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Langdon felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as he walked into the exam room. Her symptoms weren’t particularly concerning in any way, but Becca was Mel’s sister, and he wanted to give Becca the best possible treatment he could while Mel was in her deposition. He was incredibly grateful that Mel trusted him, and that trust is what fueled him into quietly opening the door.
“Hey Becca, how are you feeling now? Have the pain meds kicked in?” Langdon kept his voice low as he remembered Mel’s advice about jarring loud noises.
“I’m good now that you’re here. Can I tell you a secret?” That wasn’t what Langdon expected to hear when he walked into the room, but he decided to go with the flow anyway. He could afford to spend a couple extra minutes chatting with her, she was a VIP patient after all.
“I am very happy that you’re the one helping me. Mel talks about you a lot, like a lot and she says that she trusts you a lot too. But you can’t tell Mel I told you that because when she talks about you she gets super embarrassed too. So can you pinky promise me that you won’t tell her what I told you?” Becca put out her pinky as Langdon desperately tried to catch up with all the information that was just thrown at him. He had no idea that Mel thought so highly of him, and it made him a little giddy on the inside. Chuckling to himself, he put out his pinky to accept the pinky promise.
“Okay, I’ve got a couple of questions for you, is that okay?” Becca nodded, and he continued.
“And if you have any questions for me too, don’t be afraid to ask me, okay?” With a little more enthusiasm, Becca said yes and he started asking all his standard questions.
Becca clearly sounded nervous in the beginning, but as she started to get familiar with him, she started to open up.
“Can I ask you a question?” Becca asked him, and he assumed she has a question about something he said.
“Of course, do you need me to re-explain something I said? How can I help?” Langdon immediately offered.
“No, I get what you said. I have another question. Why does Mel sound sad sometimes when she talks about you?”
Langdon froze, not knowing how to respond. The doctor side of him knew he should really be focused on Becca’s care and her medical history, but his curiosity rapidly overcame his common sense. He put down his pen and looked at Becca with not only curiosity, but also a little sadness in his eyes.
“What do you mean?” Langdon said with more concern in his tone than he should have been using with a patient, but Becca didn’t seem to notice.
“Mel is very happy when she talks about you, but sometimes she is sad too. I don’t know why, but she said you left and you couldn’t talk to her and she missed you. I didn’t know why you left and I was mad at you for hurting Mel, but she said you didn’t leave on purpose and then I wasn’t mad at you anymore. But then Mel got sad and said it was her fault that you guys didn’t talk and then I got sad again for her.”
One of Langdon’s biggest regrets when he went into rehab was that he didn’t keep in contact with Mel while he was gone. He physically couldn’t; they had only known each other for one day and he didn’t have any of her contact information. That was the excuse he told himself, but when the days got tough and he started to spiral, he had convinced himself that she didn’t care about him. Why would she? He didn’t understand why Mel put all the blame on herself though.
“Why does she think it’s her fault that we didn’t keep in contact?” Langdon asked Becca, genuinely confused.
“Mel didn’t have your phone number because you didn't give it to her and she never asked for yours, and she didn’t want to ask people for it because she was embarrassed. But sometimes she gets sad and just looks at her phone and that is when I know she is thinking about you.”
Becca had been a total ray of sunshine up until now. It almost seemed like the light inside her diminished when she thought about Mel’s sadness, truly highlighting how special the bond between the King sisters really was. Langdon inwardly kicked himself for inadvertently causing them both pain, and vowed to try his best to never do so again.
As he had this internal moment of self reflection, Becca continued talking.
“I don’t like it when Mel is sad. She is very lonely.” Langdon’s heart broke. All he wanted to do at this moment was sit and listen to Becca, and maybe grovel and beg for her forgiveness, but he knew he still unfortunately had a job to do.
“I’m truly sorry Becca, I really am. Do you think you can keep talking while I finish with my exam? I just need to do a quick abdominal exam, and I promise that you can keep talking to me while I do it.” He hoped that’s a good enough compromise, because he really does want to hear more about what Becca has to say.
“Okay! But what is the abdominal exam?” Becca naturally questioned, so Langdon explains the process. Once he’s done explaining, he put on his gloves and started the exam.
“Can I continue?” Becca politely asked, and Langdon gestured for her to continue, even though he felt a bit guilty. Langdon knew that Mel would probably be mortified to hear her sister ranting about her personal thoughts on him. In his head, he made a shitty justification that Becca’s ranting is technically helping her out by distracting her and calming her down, so it’s okay. It’s absolutely a pathetic excuse, one that he knew deep down was selfish of him, but he is a very weak man when it comes to Mel King.
“Mel doesn’t bring over any friends and that makes me sad. She is always happy when I bring my friends over, and I would be happy if she brought her friends over too, but I don’t know if she has any friends to bring over. And I asked her if she has friends and she said her coworkers are her friends and they are all amazing people. But how can they be amazing if they don’t want to be friends with Mel?” She directed the last question directly to Langdon, who was using every last bit of self restraint he had left not to go out and yell at everyone in the Pitt. How could they have abandoned Mel like this? His saving grace in rehab was knowing that Mel wouldn’t be alone, that surely at least one person would’ve bonded with her like he so desperately wanted to during their first shift. Now he found out that all his worst fears came true.
“You’re right Becca, that doesn’t sound very nice of them.” He nodded in agreement, trying to focus on her physical exam and not his temper that was extremely close to boiling over.
“I don’t think she has any friends, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend either.” Langdon’s head snapped up and his hands unconsciously froze. He shakes his head, trying to shake off the elation he felt after hearing that she was single, and continued his exam.
“I keep telling her that she needs to find a pretty boy to kiss and it’ll make her happy.” The more Becca talked about Mel kissing this random boy, the more flustered and slightly jealous he became. Before starting her next sentence, she tapped Langdon on the shoulder to signal him to look up at her.
“Dr. Langdon, you’re a boy, you’re pretty, and you make Melly happy. Will you kiss her?”
If Becca King was trying to give him a heart attack, she had successfully completed her mission. His entire face flushed red, bright enough that Becca could see in the dark room. He choked in surprise, and continued his exam as he tried to ignore his embarrassment. Becca wouldn’t let him though, now that she was hooked on this idea.
“You’re so red, do you want to kiss her? Because I think she wants to kiss you too.” Becca giggled, as if she didn’t just completely change Langdon’s life with that comment. Unfortunately, her giggling got cut off by her yelping in pain when Langdon pushed on a tender area of her stomach. He immediately switched back into doctor mode, asking her questions about her level of pain in that area and which areas specifically hurt when palpated.
As he jotted down his notes, his mind spun with all the revelations he just had. Mel was single? Not only was she single, she clearly talked about him a lot to the most important (and apparently only) person in her life. With all this information swirling through his head, he made a stupid impulse decision. He ripped off a piece of paper and jotted down a note, folded it, and gave it to Becca.
“Can you give this to Mel for me?” He asks her as he passes her the note, which she takes and unfolds. Langdon flushes again, not expecting Becca to read the note herself, but he figures he should’ve expected that.
“412- 688-9797. If you ever want someone to talk to, Frank.” She reads the note aloud, and falls silent. In the oppressive silence, he feels the need to explain himself.
“Well I originally wanted to write down ‘if you want a friend’, but I don’t think that fully shows how much she means to me. It also leaves the ball in her court, if she wants to stay friends with me then I’m okay with that. If she’s weirded out and never wants to talk to me, then I’ll leave her alone. If she wants to be around me more and be more than friends, then I am absolutely okay with that too.” Langdon’s voice went quiet as he slowly became more embarrassed, but he felt like he owed it to Becca, and to Mel too. Becca had already told him so much about how Mel felt about him, he thought it was only fair that he divulged some of his own feelings as well.
There was a moment of silence between the two of them, as Becca continued to stare unblinkingly at him. Langdon wasn’t going to be the one to speak up, he wanted to let Becca react to everything he had just said. He figured it was just taking her a moment to think of what she wanted to say, and he patiently awaited her response.
“I’m not going to give her this.” She succinctly stated, outstretching her arm to hand him the note back.
Langdon was shocked, and truthfully a bit put out. Was there something wrong with what he said? Did his speech somehow change what Becca thought about him? He tried not to be offended, because he knew the King sisters are very blunt, and never say anything without a reason. Mel also would never say something to directly insult someone unless they genuinely deserved it, and he felt like he could apply that same principle to Becca. So, he did the mature adult thing to do in this scenario.
“Okay, why not?” He asked with genuine curiosity as he took the note back from her.
“Mel doesn’t like it when people aren’t direct. You need to tell her everything you just said to me to her face or else she’ll get confused and she’ll get sad again. So I won’t give her the note, but I want you to give it to her.” Becca responds with bright eyes and a blinding smile that was uncannily similar to her sisters. Although, he hadn’t seen that smile on Mel in quite some time, and he internally promised himself that he would try his best to get her to smile like that.
Holding the note in his hands, he decided to do something that was borderlining on unprofessional, but at this point that border had already been trampled on so many times he didn’t really care.
“Can I tell you a secret too, Becca? But you have to pinky promise me that you won’t tell anyone.” He took a deep, steadying breath and held out his pinky to Becca. She crossed her pinky with his and nodded.
“I’m scared, terrified even, of saying any of this to Mel. I don’t want to get the wrong idea and completely ruin our friendship and make things awkward at work. And truthfully, I don't think I’m good enough for her, in any sort of way.” He had never admitted the last part out loud to anyone, and honestly not to himself either. Luckily, he didn’t have time to regret what he said, because Becca responded almost immediately.
“That’s stupid.” Ever so blunt, Becca responds. The candidness of her response draws a laugh out of Langdon, chipping away at his anxiety.
“Why is that stupid?” He’s still laughing, but it has died down to a lighthearted chuckle.
“Mel says too many nice things about you and she wants to talk to you more. Why would she say no to taking your number?” Technically, her logic is completely sound. Of course, it’s a little more complicated than what she said, but she’s right.
“That definitely makes sense Becca, thank-” He doesn’t get to finish thanking her before she cuts in again.
“I have an idea! You should come to our movie night this Friday! You can pick the movie too, and now you have to ask for Mel’s number so you can get the details. Or ask her on a date.”
She giggled at her own little scheme, and that’s when Mel rushed into the room.
She flung open the door, startling the both of them, and ran up to Becca’s bedside. Immediately, she started hugging her, fretting with anything she could find and asking if she was okay. Becca, clearly uncomfortable, shooed her hands away and repeatedly told her she was fine. Langdon sat there silently, letting the King sisters have their reunion until Mel turned her attention towards him.
“Can I see her chart?” Both of them knew she really shouldn’t be allowed to see her chart, given that she was related to the patient. He should have said no, but he took one look in her pleading eyes and immediately folded. Again, he was a very weak man when it came to Mel King. He fully believes that she could ask him to do anything in the world and he would do it for her.
“Yeah, of course, just don’t tell anyone.” He said while passing over his clipboard, and she agreed while taking it from him. As she reviewed the chart, she started to relax as her worries subsided. Meanwhile, Becca gave Langdon a look that could only be described as conspiratorial, and then turned her direction to Mel.
“Dr. Langdon is coming over on Friday for movie night.” Mel and Langdon froze.
“What?” Mel looks up from the chart, her facial expressions always an open book. She looked shocked, a little scared even, and for a second Langdon was worried that Becca was totally wrong. Maybe she misinterpreted Mel somehow, maybe Mel doesn’t even like him and he’s just totally embarrassed himself. Luckily, Becca stepped in to save him from his plight.
“You were so right about all the nice things you said about him!” Mel clearly started to blush, but didn’t interrupt.
“And Dr. Langdon also says a lot of nice things about you and really wants to be friends!” Ignore everything he had ever said about Becca saving him.
At this point, both Mel and Langdon were sporting matching blushes, but Langdon decided to be brave and made a joke to lighten the awkwardness in the room.
“Come on Becca, I thought we made a pinky promise that you wouldn’t tell her, you were sworn to secrecy! My partner in crime has betrayed me!” He dramatically faked betrayal, making Becca laugh.
“No silly, that’s not what we pinky promised on, it was something else!” While Langdon and Becca have been teasing each other back and forth, Mel has been observing with absolute adoration in her eyes. She’s had boyfriends before, none of which really got along with Becca. They tolerated her, sure, but never really put in any effort into actually understanding her. Now, she watched Becca, who was normally terrified of doctors and hospitals, sit and laugh with the man who had occupied all of her waking thoughts for the past ten months.
“What did you pinky promise on?” She blurted out, unable to resist her burning curiosity.
Langdon turned to Mel with a teasing lit in his eyes, and god Mel could’ve risked it all and kissed him right then and there.
“Oh you know I can’t break a pinky promise Mel, I wouldn’t betray Becca like that.” Mel didn’t think she could fall more in love with this man, but he just kept surprising her. She wanted to respond, really she did, but she genuinely didn’t trust herself to not blurt out her undying feelings for him, so she stayed silent.
“Maybe we’ll tell you at movie night on Friday!” Becca exclaimed excitedly, and all her nervous energy flared up again. She really didn’t want Langdon to think that he was being forced to go, so she communicated as such.
“Are you sure you want to come? I don't know how many times you’ve seen Elf, but-” She was attempting to make a joke about the egregious amount of times she’s seen the movie, but Becca cuts her off.
“Oh we’re not watching Elf, unless Dr. Langdon wants to. He’s picking the movie!”
In their many, many years of Friday night movie nights, Becca had never let Mel pick the movie they watched. It was a part of her routine, one that she despised breaking. The fact that she was not only letting Langdon come to their movie night was surprising, but letting him pick the movie they watched? Mel was unequivocally starstruck. Neither of the two seemed to notice, and Langdon pulled a move that would only make Mel fall even harder.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to pick a good one.” He playfully said to her, and gave her a flirty little wink.
A fucking wink.
Was he trying to put her back in a hospital bed? Maybe she could share a room with her sister after she passed out from the heart attack he was going to give her.
“Unfortunately, I do have to go, I’ve got a few patients that need checking up on and a couple orders to fill, but I’ll stop by as soon as the rest of your labs are back Becca.” Langdon started to stand up from his stool, wincing as his back twinged.
The King sisters say a final goodbye to him and he exits the room, leaving the two of them alone. Before Mel can say anything, Becca already interjects.
“You should go chase after him!” Mel really wanted to follow him out of the door, but she knew she also wanted to stay with Becca too.
“Are you sure? I can stay here with you if you need me and talk to him later Becs.” She cautiously asked, as she wanted to make sure that her sister felt taken care of. As much as she loved Langdon, Becca always came first to her.
“I’m fine, I’m bored but I have things to do and the pain medication is working so my stomach doesn’t hurt. You finally found your boy to kiss Mel! He really likes you, and you really like him, so go after him!” Mel laughed out of sheer disbelief.
“I don’t think he likes me like that, Becca.” She argued back, but not harshly enough to start an argument. It was more of a statement of disbelief at whatever Becca had come up with in her head.
“Well I think he does and I know you do, so you should go find out!” Mel laughs at the simplicity of it all, but decides to go against her better judgement and follows her sister’s advice. Before she left the room, she asked her sister for one last hug (which she agreed to), and then left.
Mel found him at the nurses station organizing some of his paperwork before he went to visit his patients. She came up behind him, tapping his shoulder to signify her presence.
“I just wanted to say thank you again for being so patient with Becca, she normally hates the doctors but I don’t know what you did, but I’ve never seen Becca this comfortable in a hospital before. I’m so grateful for your help while I was busy.” She lets this all out in one nervous breath, and he cracks a smile.
“Well I did learn from the best, didn’t I Dr. King?” He only calls her Dr. King when he’s trying to tease her, and every time he does it does something to her that she doesn’t want to try and rationalize. Almost immediately after he says this though, he loses the joking demeanour and replaces it with one of nervousness as he clears his throat and takes a crumpled paper out of his pocket.
“Listen, Mel, I don’t know if you feel the same but I want to get to know you better. I know we didn’t have the best start, but I think we could be good. I’m giving this to you as an olive branch, if you don’t want it then feel free to throw it out and I won’t be offended. But if you do want to get to know me better, give me a call.” He took her hand, opened her palm, and put the paper inside. Once he was done talking, he closed her palm for her. She let him.
Before she could say anything in response, they heard Dana yelling.
“Langdon, they need you in Trauma 1!” The yell was followed by the sight of a gurney being wheeled in from the ambulance bay.
“That’s my cue, but think about it okay? I’ll see you in a bit.” He squeezed her closed palm with both his hands, and before she could say anything, he was gone.