Chapter Text
It all started after a really bad shift. Mel was not having the greatest Fourth of July, not even close. She had just found out her sister, compared to her, had a life, a lover, and probably friends who would eventually take more of her attention than she did. She was devastated, not because her sister was happy, but because she had come to realize she had nothing in her life outside of her sister, Becca.
“Oh, God.” She took a deep breath.
She was definitely losing her mind over the matter. To top things off, she had no one else to blame but herself. It felt lonely, even though she had chosen to isolate herself from the rest, scared to show her emotions more than she should to her coworkers.
“Why is it so freaking hard to breathe in here?” she finally exhaled slowly, pretending for a moment that the weight in her chest was something she could simply breathe out.
“This suck!”
Unable to take it any longer, she walked out of the designated resting area, rushed to the stairs without attracting anyone's attention, and reached the roof with only one thought in her mind. Fresh air.
She stood at the edge of the hospital roof, the city lights flickering beneath her like a pulse she could not quite steady. The wind pulled at her coat as if urging her forward, or maybe warning her to step back before it was too late to regret.
“Mel.”
A sudden voice echoed, demanding all her attention.
“Mel, what the hell are you doing?”
In other circumstances, she would have panicked, rushed to explain or to make an argument that supported her absurd position. However, in this case, she could not care less. She just closed her eyes and did not turn around to face the intruder.
“Just give me a minute.”Without a flinch, her response only made things sound more suspicious.
“Yeah, right. Like hell I will wait a minute. Come here. I mean it.” He demanded.
Mel froze. Just for a second.
“Right,” she said quietly. “Is that an order, Doctor Langdon?” The words came out faster and sharper than she meant them to.
“Yes,” he said. “I need you to get away from the edge.”
For a moment, he hesitated, looking anguished, before his tone shifted into something more desperate, almost pleading.
“I am serious. Get away from the edge, King.”
“Great.” Her eyes flashed. “Just what I need to hear. You are acting like I am about to commit suicide or something, Frank.”
She crossed her arms like she was holding herself together.
“Surprisingly enough, I am not yet.”
“Funny. Great news. I believe you. Now come here.”
He moved forward to make contact with her.
“Don’t.” Mel snapped, one hand coming up fast, not to push him away but to draw a line he was not allowed to cross. Her voice was steady, but there was something underneath it, something dangerously close to cracking.
“I am telling you, I am fine. I will come down off the roof when I feel like it.”
Langdon stopped. Not because he believed her, but because he actually did not. Because he knew that tone. He had heard it in patients who swore they were okay right before they collapsed. He had heard it in residents right before they burned out so hard they disappeared for months. He had heard it in himself.
“Mel, please, you are scaring me,” he said, quieter now, controlled, like he was defusing something explosive. “Help me understand. Let me understand you.”
Mel let out a hollow laugh, shaking her head, eyes fixed somewhere past him.
“I just needed a break,” she finally said.
Langdon frowned, completely unaware his expression showed discomfort.“There are safer places to get a break.”
“Yeah?”Mel shot back, finally looking at him. Her eyes were bright, not quite tears, not quite anger, but something rawer.“Like where? The call room? The ER? Maybe the stairwell where everyone pretends not to see you when you look like shit?”
He did not answer.For her, that was enough.
“I swear, I cannot breathe in there,” she admitted, softer now, like the words were being dragged out of her. “Everywhere I go it is just noise, attention, expectations.”A bitter scoff escaped her.
His gaze dropped, shoulders pulling in just a fraction before his mouth could even open with words he would never have uttered to a colleague before.
“Okay, Angel. Look at me.”Frank exhaled slowly, recalibrating. Different approach.“If you are not willing to cooperate, then I will come to you.”
Mel let out a short, disbelieving breath, something between a scoff and a warning. She was about to stop him when it was already too late.
“You are impossible,” she muttered, but it lacked any real fight.
“Yeah.”Frank closed the distance.
He was careful, measured, like every step was calculated, like he was approaching something fragile enough to shatter if he moved too fast.
“I have been told.”He finally reached her, but he did not touch her. Not yet.
“I meant it,” Mel said after a long moment of silence. “I am not…” She swallowed. “I am not going to jump.”She stared ahead, jaw clenched.
“I know.”The answer came too quickly. Too easily. And that made her turn to him.
“You know?” she echoed, brows knitting together. “Because five seconds ago you were ready to tackle me off this roof.”
“I said I know,” he repeated, softer now. “That does not mean I am okay with you standing here.”
Her expression faltered, just a little.“Why do you even care?” she asked, her voice edged with something sharper now. “Seriously. Why does this matter to you?”
Frank did not answer immediately. And for a second, it almost looked like he would not. His jaw tightened. His gaze flickered away from her, out toward the skyline, like he was searching for something neutral, something safe.
“Because you matter,” he said finally.“I think you are amazing.”He hesitated, then continued.“You are talented. You are smart. You deserve better because you push yourself harder and you care. Too much, probably.”
That landed. She went still, studying him now, really studying him like she was trying to peel something back, something he was not saying.
“Am I supposed to take this as a compliment?” she asked, quieter now.
“Of course,” Frank said, a little awkward, playing with his hands.
“I do not believe you,” she sighed, looking down, sadness clear in her eyes. “I am far from amazing. I do not know how to be anything else besides Becca’s caretaker and a medical resident.”
“You are not being serious.”Frank looked at her firmly.
She flinched. Not visibly. Not dramatically. But he saw it, and it gave him the courage to continue.
“Look at you. You are Melissa King. The most kind, clever, funny, enthusiastic, sometimes a little too stubborn about things, but still a very persuasive and, in the best way, a terrific woman.”He gestured slightly, smiling with quiet pride.
The words hung there, heavy and real.
They hit too close to the thing she had been trying to outrun all night.
“Your words are not supposed to be so comforting to my ears,” Mel said, letting out a slow breath as her shoulders dropped just a fraction.
“They are truth,” Langdon replied, glancing up as the first fireworks lit the sky.
She shifted her weight, glancing back at the edge for a split second before stepping another inch away from it. Not much, but it was something.
“Ok. I understand. Let’s go,” she muttered, extending her hand.
Langdon huffed softly, dragging a hand through his hair, then looked at her, less guarded now.
“After you.”He took her hand when he felt it was safe.
“Doctor Langdon,” Mel said as they walked, “do not make this a thing tomorrow. At work. I mean it.”
“I will not,” he replied.
“And do not start treating me differently just because.”
“I will not.” He let out a quiet laugh.
“And do not…”
“Mel.”
She stopped. “…What?”
“You are spiraling.”
She exhaled sharply. “Yeah, no shit.”
He spread his arms slightly, then shifted tone.
“Miss King, what would your superior think if they heard you cursing?” he asked lightly jockeying.
Her reaction whatsoever was far from playful.
She grabbed his hand again before she could stop herself. A reflex she was not ready for.
“Sorry, I…”She was about to let go, but he stopped her.
“I am here,” he said. “Ready when you are.”
She huffed softly, shaking her head like she was trying to shake off the weight of everything that had just happened.
“I am ready,” she said, moving toward the door.
Langdon followed, a step behind, giving her space. Not too much. Just enough.
When they reached the door, she paused, her hand resting on the handle. Her shoulders rose with a breath, then fell.
“Here we go,” Just before pushing it open, she glanced back at him. Not long. Not obvious. Just enough.
Then he nodded, like sealing something unspoken between them.
The noise of the hospital rushed back in. Bright lights. Voices. Movement. Reality. Mel stepped inside first. Frank followed. And just like that, the rooftop disappeared behind them.