Work Text:
Joy's college advisor was looking at her like she'd lost her mind. In all fairness, she probably had.
"Miss Kwon," the older woman started, looking between her and the paper in front of her. "When you had to do your ER rotation, you begged me to give you a two week option instead of the mandated four." She looked down again, as if the circled options would magically change.
Joy nodded, looking at her over the rim of her glasses. She remembered that conversation, and how she got shot down.
The advisor looked at her again, raising an eyebrow. "And now you want to go back to the ER as one of your electives?"
"That is what I wrote," Joy nodded.
"Are you still planning on pathology?"
She nodded, earning a confused eyebrow, but no comments.
Joy hated the ER. It's was loud, occasionally lawless, and not at all a practical elective choice for her degree. But, she had an empty spot in her schedule and a nurse she never asked out on a date.
She spent her entire summer break convincing herself that she liked the PTMC, not just Emma Nolan. It was impossible to like the PTMC, so she just accepted that she had a crush on the nurse. It wasn't hard, anyone would love Emma. She was sweet and thoughtful and made that compassionate but afraid smile at everyone.
Forgive Joy for being endeared to the embodiment of sunshine that had somehow slipped into an emergency room.
A month after that conversation with the guidance counselor, Joy was standing inside the ED with a mission: actually asking Emma out this time. She had chickened out in her first four weeks and was determined to succeed this time. She had laid the ground works of a pretty decent work friendship the first time around, so it couldn't be too hard.
Emma made it easy by instantly running up to her on her first day back.
"You're back," She grinned, hair in the same little braids that had endeared Joy the first time.
She would usually give some kind of witty remark to that, but she couldn't to it to Emma. "Yeah, I decided to do another round after all."
"Dana told me last week," she smiled.
Joy would've stood there and talked to her for an eternity, but Dr. Whitaker called her over for her first task, picking gravel out of road burn. Exciting stuff.
"Al-Hashimi wants you back with me for your first day back," Whitaker said, working on the unconscious guy's leg.
Joy pushed her glasses up. "She doesn't think I've got the hang of the ER yet?" She said.
Whitaker shrugged. "I'm sure she knows you're capable. I think she's just confused about…why you're back," he winced out, trying to sound as nice as possible.
"I think everyone is," she shrugged.
Dr. Whitaker let silence fill the room for exactly two seconds before looking up from the guys leg.
"You're still going into pathology?" He asked, his voice as tentative and nervous as always.
She nodded. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"I think we were all hoping you'd change your mind about the ER. I know Dr. Abbot was hoping you'd come join night shift."
"I'm flattered."
She pushed back the urge to ask if Emma had said anything, and stretched her back after way too many minutes of gravel picking for one morning. Outside the room's window, she could see Emma talking to Princess, getting ready to get to work on some other patient.
"Have you and Emma talked since your rotation?" Whitaker asked, raising an eyebrow at her staring.
Joy felt heat rise to her cheeks, a deeply unfamiliar feeling. "Kind of. We follow each other on Instagram and sometimes she likes my posts and I like hers."
"So…no."
She went back to picking gravel. When did Dr. Whitaker get such an attitude?
Pretty soon, the day picked up and Joy didn't get nearly as much Emma time as she was hoping for, but she managed to distract herself with work and patients.
Eventually, she had to hunker down and get some charting done. The day wasn't too crazy so far, and everything seemed to be going smoothly, so no one was in too much of a rush to do anything. Emma included.
Joy was halfway through typing a chart out when Emma plopped herself down a seat away to do some paperwork too. Finally.
"I like your new piercing," Emma smiled, gesturing to her bottom lip.
Joy licked the cool metal out of habit. "Thanks. Little gift to myself for passing my third year."
"Getting jabbed doesn't sound like a gift to me," she joked.
Joy had a special way of getting something sarcastic out of sweet little Emma. She very much enjoyed this knowledge.
"I saw the video on your Instagram story," Emma hummed, looking down at her paper.
Joy, of course, knew that. She checked if Emma had viewed her stories meticulously.
"Yeah?" She smiled nonetheless.
Emma nodded. "How do you not flinch?"
Joy laughed breathlessly. "I'm sure I did. I just have a lot of piercings, you get used to it."
"I only got my ears pierced a few years ago. When the lady clamped the little piercing gun, I yelped."
Her cheeks flushed a little at the story. Joy grinned. She would give the world to make her blush like that.
Look, Joy knew she was down horrendously bad. It was almost shameful the way she felt herself melt around Emma. She was ice melting in the warm glow of the other woman.
It plagued her. Emma was in everything: warm coffee that looked just like her eyes, the same color turquoise that dangled from her earrings, double braids. Joy couldn't go anywhere without being haunted by the thought of the girl she never asked out.
Right now, Emma was smiling at her instead of doing her paperwork.
"You ever think about getting anything but your lobes?" Joy asked, looking at her over the rim of her glasses.
"I really want my high lobes, like what Javadi has."
"Yeah? Have you talked to a piercer?"
She laughed. "No, I'm too scared. The first time I did it at literally Claire's with my friends on a whim."
Joy saw two beautiful opportunities here, and decided to take both of them.
"Let me see your ear," she hummed.
Emma obliged, moving her braid. "Why?"
Joy prodded her ear with a gloved hand carefully. "I think you'd have plenty of room for your highs. Some people don't."
Emma felt her own ear subconsciously. Joy decided that was the cutest thing possibly ever.
"My friend is a piercer. She's done basically all of mine. She's really nice, and I'm sure she'd love to do yours."
Emma thought for a second.
"I could go with you, if you're nervous," Joy offered, as if it wasn't premeditated.
She smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Cool, I'll talk to her."
Emma squeezed her arm.
"Thanks, Joy."
Fucking score.
Dana poked her head around the corner, calling Emma to come help with something. Emma smiled and patted Joy's arm. "Gotta go," she said before getting up and following Dana.
Joy was having a minor cardiovascular event, she figured.
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Later that afternoon, Joy was happy to find that she and Emma got put on the same patient.
The chart said the patient was a young woman who presented with heavy sweating, severe dehydration, and dizziness. She was brought in by a concerned friend.
Emma was already in the little curtain room, sitting and chatting with the woman while she took sips from a hospital water cup. Joy went through her usual, practiced spiel, ending it with, "Can you tell me what brings you in today."
The woman nodded. "I was at a pride parade and started feeling super dizzy and sweaty. i thought I was fine, but I passed out."
Joy nodded along. "Yeah, I remember my first pride event," she started, watching Emma out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't realize just how easy it was to get dehydrated."
The woman smiled at her and nodded. "Exactly. It happened before I even knew it."
Emma looked at her for a long minute before turning her attention back to the woman.
Joy finished up her consultation and told the young woman to get plenty of fluids and stay out of the heat for a bit before walking out with Emma.
"Not to sound, I dunno, tactless…but, I didn't know you were queer," Emma hummed, walking beside her and looking mostly at the floor.
"Maybe there's a lot you don't know about me," Joy teased.
Emma's cheeks flushed. "For the record, I am too."
Joy smiled at her, hoping the smile conveyed all her feelings about that statement. In her mind, there were fireworks and trumpet fanfare. However, she thought that was a little much for real life. And she didn't have a trumpet with her, unfortunately.
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With some hastily made plans in an Instagram DM, Joy was sitting next to Emma in her friend's piercing shop.
She chatted with her friend mindlessly as the other woman cleaned her piercing equipment and got the cute little earrings Emma had picked out ready. Meanwhile, Joy became more aware with every second of Emma's growing anxiety about the whole thing. She wrung her hands in her lap, chewing her lip.
"Bad with needles?" Joy asked, leaning over to her and lowering her voice.
"No," Emma said. "I mean, just a little."
Joy's friend smiled. "That's okay. It'll only hurt for just a second." She lined up the piercing needle with the top of Emma's lobes.
Joy looked down as Emma suddenly grabbed her hand. She squeezed tight, prompting Joy to squeeze back just a little. She wasn't sure wether to feel elated about the touch or sympathetic for Emma's little fear.
The piercing part was over before she knew it. Emma was taking to her friend with her shy smile, nodding as she was given aftercare instructions.
Meanwhile, all that Joy could think about was how Emma was still holding her hand.
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Now, for the next part of Joy's very meticulous plan.
They sat beside each other in the Hub. Joy was trying desperately to finish her charting as her shift started to come to an end. Emma, done with all her work, was sweet enough to sit and keep her company until she inevitably got kicked out for not working and taking up space.
Emma toyed with her new piercing while Joy worked.
"You shouldn't touch them so much," Joy hummed.
Emma huffed playfully. "You're a hypocrite. You always mess with your lip one."
She sighed and put her head on her hand. "What're you doing after this?"
"Probably gonna go home and starve to death," Joy joked. "My old roommate was a part time chef and she always brought me food. She graduated last year, and I just never have time to cook."
Emma thought for a second. "Why don't you come over to my place, and we'll make dinner together?"
Joy felt her cheeks heat up. That was not in the plan. The plan was to get invited out somewhere, not to Emma's house. She was not at all disappointed with this outcome, of course.
"Sure," Joy smiled. "As long as you let me help cook."
"Deal."
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Emma's apartment looked exactly like how Joy thought it would. She had cute decor everywhere and pictures of her and her friends on every wall. Her kitchen was well-loved and full of as much character as she was.
They stood side by side and made a humble meal together. Their shoulders brushed and Emma's laughs sounded like angels singing. Joy didn't know how she got herself here, but she had never been more happy about anything in the world.
They sat on the couch and talked over the food until the clock informed them that it was way too late to still be talking. Emma sat cross legged beside her, looking at her with her hair down and her eyes full of the sweetest thing in the world.
"It's getting late," Joy hummed, looking to the window.
Emma smiled at her innocently. "Wanna stay the night?"
Joy stared with her mouth open for a second. "You want me to?"
Emma just chuckled. "Yeah, show me the other stuff I 'don't know about you'."
Once again, Joy was reminded of the horrible sarcastic little monster Emma felt compelled to show when around her. She felt her face heat up, but she smiled and followed Emma to her bedroom.
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The next morning, Joy woke up to Emma's alarm and the other girl laying her head on Joy's chest. She dragged her fingers through Emma's hair and gently shook her to wake her up.
"Hmm?" Emma smiled at her, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Joy kept her hand in her hair stubbornly. "Your alarm is going off," she murmured.
Emma reached over and floundered with her phone for a bit before finally shutting it off. She laid her head back on Joy's shoulder.
"I have to get ready for work," she groaned.
"Aw, if I knew you had work today I wouldn't have kept you up so late."
"Exactly why I didn't tell you."
Joy chuckled and watched her walk to the bathroom. She returned in her scrubs and sat on the edge of the bed to braid her hair.
Joy sat up. "Let me do that," she hummed, gently shooing Emma's hands away and taking her soft brown hair in her own hands.
"I'm starting to think you only like me for my hair," Emma smiled.
She stood and kissed Joy's cheek like it was second nature before slipping out the door and wishing her a nice day off from school and work. Joy smiled as she watched her go.
Again, fucking score.