trying to assess the extent of the damage. “My head hurts. And my side, I think? My ribs.”
“Okay, are you nauseous at all?” She asked, pointing a flashlight at her eyes, making Agatha squint against the harsh light. At her negative reply, the paramedic offered a small, comforting smile. “Okay, let’s get you out of here. Hey, Alice! A little help here?”
It took a few firefighters, but soon Agatha was free of the confines of her trashed car. She still had no idea what had happened, but she was relieved to be alive with what looked like only minor injuries.
The paramedic—Vidal, according to her name tag—listened to her breath sounds with a stethoscope before smiling.
“We’ll take you and your boy to the hospital to get checked out, but it looks like you guys got lucky.” She gave Agatha’s arm a comforting squeeze and started wheeling her gurney to the ambulance. “Hey, buddy, look who’s here.”
“Mama!” Nicky’s voice was full of tears and Agatha had to take a deep breath to keep it together in front of him. “You wouldn’t wake up, mama. I was so scared! And my arm hurts real bad.”
“I’m right here, my sweet boy. I’m so sorry I scared you,” Agatha reached out and touched Nicky’s good arm when they positioned her next to him. She’d caught a glimpse of his eyes still wide in fear, his body trembling as he cradled his injured arm against his chest. “I’m not leaving you, baby.”
“You’re bleeding! Ms. Rio said she would take care of you. Are you okay, mama?”
Agatha frowned at the name, but then followed her son’s gaze to the paramedic that had just jumped into the back of the ambulance with them before closing the door.
“We should be at Northwestern in five minutes. How are you doing, Nicky?” The paramedic asked with a kind smile and Nicky sniffled. “Does your arm still hurt? Yeah?” She offered a sympathetic look when he nodded, his eyes still so full of tears. Agatha felt gutted.
“We’ll be at the hospital soon, sweetheart. I’m sure the doctors will make the pain go away really fast.” She tried to comfort her son, but felt so incredibly helpless, being strapped to a gurney, unable to move.
“You bet. And I bet you’ll get a cool cast too, buddy. So all your friends will be able to sign it.”
“Really?”
Nicky’s voice now reflected a bit of curiosity and Agatha was so grateful to this paramedic for keeping him as calm and as comfortable as possible. Agatha’s head was throbbing, and she was starting to feel a bit nauseous from the pain.
When they finally made it to the hospital, she heard the paramedic present their case to the doctor as both gurneys were unloaded from the ambulance. They were wheeled into the hospital quickly and before she knew it, someone was taking her to get a CT scan, while pushing a consent form into her hands so she could sign off on Nicky’s X-ray.
It was only a couple of hours later that she saw the paramedic again. Her best friend Wanda had been called in as her emergency contact, and was staying with Nicky while he got a cast on his arm. The paramedic had been right; he did have a fracture. Now she was bored out of her mind in the infirmary as they wanted to keep her for a few hours for observation. They’d given her something for the pain and it was starting to make her feel a little loopy.
“Hey, I was looking for you. Agatha, right?” The paramedic smiled at her from the doorway, and in her doped up state, Agatha was sure she looked like an angel. “How are you feeling?”
Agatha blinked slowly and offered a small smile. “A bit groggy,” she replied, and touched the bandage that now covered her forehead. “It’s a mild concussion.”
The paramedic grimaced sympathetically before approaching the bed. “Just take it easy for a few days and you’ll be fine in no time,” she smiled and Agatha returned. “What was the verdict there?” She pointed at the bandage.
“Twelve stitches,” Agatha sighed, remembering how she had demanded that a more experienced physician did the procedure. She wasn’t about to let a med student practice on her forehead for god’s sake.
The paramedic whistled, impressed. Agatha laughed tiredly.
“How’s Nicky?” She asked and Agatha nodded at the room next door.
“He broke his arm. He’s over there getting his super cool cast,” she chuckled, and the paramedic smiled. “Thanks for keeping him calm and for distracting him, by the way. He got so excited about his cast that he forgot about the pain.”
“Hey, I’m just glad you guys are okay,” she touched Agatha’s arm for a moment before stepping back. “I should get back. Tell Nicky I said hi.”
“Thank you for everything, Ms. Vidal,” Agatha reached out, holding out her hand. The paramedic grinned before shaking her hand. Her palm was warm and so, so soft. Agatha felt like she was touching a part of heaven.
Dear lord, she really was high as fuck.
“It’s Rio,” the paramedic said, squeezing her hand, and that was when Agatha realized she was still holding it.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, she nodded. “It was nice meeting you, Rio.”
~*~
The doctors let her go with strict orders that she should not be alone for the next twenty four hours. She tried to argue that she was a doctor herself and she knew damn well what she should be doing with a concussion, but the young man who treated her was not impressed and reinforced that she needed someone to wake her up every couple of hours tonight.
With a resigned sigh, Agatha abided by the doctor's orders and agreed to let Wanda stay the night. If she was honest with herself, it would be great to have someone to watch Nicky as well because she felt so tired after hours in the hospital — as a patient, which was not her preference.
“Mama, look at my cast! Do you like it? Will you sign it?” Nicky’s excited voice cut through the fog of her medicated mind, and she managed a smile in her son’s direction. Maybe having Wanda stay with her wouldn’t be so bad.
A few days later, Agatha still felt a bit sore. Nicky had started third grade, and every day he came home with his cast even more populated with drawings and names than the day before. Her ribs were still killing her, but she just braved through it. In her experience, it was probably just bruised and there wasn’t much that could be done.
However, something that kept coming back to the forefront of her mind was the nice paramedic that had taken care of them. Agatha just couldn’t get that smile out of her head, and for the life of her, she just couldn’t figure out why.
Sure, it had been a while since she had actively admired someone like that, but still. As far as she knew, she was straight, thank you very much, despite those involuntary thoughts that popped up in her head from time to time that she wouldn’t even allow herself to entertain.
Still, in the days that followed, Agatha found herself wondering about the paramedic and her beautiful smile. As she got ready for her new semester at Feinberg School of Medicine, she tried to distract herself from her wandering thoughts. After all, she had a long semester ahead of her with new M2 students and new mentees, as the med students started to focus on their main project for the program. She just hoped she would be assigned to students that were actually worth her time this year.
“You know, you’ve been awfully quiet these past few days. Are you sure you’re okay?” Wanda asked her on the Sunday before she would return to work at Northwestern.
“Yeah, why?”
“Just… usually around this time of the year you’re dreading the new students and can’t shut up about it for starters,” her friend chuckled, and she shrugged.
“I don’t know. I guess the whole accident thing messed me up a bit,” Agatha looked toward her backyard where Nicky was playing with Wanda’s twins Billy and Tommy. “The whole ‘life is short’ and all that, you know? I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m saying,” she laughed at herself, shaking her head. “How about you? I heard you’re taking over a class at Feinberg this semester.” Agatha raised an eyebrow and Wanda laughed.
“Lilia has a big mouth,” the redhead rolled her eyes and took a sip of her beer. “Yeah, she offered it to me last week. Behavioral Science for your little M2s.”
“Oh god, does that mean I’m going to have to put up with you at work even more?” Agatha gasped mockingly and Wanda threw a pillow at her.
“Shut up, you love it.”
~*~
“Mama, do you really have to go?” Nicky’s voice was quiet as they drove through the streets of Chicago on their way to her son’s school. Her car had nearly been totaled, but her car insurance had thankfully come through in record time.
Agatha frowned at his tone and searched his eyes through the rearview mirror.
“Go where, baby?”
“To work. Can’t you just stay home? Where you’ll be safe?” His voice was still so small, so quiet, that Agatha felt her heart break and understanding washed over her. This was the first time they were going to spend the whole day apart since the accident.
For the past week, Wanda had taken Nicky to school along with her boys and brought him back home as well, because Agatha was still sorting out her car situation. Nicky obviously felt that the fact that she was home and not behind the wheel kept her safe.
“Oh, honey, don’t worry. I’ll be at Northwestern all day today, but Aunt Wanda will come pick you guys up and you can hang out with Billy and Tommy for a little bit. And then I’ll be home tonight and we’ll have a special dinner. How does that sound?”
Nicky shrugged, a worried line still creasing his forehead. “Okay.”
He was quiet for the next five minutes until Agatha parked in front of his school. It was only when she was helping him out of the car because of his cast that Nicky finally spoke up again.
“Mama? Do you promise you’ll be careful today? Like pinky promise?” He sounded so serious as his gaze traveled to the bandage that covered the stitches on her forehead. Agatha felt her chest tighten.
Crouching down in front of him, she touched his cheek. “I pinky promise, baby,” she offered him her pinky finger and smiled when he hooked his own with hers. “Everything will be fine. And I promise I’m okay. Alright?”
He nodded before throwing his arms around her neck in a tight hug. “I love you, mama.”
Agatha felt her eyes burn with tears. “I love you too, my sweet boy. So much,” she kissed his cheek and stood up. “Now off you go. Learn lots of new things.”
He finally smiled and accepted his backpack when she helped him put it on. Agatha waited until he was inside the building before allowing herself to collapse against the side of the car. Taking a deep breath, she brushed away the lone tear that had escaped.
Everything would be fine. It was a beautiful day, she repeated to herself like a mantra.
~*~
Agatha stopped by the café on campus to get an iced coffee, before making her way up to her office in the Department of Neurology. It had been a few weeks since she had last been here, and she admitted that she’d missed it and was more than ready to dive back in.
Although she did have a private practice, teaching at Northwestern took a big chunk of her time. And as much as she liked to complain about how frustrating some students could be sometimes, she really loved teaching.
Her first lecture was at 10, and she stopped by the ladies room before making her way to the lecture hall. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she touched the bandage on her forehead, glad to realize that it didn’t hurt as much anymore. The look on Nicky’s eyes as his gaze focused on her injury still made her chest tighten with anguish.
They had been so lucky that day. It could have been so much worse.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, she pulled the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder, as she tried to hold onto her coffee cup and a water bottle with her other hand. Grimacing when it pulled on her bruised ribs, she entered the lecture hall and quickly made her way to the desk in front of a half circle of desks and chairs that went up for at least six levels.
A few students were already seated, some looking excited and a few of them looking slightly terrified, especially when she met their eyes. Grinning inwardly, she rolled her eyes amused, as she knew her reputation preceded her.
At ten o’clock sharp, she stepped in front of the desk to face her new students. Second-year medical students — they weren’t as green and bright-eyed as their first-year colleagues, but she couldn’t help but think that they looked younger and younger every year.
“Good morning,” she started, her voice firm and unwavering. “I’m Dr. Agatha Harkness and this is Neurology-”
A low gasp distracted her and her eyes followed the sound. Agatha felt her heart skip a beat.
Standing at the door, wearing a student white lab coat with a laptop bag on her shoulder, was the paramedic whose smile she couldn’t forget.