From the moment that Abby first entered Medical that morning she had kept her interactions with her colleagues to a minimum. She had woken with a headache - just as she had every morning - but without her pills hadn’t been able to alleviate the discomfort they always brought. And since her pain was chronic she chose not to ask one of them to sign out a dose of pain relief pills. They’d only last but so long and then she’d be right back to where she started. Abby also knew how smart some of her colleagues were and didn’t want to alert any of them to her condition. The less who knew the better. So, she powered through the pain and kept to herself.
All throughout the day Abby debated the pros and cons of breaking the promise that she had made. And at the end of her shift she was at an impasse. The list of pros and cons that she had come up with was even. In her mind she had very valid reasons for not wanting to reveal the existence of her chronic headaches. But there was a very small part of her that knew that Clarke was right.
It wasn’t until Dr. McCoy passed into her line of sight that Abby was able to make up her mind. And so, to avoid her daughter from bursting into Medical and making a scene she followed McCoy to his office. But instead of entering she lingered by the door and knocked on the doorframe before saying, “Do you have a moment to discuss a patient, Doctor McCoy?”
Lifting his head from the stack of paperwork on his desk, Leonard nodded, gesturing for Abby to have a seat in one of the chairs. “Of course,” he said. “Come on in, Dr. Griffin.” Truth be told, he’d been wanting to speak with Abby, himself. She was one of the newer doctors in Atlantis and he wanted to get to know her better. He hadn’t been in the best of places when he’d come back, but now that he was settling back in, learning more about the newest doctor on his staff was definitely on his list. He supposed this was as good a start as any.
“Thank you. This won’t take long,” Abby said as she came into his office and sat down in the closest chair. The fact that the chair she chose was also the one closest to the door, well, that was just a coincidence. Or was it? When she had his full attention Abby continued by saying, “The patient in question suffered a trauma in the past that led to the deterioration of parts of their brain. A treatment was discovered and administered that prevented any further deterioration from occurring. And over time it was believed that the deterioration that had already occurred would be reversed. However, while brain scans showed that there have been no further deterioration of the patient’s brain they have developed chronic and often debilitating headaches.”
Leonard leaned forward, listening as she spoke. He nodded as she explained the case. “Do you believe the headaches are linked to this trauma or that there is another cause?” he asked. Treating headaches was something he could easily do, but knowing the cause was important. Was it physical? Psychological? He had the technology and the expertise to deal with the former, but the latter would require a consult with Claire. Either way, he was going to need more information.
It wasn’t until McCoy asked the question that had plagued her for days on end that Abby allowed her body to relax. Though only ever so slightly. This had been what she had been missing since she’d first been taken from the bunker. And while she would never admit it to Clarke, perhaps bringing her condition up to another professional wasn’t going to be as terrible as she had initially believed.
“I believe the headaches are linked to the trauma and that the treatment might not have been administered exactly as it had been relayed. Though I am also not ready to rule out the possibility of it being a symptom of another more serious condition.”
Leonard nodded. “It sounds like we need to run some tests,” he suggested. No matter how long they sat here and discussed it, coming up with an answer was going to be hard without gathering more data. It sounded like they were going to need more before they could come up with a reliable diagnosis.
“When do you think you can get your patient to come in?”
“I agree that a fresh battery of tests should be run,” Abby said and then paused. She had a choice now. Reveal that she was the patient that they had been discussing. Or wait another couple of days and then come clean. For a brief moment Abby considered option number two but then she thought of Clarke and how disappointed she would be.
With her mind made up, Abby, stood and shoved both hands into the pocket of her lab coat. “Today, since the patient we’ve been discussing is currently standing in front of you.”
There was a quiet moment as Leonard let her words sink in. Abby was the patient. The woman standing in front of him, who had been seeing patients since her arrival, was suffering the debilitating headaches.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” he barked loudly, breaking the silence. “You should have brought this to me and Jemma immediately! Instead, you’ve endangered the patients in our care by not only keeping your condition from us, but treating patients as if there was nothing wrong with you!”
Leonard had a temper, he was well aware of that, but he also knew he was right - she’d handled this badly. He’d have half a mind to suspend her immediately if he didn’t need to confer with Jemma first.
When McCoy’s yelling broke the silence in the office, Abby flinched but chose to remain silent. His reaction - along with Clarke’s - was completely warranted. She could see that now. In the bunker she was able to continue treating patients because Jackson was keeping a watchful eye on her. And though she had wished that he wasn’t, Marcus, was also keeping a watchful eye on her.
However, Atlantis was not the bunker. Abby didn’t have the same advantages here that she had there. So, her condition should have been brought up to her superiors from the very beginning. But her pride got in the way.
“I understand that I’ve handled this badly and will accept whatever punishment that you or Dr. Fitzsimmons deem necessary.”
“You’re damn right you handled it badly,” he agreed. If it was up to him, she wouldn’t go near a patient until she was medically and psychologically cleared, but that wasn’t up to just him. Knowing it was something he’d need to talk to Jemma about, he decided to focus on the matter of her condition.
Standing up, he gestured toward the door. “All right, Doctor Griffin,” he said, “let’s run some tests.”