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Frank Langdon didn't get jealous easily. In fact, he enjoyed when he saw people flirting with Mel. Every single one of them thought they had a chance with her, a smart, beautiful, successful doctor. He felt a surge of pride every time she pointed over to him, signaling that she had a boyfriend, and the patient would awkwardly shift in the bed. He'd always step in if she got too uncomfortable or if they laid a hand on her, but he enjoyed sitting back, knowing that he was going to be able to do all the things they could only imagine to her.
Today however was much different. He felt like he had been run over by a freight train when he saw who Mel was sitting with. Everyone joked that Langdon couldn't help him due to a conflict of interest, similar to how you can't help family when they come in, and now he was going crazy. Mel doesn't even know who she's talking to right now, and he's just flirting away with her.
"Who's that with Mel," Javadi appeared next to him and rested her chin in her hand, "He's so hot."
"Some hockey player," Santos answered.
"He's not just some hockey player," Langdon gripped the counter, "That's Tommy Novak."
The two girls stared at him as if he was speaking a foreign language. In a way, he was.
"He plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins," Langdon continued.
"Is that why Dana said you're not allowed to treat him," Javadi giggled.
"You'd probably scare that poor guy," Santos looked back up, "And he has a cut to the face, they'll be able to get lost in each other's eyes."
Langdon felt a twist in his stomach that he wasn't use to. Santos always teased him whenever a patient flirted with Mel, but this time he felt a jealousy that consumed him in a way that has never happened before.
"So," Mel was carefully cleaning up the wound on her patient, "How'd this happen?"
"Got a blade to the face," Tommy said, "Hurt like hell."
"Looks like it," Mel gently turned his face, "You must really like playing through all of this."
He made a noise of confirmation, "It's my whole life, been playing since I was a kid. You watch hockey?"
Mel nearly laughed loud, "Does it look like I watch hockey?"
Tommy shrugged, "I've come across things that have surprised me more. I mean, you're clearly very successful and beautiful. If you were into sports, you'd be the whole trifecta."
Mel's face heated up as she started to stitch up the cut. She still wasn't use to being hit on, so when it happened she didn't know what to do. She usually let them flirt until it became too much, pointing out Langdon when he was in eye sight. As soon as the word 'boyfriend' left her mouth, they would immediately stop.
"I went to some football and basketball games in college, I went to Michigan University so in a way I kind of had to, not really my thing though," Mel peeked up for a second, and almost everyone was staring her down at the nurse's station.
Langdon's eyes were filled with a strange intensity. She knew that he was a penguins fan and this was probably killing him. From where she was, she could see him shaking slightly.
"You ever meet Tom Brady," Tommy asked.
Mel smiled, now was her chance, "One time actually, got a picture with him. My boyfriend was so upset. Not in a serious way but in a jealousy way."
"Boyfriend huh," she could hear the disappointment in his voice, "That's too bad for me then. Does he work here?"
Mel nodded, "He's the tall brunette, floppy hair. The one who's trying to not fan girl over you right now."
"Sounds like a nightmare for HR," he joked.
"There are several of those here," Mel giggled, "But he's really sweet. He gets me in a way no one else wanted to."
Tommy smiled before Mel silently asked him to relax his face "That's real nice."
Langdon couldn't look any longer and turned away. He was so close to going over there when he watched Mel get up, a bright smile on her face. There was something else though, something that he was unable to read.
"What," Mel looked between everyone watching her as she sat at her station.
"Did you ask him if he's seen Heated Rivalry," Santos joked.
"He's so cute," Javadi looked back over.
Mel shrugged, "I guess. And no, I didn't. I guarantee that he feels similar about that show compared to how we feel about Grey's Anatomy."
Langdon had to busy himself with another patient to get his mind off of everything. He hates this feeling of jealousy. It wasn't like the patient was grabbing at Mel, he hardly even stared at her like he's seen other patients do. The idea of Mel getting to work on a professional athlete, especially of a team he was born being a fan of, freaked him out in a way he didn't know what do to with. So he made himself as busy as possible instead and didn't stop until the work day was over.
He waited for Mel in the locker room like always. He sat on the bench switching his shoes when he felt familiar, warm arms wrap around him before planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Hi baby," Mel sat next to him, "Guess what."
Langdon looked over at her and hesitated slightly, "What?"
"Don't sound so nervous," Mel teased and placed a hand on his thigh, "So, my hockey guy from the afternoon, we were still talking through his discharge, and when I was stitching his cheek, you came up and-."
"Oh thank god," Langdon didn't mean to sound so relieved, but he instantly felt his whole body relaxed. He almost collapsed onto Mel.
Mel giggled, "Anyway, I told him how big of a fan you were, so I got his number, and he's going to be sending me some tickets to the next game against the Flyers. He'll get us some for us and your kids. I'll Becca if she'd want to go, but she'llbe asking a million questions about the game."
As soon as Langdon heard tickets, he thought about taking Mel right then and there, not caring about who would walk in on them.
"Baby," Mel smiled, "You want to go? He said that you need to take me to a game anyway."
Langdon reached up and grabbed her arm to steady himself, "Mel..."
Mel kissed him, "Best girlfriend ever, right? Thank me later."
Langdon was absolutely going to thank her for this.