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She didn't have anywhere else to go. She tried calling Trinity, knowing she and Whitaker would be having a lowkey roommate friendsgiving, but no answer. She tried calling Samira, not knowing whether or not she actually went to spend the day with her mom, still no answer. Dana left a message in the breakroom telling everyone if they needed somewhere to go, they could go to her, but she felt like she'd be imposing if she were the only one who showed up.
She didn't call Cassie first. She should have, she has a kid and an ex husband and probably a big family that gets together on the holiday. She didn’t even consider that option because her family doesn’t get together, they treat the day like any other day off and gang up on her. The thought to call ahead didn't even occur to her until she was at the door and knocking. It was too late to turn around, so she stood patiently in the cold and waited for someone – hopefully Cassie – to answer.
The door swung open and instantly the silent fall air filled with warmth and laughter from inside spilling out.
“Hey, Doctor J, what brings you around here?” Cassie greeted her with a smile that could melt a glacier – though, they didn't really need help with that. Victoria didn't immediately return the grin, causing Cassie to drop her expression from happy to concerned. She furrowed her brow and leaned forward on the edge of the door. “What happened?”
She knew Victoria was dreading the day. A whole day her parents had off work – and not even to celebrate the holiday itself, they wanted it off so they could spend it judging everything she has and hasn't done. The things she had done correctly compared to the things she had done incorrectly according to her parents were uneven stacks of lectures that she just didn't want to deal with. Maybe she manifested the argument into reality by thinking about it too much or maybe she just knew her parents too well, but either way – dinner went terribly and she didn't even get to eat anything before it happened.
“Nothing I wasn't already expecting,” she lifted and dropped her shoulders, defeat covering her like a blanket. She felt angry, guilty, sad. The emotions circled her until she had nothing left to give. That was when she got into her car and mindlessly drove to Cassie's house while dialing the numbers of all the pittlings she had access to.
Cassie opened the door wider, the smell of freshly baked food escaped the gap. “Come inside, we have plenty of… everything.” She exaggerated the word, as most people would on Thanksgiving.
It was common that you have leftovers on this holiday specifically, therefore, sharing was easy. But nothing could have prepared Victoria for the amount of food there actually was available. The house was very much a typical home. A living room with art on the walls, family photos, school pictures of Harrison from pre-school to 7th grade lining the entry wall, a big grin in every picture that matched his mom's. The dining area was behind an open arched wall connected to the staircase on her left, she assumed the kitchen was behind that somewhere. The bathroom seemed to be down the hall past the staircase if the tacky wall sign saying BATHROOM with an arrow pointed to a closed door meant anything.
“I'm actually glad you're here, we're low on guests this year. My parents couldn't make it, they're sick, so we're ubering them some plates. Chad keeps trying to leave to take Harrison to his family Thanksgiving but he got the day of last year so it's my house this year–” Cassie led her through the dining area, set up with a few plates and empty glasses on a long table that could fit eight people comfortably.
Victoria tried to listen to what she was saying but she couldn't help taking in the comforting colors in her home. Her own house was so… dull in comparison. Her parents kept it very neutral, very unstraining on the eyes. It felt like the set of a tv show where everything had to be copyright free and clean at all times – though, most of the reason for that was because everyone was working all the time and no one had the chance to actually live in the house. Cassie's home felt lived in, loved in. It felt like a house in a Christmas film. She expected there to be a tree on every corner. Lots of reds, lots of yellows and oranges. The floor in the living room was carpet while the dining area was wooden. This was a house made for tv sets. The perfect home for the perfect family on the perfect holiday. She didn't doubt Harrison grew up denting walls and scuffing floorboards. She didn't doubt that he grew up loved, openly and unapologetically. There were marks on the edge of a pantry wall between the kitchen and the dining area that marked his height. He grew nearly six inches in three months at seven.
Cassie continued talking her through the house, eventually they came to a stop at an island filled with pots and pans and trays full of food. The countertops were also full. There was an array of desserts on the table lining the back wall of the kitchen. She eventually landed behind Chad at the stove, stirring something to seemingly keep busy.
“You're doing too much,” she judged him in a joking manner as she passed. She opened the refrigerator to reveal an assortment of sodas, juices, a few wine selections, and beer. “J, what're feeling? We have all of this, plenty more in the garage, and if you want something stronger –” she moved to a cabinet on the back corner of the kitchen, opened it, and revealed a selection of liquor. She took out a half bottle of whiskey and sat it on the counter.
“Uh… Maybe just a beer.” She felt guilty taking any of it. This was a family holiday, she wasn't family.
“You sure? Chad can make you a mixed drink if you'd prefer something fruiter.” She looked over her shoulder at Victoria, then at Chad, then poured a half glass of whiskey before turning the bottle to the cabinet. She walked back to the fridge and opened the freezer to collect a few ice cubes.
“Yeah, I'll be good with the beer.” She decided it was an easy enough drink to consume and it would run through her system fast enough that she could leave if it got too awkward.
Cassie pulled a bottle from the fridge and popped the top with a bottle opener magnet hanging from the freezer, then passed the bottle to her before taking the whiskey glass back towards the dining area. Victoria followed her silently. She sat the glass down on the end seat closest to the open hallway. Victoria never pegged her for a ‘whiskey straight’ girl but it was a special day.
From upstairs, there was a thud. Cassie groaned, leaned back so her head was even with the stairs. “Harrison, stop skateboarding in the house!” She called up, then looked back at Victoria. “He does this to impress his idiot uncle.” She rolled her eyes. “If you ask Chad; he's not even his uncle, he's my cousin, but it makes more sense this way. Chad hates it. He's at every family get together. He thinks there's some unspoken rule for family time with cousins but we grew up close enough he's basically my brother.”
Victoria was not following along. She talked about family like it was easy. The concept felt foreign to her.
“It wasn't me!” Harrison called back, followed immediately by him running down the stairs. No helmet, no padding, no bruises either. “It was Uncle Jack. I swear.”
“You can’t blame everything on your uncle,” she scolded with nothing but love in her voice. A second set of steps came down the stairs, her expression changed from love to annoyance. Victoria couldn’t see who it was from where she stood in the dining room so she had to assume it was the mysterious Uncle-cousin Jack. “Did you encourage?”
“You’re not my mom,” he was still out of sight but his voice sounded eerily similar to– “Doctor Javadi?” Jack Abbot popped around the corner. She felt her heart sink. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. “Is everything okay?” He looked from her to Cassie.
“Yeah, Doctor J is gonna join us for dinner.” Cassie answered quickly, a smile on her face again. She reached over to the table, picked up the glass of whiskey, and handed it to Abbot.
He was hesitant to drink, kept his eyes on Victoria for longer than she would have liked, kept his eyes on her like he was trying to figure out why she was here of all places. The thing about Abbot that all the Pittlings learned in time is he loved gossip. He loved it probably as much as Princess and Perlah if not more. But he kept to himself, he talked to Dana and to Robby but aside from that he stayed in the back, listening, observing. Victoria told him once that he had an obvious staring problem and his response to that was to shrug and continue to stare at whoever the poor unsuspecting victim it was that day. Today, it was her.
“Great,” he smiled, brought the glass to his lips, tasted a sip of the whiskey, then handed the glass back as if it were vinegar. “That’s not bourbon.”
“You can’t be serious,” Cassie shoved the glass back over to him.
He refused to take it back. “There’s a flavor difference. Maybe you burnt your palate when you were six and ate the marshmallow still burning on the stick, but I can taste it.” He moved around Victoria to get to the kitchen. Her eyes followed him until he was out of sight again, Harrison followed behind him like a duckling.
Once they were both out of the room, she turned to Cassie again. “I didn't know he would be here.” What she meant: I didn't know you two were related.
Cassie shrugged, sat the glass down on the table again and turned around to head for the couch. “It surprises a lot of people.” The two of them moved to the couch, Cassie fell back onto the corner seat as if she had cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal herself – maybe she did – and Victoria sat down carefully with her beer bottle on the other corner.
She still felt like a burden. She felt like being here when Abbot was here was wrong. She felt like she was intruding and being intruded on at the same time. She knew Cassie would have family over, knew it was the holiday for families, but she wasn't expecting such an intimate crowd that definitely knew who she was at work. Not that it mattered. Co-workers can platonically spend holidays together. Trinity and Whitaker were supposedly doing that now – they were doing it so well they didn't answer any of her many calls – but Abbot… It felt different. She knew Chad, she knew Harrison, she'd even met Cassie's parents a few times. Abbot. Never once did anyone mention they were related. Not even Princess or Perlah.
She considered leaving. She hadn't even had a sip of beer yet. She could pretend Trinity called her back, or Samira… Maybe she could say there's an emergency at the hospital and they need her specifically to help.
“He didn't really have anyone when we were growing up,” Cassie broke the silence, causing her to jump at the sudden noise. Victoria drank a sip of the beer to try to relax. “His dad died when he was young, his mom… it broke her when he died. Jack stayed with us most of the time.”
Should I be hearing this? She considered the phone call again. Samira could've been busy earlier, she might answer now.
“We spent summers together, we went camping, fishing… He left for the military when I was still in High School, came back just in time to keep me from dropping out of college.” She looked straight ahead at the black screen television ahead of them hanging on the wall, reminiscing. “He offered us a place to stay when Chad and I got a divorce. He refused to let me repay the favor after Catherine passed. Robby snuck in for me but I wish I could've been there.”
She really didn't need to know any of this. She picked her phone out of her pocket and dialed for Samira again, hopefully seeming nonchalant enough that Cassie wouldn't notice.
“I don't know where I'd be without him but never tell him I said that,” Cassie looked over, she quickly put her phone down and smiled as if she wasn't just trying to jump ship. “You think this is strange,” it wasn't a question, Cassie returned the smile.
“No!”
“You do. That's fine, I get it.” She shrugged. “He's… Abbot. I'm me… He's the cool one at work–”
“I actually think you're cooler than him,” she said under her breath, then regretted it immediately when she heard two sets of footsteps stop at the edge of the living room.
“Well, that isn't very nice.” Abbot walked over, stood in front of Cassie, then waved her towards Victoria. She rolled her eyes as a response, then scooted all the way to Victoria on the other side. He took her spot, Harrison sat between them.
“Your ex is stirring the potatoes,” he looked around Harrison to tell her. “They're not mashed.” His tone was deadpan, he blinked at her as if he was waiting for her to fix it.
“He doesn't like you. He's doing it to piss you off,” she looked over her shoulder at Victoria and rolled her eyes, then wrapped her arms around Harrison despite the struggle he initially gave. “Go tell your dad to take out the pie.” She released him and he immediately stood up and ran back into the kitchen.
“I don't like him either,” Abbot shrugged, then looked around Cassie to Victoria. “What happened with you?”
“Uh, well, I, uh…” She stumbled around any answer she could think of, looked down at her phone and noticed it had stopped ringing and was leaving a voicemail. She ended the call, then looked up at the nightshift Attending ruining her vibe. “My parents decided on lectures for dinner.” She sighed. “I tried calling the Pittlings but–”
“Whitaker and Santos are with Dana, Langdon's with Mel.” He twisted his mouth to the side and nodded, understanding where she was at. “You chose the right place, there's always room here and Cass is an okay cook.”
This got him hit with one of the couch pillows laying between them. He didn't react as it bounced off the side of his face and back onto the cushion between them.
“So, you two really grew up together?”
“Unfortunately,” Cassie replied as she stood, “I'm gonna start setting things up for dinner. Can you behave?” She looked pointedly at Abbot. He smiled up at her in a way Victoria had never seen; with mischief and genuine content.
Cassie walked away with another eye roll, leaving her to what she now realized was her second worst nightmare behind dinner with both her parents – being alone with Jack Abbot outside of work. Samira praised him, she said he was kind and funny when you actually had a chance to talk to him without the chaos. All she saw was some old guy who tried way too hard to fit in with the pittlings. Samira fell for it. Victoria would be harder to impress.
“I'm sorry about your parents,” he didn't allow the silence to sit between them for very long. He looked at the carpet just below where she sat and she was grateful that he chose not to stare at her instead. “Families can be… a lot.”
“Yeah, we don't have to talk about this.”
He opened his mouth like he was gonna continue, but closed it again as if it were zipped. His eyes darted up to meet hers and he shrugged. “For what it's worth… I'm sure Cass is glad you're here. She was beating herself up over all the food and the small guest list.” There was a pause. “I know that look in your eye, the one telling you to run. Don't listen to it. You're welcome here.” Another pause, his eyes drifted towards the dining room arch. “And if you stay, I can sneak out of here after Harrison goes to bed.”
“You have plans?” She didn't mean to sound as if she didn't believe him but… she didn't believe him.
“Cass and I have spent our entire lives together every holiday. I do have other people I'd like to see.”
“Why not invite them over? Everyone's welcome, right?"
He let out a nervous, breathy laugh, then shook his head. “Not exactly how it works for this one.” His head lowered, then he perked back up with a snap of his fingers before he pointed at her and made eye contact again. “I saw your TikTok.”
Suddenly she felt like she had been caught doing something illegal. Everyone on Day Shift knew that she posted videos online, a few people knew how popular she had become, only three people were allowed to follow her – Trinity, Samira, and Cassie – however, that didn't stop her videos from showing up to other people if they had an account. Her eyes widened, she held her breath, hoping he could continue with what exactly he had seen. Or… at the very least how he had seen it. He didn't seem the type to spend his free time doomscrolling a brainrotting video app. She considered the possibility that Cassie had shown him something since they were… related. Apparently.
“I like what you're doing. I think it's important to share factual medical advice. Your public speaking is incredibly impressive–”
“It's just to my phone. I wouldn't call it public speaking…” She looked down at her lap and tugged at a loose fabric on her pants.
“When you're posting to an audience of ten, twenty people, sure. I saw your followers, that is public speaking. Way more people than any medical conference Robby's brought me to.”
“Yeah, but I don't have to see them.” She kept her head down, she could feel his eyes still set on her like a locked missile, thus proving the point that she could not handle actual public speaking. She wanted to transition the conversation. “How did you come across–”
“Uh, S- Dr. Mohan was working a double the other night and watching something in the breakroom. I recognized your voice, she showed me a few videos.”
She nodded slowly, processing what he was telling her. A lightswitch flicked on in her head, she looked over at him, “Didn't you move to days in the ED?”
He froze. It wasn't a long pause or an obvious flash of fear in his eye but she caught it anyway. “I was also working a double.” He shrugged one shoulder, then looked at the tv, still off, ahead of them. “I missed my old crew.”
She didn't believe him. That statement mixed with Samira's constant admiration, she had already had her suspicions but this pretty much confirmed it. Who was she to judge, though? She came over to Cassie Mckay's house seeking comfort after a fight with her parents. “Have you heard from her today?”
Abbot looked over at her again, brows furrowed, lips in a straight line, either confused or pretending to be.
“Samira?”
His brows shot up and the straight line was replaced with a frown only a muppet should be capable of making. “No,” he shook his head once, bringing his line of sight back to the tv. “No, she and I don't really… We talk at work.”
Now she didn't have any doubt in her suspicion, she was just a little annoyed he continued avoiding the topic. “She's not answering my calls.”
“She's probably busy,” he stood up, “I'm gonna see if Cass needs any help, do you want me to get you anything?”
She held up the beer that had been in her hand the entire time, he nodded once then disappeared around the same corner Cassie did a few minutes ago.
****
“You left me alone with the med student,” Jack walked up to the island, pressed his palms into the edge of it and leaned forward over a covered bowl of mac and cheese.
‘I left you alone with a fellow peer,” she moved the bowl despite it being covered, handed it to Harrison to sit on the table, then mimicked his posture. “It's not my fault you don't know how to interact in social situations.”
“She thinks I'm a boomer.”
“She doesn't think that.”
“She's told me to my face that she thinks I'm a boomer.”
He got a laugh as a response. Added insult to injury.
“Have you tried not being a boomer?” She suggested, Harrison came back and she handed him a plate of rolls to disappear with.
He considered a few responses. None of them held weight against the lighthearted argument so he decided to shift gears. “I didn't realize you two were so close.”
She shrugged, turned around to turn off a burner left running on the stove, then looked over at him again. “It's actually considered normal to have connections with people outside of work. Friendships are an important part of life.”
“Is that what this is?” He teased. She ignored him and continued to move different dishes from their original pots and pans to more room-temp dishes for easy serving. “She came to you of all people.”
“It's Thanksgiving. A family and friends holiday,” she wrapped up the pies and left them on the side of the island. “She had nowhere else to go.”
“Dana invited everyone over to her place.”
“Maybe she didn't want everyone. Maybe that's why she has such a problem with you.”
He scoffed, then stood up straight and loosely crossed his arms, examined the countertop still lined with enough food to feed a small village. “I'm sorry Mom and Dad couldn't make it.”
“It's okay,” she was quick to respond despite having what seemed like a million things going on with her hands. “I have you.”
There was a moment of silence filled with hesitation on his part. “Safe space?”
“Always.”
“I might skip out of here in a few hours, depending on whether or not Harrison leaves with Chad.”
She looked up at him like he burnt the turkey. Her eyes filled with betrayal, not sadness, the emotion washed away quickly but he knew it was just an act. She looked away again to finish prepping dinner for serving.
“If he leaves, I'll stay. I don't want you to be alone but…” He looked down at the edge of the island, then up at her again. “I'm… kind of seeing someone.”
Her head shot up, her eyes locked on his in an instant. “And you didn't bring them here?”
“To the house of Casshole fucking Mckay on Thanksgiving? No, I did not.”
A grin larger than the Grinch's grew on her face and he knew he made a mistake even saying it. He didn't want people to know, he just wanted her to know that he might leave. Now he had to deal with this.
Cassie started slowly moving around the island as if she were a hunter and he was the prey. He stayed frozen in his position. If he ran away from the conversation or changed the topic, it should just get worse.
“Jack Abbot–”
“Don't start–”
“You have a girlfriend–”
“I have someone I'm talking to. It's not a big deal–”
“Then why didn't you invite her?”
“We're keeping things down low right now.”
“When have you ever kept a crush down low? You made puppets in Kindergarten for that one girl– what was her name?” She tried to snap the memory back to the front of her mind, she paused her movements forward once she reached the same side of the island he was standing on. “Mary?”
“Martha.”
“Martha,” she repeated. “And she turned you down.”
“She did.” He laughed. “It was an unfortunate situation.”
“You met Cath after that, though.” Her tone changed from hyper and playful to a reminiscing softness.
That was one of his favorite things about Cass. She didn't try to hide from the loss. She openly talked about his wife, she brought Cath up in conversation, she allowed him the space to miss her without it turning into a big deal or a therapy session. She existed in their lives, she was remembered fondly, they went about their day. It wasn't easy for either of them to get to this point, she had lost friends he hadn't heard the names of in years, but they worked on it together and it was an ongoing process.
“Yeah,” he scrunched his lips to the side, shrugged, let out a long breath of air then shook his head back into gear. “You'll meet her. You'll love her. I'm taking it slow.”
“First relationship in five years, you take all the time you need.” She put a hand on his shoulder, squeezed it, then dropped her hand back down and moved over to her side of the island as Harrison ran in for more plates. "If you have to leave, you can go."
Silence fell between them again, he decided to circle back to Javadi. That conversation was more entertaining to him. “So, is the guest of honor breaking the wishbone?” He returned immediately to the teasing. Cassie spooned out a small amount of corn and flicked it in his direction, hitting him in the face with exact precision.
There was no doubt in his mind this was his cousin.