Work Text:
1. December 2005, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
"I'm still not sure about this," Mindy said, eyeing Dr. Castellano suspiciously.
Castellano folded his arms. "I'm just a nice guy," he said mildly, "offering my services to help a fellow resident out."
"Okay, first of all, don't say 'offering my services', you sound like a creepy Italian plumber, and not the fun video game kind," she said. "Second, you're not a nice guy."
Castellano huffed. "'Course I am."
A humanoid figure from somewhere in the depths of a hospital-green blanket on the couch let out a long, skeptical hum.
"See?" Mindy said. "Dr. Reed agrees."
Castellano frowned with confusion. "Who's Dr. Reed?"
"Good god," moaned the blanket, "we’ve been working together for two weeks."
"He's the hot resident," Mindy said.
"Yes, thank you, I'm the hot resident," said the blanket-clad lump.
"Oh," Castellano said dismissively. "I don't notice that kind of stuff."
Mindy rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, you didn't see him on your Italian plumber straight-dar. Anyway. You," she pointed, "are not a nice guy. I don't understand why you want to cover my shift on New Year's Eve."
Castellano shrugged. "I'm Catholic. My mother taught me to do unto others."
"Come on, what gives?" Mindy pressed. "You trying to score points with Schulman with 72-hour shifts? Is there a complicated surgery I haven't heard of you're trying to screw me out of? Did your girlfriend dump you right before New Year's and you're stuck with nothing to do?"
"I'm married," Castellano protested.
"He wants the quadruplets," Dr. Reed said with a sigh, flipping down the blanket. His hair was the kind of disheveled people usually paid money for. "The Bennetts are due any day now, and Schulman's gonna let him do it."
"Oh!" Mindy says, realization dawning. Dr. Danny Castellano and the Suspicious Generosity: case closed. "I delivered those babies this afternoon."
Castellano blinked. "You what?"
"Got paged right in the middle of the most amazing burrito I've had in my life, you've gotta try it sometime, it's from this place at the corner of 104th and Broadway, to be honest with you I was gonna say screw it and just finish that slice of heaven in peace—but those Bennett babies, they were counting on me, you know?"
"I did not," Castellano said stonily, "…know."
Mindy grabbed her new bright yellow raincoat from the rack and slipped it on. "I named them Liza, Jane, Fitz and Colin Firth. Apparently you're not allowed to name other people's babies though."
"No, that would be illegal," Dr. Reed said agreeably. "As would naming your child Colin Firth or Fitzwilliam, back in England."
"Anyhoo." Mindy tied a knot in her coat belt. "Thanks for covering for me, man."
"Wait," Castellano said, wild-eyed. "Where are you going?"
"I have a date! On top of the Empire State Building. It's New Year's Eve, duh."
"So all this time you were giving me flak for taking this shift, you were going to go out anyway?"
She picked up her purse and shrugged. "Hey, you offered your services! And now I'm going to offer my services to someone else, amirite?" She offered her hand to Dr. Reed for a fistbump, but he shook his head. "No, yeah, that sounded worse out loud."
She turned back as she left the room, taking in the slightly stunned look on Castellano's face. "Hey, cheer up, Castellano. This is kind of a nice thing you're doing. Thanks." She smiled. "Maybe one day I'll return the favor."
2. February 2012, Schulman & Associates
"Pssssst," Mindy whispered. It might have been more of a hiss than a whisper. Danny was not paying her very much attention. "Psssssttttt, Danny."
The door to his office opened, and Danny finally stepped out, scowling. "What."
"Sorry," Mindy whispered, "I didn't want to disturb you—"
"You were knocking on my office window with a stick and shouting 'psst, Danny,' I don't know which part of that was supposed to be not disruptive."
"Okay," she granted him, "I was hissing, maybe--"
"My patient could hear you. I'm pretty sure her unborn fetus could hear you."
"All of that is beside the point, Danny!" she snapped. "I need your help."
"Too bad, I have work to do," he said, and moved to shut the door.
"Danny." Mindy grabbed his arm, and pulled him across the hall, to a secluded corner by the restrooms. "I call on you in this time of desperate need, where I, a fair, tanned, maiden—"
"Oh my god, what do you want?"
Mindy lowered her voice to a completely legit, gossiping-at-the-cafeteria whisper. "I need you to take in the couple who just walked in. They're waiting in the lobby."
Danny sneaked a look over her shoulder.
"The woman Beverly's trying to intubate even though she's clearly here for a prenatal checkup?"
"She—" Mindy spun around. Beverly appeared to have killed no one, so there was really nothing to worry about. She turned back to Danny. "Yes. Look. That's JP. He was my boyfriend in college. I am a strong, capable, generous, sexy woman but I cannot watch those two make kissy faces at each other for the next six months, Danny, I am not that big a person."
Danny's face turned sour. "You date a guy named JP? What kind of name is that?"
"His name's John-Paul. After the Pope."
Danny's face softened. "Oh."
"Did you just – did you just cross yourself?" Mindy shook her head. "Never mind. The point is, I really need you to do this for me. I'm asking you, Danny—" she looked into his eyes, and gently placed a hand on his chest— "as a friend."
Danny huffed. "We're not, whatever-that-is-you-just-said."
She smacked him. "Okay, fine, then do it because I'll owe you one."
"Can that one be you not stealing my lunches for an entire month?" he said hopefully.
Mindy looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, nope. And anyway I don't steal your lunches, I just take a bite of each thing and put it all back in its place."
A queasy look passed over his face.
"Come on, how else would I get my daily dose of vegetables?" She leaned in before he could stop her and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks Danny, you're the worst but this time you're the best," she said, before hightailing it out of the waiting room, and away from JP and his catalogue life.
3. November 2014, Schulman & Associates
There were flowers waiting on her desk when she stepped into her office.
"Ah," Peter said, popping in. "I see it’s that time of the month again."
"Yup," Mindy said, sniffing the bouquet – no candy, rookie mistake – and then dropping it in the trash.
"What time of the month?" Morgan said, frowning in the hallway. "Dr. P, Dr. L isn't scheduled to menstruate until next W—"
"Thank you Morgan," Mindy said loudly. "That's very—"
"Creepy?" Peter ventured.
"—Observant of you," she finished. "But no, Peter was talking about…" She saw Danny approaching from the distance, a wide smile on his face. "…That."
Danny walked in, smile still pasted on in a way that was mildly disturbing but also kind of hot, and leaned down to kiss her. "Hey babe," he murmured against her lips. One warm hand rested on her lower back, caressing gently. Damn it, he was good.
"Good morning, Danny," Mindy said professionally. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"You know," he said, like it had just occurred to him. "Now that you mention it, I was wondering if I could maybe help you out with your 10AM appointment, if you wanted to maybe take a break—"
"Nope!" She smiled sweetly. "Super kind of you though, thanks for the offer."
Danny groaned. "Mindy. Pleaaaase."
"Is Dr. C okay?" Morgan stage-whispered.
"Danny's fine, Morgan," Peter said. "He just really, really wants," he snickered, "Dr. Lahiri's patient."
"Yeah," Mindy said. "My patient. Come on, all of you, scoot, I've got work to do, Hank and Therese are gonna be here soon."
Danny looked physically pained. "Don't call him Hank, that's, that's just…"
"His name?"
"It's disrespectful is what it is."
Mindy crossed her arms over her desk. "And what exactly do you want me to call him? King Henrik?"
Danny flushed. "…Yes?"
Morgan's eyes widened. "Wait, is Dr. L treating royalty? Do I need Dr. Reed to teach me his accent so they can understand me?"
"No, Morgan," Peter said. "They're talking about Henrik Lundqvist, the goalie for the New York Rangers. Mindy's his wife's doctor."
"Yes, and they both love me," Mindy said pointedly. "Me. Their doctor."
Danny nodded eagerly. "Yes, and I'm sure they're also love your boyfriend the doctor. You have good taste, right? Why won't they trust you? I'm loveable."
"Eh," Mindy said.
"Eh," Peter and Morgan concurred.
"I mean, I love you babe, you know that," Mindy promised. "But you know."
Danny stared at her. "I really actually don't, but I'm going to ignore that to focus on what's really important, which is please, for the love of baby Jesus, let me treat the Lundqvists today."
"Why, Danny? Because I'm not a good enough doctor for them?"
"No!" he exploded. "Because every single time they come in for a checkup, the Rangers go on a losing streak!"
"Whoa," Morgan said. "My grandmother can bewitch teams into losing spells too. She was born on Wrigley Field in 1908," he whispered.
"What? No," Danny said. "Mindy isn't bewitching him."
Mindy ran a hand through her hair. "Only with my charm."
Danny blinked at that, then frowned. "Wait, do you flirt with him?"
"Okay, A—" She elbowed him. "No, doofus. But B, that said, good luck being in a room with him for five minutes without flirting, man. Besides, the only reason he starts losing after each appointment is that I'm such a good doctor he gets distracted thinking about his baby. He's not even mad about it."
"Oh yeah, how do you know that?"
"Duh, because he's been referring more players on the team to me."
"He's been what?" Danny asked, aghast. "Who?"
Mindy rolled her eyes. "I don't know, Danny, you know I don't care about your white people sports. A couple of Dereks. Someone named Staal."
"Which Staal?"
"There's more than one?" she asked, confused.
"Trade For Hank Day is my favorite day of the month," Peter said happily. "Mindy. I support your resilience in this matter. And not only because I'm a Devils fan. Whatever you're doing to make the Rangers lose, keep doing it."
Danny turned on Peter. "You and your filthy mouth, get out of this office."
"Hey, I'm a lucky charm, okay?" Mindy said testily.
Peter raised his hands innocently. "I don't even understand how you're a Rangers fan, man. I thought you were from the Island."
"Yeah, doesn't that make you an Islander?" Morgan asked.
"Not that kind," Danny spit.
Peter shook his head. "Sounds to me like you're a too good for the Island guy," he said sadly.
"Out!" Danny yelled.
Peter grinned as he exited Mindy's office, dragging Morgan behind him. Best day ever, he mouthed.
Mindy cleared her throat. "Well. Now that your… fit is over. Let's talk about the fact that you tried to win me over with a bouquet made of leaves instead of chocolate. Really, Danny?"
Danny slumped on the edge of her desk, looking dejected. His lips could get really big when he was sad and pouty. Mindy tried to tear her eyes away.
She took off her glasses and sighed. "Look, babe, I know this is important to you. But having personal relationships with celebrities is important to me. And so I'm going to say no."
Danny dropped to his knees, edging closer to her chair. "I know, babe. This is just… really important to me. What do you think I can," he said softly, bringing one hand to softly trace the back of her calf, "do," he raised his eyes, brown and huge, to look at her from below, "to get you to consider," he leaned in close, and she couldn't help shuddering, feeling his breath on her skin, "maybe… changing your mind?"
"Damn it, Danny," she said. "What's – what are you, uh, offering?"
He leaned up and whispered in her ear. This time it was a full-body shiver. "This is so inappropriate for work," she muttered, "but how many hours now?"
He leaned in and whispered again.
Mindy cleared her throat. "Danny Castellano. You make a very convincing argument. You're really almost there."
"Uh, okay," he said, resting his hand on the desk. "You can… stick around for a bit and watch me, I guess, flirt with the King?"
Her face broke into a grin. "They'll be here in five, let's go get the room ready."
4. March 2016, Schulman & Associates
The third time she called, she was still reaching voicemail. "Hey Danny," she sighed. "You probably already landed back home, maybe you're asleep. I hope the conference went well, Peter said it was super boring so I'm guessing that you did. Anyway, I'm calling to ask if I can take over Mrs. Hall's C-section tomorrow. I've been cooped up at home for the past ten days, and I'm all good now but Leo's still sick. Your mother's still on her cruise or I'd call her up to babysit, but – anyway. Figured you could take over for a few days, till your mom gets back, and then we'll go back to the regular routine. I could… really use a good old clean surgery right about now. Sorry for rambling, I know voicemails are the work of the devil and I want to punch myself in the face just for leaving one, but you're one of the only people in the universe in 2016 who still listens to them, so. Let me know when you hear this."
She got a text back thirty minutes later.
Hey, no problem. I'll let and Mrs. Hall know. Get some rest tonight. I'll pick up Leo in the morning.
She let out a breath of relief she didn't even know she was holding in.
Another text arrived.
Night, Min. Sweet dreams.
5. May 2016, Schulman & Associates
"You remember you're taking my 1PM today, right?" Danny asked nervously, not so much walking with as he was shadowing Mindy as she made her way down the hall.
"Yes, oh my god, Danny, why are you so obsessive about this appointment? This is the tenth time you've reminded me. 1PM is literally five minutes from now. I know."
"Sorry, sorry," he said, and ducked his head. "Just wanted to make sure."
"Well, you don't need to worry," she smiled brightly. "I, Mindy Lahiri, am known for many great things, chief among which is my punctuality."
"Weirdly, that's actually true," Danny mused. "Anyway, good, because they don't have a lot of time on their lunch break."
Mindy looked at him weirdly. "'They'? You mean your mom's old friend you're too chicken to examine yourself?"
"I'm not too chi—" Danny said immediately, but cut himself off. "Yesss," he said, through gritted teeth. "That. Friend. Of Ma's."
"…that you're too chicken to—" Mindy encouraged.
"Okay, okay, I got it, yes. Look, Min—" he stopped in his tracks, which was weird, because they were right outside the exam room. He looked straight into her eyes, which was the kind of thing he really shouldn't be allowed to do at work, she sometimes thought. "We're good, right? We're – in a good place?"
"We're—yeah," she said, searching his face, which was a little pale, and a lot nervous. They were certainly in a better place than they were five months ago, when she packed her bags and her crib and her baby and took a step back, because it was the right thing to do; she hadn't known, still didn't, whether that step back would ever lead to two steps forward, but at least she knew, now, that she was walking in the right direction. She put a hand on Danny's arm. "Yeah, Danny, we're good." She smiled.
"Now come on," she said, opening the door to the exam room and stepping in, "or we'll be late for holy shit Danny it's Tom Hanks."
Tom Hanks lounged on the procedure chair, resting his arms on the stirrups. "Dr. Lahiri. It's a pleasure to meet you."
He extended a hand to hers, and when she reached out in shock, he kissed the tip of her fingers like he was channeling Don Draper. "Danny," he said, nodding at him.
Mindy's eyes widened. "Daniel Castellano," she said, turning to him. "You knew Tom Hanks was going to be here today, and you let me wear this?"
Danny was looking at her, eyes soft. "You look amazing," he said, nodding at her scrubs and lab coat.
"That feels symbolic, Danny." she said carefully. "What's going on?"
"I have a speech prepared, if you like," Tom Hanks said. "I mean, he wrote it, but I had some input, if I do say so myself."
"Where do you even know each other from?" Mindy asked.
"Funny story," Tom Hanks said.
"Not that funny," Danny winced.
"Dr. Castellano recognized me in LA last month and offered me his firstborn."
"You what?" Mindy snapped to Danny. "I mean – don't get me wrong, Mr. Hanks, I love your work, and okay, if it came down to it, like depending on the circumstances and if we could get a sequel to Mail maybe I would offer you my firstborn? He's a great baby, I think you two would hit it off—"
Danny stared at her.
"Don't look at me like that," she scowled at him, "you were the one who offered our firstborn to Tom Hanks—"
"I offered to deliver a firstborn," Danny clarified.
Tom Hanks grinned. "He did. I still like the way I tell it better."
Mindy looked at Danny. "Why would you…?"
Danny blushed. "I wanted to make a, shut up, a big gesture okay? I happened to be in LA when his first grandchild was due, so. A quid pro quo."
Tom Hanks sighed. "I can see why you need me, Castellano. I'm not sure the entire chronology of the logistics of this arrangement are quite necessary here."
"Yeah Danny." Mindy suppressed a smile, heart beating slightly faster than normal. "Don't ruin my big gesture."
"All right, you ready?" Tom Hanks asked.
"Wait, wait," Danny said, and fiddled with his phone for a bit, until some music came on that sounded like it had been composed by Danny Elfman.
"Mindy—" Tom Hanks started.
"Wait, wait!" Mindy said, and took out her phone, put it on camcorder mode, and leaned it against the exam table so it could take in the scene. "Okay, now you can go on."
"Mindy," Tom Hanks said gently. His accent had a hint of Italian and his collar was turned up, which she appreciated. "I've been an idiot. A colossal, enormous, pig-headed, foolish idiot. You are an amazing doctor, and an amazing woman, and an amazing mother; but it's the first two I fell in love with, long before I ever imagined the possibility of having kids with you. I am so proud of the work that you do, the business you founded, and the example that you are setting our son. I—"
"Stop!" Mindy interrupted.
Danny looked up, worried. "Mindy, there's—don't—"
"I know," Mindy said. "I just—I want it to be you. I want it to be you so badly." She shook her head. "I was hoping that would make more sense in this context, it didn't—"
"No, I got it," Tom Hanks said, giving her a thumbs up.
"I just—" she continued, and turned to Danny. "I want to hear you say it."
Danny swallowed, but never wavered when he spoke, his voice low. "I was a giant, colossal, selfish, idiot. Min, I am so, so sorry for the way I behaved. You deserved better appreciation and better support from me for the work you do, both as a doctor and as a mother. You know you're right for someone when they force you to be the best version of yourself, and I haven't been living up to that, I haven't been right to you recently, but I want to try being that again. I love you, and I love our family, and your happiness is more important to me than any fantasies I might have had about what a family should look like. Mindy." Danny stepped closer, taking her hand in his. "Will you—" he took a deep breath. "Let me move in with you?"
The music swelled. Tom Hanks sighed. "That was beautiful, Danny. Well done."
Mindy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah Danny, you've got the Shonda thing down, did you study for this?"
"Mindy," Danny said, pained, and clutched her hand.
"Oh, sorry, I mean, yes!" she said. "I mean, well, no, not now, speeches are nice and all and we have to talk more, but I think—I mean, it's going to work out, eventually. I hope so. I want it too." Mindy took his other hand, and could feel it, to her amazement, shaking. "Danny," she said, and hoped that her voice conveyed the full meaning of what she meant. "Thank you."
She leaned up to kiss him, and he met her halfway there, warm and passionate and so easy to sink herself into; she breathed in his cologne, ran her fingers through his hair, let her thumb rub up his jaw and into his hair.
"This is very touching," she heard Tom Hanks say, "but I have a premiere to get back to, so I'm going to leave you two lovebirds alone. It was great meeting you," he said, and Mindy felt him pass behind her, heard the click as the door closed.
For a moment she felt torn.
"Min," Danny murmured in between kisses. "You should go after him. Walk him out or something." Down the street even, she thought to herself. Maybe share a cab with him. Stroll down Central Park with Tom Hanks. Take a detour to the fountain. Rope him into a selfie on top of the Empire State Building.
"Hey," she told Danny after a last kiss, leaning in close for a hug. "I think we’re going to work out."
He squeezed her in tight, and then let her go.
She smiled.