Work Text:
“Clear the table, now!”
Mel, Javadi, and McKay immediately stand up in their booth at Donovan’s when they see Dr. Abbot carrying a limp Mohan towards them. While Javadi just stares, the other two respond quickly and pick up the beer and food from the table so that he can lay Samira down on it.
“Oh my god, what happened?” asks Javadi when she finally reacts to the situation.
“She fainted,” is his only response as he takes off his jacket to put underneath Samira’s feet. McKay is already checking her pulse and eyes when she comes to.
“Hey, Samira, it’s me. Can you follow my finger for me?”
As her friends continue to evaluate her, Abbot stands back with his arms crossed, overseeing the situation like he would if he were back in the ED. Dana comes over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “What happened here, cowboy?”
“Vasovagal syncope,” is his clipped response.
She notices that he is more tense than she would have expected for something so minor. “Hmm…well it looks like she’s in good hands…now….,” she says as she walks away, letting the insinuation linger.
They have her off the table now and sitting down where she sat before she had gotten up to use the restroom.
Mel asks her if she remembers what happened before she fainted, and of course she does. She’s not going to forget it. She makes eye contact with Jack, and he gives the slightest shake of his head. She understands and dips her own chin in response. Then she just laughs and says, “Nothing happened, just a long shift, not enough to eat, and too much to drink on an empty stomach. I’ll be fine, as long as you give me some of those fries.” As she reaches over for a fry, she gives him one last glance.
“Can I offer you a ride home?” he asks before he realizes what he’s doing. The other women all encourage her to take him up on the offer, so she agrees with only the slightest pushback. Still, she eats a few more fries and drinks some more water before getting up. When she does, he takes her hand to steady her, and when she doesn’t let go, he takes the opportunity to slip his other arm around her waist before letting go of her hand.
“Okay, steady now.” Physically, she’s absolutely fine and doesn’t need to be leaning against him as they make their way out of the bar, but emotionally, she is savoring every minute of the contact.
He opens the car door for her because of course he does. He is a gentleman, from another era. She is loath to let go of him and revels when he easily lifts her up again and deposits her in the passenger seat of his Jeep. She was unconscious the last time he had carried her, and she’s still mad about it. After he closes the car door, she uses the moment to think back to when this all started.
*****
After a week on the night shift she was lying in bed, trying to force herself to go to sleep so that she could be back on the day shift sleep cycle, but it was starting to feel like an impossible task. Having that much unmitigated exposure to Dr. Abbot was a stimulant to her brain, her body, her entire nervous system. Realizing that she was not going to be going to sleep any time soon, she grabbed her laptop and decided to stalk him on the internet.
As with any other Gen X person, he had a Facebook account. His was set to private (smart, she thought) but she could still see a few pictures where friends and family that had not set their accounts to private had tagged him. The pictures were old, some of them from back when he still had both legs. Pictures of him and his wife in London. Someone’s comment asking when they were going to visit them in Japan. Another asking if they had taken the Eurostar to France. She closed the laptop with a groan. This was not healthy.
He was her boss. He was probably twenty years older than her. He was widowed. He was so many things that she should not be thinking about to the point of obsession, but her body just would not listen. Whenever he smiled at her. Stood behind her and guided her through a procedure. Praised her. Even just looked at her with those penetrating hazel eyes. Like he needed her to know without a shadow of a doubt that what he was saying was the truth.
She craved it. After having dealt with Robby all these years, she soaked up all the positive attention like one of those alien pods in The Faculty soaked up water. She was able to manage it though, just barely, when it was contained to the hospital. When they were in scrubs and surgical gowns and face masks and gloves she could compartmentalize her crush enough to work beside him. It was only after hours that she would dissect all the moments. Press them out until they were flat and shiny and could be pinned to her mental memory board.
Tonight, though, tonight had been dangerous. Outside of the hospital walls, this was the first time they had been at Donovan’s at the same time. They were here to celebrate her getting into the fellowship at UPMC so she couldn’t have declined like she normally did. Since he had written her a recommendation letter, she had invited him but hadn’t really expected him to show up.
But oh, did he show up. Wearing a canvas jacket, black t-shirt, dark denim jeans, and boots. Smelling like bergamot and musk when he gave her a hug. “Congratulations, Mohan. I always knew you were destined for greatness,” he said in her ear, just loud enough for only her to hear. Then let go too soon. She tried to act normal, but her brain was collapsing in on itself and her heart was pounding. It was the most physical contact they had ever shared. Luckily, she didn’t have to come up with an appropriate reaction because Javadi pulled her over to a booth right then.
She spent the next half hour trying to pay attention to what her friends were talking about while surreptitiously tracking Abbot’s whereabouts. They made eye contact several times but she was always the first to look away. By the third or fourth time, he was blatantly smiling at her when he caught her looking at him again. When he made his excuses to Dana and Lena to walk towards the restroom, she was ready.
“Excuse me, need the ladies room.”
“They only have two single stall gender neutral restrooms here,” Mel reminded her.
“Right, I’ll be back.”
She didn’t have to hurry; he had seen her stand up and slowed down his pace so they reached the bathroom line at the exact same time.
“Ladies first,” he said with a sweep of his hand.
She squeezed by him, brushing against him slightly more than necessary. “Thanks.”
He didn’t step back so there was barely any room between him and the person in front of her. She chose to lean into him instead of the stranger. He let her.
Now that she was here, pressed up against him in the bathroom line, she had no idea what to do, what to say. The song “Just Like Heaven” came on the jukebox and she could feel him bouncing in time to the beat. She looked up, and he was mouthing along to the lyrics. It suddenly made him more endearing and accessible.
“Are you a fan of The Cure?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’m Gen X,” he said, as if that explained it. “You?”
She copied his shrug. “I have older cousins.” The alcohol had dropped her inhibitions enough to let her close her eyes and sway along with the music.
Spinning on that dizzy edge
Kissed her face and kissed her head
Dreamed of all the different ways
I had to make her glow
She opened her eyes to find his on her. From this angle, with the only light source in the hallway backlighting his head, he looked angelic, like he belonged in a painting. It was the most alive she’d ever felt. She brought one hand up to his neck and sang along while looking straight at him.
"Why are you so far away?" she said
"Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you
That I'm in love with you?"
His eyes darkened. He looked down at her lips and leaned in. She closed her eyes.
And when she opened them she was lying on the table with her coworkers surrounding her.
*****
He opens the driver’s side door and gets in. Instead of buckling up and starting the car, he just looks at her with amusement.
“So.”
“So.”
“Is that going to happen every time I try to kiss you?”
“I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “Only one way to find out?”