Chapter Text
“Should we even bother going home?” Javadi asked, as everyone crowed around the nurses' station
Robby, navy sweatshirt clade, looking as stressed and disheveled as ever was briefing as many of those on shift as he could. It was hour 11 of an already exhausting shift, and he looked like he was about to tell us we had to go run a marathon.
“That’s up to everyone individually. You may want to go home and pack a bag. We’re expecting to be snowed in for at least 36 hours. The snow will come in hard in the next 4 hours.” Robby folded his hands into a pleading position. “We need as many of you as possible. We expect a lot of weather-related injuries in the next day or so. And travel will be extremely difficult. If you have family obligations or other reasons you cannot stay for that time, we recommend sheltering in place. If you can make yourself available, let Dana know, finish your shift, make your arrangements, and get as much sleep as you can in the on-call rooms or on the cots we will be bringing out to the hallways. The night shift will be with us shortly, and as many of them as possible will be staying on during the storms as well.” Langdon was almost blown away at the idea that Robby could recognize responsibility outside of the hospital. Was this a sign that his mental health was starting to recover after the 4th of July?
He continued, “You may have to float to different departments in the hospital. We’re going to try to be team players as much as possible.” The phrase ‘team players’ seemed to physically hurt him. “Thank you, let's get to it.” With a wave, he dismissed the group. But it didn’t dissolve. Princess and Pherla were chatting in Tagalog. The student and junior resident doctors huddled together.
“Are you guys going to stay?” Javadi asked the group, wide-eyed.
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Santos shrugged, “what’s better than dealing with slip and falls and eating egg salad from the cafeteria for the weekend?”
The group didn’t seem to know if she was serious about the last remark
“What about you, Huckleberry? Gonna shack up with farmer Amy?” Santos nudged Whittaker, who seemed more zoned out than usual.
“Yeah, yeah, I think I’ll stay here. Keep an eye on things,” He glanced over at Robby. It was obviously reflexive. Everyone knew he had something to do with Robby being admitted to the Psychiatric wing, but not what role he played. His concerned glances only fueled the gossip fire.
Mel offered up her answer without prompting, “I’m going to…”
She was cut off by Dana, “Hey guys! One hour left of your shift, this isn’t a sleepover, get back to it.”
Their little group dispersed without another word.
Thankfully, the last hour of the shift went quickly. Mel was pulled in on a kid's ice rink fall. An 8-year-old boy was “pushed” by another group of friends. He claimed he was fine, but the mom exuded anxious energy and decided he needed to be looked at. Mel did a physical, with no signs of trauma. She even did a pelvic X-ray because he fell on his butt. The mom wasn’t satisfied and insisted on a head CT. The risks outweighed the benefits, as Mel explained. But with the threat of a formal complaint and a sign off from Robby, she did a full workup. As expected, the kid was fine. Even so, she expected the mom would still write a bad review. Some people are unhappy if there's something wrong, and even more unhappy if there’s nothing wrong.
Mel had decided to stay for the snowstorm. But she was very underprepared for it. The clothes she was wearing already smelled like iodine and sweat. They definitely wouldn’t last 36 hours. She was mentally making a list and figuring out what the fastest way home would be, as she was going through her locker. She heard others shuffling into the locker rooms, surely to do the same. It was McKay and Langdon.
“Hey, Mel,” McKay greeted, “headed home?”
“Yeah, I’m just gonna run home and grab some stuff and come back.”
Langdon, who was squatting down in front of his locker, now looked up at Mel. “I would have thought the King sisters would be shut in for a good old movie weekend.”
“She’s going to be with Adam this weekend at Middle Hill.” She was nodding her head as if to convince herself that it was a good thing. It had been several months since she’d known about Becca and Adam. It didn’t make having her best friend and twin not around as much any less painful. She had been trying to fill her own life with her own things. Make it more about her and the things she likes. But sometimes filling up the emptiness inside was exhausting, so she’d rather not have a full weekend by herself trying to figure out if she likes reading romance or doing diamond paintings. “ What about you guys?” Mel really wanted to know, particularly if Langdon would be staying. But she directed her glance towards McKay.
She answered first, “No, I have Harrison this weekend. I don’t trust Chad not to do something stupid with him in the weather, so I’m not passing this up.”
Mel nodded. Still squatted down, Langdon hadn’t looked away from Mel. She finally looked down at him. “And miss this craziness? Nah.” He elbowed her calf. “How are you getting home? Don’t you take the bus?”
“Yeah, it only takes about 45 minutes to get there, so if I catch the next one, I should be able to make it back in time.”
“Oof,” McKay lifted her bag on her shoulder, “I wouldn’t count on it, the snow has already started. It’ll probably slow down traffic even more.”
Langdon stood, flipped his keys around his fingers. His keychain matched the friendship bracelet on his wrist. Obviously crafted by his daughter. “I got you, you live on Amsterdam, right? That’s only a few minutes from my place. I’ll bring you to your place, and we can ride back together.” Langdon didn’t really care how far away her place was. He wasn’t going to let her take the bus to just get back on one and come work an insane shift. She wouldn’t get any sleep at that rate.
Mel smiled softly, “That’d be really helpful, thank you.” Mel was also learning to allow others to help her, the way she helped others. Langdon had been especially encouraging of that part of her self-growth journey.
This wasn’t the first time they had carpooled. Langdon and Mel had become friends over the past few months he’d been back. Mel had helped Langdon through his worst shift, and Langdon had helped Mel through her worst shift. Mel had felt so alone that day, and just finally having someone acknowledge her hurt and just listen made her feel seen. Langdon had been keeping his divorce a secret from everyone in the ED for months. But when he felt brave enough, Mel was the first one he told. He knew she wouldn’t judge him. Wouldn’t chalk it up solely to him being an addict. It wouldn’t make her see him as broken or pitiful. And sure enough, when he told her, it was a balm on a wound he had been nursing alone. After listening to him let it all out, she said, “I’m proud of you, you know. You stayed strong, stayed sober, stayed a good doctor and a good father. I know you always feel like you need to prove yourself, but this is proof positive you’re stronger than you think.” He holds that in his heart, on bad days and good.
They pulled up 25 minutes later to her brownstone walk-up. She was hopping out the door before he could say anything. “I’ll be sooooo quick,” she said as she shut the door. He meant to tell her to take her time, but she was already speed walking into her apartment. Frank saw the lights go on, her silhouette shuffling quickly in the window. Less than 10 minutes later, she was back in the car, breathless and buckling herself in. They then drove a few minutes further to Frank's crappy apartment a few neighborhoods away. This time, he turned off the car. The snow was coming down, but not sticking to the roads yet. They had some time.
“Do you want to come in?” He asked, “I was hoping to hop in the shower quickly before we go back.”
Mel frowned. She really wished she had thought to ask if she could take a shower back at her place. She became instantly aware of how much the day was making her smell, and her hair was greasy and sweaty, falling out of her braid.
Langdon chuckled as if reading her thoughts, “You can take one here if you want. I at least have an instant water heater, so we should be able to both take one.” His eyes widened for a moment, "Separately, I mean, obviously!”
Mel blushed and smiled a little. “I figured,” she cleared her throat, “yes, actually. If it’s not too much trouble.” She hated taking showers in the locker room at the Pitt.
As they walked into the dimly lit apartment, Langdon gestured grandly. “Welcome to divorced Dad central, take it in in all its glory.”
The walls were painted rental beige, and the couch and other furniture were clearly from Ikea. And the decorations were minimal. There were a lot of children's drawings taped to the walls along with properly framed pictures of him with his children. It was entirely respectable, Mel thought.
“I think it’s cozy,” Mel said, but Frank obviously didn’t buy it
“Thanks for being nice.” He huffed, “Well, I’m going to pack a bag real quick, if you want to take the first shower. The bathroom is attached to the bedroom. I’ll grab you a towel.”
As Mel stepped into the warm stream of water, the awkwardness of showering in someone else's house faded away a little. In fact, she squealed in delight a little when she had the realization that she would be able to finally know the secret to Langdon’s perfectly full and soft-looking hair. She reached for the shampoo and read ‘Head and Shoulders’.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she exclaimed. She had in some way been expecting a magic potion of some sort. She heard a faint knock; it startled her.
“You okay, Mel?”
Mel brushed the water out of her face. “Yeah,” she squeaked, “sorry.”
She quickly finished her shower. Relieved to find that Langdon was not like the guys she knew in college, using 3 in one body wash for everything. In fact, she stepped out of the shower smelling comforting like cedar and vanilla. Quickly, her comfort churned into horror as she realized she had completely forgotten her bag of clothes in the car. She would have to ask Langdon to get it for her. She’d have to at least crack the door open. He might see her standing there in a towel. Mel cringed and tried to wrap the towel firmly around herself. She knew Langdon saw naked bodies every day; they all did. It wasn’t a sexual thing. And Mel wasn’t easily embarrassed by her body, but this felt a little intimate. But after a deep breath, she opened the door slightly and was about to call out to Langdon when she noticed that her bag was sitting on the outside of the door. He must have noticed and gotten it for her. She quickly glanced around and realized that he wasn’t in the bedroom anymore. She grabbed the bag quickly and pulled it inside.
After she got dressed, they traded spots. Though HE remembers to bring clothes into the bathroom with him. She wondered a little if Langdon had lied about the instant water heater, since as soon as he stepped in the shower, she heard a little yelp all the way from the kitchen.
He had told her to make herself comfortable. But Mel always seemed to be in a natural state of discomfort. But she tried to relax. Sitting on his couch, letting her eyes wander. She noticed a small tray on his coffee table. It had his sobriety chips. She counted them out: 1 day, 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year. For each official chip, there was a little handmade chip made out of construction paper, which read “Love u daddy”. Handmade tokens from his kids. It warmed her heart. Abby had probably had them made. He had only been allowed supervised visits for the first 6 months.
He came into the room abruptly, toweling his hair off. He was slightly damp, and his shirt clung to his chest. Mel was a little stunned by his sudden soft and homey presents. He looked down at her hands, clutching the 1-year sobriety chip. She tracked the eye movement and dropped the chip. It fell under the couch.
“Oh, I, sorry” She got on her hands and knees to try to reach the chip. In vain, she put her slender arms under the couch and swept around looking for it with her fingers.
“Jeez, Mel!” He looked away from her.
Mel then realized that the way she was positioned, her butt was fully in the air and surely a little too exposed. She shot up. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I can't find it.”
He chuckled, “It’s not a big deal, I’ll find it later. It’s not going to go anywhere. Come on, let's get to the Pitt before things get too slick.”