badly_knitted's Fluff Emporium

Title: Doctor Harper Takes Charge

Author: badly_knitted     

Characters: Owen, OCs

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Nada.

Summary: Owen enjoys the feeling of being in charge that he gets from being a doctor.

Word Count: 584

Written For: wrabbit’s prompt ‘Any, Any, three words to gain control: "I'm a Doctor",’ at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.

It’s amazing the way shouting out ‘I’m a doctor’ during a crisis suddenly puts you in a position of authority over everyone else. Owen thinks he’ll never tire of the rush it gives him to take charge of a situation.

This time it’s a non-alien related incident, a simple car accident. A cyclist has been knocked off his bike by a driver who was too busy talking on his phone to pay attention to other road users. Owen saw it happen as he waited at a red light. Abandoning his car, he grabbed his medical bag and pushed his way through the crowds of onlookers who gravitate towards any such accident. The general public has a ghoulish tendency to want to gawk at other people’s misfortune, the bloodier the better. There’s certainly enough blood here to satisfy them.

“Let me through, I’m a doctor!”

He feels like Moses parting the Red Sea as people move aside to make way for him, but once through the crowd he ignores them to concentrate on his patient, only glancing up to ask if anyone has called an ambulance.

“I have. I called the police too.” The speaker is a pretty young woman, and under other circumstances Owen would be chatting her up, but now isn’t the time.

“Good thinking. Did you see what happened? The police will need to take statements from witnesses so you’d better stick around.” Well, just because he can’t spare the time to chat her up now doesn’t mean he can’t make sure he gets the chance later.

The good news is that his patient is wearing a cycle helmet, and from the look of it, he didn’t land on his head. The bad news is that he’s got a broken leg, probable fractured pelvis, and possible internal injuries. The passenger side wheels of the car went right over him and Owen’s not sure how much his mangled bicycle protected him.

He’s not much more than a kid, late teens probably; he’s conscious but in a lot of pain. With the help of a guy from the crowd, Owen separates bike from rider so he can stabilise the kid’s broken leg without moving him too much. He hopes the bike’s insured because it looks like a write-off to Owen. Then again, the kid’s not going to be in any shape to cycle for quite some time.

The ambulance arrives just before the police get to the scene, and the paramedics take over. Owen moves aside, he’s not needed now, but he’ll call the hospital later to check on the patient. For now, he has another call to make.

“Jack? Owen. I’ll be in a bit late, not sure how long. Been a road accident, kid got knocked off his bike and run over.” He listens to the inevitable question. “No, I’m not the driver, I’m just a witness and the first medic on the scene. Got to stick around and give a statement to the cops. I’ll be in as soon as I’m done.”

Pretty girl is still there and she smiles as Owen approaches her.

“Hi, Doctor Owen Harper, and you are?”

“Melanie Crane, nice to meet you, Doctor Harper.”

“Call me Owen. Listen, Melanie, you look like you’ve had a bit of a shock, how about I buy you a cuppa after we give the police our statements?”

“I’d like that.” She smiles at him and Owen smiles back. The day already seems brighter.

Being a doctor definitely has its perks.

The End