Strangest Circumstances

A/N: Ok, so I made up the hospital, and both of Katya’s other jobs. I have no idea about things like that in Detroit…. So, I made them up! Also, extra special sorry to Kim, I’m not making her very nice. I’m really really sorry about that, but hey, the ex-wife is such a useful character…. Also, thanks to Steph, Rana, Dru, Jenn and Sammie, who reviewed! Also to anyone else who did, I can’t remember you all….

 Chapter 4

~*~*~*~
 

Katya groaned as her alarm clock blared. She sat up, groggily wiping sleep from her eyes. The irritating red numbers made her head hurt, as they proudly displayed the time. 4:00 am. She’d managed to get home and be in bed by midnight, but four hours of sleep, coupled with the three she’d managed to snatch between shifts yesterday meant that she was tired. Or more accurately, she was exhausted.

Dragging herself out of the warm covers, she jumped in the shower and shivered as the frigid water hit her skin. It warmed up a little, so at least she got a lukewarm shower that morning. By the time 4:30 rolled around, Katya had grabbed a bite to eat and was out the door.

The car took three tries to start, but it hung in there. Thank god! Thought Kat, with no small amount of relief. Things were tight as it was, she couldn’t afford to buy a new car. It was still dark out, and there were very few cars on the road. Unsurprising, really, most people were still in bed.

 
~*~*~*~

 
Marshall wondered if you could even call it a bed. Sure, they’d promised to put a proper one in by tomorrow, but he wasn’t sure it compensated having to spend the night on this piece of shit. Geez, Slim, he thought to himself, you’re going fucking soft. You’ve slept on worse crap than this.

Still, he’d gotten used to his rather nice, soft, king-sized bed. And this hospital camper thing was just not doing it. He’d made it quite clear that he would be staying with Hailie at the hospital until she could come home with him. The nurses had objected at first; and while the younger ones wilted under his dimpled smile, the old cow in charge hadn’t been moved. In the end, he’d just threatened them, and the admin had decided it really didn’t want to piss off the legendary Eminem.

In fact, they’d even been accommodating enough to find this ‘bed’ for him. Giving up, Marshall decided he wasn’t going to be getting any more sleep. It had taken him hours to fall asleep the first time; and the nurses had just woken him up as they went about their rounds. Not that he minded so much; as long as they were looking after Hailie, he’d have gone a hundred nights without sleep. Well, he would have were such a thing possible.

But, the rapper was forced to admit to himself, the uncomfortable sleeping quarters weren’t the only reason he couldn’t sleep. In fact, a pair of startling blue eyes kept intruding on his mind. And they didn’t belong to his daughter.

Fuck, Marshall, you’ve been too long without a woman, his subconscious piped up. It was true that since the reconciliation with Kim had gone awry, Em had pretty much avoided the fairer members of the species. Apart from meeting the occasional groupie for a good fuck, Marshall wanted nothing to do with women. This whole business with Kim had made up his mind once and for all-women weren’t good for anything but fucking and leeching off your bank account.

Which didn’t explain why he kept pondering the mystery of Dr Morgan. Sure, she was hot-but he was Eminem; beautiful women threw themselves at him all the time. Maybe it was because he’d recognized something like pain in her eyes, briefly. But then again, he wasn’t sure that he wasn’t seeing things.

“Oh! Y-you’re awake Mr M-Mathers.” The young, blond nurse stammered as she walked into the room. She blushed upon seeing Em sitting on his bed, wearing nothing but sweat pants. He didn’t need a sweater-the hospital’s heating system was really good.

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep on this piece of shit. You doin’ the rounds this time?” He asked her, letting a little of the infamous Slim Shady smirk out. Maybe a distraction would help…

“Y-yes. I was so sorry to hear about Hailie’s injury.” The nurse’s nametag said Sara.

Marshall shrugged. “I’ma just glad she’s gonna be ok... So, you been a nurse long, Sara?”

 
~*~*~*~

“Good mornin’, miss Katya,” the old man with the weather-beaten hat greeted.

“Morning, Tom. How are you today?” Kat smiled at the fruit picker.

“Tis a fine mornin’ today, but me old bones are complaining.” Tom answered.

“Your bones have been complaining all year!” Katya exclaimed, laughing.

“True, true, but have a little pity for an old man like meself,” the man gave her an endearing grin.

“Ha! You’ll never be old, Tom.” Kat returned.

“Ah, you’re a flatterer miss Kat, but I won’t deny it does a man’s heart good to hear that from such a fine young thing as yourself.”

Kat laughed again. “I’ll talk later, Tom, I have to get this done.”

The old man scowled. “Here now, dinna I tell you to get out o’ this job?”

Kat sighed. “I know, but I need the money.”

He tsked. “You be a smart lass, why doncha get a proper job?”

“I have one, I’m a doctor remember?”

“Aye, why you working here then?” Tom asked pointedly.

Kat looked dejected. “I told you, I need the money.”

“But them doctors make enough,” Tom frowned.

“I’m still paying off my med school fees, and my salary doesn’t cover them. And this is the only job that I can fit around my schedule.”

“Tsk,” Tom said. “Well, lassy, I won’t hold you up. But remember what ole’ Tom said now, you hear? You gonna ruin them lovely hands of yours workin’ here.”

“Thanks, Tom.” Kat smiled at the old man as he shuffled off. He’d worked here forever, much longer than her, but he welcomed her into the fold nonetheless.

 

Kat’s smiled faded as she got back to work. It was a hard job; loading and unloading crates, unloading fruit and helping the stall owners get ready for the midday markets. But she’d spoken the truth to Tom. Tuesday mornings were the only time that she had off every week, because as an ER doctor she worked shifts. And those shifts changed all the time, so she never knew exactly when she would be working. The only guaranteed time off she had was until 1:00 pm on a Tuesday. Which was why she’d been able to get this job.

Didn’t make her like it anymore. It was very hard work, though at least it meant she was strong. Tiny she was, but more than one foolish man had underestimated the strength in that little body. “KATYA! We need that crate NOW!”

“Coming, Paul.” She carried the crate, which she couldn’t see over the top of, over to her boss.

“Now, get your cute little butt over there.” Paul pointed in the direction of a truck that had just pulled up, a huge stack of crates packed with fruit and veg on its back tray.

“Yes, Paul.” She trudged over to the truck. She had a quick word to the driver about which crates needed gentler handling, made sure it was quite clear that she wasn’t interested in going back to his motel with him, and got back to unloading crates.
 

~*~*~*~ 

“Yo, dawg, where the fuck are ya?” Dre’s voiced boomed over Marshall’s cell phone.

“The hospital,” Em replied.

“WHAT? What the fuck you do now?”

“It ain’t me, man, Hailie hurt herself.” Marshall snapped.

“Shit, she ok?” Dre loved Em’s little girl.

“Yeah, they say she’s gonna be aiight, but she hurt herself pretty bad. Broken arm, bruises, and she got a fuckin’ wooden spike through her side. Punctured her intestines and shit.”

“Yo, what the hell she do?” Dre sounded shocked.

“Fell off a playground at McDonald’s.” Marshall said. “I couldn’t get to her in time…she just fell.”

“You gonna stay at the hospital?” Dre asked, already knowing the answer.

“Hell yeah.”

“How long is she gonna be in there?”

“Umm…” Marshall thought for a sec. “Hey, they didn’t tell me…I’ll ask the doctor chick when she comes back today.”

“Chick? Hailie’s doctor’s a chick?” Dre asked, surprised.

“Yeah, well, one of them is.”

“She’s got more than one? Man, she musta hurt herself.”

“That’s what I said, bitch, ain’t ya been listening?” Marshall said jokingly.

“Shut the fuck up, you know I have.” Dre replied good-naturedly.

“Yeah, she’s had surgery an’ everything.” Marshall went back to the subject of his daughter.

“You can tell me everything in a minute, man. Which hospital you at?”

“Ahh, Detroit General.”

“I’ma be there soon. You want me to pick the guys up?”

“Fuck, I ain’t even told them yet. Shit! I gotta tell Kim.”

“Yo, you better do that. I’ll pick up the guys on the way, aiight?”

“Thanks, dawg, I owe ya one.” Em said, gratefully.

“Nah, you know we all love Hailie. Tell her Uncle Dre will be there soon.”

“K, see ya later.”

~*~*~*~

Thank god! Kat wiped her forehead. It was freezing out, but the hard, manual labour had warmed her up. It had just gone 11:00 am, and her shift at the hospital started at 1:30 pm. Well, a couple of hours to kill, Kat thought to herself, I may as well go to the office and get some stuff done.

Half an hour later she’d picked up her lunch and arrived at a small block of offices quite close to the hospital. Locking her car, she grabbed her lunch and made her way inside. “Katie! We didn’t expect to see you today!” Rachel called from her office as Kat walked past.

“Well, I got off an hour early, and my shift doesn’t start till half 1:00.” Katya said, pausing in the doorway.

“And you came here?” Rachel laughed. “Shit, girl, you’re wack. Don’t ya have anything better to do?”

Kat shrugged. “Nah, besides, gotta get this shit done.”

“Yeah, I hear ya.” Rachel nodded. Kat moved on, stopping again a couple of doors down. Entering the tiny office, she shrugged out of her jacket and dropped her lunch on the desk. Sighing, she sat down behind the cheap wood desk, and looked at the inbox, which was full. Mouth set in a straight line, she got to work.

 
An hour and a half later, she sat back and closed her eyes. She was employed by a group of newspapers and magazines, all owned by the same corporation. Some genius had worked out how much faster it would be for the editors of the publications if, when reading through possible articles, they didn’t have to worry about typos and spelling and punctuation errors. So the corporation set up offices like hers all over the cities it printed in, and hired people to edit the articles and writing before it got to the editors. Each person got a set amount of articles to edit, and they had to be done by Saturday. But there were no office hours; you could do the editing whenever, providing you got it all done by the end of the week. It was the only other job Kat had been able to find that fit with her schedule.

 
~*~*~*~

“Hey, dawg,” Proof called as he spotted Em.

“Yo,” Marshall slapped hands with Proof, and then Dre. “Where the others at?”

“They all unconscious man, Kon woke up enough to say he’ll be here later, the others we left a note for.”

“They party a little hard last night?” Marshall smirked.

“Yeah, it was a wild scene, ya shoulda been there dawg,” Proof said.

“Nah, I ain’t doin’ that shit no more, not while I’m on probation.”

“So, where’s your girl at?” Dre demanded. Marshall led them inside Hailie’s room. She was awake and watching cartoons.

“Uncle Dre!” She squealed. “Uncle Proof!”

“Hailie!” Dre and Proof both rushed to give the little girl a hug. She squeaked a bit as they hit her sore side, and they both pulled back immediately, contrite.

“Sorry, Hai, we didn’t mean to hurt ya,” Proof said.

“It’s ok,” Hailie said solemnly. “My insides got all messed up.”

“Your dada told us,” Dre said. “You get better quick, ya hear? We can’t have our leadin’ lady all injured an’ in the hospital now, can we?”

Hailie giggled. “Are you gonna visit for awhile? Daddy’s being boring this morning.”

“Hey!” Marshall said indignantly. “I’m never boring!”

“Yes you are Daddy,” Hailie told him. “You been all frowny. But don’t worry, I still love you anyway.”

“Gee, thanks.” Marshall mock-glared at her. She stuck her tongue out. Proof and Dre were both laughing silently.

“Come sit down, Uncle Dre and Uncle Proof.” Hailie said commandingly. The men obeyed. “And now we’re gonna watch cartoons.” She informed them. They had no choice; cartoons it was.

 

~*~*~*~

Katya waved as she left the patient’s room. She’d just started her shifts, and was on her way up to Hailie’s room. When she got to the correct floor, she smiled at the nurses as she picked up the little child’s file. Humming softly, she made her way to the room they’d moved Hailie to.

She had her head down, so she didn’t realise there was anyone else in the room. “Good afternoon, Hailie, how are…” Her voice trailed off as she looked up, and realised apart from Hailie and Marshall, there were also two black guys watching her. She recognized them; Dre was a legend, anyone who knew anything about hip-hop knew him. She guessed the other guy had to be from D12. Kat had seen photos, she just couldn’t quite remember the guy’s name.

“Hot day-um,” The unknown black guy whistled.

“Yo Slim, this the doctor chick you was talkin’ bout?” Dre asked, looking her up and down appreciatively. Katya blushed under the scrutiny.

“Yeah, dat’s her. Hey,” Marshall greeted Kat.

“Good afternoon Mr Mathers, sirs,” Katya returned, nodding shyly at Dre and Proof. They grinned, coming forward.

“Yo, I’m Proof.” The guy shook her hand. His much bigger, darker one engulfed her tiny hand.

“And coz Em clearly forgot his manners and ain’t gonna introduce us, I’m Dre.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kat said.

“It’s more than nice to meet you,” Proof grinned at her. She blushed again, and ducking her head, dodged around them and walked over to the bed. “How are you feeling today, Hailie?”

“Much better Doctor…” Hailie frowned, she couldn’t remember the woman’s name.

“I’m Doctor Morgan, but you can call me Katya or Kat if you want.”

“I’m going to call you…. Doctor Kat.” Hailie decided.

“Ok, then. Have the nurses been to see you?”

“Yep! They put a funny thing on my arm and everything.” Hailie informed her.

“They were testing your blood pressure.” Kat smiled.

Kat continued to talk to Hailie, and Marshall watched her from his chair on the other side of the small room. “Dawg, you didn’t say she was fine,” Dre said, thumping Marshall on the back.

Em shrugged. “I was more worried about Hai, ya know? Didn’t really have time to check her out an’ all.”

Proof scoffed. “You tellin’ us you didn’t notice a fine piece of ass like dat? You losing your touch or what man?”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Marshall scowled. His lack of sleep meant his temperament was even less sunny than usual.

“Oh, touchy Slim,” Dre said jokingly. “Hey,” he continued, serious suddenly. “Didja speak to Kim?”

Marshall’s scowl deepened. “Yeah.”

“What’d she hafta say?”

Marshall rolled his eyes, though his fists clenched slightly, betraying his attempt at indifference. “Just that she ain’t gonna come home, coz Hai’s ok, and that I hafta call her if there’s any change or what.”

“Least ya don’t have to worry bout her flipping out or what, she ain’t gonna get hysterical in Europe.” Dre pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess.” Marshall agreed reluctantly. It wasn’t that he wanted to have to deal with his ex-wife; he didn’t. But he would have liked her to be there for Hailie, who was going to want her Mommy. And what was he supposed to tell her, the truth? That her mother was too busy taking a two-month holiday in Europe with her boyfriend to come and see how her injured daughter was?

And she’d only been gone three weeks. It didn’t bother Marshall-he got custody of his daughter for two whole months! But he knew Hailie wondered about her mother’s love for her, and he hated seeing his baby girl in pain.

“Mr Mathers?” Katya repeated again. Marshall looked at her, blinking. He’d zoned for a minute.

“Sorry, what?” He asked.

“I hear you’re staying at the hospital.” Kat suppressed a grin. It fit with her picture of him; the devoted father.

“Yeah, so?” Marshall’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. So did Kat’s, in response. She didn’t like people getting snappy with her.

Proof and Dre sniggered, they knew Marshall could get defensive when it came to matters regarding his daughter.

“Well, I was just going to say, I don’t suppose you’d mind not hitting on the nurses while you’re here?” Katya asked dryly. She hadn’t been going to say anything; she’d overheard two of the youngest nurses talking as she walked in. However, if he was going to get stroppy with her…

“I ain’t been doin’ nothing!” Marshall protested. What the fuck? So he chatted to that nurse, what was her name…Sara! So he chatted to Sara a bit, how the hell did the doctor know that?

“It’s just that you’re distracting them.” Kat said, trying not to smirk. “I overheard them gossiping. And they’ll never get any work done if they’re too busy discussing exactly how well defined your chest is.”

Marshall’s friends burst out laughing. He gave them his best Slim Shady glare; they just laughed harder. “I was just being friendly.” Em told Kat, sulkily.

“I’m sure.” Her tone was wry, before she relented. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. I was actually going to ask if you wanted to know how long Hailie is going to be in for, and what sort of physio she is going to have to do.”

Marshall nodded. “Yeah, by da way, money ain’t an issue for that. So get the best in.”

Katya smiled. “I assure you, all of our doctors are very good.”

“Doctor Morgan!” A booming voice sounded from the doorway. Kat froze; it was so not the voice she wanted to be hearing.

“Yes, Tomas?” She asked reluctantly, turning slowly. She felt, rather than saw, Marshall tense up in his chair. Dre and Proof, picking up on his tension, stood straighter. Even Hailie stopped paying so much attention to cartoons.

“What are you doing with my patient?” Tomas snapped.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Doctor Wallace, Hailie is my patient.” Speaking of, Kat thought, you’re trying mine.

“*I* was the attending doctor in ER, and I was the senior doctor on duty. I think you’ll find she’s my patient.” Tomas smiled condescendingly, thinking he’d won.

“No fuckin’ way are you gonna be my daughter’s doctor!” Marshall said angrily.

Kat held a hand up, telling him to be quiet. She took a few steps forward, so she was in the centre of the small room, half way between Dr Wallace and Marshall, Dre and Proof.

“Actually,” Kat said sweetly. “I spoke to the supervisor, and put in a request last night that Hailie be put under my jurisdiction.”

Tomas frowned thoughtfully. “That may be so Katya, but for a request to go through so fast, I would have had to have been given a chance to stop it. A form allowing me to halt the switch would have had to have been placed on my desk.”

Katya’s eyes opened in a look of innocence. “Oh, but I put the form on your desk before I left last night. Considering you hadn’t put in a complaint by noon, the supervisor placed Hailie in my care.”

Wallace looked furious. His face went red as he roared, “I was never given the form!”

“Oh yes,” Kat said, blue eyes wide in mock innocence. “I put it on your desk, last night….”

Tomas knew she had made him miss seeing the form deliberately. Sputtering furiously, he turned on his heel and marched back into the hall. Just before he left, he whirled back around and hissed, “You won’t be able to hold it above my head forever,” With that, he stalked away.

Sighing, Kat turned back to face the occupants of the room. Glancing over at Hailie, who, after seeing that the nasty man wasn’t going to be her doctor, had gone back to watching cartoons, Kat smiled at the three men who were looking a little shocked. “He’s a real ass.” She explained, rather unnecessarily.

“He always like that?” Proof asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yep,” Kat nodded ruefully.

“Yeah, he was like that last night, too.” Marshall put in. Facing Katya, he said, “Thanks…. For not lettin’ him be Hai’s doctor an’ all.”

“No problem.”

“Did ya really give him that form?” Dre questioned.

Kat nodded. “Of course,” she said, innocently. “Although, it may have been accidentally placed at the bottom of his outbox…but I wouldn’t know how that happened.”

The three men burst out laughing.

Suddenly Marshall frowned. “What was he talking about, when he said you can’t hold it above his head? Can’t hold what?”

Kat’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Oh, nothing.” She spoke nervously. “Just a little bad blood between us, that’s all. Now, about Hailie’s stay…”

Marshall looked at her. “You be changing the subject.”

“I am not!” Kat said, a little too heatedly. Marshall just looked at her, sceptically. She waved a hand, carelessly, though her expression was still nervous. “Nothing, just bad history.”

“O..k..” Marshall said doubtfully. “So, how long is Hai-Hai gonna be in here?”

Chapter 5

Author: angelic_devil98@hotmail.com

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These stories are for entertainment purposes only.  They are completely fictitious, and the authors mean no harm to EMINEM, his family, friends, or anyone else that may have been depicted as a 'real life' character.  No money was made on the fiction here, either directly or indirectly, i.e. paid advertising. In other words - it's just a bunch of shit we wrote for fun. Please don't take it seriously.