Another day, another shift.

Juliette rolled out the kinks in her shoulders as she waited by the door. She had been told very little about her next patient, but she knew that he was some sort of important business man. Important enough to warrent as private of a room as the E.D. could manage. 

She also knew that he didn't speak any English. None whatsoever. Usually, when there was a patient with limited English, they would be handed off to whomever spoke enough of their language to treat them. However, no one on shift spoke any Chinese, so it had been delegated to whomever was available, which just so happened to be Juliette. Who didn't know a lick of Chinese. 

An ambulence drove up infront of the huge glass doors and the paramedics stepped out immeditately. They wheeled out a man on a stretcher. From what little Juliette could make out from the distance, he did not look impressed. 

The man was accompanied by a tall, blonde woman. Judging from her attire, Juliette made the obvious assumption that she was not a paramedic. Wife? Collegue, perhaps? Whatever it was, hopefully she knew a bit of Chinese.

Juliette strode forward through the sliding doors and walked alongside the stretcher. "Mr. Xiao? I'm Juliette. We're going to take good care of you," she said, even though she knew it was redundant. It was unlikely that he would understand any of it.

She then turned to the blonde woman, "what's your relationship to Mr. Xiao?"

Why couldn't contract negotiations ever go smoothly? Although Alva had to admit that today was a first. The first time that things were held up not over arguments between the two sides, but over a medical emergency.

Alva found the irony in having a medical situation during a medical business deal. The two parties, Xiao Yang and Brian Gaffney, were negotiating a deal over the use of Xiao's company's revolutionary battery for Gaffney's company's pacemakers. If all went according to plan, the battery would extend the life of their pacemakers, meaning patients would not have to get the device replaced as often - or at all.

They had been so close too.

Before finalizing the deal over dinner, Xiao Yang began to clutch his chest in pain and vomit all over the meal. 911 was immediately called, and he was rushed to the hospital. Since Alva was the translator for Mr. Xiao, she had to follow, because what were the chances of finding a doctor fluent in Chinese here?

Soon enough, after the short ambulance ride, Xiao was pushed on the stretcher through the glass doors of Lennos Hill Hospital with Alva in tow, jet black heels clicking along the floor the entire time. She spent the ride translating to and for Xiao. The benefit of having this ability was that she did not have to think very hard about translating; to her it was literally repeating everything she heard, but with some undertones attached. The hardest part was making sure she spoke the right language to the right person.

A short, brunette nurse came and walked alongside Xiao. Alva translated her words to Xiao, "<She said, 'Mr. Xiao. I'm Juliette. We're going to take good care of you.'>"

From what Alva could tell, Xiao was not pleased about being here. His company was about to make a fortune for his battery, and he wound up in a hospital. Alva couldn't say she was pleased either. Who knows how long she would be at the hospital, and the entire time would be spent working, translating for Xiao. I better get paid extra for this, she thought. I had plans.

The E.R. nurse inquired as to Alva's relationship with Xiao, "Lovely to meet you, Juliette. I'm his translator. So if you want any chance of speaking to him, you'll keep me around, and you'll be sure he receives the best care available."

Juliette breathed a long-winded sigh of relief. An 'oh thank god' almost passed her lips, but she stopped it, wanting to appear confident even if she wasn't.

"Perfect. No one here speaks Chinese. Can I ask you to fill out his patient information form for me, please?" Juliette handed the clipboard she had been holding tightly over to the woman. "And can I ask you name, ma'am?"

Several other nurses joined Juliette in wheeling the man to his temorary room, while a doctor stood over the stretcher. They began to set up the ECG while Juliette set up the I.V. Normally, this would be where she would walk the patient through what was going on, but this case was different. She didn't like having to go through a second person, especially when she had no way of knowing whether or not the information being passed on what correct or not.

"Are you aware of any allergies or complications off hand?" She asked the woman calmly, gesturing with her head towards Mr. Xiao. "We're going to need to look at next steps after this ECG. I hope you didn't have any plans, because you might be here a while."

As soon as Alva uttered the word "translator," the nurse looked as if a great load had been lifted from her should. She chuckled inwardly. Of course nobody spoke Chinese around here. This is why they pay her the big bucks.

Juliette handed Alva a clipboard for her to fill out on behalf of Xiao. Glancing over the form, there was no way she could fill this out. Address? He doesn't even live here, thought Alva. Birthday? I don't even know his age. Marital status? Ooh. Wait! That one I know. He is married. Insurance? Hopefully he bought travel insurance.

Still engrossed in perusing the forms, the nurse asked her about his allergies. Alva looked up from the paperwork and raised her eyebrows. How on earth was she was supposed to know?
They were setting up Xiao to the ECG and an IV still, so Alva asked him, "<Mr. Xiao, are aware of any allergies?>" He weakly shook his head in response. Looking up at the nurse, "No. He's not."

That's when Juliette went for the punch to the gut. Alva was going to be here a while. The bitter thought crossed her mind, There go my plans. Xiao, you will be billed extra for this.

Her ex-boyfriend from her university days was in town for a few days, and tonight was supposed to be when the two went out for a round of drinks to catch up. Aka the time to flaunt his missed opportunity directly in his face.

Alva had it all planned earlier: dinner with Gaffney and Xiao, close the deal, settle her own paycheck, escort Xiao to his hotel, go out for drinks with Jerome, and make him jealous he missed out on her. So much for revenge drinks.

Alva collected her thoughts, put on her diplomatic smile, and calmly responded, "If that's the case, let me step out and make a quick phone call."

She stepped out of the hospital room, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed Jerome. Voicemail. "Hi Jerome. It's Alva. Wanted to call and let you know that it looks like I'll have to postpone drinks tonight. Client of mine became ill this evening, so it looks like I will be at the E.R. for the time being. Hope we can find another time before you head back to D.C. Okay. Talk to you later. Bye."

Reentering Xiao's room, Alva pushed her personal drama aside. It was work time. Time to face this like any other negotiation. She straightened her posture from head to heels, put on a strong and stern yet welcoming smile, and faced Juliette. "He better live through this. What are these next steps?"

Juliette kept a close eye on the woman as she stepped out of the room. She hadn't given a name, which the nurse noted. Was she avoiding something? Whatever the reason, she got the feeling that she couldn't totally trust her.

The ECG indicated a blockage in the right coronary artery, so she pushed some blood thinners into the man's I.V. and waited for his translator to return. There was scrambling everywhere around her, which would normally keep Juliette on her feet, but that day she was distracted.

The woman stepped back in the room, having hung up her phone. She addressed Juliette, her face stern but surprisingly friendly.

"Next steps." Juliette repeated her own words and then cleared her throat, "we've discovered a blockage, so we need to perform a coronary angiogram. From there we'll put in stents that should hold the blockage. It's a minimally invasive procedure, so it shouldn't take very long, but we'll need to keep him overnight for observation." She explained to the woman.

She waited for a response from the woman, needing her to explain to her patient exactly what was going on.

Looking between Juliette and Xiao, Alva repeated the nurse's words to her client. In return, he looked up at Alva and said, "<Very well. Do what you must.>" She detected a bit of fear behind his brown eyes, but he seemed resolved not to appear strong even in these circumstances. Must be the businessman in him, Alva thought.

In negotiations, Alva observed he was a rock, refusing to show any emotion or weakness to those he had dealings with. For Xiao, it was a strong tactic and it worked; Alva admired him for that.

Turning to Juliette, Alva translated the man's words, "Mr. Xiao says, 'Very well, do what you must.'" It was going to be a very long evening. Wondering about her own role in all of this, she asked, "Now I'm not entirely familiar with what a coronary angiogram is. Will Mr. Xiao be out for this procedure, or will my services be required to talk him through this?"

If they were knocking him out, Alva was going to find some coffee, a nice place to sit, and an outlet to charge her phone, since last she checked she was at 25%. However, if he was to be awake for this procedure, game on... or rather work on... No rest for the wicked, Alva thought.

Juliette shook her head at Alva's question, "Mr. Xiao is going to need to be awake in order to follow instructions during the proceedure. We're going to need you availible to translate while we're in there. It's very important in case we need him to do something for us."

"If you're alarmed by the idea of standing in during proceedure, we can figure something else out." She bit her lip and waited for the woman to respond. She hoped desperately that she would be alright with it, as she couldn't really think of another option for translating.

She glanced back at the patient, and then at the monitor. The would need to act quickly before his condition worsened.

Please say yes.

Alva cocked her left eyebrow slightly. “No, the idea doesn’t alarm me at all,” she replied. “I’ve never been one to flinch at the sight of blood.” It was a good thing she had a strong stomach. The slight of blood – at least other’s blood – never bothered her in the slightest. She just didn’t have the stomach to see her own.

Glancing over at Xiao, Alva was a bit worried for her client. He didn't look so good right now. But if she was being completely honest with herself, that worry came from a place of dreading to tell Mrs. Xiao if anything happened to him. That would not be a pleasant phone call.

Eyes focused back on the nurse. In a dead serious tone, Alva told Juliette, “Just tell me where to go, and I can translate.”

Show time.

>>"Just tell me where to go, and I can translate.”

Juliette nodded and let out a relieved breath. She walked back into Mr. Xiao's room and stood beside the gurney, addressing both him and the translator at the same time. "We're going to go into the O.R. now so we can preform the procedure. Mr. Xiao will be on a mild anesthetic, so it will be painless. You're-" she adressed the woman who hadn't given her a name yet "-going to have to scrub in. You can follow me."

She began to unhook the machines that the man was hooked up to, and with the help of the others in the room, pushed the gurney forwards. She expected that the woman would follow as the doctor behind her went over some more about the procedure while walking.