Work Text:
You let out a long breath as you walked out of the recovery area and towards the hub of the operating suite. Your phone had been quiet and maybe you'd catch up on things. A figure sitting in the hub caught your attention.
“Oh, Dr. Park,” you called, walking up.
He didn't look away from what he was doing on the computer; he was operating on autopilot as he responded to your voice, “yeah, baby?” that gave him pause and he grimaced. “Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm never going to stop that, am I?”
At his initial response you just closed your eyes and shook your head. It happened about twice a week out of the hundreds of interactions you had.
“Well, you've gotten better over the years.” Brendon was careful to treat you with professional courtesy with the exceptions of times like this when personal habits slipped out. You and Brendon had been together far longer than he'd been a doctor and some habits were hard to break. Usually, he was very careful. “Anyway, you forgot to sign two orders so please take care of that,” you said, sending the patients in question to his inbox. You were the charge nurse in the operating suite on days you worked. You had been there entirely too long, but you enjoyed it. You got to see Brendon throughout the day so that was a perk, but reminding doctors of their oversights got old.
“Right, right, I'll do it…eventually,” he said, clicking the little pop up box with the notifications just as your phone began to ring. Of course. You rarely got more than 30 minutes without someone calling, and with that you walked away from the hub.
Ten days later and you noticed Brendon was off-kilter. His surgeries were fine but he was just off. He wouldn't tell you what was going on either. He hadn't lost any patients on the table nor to post op infections. That sometimes threw him off his game for a day or so but it had been a little longer than that and he still wasn't himself. Of course, you had asked him in the privacy of your own home but he just dismissed it as “nothing”.
You didn't think it was “nothing”. While he wasn't actively avoiding you, because he really couldn't, he was limiting all interaction to the bare minimum. He wouldn't talk to you casually at work. He'd text you at least, but nothing face to face.
A hand tap on the ledge above you got your attention away from the tablet you were working on. “Yes?”
It was one of your longtime friends and fellow nurse. “We're all going out tonight. You in?”
You gave a little shrug, “I'm not sure what Bren has planned, if anything.”
She gave you a funny look, “from what I heard, he's the one who initiated it. Even said it was okay if the ER crew shows up, you know, because of situations happening.”
That didn't surprise you one bit that it was Brendon's idea. He did what he could to encourage downtime interactions because it did help in the OR. “Alright, guess I'm in,” you said and checked your phone. No message from him about it.
The rest of the shift seemed to drag after that, but finally you were cleared to go. The nightshift charge nurse had been running late which delayed you leaving with everyone else. After changing out of scrubs you made your way to the bar in question. The bar was nearly full when you arrived, mostly hospital staff, when you spotted Brendon sitting with a few other doctors.
It was these times that you really enjoyed because you didn't have to have professional courtesy. You weren't on the clock. He didn't have to be Dr. Park. You made your way over to him and saw him when he saw him, his face instantly changing to a happier expression.
You heard a doctor make the comment, “well we've lost Park for any conversation for at least ten minutes.”
Brendon scooted back in his chair to make room for you to sit on his thigh as he reached a hand for you once you were close enough.
You sat and kissed him a second later. It had been a long 12 hours. You felt Brendon smile into the kiss before you pulled just far enough away so you could whisper to him. “Hi, sweetheart.”
He put his arms around you, “hi, baby. Long day?”
You nodded a little, and poked his chest. “You didn't tell me about this “
“I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you later,” he said and gave another kiss. In this small window of time, it was just you and him; the rest of the bar could have fucked off.
“Are you feeling better?”
He gave you a puzzled look.
“You've been odd…still. I don't know how else to describe it.”
Brendon realized what you were alluding to. “Yeah, I'll tell you about that later too. Not here.”
“Promise?”
He nodded. “Promise. We should probably get back to talking with our friends.”
“I'm pretty sure they're used to this by now. One more kiss.”
He happily obliged before turning back to the table.
Hours later, you and Brendon were cuddled up and cooling down. “You promised me an explanation,” you said.
Brendon nodded and let out a little sigh. “A few days ago, HR had a meeting with me. Someone reported me for sexual harassment.”
You propped yourself up on an elbow to look at him better. “You? Did they have the right guy? Against who? Who reported it?”
“Let me finish,” he murmured, giving you a small kiss. “Don't go to war just yet.”
“Fine,” you said and tried to listen. You were ready to go to war for him. Brendon would never. It didn't make sense. HR knew you were married. If you had to help with a surgery it was never one of Brendon's cases. You were sure you were watched more than what was led on. It was also no secret in the OR too.
“I and HR don't know who filed the report. It was anonymous. Someone thought you were the recipient of harassment. It was for inappropriate names in the workplace. I guess someone overheard me calling you baby,” he said, eyes drifting to where the blanket had fallen.
“That's such bullshit. Everyone knows we're married.”
“Apparently not. It's…kind of why I arranged tonight. To show whoever reported that it's not harassment. That this is real.”
“You do harass me. I can't drop anything around you,” you teased.
Brendon just rolled his eyes. “Focus.”
“You're one to talk. My eyes are up here.”
“Sweetheart…”
“I'm listening. It was probably one of the newer people. The bar tonight was a good idea. No one is denying that we're not real. We're just good at being professional…mostly. No one ever goes to your office where you have photos. This is the first time in what…ten years that you've been attending? I'm sorry it's bothered you.”
“I just don't want someone thinking I'm some awful person or that it's not consensual.”
“You can't control what others think, baby. This is one instance. And honestly, it could have been prevented if they had just asked someone. Anyone could have answered it. If they had sent me a message they would have seen ‘Park’. Don't beat yourself up. What did HR say about this all?”
Brendon gave a little shrug. “They just told me what was reported and that they can't do anything because nothing happened. We are married. It's well documented. I think they might look into who sent it by log in information but it was otherwise anonymous. They didn't seem too concerned.”
“Then stop overthinking. It's done. And quit avoiding me at work. I like when we get to chat here and there.”
“I wasn't avoiding you…” he murmured. “I’ll make it up you..again,” he said wiggling his eyebrows and pulling you closer to him once more.