Chapter Text
Dr. Melissa King was rarely the villain in anyone’s story.
She had worked hard her entire life to keep it that way.
When she was a little girl, she sacrificed her preferred songs, foods, movies, games, toys, whatever, if it meant Becca was happy. She learned how to tell if her sister was close to a meltdown and how to fix it better than her parents, teachers or therapists ever could.
“Melissa, you’re such a good sister, what would we ever do without you? You are such a little hero.”
Mel was still young when she began to equate sacrifice with love and admiration. When she was the hero, she was loved.
When her dad died in high school (car accident, it was a dirty family secret that he was drunk) , she quit the lacrosse team and got a part time job at the local Barnes and Noble after school. She could pick Becca up, drop her in the Starbucks with some of those patterned coloring books and manga, work for a while and contribute to the bills her dad left behind.
“Mel, you’re my hero,” her mom told her over and over again. Mel wore those words like a badge of honor.
A few months later, her mother’s cancer returned with a vengeance and took her while Mel was still processing the diagnosis. Juggling a funeral, her estate, medical bills, care for her sister, the mind numbing realization that they were alone on top of medical school…it didn’t matter when Becca crawled into bed with her at night looking for comfort. Becca didn’t need to tell her that she was her hero. She knew.
Mel had lost count of how many patients and families had called her a hero. She had saved so many lives, after all. Maybe some people would become used to it, but Mel never did. Every time a pair of thankful hands grasped her and said “Thank you Dr. King, you’re such a hero” she was right back to that little girl with pigtails, swelling with pride because she knew she was loved and needed.
Of course, no one knew how much she loved being the hero. That’s part of being a good hero, you have to be humble about it. You need to be unassuming and almost embarrassed looking when you respond with things like “Oh, I’m just doing my job” or “You don’t need to thank me, I’m so happy to help.”
Mel was the embodiment of altruism. The quintessential hero.
That’s why it didn’t really bother her that Abby Bradford (formally Langdon) was staring daggers at her from her front porch while she sat in the passenger seat of Frank’s Camry. For as many people in the world who thought Mel King hung the moon, she could handle one who thought she burned the world down.
The ink had been dry on their divorce papers for a little over 6 months. Frank had served her with papers 7 months before that, and 3 months before that he had requested an official separation. Frank had wanted to move right into Mel’s apartment, but Mel thought a little more clearly than he did. Mel was a planner, always thinking two steps ahead. That’s why she made sure he had shown up at Yolanda Garcia’s doorstep that evening instead, detailing the unraveling of their marriage and begging could he please, please crash on her couch, just for a week or so?
That was one of the reasons Mel was so successful. She was a mastermind. She knew what her goal was and she knew exactly how she was going to get there.
After her first shift at PTMC, when she met Dr. Frank Langdon, she knew. She knew after he looked at her like he was looking into her soul and all her secrets and told her “I need you.” She knew that man was going to be her happily ever after, even if it was at another woman’s expense. It was her turn.
When Frank didn’t show up for her next shift or the one after that, and Mel heard the rumors about his fight with Robby in the ambulance bay and what Santos had discovered, she felt bad, of course. But she actually thought she could use it to her advantage. You see, Mel had experience with addiction. Lots of experience. Between her dad and her time at the VA, Mel knew exactly what someone with substance use disorder needed. She was more than ready to be Frank’s soft place to land, steady source of comfort, his person to turn to without fear of judgment. Mel knew his wife had two little kids and a puppy to care for on top of her recently unemployed, addict husband. Mel knew that she could easily win the upper hand there.
Mel spent the next 10 months patiently waiting for Dr. Langdon to make his return to PTMC while scavenging for every spare bit of information she could find about him. Without being obvious, of course. That was easy, because people tended to ignore Mel.
She overheard Dana and Princess talking about Robby’s ever sour mood one morning at the nurses station.
“He’s angry because he let Langdon down. The two of them, they’re like that. You know Langdon can’t stand to let people down either.”
Noted.
Yo was chatting in a hushed voice with Cassie in the break room while Mel had her earbuds in, listening to nothing and eating a protein bar.
“You know how Langdon is. He needs to feel needed. Ever since the kids, I don’t think Abby got that. Cared to get that. Honestly they were a ticking time bomb.”
Noted.
Shen, of all people. It was a random morning between shifts, some bakery had brought a box of assorted pastries as a thank you for helping their owner, a sweet older man who had suffered a mild heart attack the week before.
“Abbott, bro, remember those muffins someone’s mom made a few years ago? Who’s mom was that? Langdon’s damn, that lady could bake.”
Noted.
By the time Frank came back to The Pitt in July, Mel had a fully detailed character analysis of the man she decided would be hers, despite having met him once. More importantly, she knew exactly the kind of woman he needed.
Luckily for Mel, that woman wasn’t too far off from who she was. That was good, because acting was never her strong point.
Frank didn’t want to let the ones he loved down. Mel understood mentality behind addiction, he wouldn’t let her down, and she would let him know that.
Frank was secretly a nerd. Mel was…not so secretly a nerd. Easy.
Abby was too busy, too apathetic, too resentful to care for Frank. Mel was nothing if not a natural caretaker. Down to the homemade baked goods.
Franks pride and joy were his kids. Mel loved kids, truly. She loved the way they saw the world with innocence and wonder and always had hoped against reason motherhood was in her future. Asking about Tanner and Penny would be a no brainer.
Frank thrived on praise. He was easily one of the most impressive doctors Mel had worked with (that one time). Stroking his ego, making sure he knew how impressive he was…no problem.
Frank needed to be needed. Mel desperately needed someone for herself. For once.
Even though Mel was confident her plan would work, even she was surprised at how quickly Frank became wrapped around her finger. All she had to do really was ask him to teach her how to do a closed cervical reduction and she could see him become putty in her hands. Literally. The way he looked at her in that moment in the ambulance bay made her weak in the knees like never before.
It all happened so fast after that night. Mel and Frank orbited each other in the department, working like two sides of the same coin. Soon it was unusual to see one without the other close behind.
Frank had learned the signs that Mel was overstimulated and overwhelmed before the people she had worked with every day for 10 months had. Hell…it took him less time than it took her parents. Frank learned to look for her wringing her hands, closing her eyes, whispering to herself, and there he was, grounding her with a hand on her shoulder or leading her to a quiet space.
Mel should have been annoyed that her Mom’s less than trusty old Volvo was in the shop (again), but it was hard to be annoyed when she knew Frank would jump at the chance to drive her to and from work. And jump, he did. He even insisted they continue carpooling once her car was repaired, because why would she want to risk another breakdown? Mel pretended to balk at the suggestion. Mel King would never want to impose. But both of them knew it was all for show. They needed those 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night like they needed air to breath. Some people needed coffee to wake up in the morning or a glass of wine at night to unwind. Mel and Frank needed each other.
Mel wanted Frank to feel needed, but she did, in truth, need him. She didn’t need to pretend. She just didn’t expect it to feel so…nice. Frank made her feel safe and protected in a way she had never experienced. Like for the first time in her entire life, she could exhale. She knew someone was there to catch her.
Frank needed her, too. Frank needed Mel to reassure him that he was still worthy of love and respect, that he was not defined by one chapter of his life. Frank needed her to remind him that his kids adored him and that he was an incredible dad, that he was a talented and capable doctor, and that he might not get things right the first time, but he would always get there in the end.
The night Frank kissed her, Mel could have sworn all space and time stood still. She had never believed in soulmates, but in that moment, she knew beyond any doubt that he was hers. For the first time in her life, she was complete. And that was enough to erase any fragment of guilt Mel might carried for being the other woman. Nothing that was wrong could possibly feel this right.
Abby didn’t help herself though. Mel heard her on the other side of Frank’s Apple Car Play on the way home from work sometimes. Her voice clipped, strained, short, even when Frank sounded his warmest (which made Mel’s skin crawl). She knew Abby refused to put the kids on the phone after difficult cases with kids just because she wanted to be spiteful. Frank told her on more than one occasion about the comments she made. She was embarrassed of his rehab stints. She was disgusted that he relapsed. Ashamed that he had been out of work. She couldn’t trust him with money, the kids, their lives. This wasn’t what he promised her. Her parents were so disappointed. Abby found new ways every day to let Frank know what a disgrace he was.
Sure, Mel was technically the other woman and therefor the villain in the story, but Abby broke her marriage way before Mel came along.
That’s what made it so easy to look past the gold ring Frank still wore when he was running his hands through her hair or pressing his fingers into her wet center. His name might be tied to Abby Langdon on a piece of paper, but in every way that mattered, in his heart, on his lips, in his mind, in his future, Frank Langdon only belonged to Mel.
It was just that piece of paper that was kind of a problem.
Abby knew about Mel. She knew the second Frank brought home the artfully decorated Thanksgiving cookies (Mel had planned that, by the way. Frank would fantasize about Mel making cookies with Tanner and Penny, Abby would feel immediately threatened. Two birds, one stone). Abby knew, but having proof was another thing.
Their texts were all strictly platonic and professional. Abby’s lawyer could use them in court, but how could he explain texts from Yoyo, Cassie, Abbott, Shen…all with similar tones and topics. There were late night calls to Mel’s phone, sure. But there were late night calls to Samira and Dana and Ellis, too. They needed to confer on cases sometimes or discuss shift changes. None of that proved adultery.
Even if Abby wanted to use his location at Mel’s apartment as proof…there was a Methodist church next door that hosted N.A. meetings. Convenient.
Truly, no one at work knew, not even Yoyo. She was happy to let Frank crash at her place for a bit, even though she gave him a hard time in the trauma room about it. It was actually Yo’s idea to have Mel over one night when Frank seemed “pissy”. She figured if Mel was the key to Frank’s good mood at work, she might help at home, too. So that was how they became a little trio, bonding over fucked up ER stories and listening to Frank vent about Abby (who Yoyo never really liked to begin with.) In Yo’s mind, sweet, down to earth Mel was the perfect complement to her best friend, and she was more than happy to nudge them together.
As was the rest of the department. Of course they noticed the way the two had gravitated towards each other at work, but no one had ever expected anything untoward. After all, Frank was married and Mel was as close to sainthood as a person could get. No one would ever accuse her of crossing that line with a married man. Not Mel.
So when Abby stormed into PTMC after being served divorce papers at her ladies luncheon, the crew at The Pitt was more than happy to tell her just that. Abby shook her manicured finger in Mel’s face, screaming about that whore that stole her husband. Dana, who at one point would have taken up for Abby against anyone, squared right up to Abby with a steely gaze.
“You will NOT fuckin’ speak about Dr King like that, do you fuckin’ understand me, Abby? You don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about here.”
Cassie, who had been at Abby’s baby shower, sheltered Mel with her arms, comforting her while shooting daggers at Abby as if to say “Look at this precious, meek, girl. How dare you, you monster!”
Even Robby, who last time she checked still hated Frank, looked at Abby with disgust as he called security to escort her out.
Frank had been in a trauma when Abby stormed in that day. He walked in just in time to see Ahmed brusquely push her out the automatic doors. At the last moment, Abby turned around to see her husband embrace Mel, hands cradling her head and eyes locked in concern she had only seen reserved for their children. Mel broke free of his grasp for just long enough to make eye contact with Abby, who stood outside, bewildered and broken. A millisecond was all it took for Mel to convey what she wanted her to know.
Mel had won.
Dr. Melissa King sat in the passenger seat of Dr. Frank Langdon’s Camry, watching him hug his kids goodbye. The four of them had spent weekend decorating cookies, visiting the zoo, walking their beloved Goldendoodle and watching movies cuddled on the couch. Mel’s heart swelled with so much love as she watched Frank tousle Tanner’s hair and kiss Penny’s cheek that she didn’t even notice Abby staring at the new diamond on Mel’s finger, reflecting sunlight off the windshield.
Frank drove Mel to their new home, where Becca had a fully furnished basement apartment where she could craft to her heart’s content. They had a fenced backyard for their dog and a swing set for the kids. Frank made sure Mel had her perfect reading room and Mel made sure Frank had a back massage every night, that usually led to something else.
Frank and Mel walked into their house that still smelled like freshly baked cookies. Mel took a seat at their kitchen island while Frank stood behind her, his strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, cheek resting on top of her head. Mel had to blink back tears as the reality of her new life took hold.
She had a partner who loved her and protected her like it was his sole purpose on earth. She had the two most beautiful, perfect bonus children who adored her and she adored right back. Their life was cozy and warm and familiar and everything Mel thought she would never have.
Dr. Mel King may be the villain in someone’s story, but she made herself the hero in her own story.
And to Mel, that was all that mattered.