December's Shadow

Okay, I know I've already got a Bourdon story going already, Our Truth, but I was writing this last night cos it's a mxture of Scrubs and our Bourdon thing. But to Our Truth readers, I've already finished the story on my comp, but it's more of a matter of me posting it.

These are the main characters for noobs to this: Ravyn, Rob, Meaghen, Mel, Sarah, Viking and Jojo. But I have also included two other new faces to the scene; Andrea and Gradon.

 

So here it is, it's all in third person, because apparently I piss my teachers off by writing in second person when it comes to creative writing tasks. But I wanted a challenge and I screwed the whole Bourdon family thing, but instead they are all friends, well most of them.

 

“All interns report to the common room, all doctors report to the common foyer on level three,” an overheard voice projects over the busy patients waiting in line waiting for a doctor. A doctor sat at a patient’s side shook her head, ignoring the call for attendance to some hospital function. She checked the patient’s pulse, and compared the patient’s heartbeat to the ticking on her watch.

“Don’t you have to go Doc?” asked the old man. “I mean, I thought it was compulsory.”

“Not with me, it isn’t,” replied the doctor, as she removed her hand from the old man’s wrist. “I’m head of this department. I abide by my orders and failing that, the government’s orders. Can you sit up please, Mr Williams? I need to check your other signs that you’re still functioning normally.” The old man sat up, as the doctor puts her stethoscope in her ears, and listened carefully to his breathing patterns, by pressing the other end of the stethoscope against his back.

“What’s the good news Doc?” asked the old man.

“Mr Williams, can you please remind me of why you had a heart attack last time you were in here?” asked the doctor.

“Ah, because I was overweight, and I smoked,” answered the old man.

“Mr Williams, I appreciate you fighting the bulge, but just because you’ve lost the weight that does not mean you’re out of danger of a heart attack if you’re over sixty and you still smoke,” lectured the doctor. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re in here again, because you’ve had a stroke.” The doctor removed the stethoscope from her ears, and from listening to his breathing patterns, and curled it around her neck.

“I can’t give it up Doc, that’s the problem,” started the old man, as he sat back against the fixed back of the bed. A small breeze blew in from the open window, and made his grey comb over look like real hair.

“Well, here’s a suggestion Mr Williams, give the cigarettes up, or give your life up, that’s the only option you have here,” the doctor said, as she walked over to his chart on the end of the bed, and started to write some things down on it. “Here’s my prescription to you, keep up the exercise, start having nicotine gum instead of your daily intakes of fags and I won’t have to see you ever again in this very hospital.” She looked up at the old man, as he started to chuckle. That chuckle turned into a nasty cough. “Mr Williams, with all due respect, just because you’re seventy something, doesn’t mean you have to end your life before the normal life expectancy from someone in this era. Let alone giving yourself a chance to die from heart disease.” She clicked the pen; put it in her white top pocket of her doctor’s jacket, hung the patient’s chart back on the end of the bed, gave the old man one sinister look and she walked out.

She walked to the front desk where she would normally get her rounds of patients. She stopped at the front desk, where no one was practically there. She was impatient and annoyed today, so she started to ring the bell on the front counter, until someone came out. It had to be the head of nurses.

“Harris, stop it,” the head of the nurses ordered at the doctor, looking annoyed as well. She walked over to the front desk, pulled out a manila folder that had scribbly handwriting on the front of it, from a large pile of papers. She stopped and looked at Ravyn. That was the sign for Ravyn to stop consistently ringing the bell. It was a rarity that Ravyn obeyed orders from the head of the nurses. “Grant’s already up you for not attending various meetings with the Health Minister.”

“Last time I checked, he wasn’t my boss,” Ravyn smart-ass replied.

“Yeah, but the Minister for Health is, he’s the one that puts the money in your bank account,” Jo reminded, as she put the manila folder down on the counter. Ravyn opened it and looked at it. “You’ve got a patient in ward four, complaining of chest pains.”

“Then your nurses should take care of it, not me,” Ravyn smoothly replied. “If your nurses are so good, Jo, as I consider that a false claim, why don’t you just get them to replace me? Oh wait, you can’t, because I’m the head of the department here.” She slammed the manila folder shut. “And where are the interns that aren’t attending that stupid function?”

“See, this is where you get people wrong here Ravyn, these interns actually obey their orders,” stated Jo, grabbing the manila folder and dropping it onto the desk. “They are trying to learn here in this hospital.”

“Yeah, because they know I have the ability to fire them,” Ravyn remarked. “They think working with me as an intern is bad, wait until they work with me everyday for seven straight years.”

“If the world ran your way, you would have the whole lot of them burnt on a stake, just because they couldn’t find where the toilets were,” Jo replied, as she scrambles for another manila folder. “I think I have a patient where my nurses are useless without your expertise.”

“Your nurses are useless anyway,” muttered Ravyn to herself, hoping that no one would hear that, especially Jo. But Jo heard it, and ignored it. She pulled out a green manila folder and handed it to Ravyn. Ravyn reluctantly took it. “Wow. This does sound serious.” She hadn’t even opened it and already she started with the snide remarks.

“Why don’t you just open it?” snapped Jo. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with Grant’s antics.”

“Well, I’m not the one married to him,” replied Ravyn, as she opens the green manila folder and she started to read the various documents. “And you’re the one that’s telling me, that you’re nurses cannot handle consistent fevers?” She looked up from the documents. “You’ve got to be joking me. I would rather see Rob trip over a bucket of water then actually take this case seriously.” Ravyn slammed the manila folder down on the counter. Jo took the folder, closed it, and held it.

“It’s the third time that woman’s been in here in a week, complaining of ongoing headaches and fevers,” explained Jo, looking sinister. “What if it’s a tumour?”

“And what, that’s too much for your nurses to handle, a simple cat scan?” Ravyn retorted, angrily at the amount of laziness going on with Jo’s nurses. “If they cannot handle a simple cat scan, imagine what they would be like changing a light bulb. I would actually fear for my safety. I’ll be in paediatrics if you or anyone else wants to take me or this hospital seriously.” Ravyn disconnected herself from the conversation with Jo.

“Why are you going there?” asked Jo, as she started to follow Ravyn towards the west end of the building, as she started to realise why her main reason for the disconnection of the conversation was. Jo started smiling like a teenage girl. “You’re going because he’s working there now, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know what language you’re talking in, but I’m going to have to say no either way,” answered Ravyn, as she started to pick up her pace, hoping to lose Jo along in the process. Jo wasn’t the fooled, and started to pick up her pace. “Are you going to do what you do best and annoy me for no reason? Don’t you have to put nurses to the slaughter or something?”

“You are so going there to see him, aren’t you?” bugged Jo. “Why didn’t you tell me there was something going on?” Jo and Ravyn stopped at an elevator, where Ravyn was repetitively pushing the down button on the wall. She closed her eyes and begged to wake up from this dream.

“Where’s Andrea when you need her?” Ravyn asked herself, as she opened her eyes to the sound of opening doors.

“Why are you trying to hide it? It’s so obvious,” carried on Jo, not moving from her spot, as Ravyn rushed into the elevator, turned around and started frantically pushing the button for the sixth floor.

Please close, she begged in her thoughts, please close. The doors closed and Ravyn let out a sigh of relief and Ravyn stopped pushing the button. She leant back against the rails. But who else that really tickled her nerves would she run into on the way to see her future husband? Well, she was only guessing he would be her future husband because he was a lot like her, he was dedicated to his work, and, he was pretty cute as well to stare out, front and back. But no one knew, not even him.

She exhaled heavily.

“Harris,” came another female colleague’s voice from the corner of the elevator. Ravyn looked up at the numbers being highlighted. Come on, Ravyn urged the levels in her thoughts. “Why are you going to paediatrics? It’s not even your department.”

“Why must I answer to you?” Ravyn turned around to see the head of radiology there, with various large, white envelopes in her hands. “It’s bad enough I have to see you living in the same street as me let alone sharing the same workplace with you.”

“Well, I was only asking,” she said.

“Okay, you can start telling me what to do, Meaghen, when you grow older than I am, when you have more years in this hospital as a professional doctor and when you become head of ICU, then I’ll start listening,” Ravyn replied. “But while none of that is even possible, I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation.”

“Just answer me,” stated Meaghen. “You don’t have to get all worked up and have a bitch attack at me every time I ask you a simple question. On a lighter topic, I got your x-rays for Mr Williams.”

Ravyn looked unsure, if she was going to co-operate with Meaghen or not. She gave her a faint smile and Meaghen handed Ravyn the x-rays needed for Mr William’s condition.

“About time, I asked for them about two hours ago and all I got told was Doctor Greyfoxx will see to it when she can,” bitched Ravyn, holding the large white envelope in her hands and not looking at them. “I mean, how damn slow can you and your department get Meaghen?”

“It’s a very busy hospital,” replied Meaghen, shuffling some more envelopes around in her hands. “Aren’t you going to have a look at them?”

“When I get back to ICU, I will, but not now, I’ve got business to attend to in paediatrics,” sneered Ravyn. “Don’t you have work to do in radiology?”

“I’ve got to give these back to parents who want to know how bad their kids’ fractures are,” answered Meaghen. “So it looks like, we’ll both be walking to paediatrics together.”

“Like hell we aren’t,” muttered Ravyn, looking away from her work colleague.

“Have you seen the new interns for the nurses?” Meaghen asked, attempting to establish a connection with Ravyn, conversation wise. Ravyn rolled her eyes at the attempt that Meaghen was trying to do. “And how many have you told to go to hell in the past few hours since your shift started?”

“Sadly, only three,” answered Ravyn, as she started to reflect on three separate incidents in the past four or so hours that she had started her shift, where she had told three interns to step aside or go to hell. One could not put an IV in a patient’s arm even if Ravyn had put a gun to his head. Another would not step aside because she believed she had the right answer to curing paralysis of a blind man. And the last one nearly spilt her coffee all over Ravyn when they were talking about what interns are and aren’t allowed to say to such doctors as Ravyn. “I must say, I’m already starting to feel sorry for Jo. She has to be the one that’s around them on a constant basis.”

“We’ve got a couple of new interns,” added Meaghen, putting a hand in her white jacket and pulling out a chain of various keys.

“I’ve noticed,” muttered Ravyn.

“Yeah, we’ve had several complaints about your behaviour towards our interns already, and it’s only open season so far,” replied Meaghen, with a sarcastic smile. “I’m going to be glad when you get assigned a new intern, or maybe even a bunch of them.”

“Good, be glad all you want, cos, so far, it ain’t happening,” Ravyn smiled at the fact that many people tended to give all the interns to other doctors in the ICU department rather than giving them to her. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to a sign pointing to the paediatrics ward. Both doctors got out and started to walk the way of the paediatrics ward. The elevator doors closed behind them. “You’re not going to follow me are you?”

“No,” answered Meaghen, as walked beside Ravyn, who was not enjoying Meaghen’s company. “You know what you need to do Rav? You need to relax big time.”

Ravyn stopped at the mention of the word ‘Rav’, as Meaghen stopped as well. Ravyn wasn’t happy by the fact that Meaghen had used the nickname that was the result of the physiotherapy department playing with Ravyn’s head once upon a time, when she was an intern. She hated memories of her internship.

“Don’t you have some stupid surfer guy to try and hook up with or am I just a placebo for your excuses to be alive?” asked Ravyn, quite harshly. “Now, you know my name, and most obvious, you know my surname, so why can’t you just leave it at that?”

“Look, I didn’t mean to offend you,” apologised Meaghen. “I’m sorry Ravyn.”

“Good, now leave me alone, you’re going to attract unwanted interns around me,” said Ravyn, as she walked off, leaving Meaghen pondering about how she had offended the most brilliant and the rudest member of the medical team in the hospital. Meaghen shook her head in confusion and walked off in the same direction as Ravyn, but at a slower pace.

Ravyn walked past a couple of interns in which she dreaded to meet eye contact with, let alone having a conversation with them that doesn’t involve the girly gossip. But, she didn’t know where he would be. He could be anywhere in this lengthy department of idiots. Her heart sunk at the thought that he might’ve left for home already without saying goodbye to her like he usually did, if she wasn’t nearby. Her eyes darted from the foreheads of gothic interns to some of Jo’s nurses being up here for God only knows what reason. She couldn’t find him, when a whole bunch of children ran straight past her. She stopped at the entrance to a couple of corridors; it was as empty as a Limp Bizkit concert. She retraced her steps back to the main corridor to where the paediatrics’ front desk was. She leant against the counter, crossing her arms on it as well, trying not to crush Mr Williams’ x-rays in the process.

“Good morning Doctor Harris,” greeted one of the girls that looked like Jennifer Lopez blended badly into Bollywood. “May I ask what brings you here?”

“Where’s the janitor?” Ravyn asked, trying not to look so downtrodden. She wanted to avoid the questions.

“Um…Rob, I think he’s already left,” answered the girl. “But I’m not sure. I can ring up if you want to.”

“Yeah, you do that for me,” replied Ravyn, as she noticed something or someone was watching her. She turned around to see a tall associate. “Where were you? I had to deal with Jo’s interns for hours at end.”

“Meaghen was doing something major for me down in radio,” answered Andrea, as she took a pen out from her top pocket and started to write something down on a piece of paper. “I had this guy, twenty-something fractures throughout his body.”

“Who did he think he was… superman?” Ravyn asked. “Did he jump out of a window and realise at the last minute he couldn’t fly?”

“You’re in nasty mood today aren’t you?” asked Andrea, still not looking at Ravyn, but at the piece of paper as she continued to write. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“I slept on the couch last night, not in my bed,” corrected Ravyn. “I feel asleep watching television, for the first time in ages.”

“Excuse me,” said the not-almost-there Bollywood Jennifer Lopez styled girl from the front desk. Ravyn’s attention was diverted from Andrea to the girl. “They said that Rob’s doing something at the other end of the building, for Erika, I think. Not sure if they said Erika or Eric.”

“They are either female or they are male, next time, open your eyes, because they are two different people to me,” snapped Ravyn, as Andrea stopped writing and handed the piece of paper to the chick.

“And I want an extra fifty milligrams of that stuff, if she happens to wake up,” ordered Andrea, putting the pen in her back pocket of her pants. She turned to Ravyn, whom was already looking at her. “Why are you after Rob?”

“He owes me money,” lied Ravyn. “Nothing else, I swear, with God’s honour.”

“God’s honour is just about good as nothing, when it comes to you swearing about things girl,” replied Andrea, smiling. “I know there’s something going on, in which, I will find out sooner or later.” Andrea sensed Ravyn wasn’t telling her something, just by her response reaction to the previous question.

“Good for you, do you feel proud?” asked Ravyn, shifting her weight onto her left leg, as she crossed her arms.

“You need a man in your life,” blurted Andrea. She wasn’t meant to say it, but it just came out as verbal vomit. “You’re always grumpy, you’re still single, and you refuse to go out man-hunting.”

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing, me being single, because you know how long my shifts are,” Ravyn replied. “And plus, I’m only grumpy when it comes to open season with the interns flooding in like cicadas on my front lawn.”

“And so the other times it’s just your hormones speaking then?” asked Andrea.

“No, the interns from the previous open season are still here and as long as they learn to either grow or buy some brain cells, I will shoot them with a tranquiliser gun,” Ravyn answered. “And plus, when they do finally turn into doctors, God forbid they ever will, they were better off at college, waking up with a hangover every single morning, rather than being in Josh’s office complaining about how I can do a job better than they can.”

“Or maybe, complaining about your attitude?” suggested Andrea. “Just saying, it can get out of hand sometimes, that’s all.”

“Oh, there’s always that possibility, but I’m going to have to stick to me doing their jobs for them in a more professional and appropriate manner,” replied Ravyn. “Well, I’m not going to waste my time and wait for my money to come walking back to me, in Rob’s back pocket, so I better get these x-rays back to ICU, before Jo interferes and mucks everything up.”

“I take it Jo hasn’t told you,” Andrea reminded herself about the new rumour flooding the hospital’s corridors.

“Jo doesn’t tell me what to do, I tell her what to do,” Ravyn replied. “And plus, she’s only the head of the nurses, a department which is over-funded for pathetic reasons. Didn’t radiology request for some more barium and Josh overruled it and instead continued to pump in more funds for the nurses?”

“Don’t you start on the nursing department,” ordered Andrea. “It’s bad enough I hear it from the guys down at the pharmacy.”

“I’m just thankful the ICU here is not as shit as the ones I’ve seen downtown,” replied Ravyn. “Anyway, what has Jo failed to tell me once again and tell me again, why do I have to believe it when I’m a superior doctor than Jo?”

“You’re getting an intern to play role model to,” replied Andrea, as Ravyn’s expression completely changed.

“It’s not April the first,” retorted Ravyn, briskly. “Josh has more decency to set me up with an intern for an open season.”

Hmm, it sound interesting. I like the concept of the story line so far. Can't wait to read more. Thanks for using me!

Thank you Andrea.

Okay this part is the continuation on from the first part.

 

“Go ask him, apparently you’ve got a chick,” said Andrea, looking innocent. “You’ve got a freshman straight out of college. And guess what? She’s starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, I will be talking to Josh about this,” replied Ravyn, looking appalled and offended at the fact that she felt like she was the last to know. “How long have you known this for?”

“A couple of days, that’s all,” answered Andrea. “I thought Jo told you.”

“Jo tells me nothing full stop, and I right now, I still want it to remain that way,” replied Ravyn. “And on the way back to my place tonight, when my shift is over, I will be stopping by Grant’s place and probably filing a complaint.”

“Good morning and a big welcome to our new interns, my name is Doctor Josh Gradon and I am the one responsible for the doings of this hospital,” greeted Josh, as he stood posh in front of another year’s interns. Some of them were nervous and some of them were laughing and joking about how it would be like working aside some very well trained doctors. Josh stood in front of the main administration desk, facing the interns as groups of various doctors from various departments stood in side by side, formatted in the kind of friendships they had with each other. “I work alongside many departments, to see if my hospital is running efficiently. In this hospital, you will be required to perform at your best on a consistent basis. Failing to meet the needs and requirements of your supervising doctor shall result in a poor mark for your final med exams. Each week, I get reports from your supervising doctors and they grade you individually, even if you’re put in a group. I handle the complaints alongside my work partner Grant Gallagher, if the occasion needs to arise.” He looked around to see the interns’ shuffling around, one girl was as nervous as hell, just by the look upon her face. “Do not hesitate to complain.” He shot Ravyn a nasty look, as Ravyn replied with a short and brief smile. He looked back to the crowd of interns. “You each have been handed a piece of paper with your assigned department. Please proceed immediately to the attending doctors on my right hand side. The head of each department shall call out each department and the attending doctor or doctors will step forward and you will follow to your designated area. Please, remember there is an intern common room, on the fifth floor, seventh door on your left. Thank you all for choosing to do your internship with this hospital and I, on the behalf of the staff hope you have a nice time working at Sacred Heart.”

“Nurses!” yelled Jo, stepping with me. A couple of girls walked towards Jo. Ravyn sighed as Jo walked away with more wannabe nurses.

“Why the long sigh?” asked Andrea, standing next to Ravyn.

“Isn’t there a cut off point for interns in nursing?” asked Ravyn. Andrea shook her head. “There’s got to be. Everyday I see one or maybe even three new interns in Jo’s department. It’s a nurse invasion.”

“Radiology!” yelled Meaghen, as several guys and girls stepped forward and walked to Meaghen’s side. Meaghen walked off with these people, giving Andrea and Ravyn a two-second glance.

“I can’t believe I’m co-operating with this,” muttered Ravyn.

“Nor am I,” replied Andrea, hearing Ravyn’s mutter. “I mean, you agree to stuff but usually if it doesn’t suit you, you don’t co-operate in the long run.”

“You know me too well,” replied Ravyn, giving Andrea a small smile.

“Occupational therapy!” yelled another head of a department.

“They walk like they scavenge,” commented Ravyn. “I’m going to make my intern’s life hell if she doesn’t live up to my expectations. No, screw it, I’m not going to put that much energy into it, I’ll just make sure she gets out of here by the end of the week.”

“Now that’s a bit harsh,” replied Andrea, crossing her arms. “Oh look it’s my turn now.” As she realised it was coming down to her and Ravyn to call their interns. Six were left now. Andrea took a deep breath. “Paediatrics!” Five of them scuttled along in their new white coats, while Andrea turned to Ravyn and gave her a small smile, as Ravyn released who she’s going to be stuck with. “You have fun, teaching that girl and try to be nice to her.”

“Oh goody, the thrill of my lifetime,” muttered Ravyn, sarcastically, as the girl walked over to her and gave Ravyn a small smile. The intern gave her a smile. Ravyn stared at her blankly. “Okay, kid, there are a couple of rules you have to follow to get along with me. Do not call me, dude, man, or any lame teeny nicknames, you call me Doctor, not Doc, or call me Ravyn not Rav, or Ma’am not Sir. Do not expect me to be nice to you or to respect you, because I do not respect interns who screw up my work. And we are going to have no contact outside of this hospital unless a terrorist situation is present.” The new ICU intern opened her mouth to say something, but Ravyn just simply cut her off before she could start talking. “Can I have a look at the piece of paper before you start telling me your life story?” The intern handed her the piece of paper. “Interesting name… of course, I do not respect many interns and you are not an exception to that rule, I’m just going call you Woodlands.”

“But that’s not my last name,” argued the new intern which was Ravyn’s new most hated intern so far, also known as Sarah. “Look on the piece of paper…there’s no…”

“Ah,” interrupted Ravyn, putting her hand up to silence the new intern. “Who’s boss of the ICU department?”

“You are,” answered Sarah, feeling suppressed already.

“Then learn to keep your mouth shut when you’re not being spoken to,” ordered Ravyn, as she put her hand down. “If you ever want to survive as an intern near me, learn to know that rule as a natural instinct.” Sarah didn’t know what to say or do. Already, she was afraid of what Ravyn could do to her. She could fail her so easily, for making a simple slip up. Sarah didn’t know if she would ever make friends with her boss, that’s what the real world had taught her before to do. Now everything just contradicted in this hospital and caved in together. Ravyn examined the new intern carefully; tall, thin, bushy brown hair and dark blue eyes. But the amount of jewellery and make up she was wearing, did not impress Ravyn at all. “Follow me.”

Ravyn turned around and started to stride for the elevator hoping that she would probably lose the new intern that way, but this intern was a bit quicker then the others you’ve seen in your day and actually kept up with you. It was the first good sign that Ravyn suspected she would be a good doctor. They came to a standstill at the elevator doors, and Ravyn pushed the up button.

“How many floors in this hospital?” asked Sarah, looking as uncomfortable as ever.

“Twelve,” answered Ravyn. “The shit ones are usually up the top. We’re in the middle, so we’re out of harms way, usually.”

“What do you mean, ‘usually’?” asked Sarah.

“We’re right next door to the nurses, and a fair majority of them drive me up the wall,” answered Ravyn, as the elevator doors opened. They both walked in simultaneously. Ravyn waited for the doors to close, before pushing the level button for the ICU department. “As much as I hate to admit how heavily I rely on them, they are a bunch of raccoons tied to a tree who are under the impression that just because their asses are over-funded means that someone actually gives two rat’s asses about them.”

The elevator stopped two floors from the ground floor, where both Sarah and Ravyn had gotten in and the doors opened. Someone on this floor wanted to go up as well. The sliding doors revealed Rob with a large broomstick in his hand. Ravyn’s thoughts froze thoughts about hating Sarah for the rest of the time that she was here, and concentrated on giving Rob a small smile. He entered the elevator in his normal dark green janitor’s uniform. He stood in the middle of Ravyn and Sarah.

“What floor?” asked Sarah.

“Looks like we’re all going to ICU,” answered Rob, looking from Sarah to Ravyn, as Sarah pressed the button for the doors to close. “Hey, how are you? Cassie said that you wanted me yesterday but I was doing something for Erika at the time.”

“I’m fine,” smiled Ravyn, trying not to go red or even the slightest shade of pink, as the doors shut and the elevator started to move upwards. “And how about yourself, Rob?”

“I’m actually quite okay, well today, I wasn’t feeling too bright yesterday,” answered Rob, as he turned from Ravyn to Sarah. Sarah wasn’t looking at Rob’s confused expression upon his face, but she was looking at the floor. Rob looked back at Ravyn. “You’ve got a new intern, I take it. Didn’t Josh ban all interns to you?”

“He didn’t ban it, I did, until it was overruled a couple days ago, and I only found out yesterday,” Ravyn answered. “Her name’s Woodlands.”

“Ah right,” replied Rob, nodding his head for a few seconds, trying to understand that the new intern’s name was probably something else and that Ravyn was refusing to treat the new intern as a human. “Are you going to the meeting today?”

“I have more important things to attend to,” answered Ravyn, somewhat coldly. It was unusual that Ravyn should her love to refuse to go to things based on other important issues that she needed to address.

“But you’re a head of a department,” reminded Rob. “They are going to sack you soon if you don’t start turning up to these meetings.”

“They cannot sack me just for that reason,” argued Ravyn. “I doubt that this hospital can afford to lose another good doctor such as myself. They lost Keith because of a couple of blow ups and look what happened, the hospital got so much bad publicity it wasn’t funny.” The elevator came to a standstill and all three people walked out. Sarah stopped and waited for Ravyn. But Ravyn was busy with talking to Rob about the position she holds in the community and the hospital. Ravyn noticed that Sarah was waiting for her, and was eavesdropping on her conversation. “What are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for you,” answered Sarah. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Because you should show me around and I should know where everything is.”

“You’ve built your hopes up too high, kid,” replied Ravyn, finally giving the piece of paper she had previously taken off Sarah back to her and putting her hands in the front pockets of the white coat that was draped over here.

“Be gentle on the kid, Ravyn, she’s only new,” said Rob.

Ravyn’s attention turned to Rob and then suddenly back to Sarah.

“Go down the hall, and you’ll run into a desk with a whole bunch of ditzy blondes, give the piece of paper to the head of the nurses, cos I’ve got business to deal elsewhere, and like hell you’re coming,” explained Ravyn. “But stay in that area. If I come back and I cannot find you, you’ll already have failed your internship.”

Sarah shook her in agreement and she walked away down the hallway, leaving Rob and Ravyn alone to talk to each other. She didn’t know what to do, if Ravyn ended up severely hating her and Sarah didn’t even know why she even hated her start with. She made no rude gestures and no rude comments, and already she’s been given a weird nickname; Woodlands. Where did that come from? It’s not even her last name. Why didn’t Ravyn automatically call Sarah by her real name and treat her normal? Just because she was an intern, Sarah already felt out of place, almost like an outsider. It was the first time Sarah had been up and close to the chapters in her various medical text books and already, she felt like she’s going to screw up and lose her internship.

Sarah was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t see the nurse coming directly her way. The events happened so quickly for Sarah, that one moment she was walking and the next falling over someone. She got to her feet and realised that she had bumped into a nurse wearing pink hospital clothes. She didn’t know that the nurses that wore pink were the experienced ones. She then realised that she also made the nurse drop all a box of papers everywhere.

“I’m so sorry,” apologised Sarah, as she got down to her knees and started to help the nurse pick up all of the various multi-coloured pieces of papers and manila folders.

“It’s alright, I’m a klutz at these things,” said the nurse, giving her a friendly smile. “Are you new around here? Cos I haven’t seen you around before, wait, you are new right?”

“Yeah, I’m a new intern in the ICU ward,” replied Sarah, as the nurses’ expression changed to a serious one.

“Are you the new intern to Doctor Harris?” asked the nurse to Sarah, whom were both busy putting papers in manila folders and stacking them in a messy pile in the box. Sarah nodded.

“Why? Is it a bad thing?” asked Sarah.

“Just say she has an attitude problem, but she’s one hell of a good doctor,” answered the nurse. “Oh I forgot.” The nurse stopped what she was doing and offered to shake Sarah’s hand. Sarah dropped the papers she had in her hand in the box and took the nurses’ hand in a handshake. “My name’s Melissa, but people either call me Phi or Mel.”

“Ah, Sarah,” replied Sarah, as they shook hands. “People just call me Sarah, or in an extreme case, Sewa.”

“So what horrible nickname has Harris given you already?” asked Mel, as both girls released their hands from the handshake.

“Woodlands,” answered Sarah. “I don’t why; it’s not even my last name.”

“You should see the nickname she assigned me to, and it’s got nothing to do with my name,” said Mel. “She christened me on my second day a couple of years ago when I started working as a nursing intern, slowpoke she named me.”

“Wait, how did you know that she’s already given me my nickname?” asked Sarah, picking up the piece of paper which had everything on it and that she was ordered to give it to the head of nursing.

“It’s obvious when it comes to people like her,” answered Mel, as she picked up the rest of the papers, held the box, and stood up. Sarah stood up as well.

“Why do people call you Phi for? How does that relate to your name?” asked Sarah.

“The last name’s Phoenix, that’s why,” answered Mel. “Why, what’s your last name?”

“Don’t worry,” answered Sarah. “Are you the head of nursing by any chance, Mel?”

“No I’m not, but I am a supervisor, if that’s what you’re after,” answered Mel. “If you’re after the head of nursing, that would be Joanna, not me.”

“Is she nice your head?” asked Sarah.

“Don’t worry, just because your head is a mean old biatch at times, doesn’t mean all the heads are like Harris,” answered Mel. “Jo’s a sweet old soul. But I tell you what, she puts up with so much crap from your head at times, I don’t know how she survives Harris’s criticism of our department.”

“Hey Mel,” said another voice, as Meaghen entered the scene with a couple of large envelopes in her hands. Meaghen saw Sarah and they exchanged smiles.

“Hey Meaghen, what’s up?” asked Mel.

“Wow, that looks heavy that box,” commented Meaghen, noticing the large box in Mel’s hands. “I’ve got these for a couple of your patients. I can’t find Jo anywhere, so is it alright if I give them to you?”

“I’m right here, Meaghen,” said another voice as Jo entered the scene, with a few manila folders in one arm. Meaghen turned around, gave Jo a smile, and gave the x-rays to her. “Why are we loitering around here when there’s work to be done, girls?”

“I was looking for you,” answered Meaghen.

“I was picking up my files, because I bumped into Sarah,” answered Mel.

“Who’s Sarah?” asked Jo.

“I am,” answered Sarah, raising her hand slightly and then lowering her arm to her side. Sarah gave Jo a friendly smile and Jo replied with a small smile. “Are you the head of nursing?”

“Yes I am,” answered Jo. “Where do I know you from? I’ve seen you somewhere.” Sarah gave Jo the papers that she was ordered from Ravyn to give to the head of nursing. Jo scanned the papers and looked oddly at Sarah. “Is this some sort of joke? Has Ravyn actually agreed to train an intern this year?”

“No joke Jojo, I couldn’t even believe it at first,” answered Mel. She turned to Meaghen. “Are you going down near occupational by any chance?” Meaghen nodded. “You wanna help me file these in the archives?”

“Meh, why not?” asked Meaghen, as Mel and Meaghen walked off to help Mel file some files away, downstairs.

“Wow, talking about walking hypocrisy,” muttered Jo, as she tried to read all of the information on the paper, but was too distracted at the fact that Ravyn had actually gotten a new intern that she hadn’t made cry within five minutes of their meeting. Jo looked at Sarah seriously. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because that’s what Doctor Harris said for me to do, because she had business to attend to somewhere else and she didn’t want to bring me along,” answered Sarah. “She said give to the head of the nurses.”

“Yeah trust her to use you as her slave,” commented Jo. “One thing you should know about Ravyn, you do not tell her what to do unless you know what you’re talking about and you can prove it. Because, I’ve found myself in that position many a time and I’ve lost the war with her too many times. Come, follow me, I’ll get everything sorted out for you, seeing that Ravyn won’t do it.”

Jo started walking the same way where Sarah had originally aimed to go. Sarah didn’t know about what to say and what not to say to Jo, because she was afraid she would get on Jo’s bad side. She was starting to become weary of everyone’s behaviour. Everyone in college was so nice to her and now she’s been thrown into this environment, which is a complete oxymoron to everything that she’s learnt from being in the workforce, as she held a job working at a bar downtown.

“Who was that person back there?” asked Sarah. “That Meaghen person, who was she?”

“Meaghen, or like she’s formally known as Doctor Greyfoxx, she works down in radiology, just below us,” answered Jo. “Look, I know you’re nervous kid, but don’t think we are all like your boss, because we’re not. Ravyn and I siege war on each other on a daily basis, so I’m used to her and her criticism.”

“Are you a doctor?” asked Sarah.

“No, honey, I’m a nurse, nurses can’t hold a doctor status,” answered Jo, as they both reached the nurses’ desk. Jo put all of the contents of her arm on the front desk and looked to Sarah. “If I was a doctor, God forbid I will have to put up with Ravyn a few more hours then I originally intend to.”

“So what do I do now?” asked Sarah. “I can’t do anything without my supervising doctor.”

“Well, you can always explore the hospital some more,” suggested Jo. “There’s more to this hospital than the ICU and the nursing department.”

“I can’t,” replied Sarah. “She threatened to take my internship away if I wondered away and she came back and I wasn’t here.”

“I can tell you now, she does not have the right, nor the power to do that to you, just because she can’t have what she wants,” retorts Jo, smartly. “If you she starts treating you badly just tell me, and I’ll do something about it.” Jo examined Sarah carefully. Tall, brown bushy hair, something’s not quite right…ah, the jewellery and the makeup. “Take this off.” Jo pointed at the love heart pendant which was held by a thin piece of silver. “Take your rings off, unless you’re married. Are you?”

“No, I’m not,” answered Sarah. “I can’t take this off. It opens up, see.” Sarah opened the pendant to show Jo a picture of a baby girl with blue eyes, just like Sarah. “She’s my baby girl.”

“You’re a single mum?” asked Jo. Sarah nodded. “Aww…she’s so cute. What’s her name?”

“Ava,” answered Sarah. “She’s only two.”

Jo reminded herself that she’s getting distracted and she needs to protect this intern from the hells of breaking the acceptance barriers with her boss. Jo pulled her head back into reality and Sarah closed the picture pendant.

“You need to take your rings off, hun,” reminded Jo, getting back on track. “And you need to take a fair majority of your makeup off, or you’ll be highly criticised for it, knowing Harris. But you need to take that necklace off, put it in your pocket, or put it in your locker.”

“I didn’t even know interns got lockers,” replied Sarah, as Sarah started to take her three rings off her fingers.

“Look, I have to go off and do some stuff for a number of other people,” said Jo, as she noticed a man that she knew came into sight and she needed to give him something. Jo leant over the counter, fiddled around with some papers with numbers and names over them, picked three of them up, and stood straight in front of Sarah. “But if she gives you shit, you know where I am usually am. Or failing that, get Josh to handle it; he’s the head of this hospital practically. Bye Sarah and try to have a nice day.” Jo had to run to catch this guy that she saw before, and the guy was slowly walking away further and further away from the department.

I'm really liking this. Can't wait for more.

“One thing you should know about Ravyn' date=' you do not tell her what to do unless you know what you’re talking about and you can prove it. Because, I’ve found myself in that position many a time and I’ve lost the war with her too many times.[/size']

OMG that cracked me up! It's like you KNOW me! Well, professionally I mean! haha. (Being an Acquarian we always like to think we know it all even when we don't, true story! haha) I bet the ppl that have to work under me would so relate to this for the most part, I AM a sarcastic biatch sometimes, I have no defense either, just breaks the monotony sometimes *insert evil laughter here* But Its funny when I first started reading this I saw the cast of Scrubs (great show btw, always cracks me up) with our faces. And seeing Rob as that Janitor! haha Big, tall, cynical and dumb as a stump, my god you cast that well! In fact for the most part you cast this well! This is great. Breath of fresh air. And me being the nasty one, that's kewl for me - Cause when it comes to work it's done my way! There is no highway option! :rofl:

Loving it. My Intern. Oh I'm gonna have so much fun with you *muahahaha*

 

oooo nice, ME WANT MORE

now....

Very nice sis. can't wait for more

 

 

Doctor Greyfoxx....i like it!

Hehe I'm glad you're all loving it. Here's another new face to the story DarknessLover (Jonathon).

 

It was the end of the day for Meaghen, as she dragged her sore feat into the locker rooms, where everyone had their lockers. Her locker was at the back of the room, right next to her friend Jonathon from the surgery department. She had worked a straight ten hour shift for the third time this week, and it was paying the price on her physical state. She didn’t have time to go out with friends now and go to parties, she was either catching up on much deserved sleep or she was working and copping criticism from every department but the nurses and hers. She reached her locker, which had Doctor Meaghen Greyfoxx written on a white label and stuck to the front of it. She sat down on the bench in front of it, trying to relax herself, as the raging headache persisted to ignore the headache tablets inside her head. She closed her eyes, and started to rub her temples. Her hands were hurting from carrying boxes full of chemicals back and forth to radiology, her feet were sore from chasing after people who had labelled their scans important, but failed to turn up at the specified time. Her eyes were wiry and needed sleep as well, and her voice was about to go because she had to give three lectures to the new interns about how to work the equipment and safety procedures of the department if a chemical fire was to occur or even a mass lunatic was holding a syringe to somebody’s throat. It was days like these that Meaghen kinda regretted becoming head of radiology; it was too tiring on a regular basis.

She stopped rubbing her temples and opened her eyes. She stood up and opened her locker. She took off her white jacket, taking the number of various sized keys out from her pocket before hanging it on a white coat hanger. She only wore a pair of navy blue track pants underneath and a yellow tank shirt. She reached for the other coat hanger that had her blue denim jacket hanging off it, but stopped halfway and noticed her reflection gazing back at her in the door mirror. She hesitated, and reached inside her pocket to fill the empty holes in her earlobes. She had several empty holes, in which on the job, she wasn’t allowed to fill due to uniform changes and also the fact that she worked alongside machines that were basically allergic to metal. She put some plain sterling silver studs in her left ear and then continued to put some silver sleepers in the other. When she had completed the task of filling in the missing small gaps in her earlobes, she sighed heavily, thinking about what tomorrow might bring for her. She couldn’t wait for her day off.

She went back to putting her denim jacket on. She put it on without any hesitation at all this time around.

She still had her keys in her hands, and put them in her bag which was sitting at the bottom of her almost empty locker. She lifted her bag and to check her phone if she had missed any calls or if any text messages had been left unchecked. Only one message from her brother, she had gotten in a period of ten hours. She couldn’t have been bothered reading it thoroughly, but it was something along the lines of him checking up how his little sister was. Meaghen dropped the phone back in the bag, after locking the keypad on the thing, in case she accidentally calls someone and wastes her phone credit. She looked one last time at the figure staring back at her in the door mirror, then she started to dart her eyes from one picture that was stuck around the mirror of her and her mum when she was little to other significant photos that told her that she was home sick.

Then she remembered the news that she got delivered a couple of days ago, her mum’s dying in hospital. Meaghen got told that she was in a car accident half way across the world, and there was nothing Meaghen could do about it. Meaghen felt helpless as ever. Because there wasn’t anyone to replace Meaghen while she went away to be by her mum’s side, she got told to stay and just pray that she continues to fight for her life. Meaghen tried to fight back the tears but she was helpless to do so. Some tears came out and Meaghen just lost the plot. Meaghen didn’t have a father, because he had abandoned her and her family at a young age a couple of months after Meaghen, being the second and last born of the family, was born. She couldn’t bare the thought of losing the only parent she had.

Josh was walking to his locker at the time, trying to manage text messaging on his phone and trying to walk to his locker, which was a bit too far advanced for his multi-tasking skills. Because Josh was hopeless at text messaging, and Josh wasn’t in the right physical condition to be talking to anyone right now. Like Meaghen, he was also worn down, but he started work three hours before Meaghen did, because he had to finish some interns’ applications off before they arrived that morning. Josh stopped and heard some crying going on. He sensed that it was coming from the back lockers. He wondered if it was Ravyn’s new intern crying about how badly she’s been treated that day. He started to follow the sounds of the crying and realised that the crier wasn’t the new intern, but a doctor who’s been here many years. Meaghen was breaking down and this was the first time that he’s seen her like this, in the many years that she’s been here working the radiology department.

“Hey Meaghen,” said Josh, softly as he forced Meaghen to sit down on the bench. Meaghen obeyed and sat down. Josh sat down next to her, as he started to give her a sympathetic hug.

“Hey Josh,” replied Meaghen, as she tried to hide the tears by wiping them away.

“There’s no point trying to hide the tears, I’ve already seen you,” joked Josh, as he hoped this would lighten the situation, but he had sensed that he had failed already. He let go of Meaghen. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, but thanks anyway,” answered Meaghen. “It’s family business.”

“Is this about your mum?” asked Josh. Meaghen nodded. “How is she? Is she any better?” Meaghen shook her head. “I am so sorry Meaghen, I really am. I tried talking to Grant but he won’t let you go. He’s getting more stubborn than Ravyn at times. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? Talking about it makes you feel better, well, that’s what you told me once. Do you remember that moment?” Meaghen nodded and smiled a bit remembering the circumstance she told him that under.

“You were throwing books at the wall at one stage,” reminded Meaghen.

“Are you going to be okay getting home?” asked Josh. “Do you want a lift?”

“No thanks, I’m fine,” answered Meaghen, shaking her head, and wiping away the newly formed tears. She tried to get to her feet, but felt a bit dizzy getting up. Josh caught her arm, as she straightened her back out.

“Man, I feel bad now, that I can’t overrule Grant’s decision,” said Josh, putting a guilt trip on him self for not allowing Meaghen to be at her mum’s side. “Do you want to come to the bar with us tonight? Jo’s getting off in about half an hour and Mel’s already at home, putting her feet up.”

“What do you mean I’m getting off in half an hour?” asked Jo, from behind Josh. Josh spun, letting go of Meaghen’s arm in the process to see Jo standing in her usual pink nurses’ uniform, well, she was wearing half of it, if her jeans were included. “I’m off now. Remember, second Tuesday of the roster and I finish half an hour earlier. God, I thought you were the one that organised the rosters for us.”

“My bad than,” replied Josh, as Jo retraced her steps to go in search of her locker which was not far from where she had been standing before. “Hey, Zeeba, before you go, what time are you going to be down at the bar?”

“Don’t call me Zeeba, it’s worse than Ravyn calling me Mojo,” retorted Jo, angrily as she finally found her locker. She opened it, took off her nurse’s shirt, and replaced it with a plain brown short-sleeved shirt. “Why do you call me Zeeba to start with Gradon?”

“Because you look like her off NCIS,” answered Josh.

“And he can’t tell the difference between the character and the real thing,” added Meaghen.

“Do I look Israeli to you?” asked Jo. “Five words for you Gradon, My-Big-Fat-Greek-Wedding.”

“I love that movie,” commented Meaghen.

“Go figure,” added Jo.

“Chill out Mojo,” teased Josh.

“I’m no monkey Mojo,” retorted Jo. “Now, when you’ve done stuffing around and calling me whatever names you can come up for me, come down and have a couple of drinks with your old friend.”

“I would if I could find Mel,” replied Josh, cheekily, almost at the point of smiling. Meaghen was starting to feel better, by the moment. She loved these little quarrels within the staff.

“Hey Madison where are you?” asked Jonathon who had newly walked in and was trying to look for Jo.

“Grr...Why must people call me names except for the one that I was born with?” asked Jo, getting frustrated as she grabbed a sports bag at the bottom of her locker and stuffed it with her nurse’s uniform. She had at least three more pairs of uniform in the locker, this one just needed to go home and get dry-cleaned or something, because of the stains that hadn’t come out of it. “What? I’m over here at my locker.”

“I’ve been looking for you all day,” started Jonathon, as he started to strut over to Jo’s locker. When he arrived, Jonathon and Jo exchanged glances as he stopped just centimetres from Jo. Jo knew Jonathon was ready to provoke her. “You owe twenty.”

“What for?” asked Jo.

“From last night,” commented Josh as Meaghen and him just cracked up with that comeback of Josh’s. Jo was choosing to ignore Josh.

“You know Mr Yeomans, the one that you said artificial isotopes in his system would only cause an allergic reaction?” asked Jonathon.

“Yeah, because your suggestion was, was that you could put them in the penicillin when he’s allergic to that stuff,” retorted Jo.

“He’s made a full recovery,” Jonathon rubbed it in and Jo crossed her arms, pouting. “Pay up.” Jonathon had put his palm out wide open by now. Jo only had one choice, and that was to give him the money.

“Fine, I’ll give it to you,” pouted Jo, as she searched through her sports bag for her wallet and founds a loose note and slapped that in his hand. “Now you wanna start calling me by my real name?”

“But Madison is your name; it’s just your surname,” smiled Jonathon, as he started to wave the twenty dollar bill around in the air. “Oh yeah, a surgeon out-witted the head of nursing!”

“I’ll be careful if I were you, waving that twenty dollar bill around before you start wavering something else around in the air,” warned Jo nastily, as she looked from the stupid surgeon dancing around in the middle of the locker aisles to the mirror on the inside of the door. She tossed her black hair a bit, turned around so that she could see the contents of her locker in full view, put her keys in her pocket of her jeans and put her phone in the other side pocket of her jeans. Jo and Meaghen closed their locker doors at the same time. “I’m outta here.”

“So am I,” added Meaghen, as Josh waved goodbye to her and Jonathon stopped dancing when Jo announced her departure.

“I hate you,” Jonathon said, as Jo smiled. “I’ve got an hour and a half left.”

“Have fun,” smiled Jo, as she put her sports bag over her shoulder and started to walk towards the exit. Meaghen smiled goodbye to Josh as she started to walk away. She put her bag over her shoulder and met Jo at the exit. “Bye bye Joshy.”

“Don’t call me that,” said Josh. “My mum calls me that.”

“What’s the name that Ravyn gives you again?” asked Jo. “Yoshi-Mario Kart, ah yes, that’s it. Bye Yoshi-Mario Kart.” Jo smiled and blew Josh a kiss in the air.

“Bye Mojo,” smiled Josh, sarcastically.

“Bye Jonno,” farewelled Meaghen to Jonathon.

“Bye foxy doctor, see you tomorrow,” replied Jonathon, appearing in sight for Meaghen. Jonathon gave Meaghen a wave goodbye and Meaghen did the same.

“Ew,” muttered Jo, as the pair of them turned around and walked towards their cars.

Jonathon made sure they were out of sight when he ran over to Josh.

“Do you have rabies or something to make you run that fast?” asked Josh, amazed at Jonathon’s ability to run fast just like that.

“How hot is she now that she’s grown her hair?” asked Jonathon.

“Ah, Jo’s married, Jonathon,” answered Josh. “So that’s why you were annoying Jo, just then. You like her!”

“No, God no, not Jo,” replied Jonathon. “I mean Meaghen. How hot is she now that she’s grown her hair?”

“I don’t pay attention to these things, because Meaghen’s just a friend to me,” said Josh, walking over to his locker, which was on the opposite side to Meaghen’s. He opened it and went straight to pick his bag off the top shelf of it. He put it on the bench in the middle of the room, took his shirt off, and replaced it with a white singlet. “And I’m planning to keep it that way.”

“Are you going to the bar?” asked Jonathon.

“Nah, going home to the missus,” answered Josh. “I’m dead tired.” Josh closed the locker door and picked up the bag that was still sitting on the bench. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Josh and Jonathon exchanged goodbyes and waves, and then Josh dragged himself and his feet out of the hospital. Jonathon sighed as he realised that he’s going to have to get back to work as a surgeon if he doesn’t want his fortnightly pay cheque to bounce.

 

~

 

Ravyn was at home tonight. Not doing anything fancy, not going to dinner with friends, not trashing Andrea’s place, not joining a vast majority of the doctors and interns at the pubs downtown. She wasn’t the drinking type. Every now and then, she would go out with Andrea and friends to have a social gathering, but never would she get so utterly drunk she wouldn’t be able to remember where she had parked her car.

Ravyn was not only at home tonight, but she was on the couch with a blanket over her, watching some television shows she usually watched when she wasn’t telling people how to do their jobs properly. She had a feeling she had forgotten something, but she didn’t know exactly what she had forgotten.

There was a knock at the door. She didn’t want to get up from the comfortable seat that she had gotten used to for a couple of hours now. But she had to. She didn’t like the impatient knocks that the person outside was making by now. She walked over to the door, unlocked the lock on the handle, and opened the door.

“Rob,” said Ravyn, as she saw Rob standing outside her house, in a shirt and shorts. “What brings you here?”

She had convinced herself that this was a dream and that she had fallen asleep on the couch. And if this wasn’t a dream, she better start hiding her affections for him.

“I was in the neighbourhood and I wanted to stop by and say hi,” answered Rob, giving her a wave of his hand. “So here it goes, hi.”

“Do you want to come in or do you want go out?” asked Ravyn, trying to make up an excuse to see him longer. “Do you have time to do any of the above?”

“Yeah, I’ve got plenty of time,” answered Rob. “Why don’t we go out? Do you want to go to the wharf? Because there’s going to be some fireworks there tonight, or so, I’ve been hearing.”

“Yeah, why not?” asked Ravyn. “Hold on, let me put some shoes on and let me grab my coat.”

“We can take my car if you want,” offered Rob. “You go do those things and I’ll meet you back in the car.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” replied Ravyn, as Rob turned his back and started walking towards his sedan that he had parked out the front of Ravyn’s place. Ravyn had to rush. She ran to her bedroom, put on a pair of green slip-ons with a little bow on the top of each shoe, and grabbed a coat that was hanging on the door handle behind her bedroom door. She raced out to the kitchen, got her phone and her keys to the front door, and ran out the front door without even thinking about turning off all the lights and the television. She stopped in her tracks and went back to the door, remembering that she hadn’t locked it. She inserted the key and with a twist and a click, it was locked. She removed it and went back to running to Rob’s car.

The journey between Ravyn’s house and the wharf wasn’t a long one. Ravyn mostly glared out the window, thanking herself for not embarrassing herself in front of Rob. There were a couple of various conversations between Rob and Ravyn, but only short and brief ones. At traffic lights, Rob would usually turn the radio up, and start tapping the drum beat of the song. Ravyn thought that Rob would make a good drummer at the rate of precise beats he got correct.

It was only twenty or so minutes, until they arrived at the wharf. Many people had gathered to see the fireworks that Ravyn had originally no knowledge about.

“A good spot’s over there by the trees,” Rob said, as they stopped on the pathway to look around. Ravyn followed Rob’s pointing finger to a small spot that wasn’t packed with people, where there were various elm and oak trees growing. “I just hope we’re not too late though.”

“We shouldn’t be,” replied Ravyn, smiling, but Rob couldn’t see the smile in the darkness. She soon noticed this, and the smile faded. Rob and Ravyn started to walk over to the spot. “It’s been ages since I’ve been down here.”

“Really?” asked Rob, looking and sounding surprised. “I was down here this morning, doing my daily exercise along the beach.”

“I used to go to the gym, but I quit because my shifts got longer and my days got busier,” explained Ravyn.

“How was your day today?” asked Rob, trying to start a proper conversation with Ravyn.

“Long and tiring, as like any day,” answered Ravyn. “That girl that they assigned me to teach is somewhat odd.”

“What did you name her again…Woodlands?” asked Rob, as he remembered the conversation in the elevator with Ravyn and her new intern for the new open season. Ravyn nodded. “I have to say, you’ve named people odder names than that. What’s your name for Jo again, the head of the nurses?”

“Mojo,” answered Ravyn. “It’s a parody of the fact that people call her Jojo. I have to say the most interesting one would be Josh’s.”

“Who, Doctor Gradon’s?” asked Rob.

“Yeah, Yoshi-Mario Kart, I call him,” answered Ravyn. “Because that’s what he does best, play Yoshi-Mario Kart with the ICU’s patients. Don’t get me started on that.”

“I’ll try not to,” replied Rob, as Ravyn and he came to the spot where Rob had pointed out to be the best spot to see the fireworks. They both sat down, under the trees looking at the various boats on the harbour before them.

While Ravyn and Rob were sitting down under the old oak and elm trees, Mel, Jo, Sarah and Meaghen were leaning against the rails, protecting people from falling into the rocky harbour below, just metres away from the couple.

“You know what’s gay about this?” asked Meaghen. “That fact that I have to miss out on TV, to come and watch these bunch of sparkling magnesium chemicals cause ice addicts to rage on.”

“So now you’re blaming fireworks for ice addiction?” asked Mel. “There’s always a first to things.”

“I’m waiting for you to fall over the rails and into the water,” retorted Meaghen. “That’s the only thing I’m waiting for.”

“So who wants to go get me food?” asked Jo.

“I’m not hungry,” replied Mel.

“I know you’re not hungry, but I am,” clarified Jo. “And I can’t be bothered going over there to get food.”

“What do you want?” asked Meaghen.

“Something greasy, I’m sick of trying to eat something healthy,” answered Jo, giving Meaghen a couple of notes and Meaghen received them.

“Now where’s my tip?” asked Meaghen.

“What do you mean your tip?” asked Jo. “Your tip is being in my good books.”

Sarah’s attention wasn’t on the boats; it was on her picture pendant. She was looking at Ava and wondering how she was, because her sister had told Sarah to go out and have a nice time. Her sister was the best ever for looking after Ava.

“Twenty, that’s all I’m asking for,” requested Meaghen, as Jo rolled her eyes and handed over more notes. Meaghen started to walk towards the food court in the Sea Club Marina building.

“I want my change though,” reminded Jo, as Meaghen rolled her eyes.

“Who is she?” asked Mel, noticing what Sarah was still doing.

“She’s my daughter,” answered Sarah.

“You seem awfully quite,” said Jo. “What happened today after the last time I saw you?”

“Nothing much really,” answered Sarah. “Nothing too exciting or excruciating that I can think of that’s really worth mentioning.”

“How old is she?” asked Mel. “She looks so gorgeous.”

“That’s what I said,” added Jo. “She’s two.”

Mel looked up at Jo.

“Thank you for the information, Sarah,” retorted Mel, sarcastically aimed at Jo. Mel went back to looking at what Sarah had her eyes fixed on. “What’s her name?”

“Ava,” answered Sarah.

“Aww…”admired Mel, as she raised her head to look at something else. She was hurting her neck by leaning over and looking at Sarah’s daughter. Her eyes latched onto a guy walking down the wharf, walking straight for her and the girls. “Hey guys, hot guy alert.”

“I’m married, but I’ll look anyway,” replied Jo, as she joined in looking at the guy. Sarah looked at the guy for one moment, and looked back to looking at Ava. Jo noticed something was wrong. “Hey, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like that guy,” answered Sarah quietly.

“Why? What did he do wrong?” asked Jo.

“What’s his name?” asked Mel.

“His name’s Matt,” answered Sarah. “I don’t like him, and he doesn’t like me or Ava.”

“How can someone hate a two year old?” asked Mel.

“He’s my ex-boyfriend,” explained Sarah.

“And let me guess, he’s Ava’s father?” asked Jo. Sarah nodded.

“He refuses to pay child support or have any communication with either me or Ava,” Sarah explained some more.

“That bastard,” muttered Mel. “Who’s the guy next to him then? He’s pretty decent looking as well.” Sarah looked to the guy next to Matt. “I know him. I’ve seen him around the hospital.”

“Isn’t he Josh’s nephew?” asked Jo.

“That would be Viking,” answered Mel. “Ah, yes, it is Viking.”

“I know him as well,” added Sarah. “But as something else. He’s Matt’s best friend.”

“Jo, can we start a riot?” asked Mel.

“What kind of a question is that?” asked Jo, somewhat confused of why Mel would ask her that.

Matt and Viking were drawing nearer to the girls and Sarah became more and more uncomfortable about the whole situation. Sarah was looking around to see what else she could concentrate instead of her ex-boyfriend being present. They were drawing nearer. Sarah decided to hide her head under the hood that was attached to the jacket she was wearing.

“I’m not here,” muttered Sarah, quietly, as they passed her quietly. The pair whistled at both Jo and Mel, as both retorted by putting their fingers up at them and both Jo and Mel brushed them off easily. “Tell me when they’re gone.”

Mel double checked that both Matt and Viking were a good distance away from the trio. She gave all the clear, as Sarah lowered her hood.

“He’s that bad that you have to hide from him?” asked Jo. “He must be pathetic.”

“What’s taking Meaghen so long with the food?” asked Mel, as she turned to Jo. “You must be starving by now, at the rate that you were complaining at.”

“Do you want me to go see what’s taking her so long?” Sarah asked. “I’ve got to go to the bathroom to start with, so I may as well just duck in and see if Meaghen’s alright.”

“I’m not stopping you,” answered Mel. “Be my guest.”

“Nor am I,” added Jo. “Just don’t take too long, because the fireworks are starting soon.”

Sarah gave both of them a small smile, put her hands in her the pockets at the front of her grey hoody and started to walk in the direction that Meaghen shad previously walked. It only took Sarah five minutes to walk up to the Sea Club Marina building, but it took her another five to walk through the crowd inside of it, trying to find out where the café was. She looked around the large building to see if there were any signs to the café, but so many tall people had gotten in the way of Sarah’s vision, she couldn’t see over them. She didn’t want to ask them as well, the tall ones were always the lean and strong built men that didn’t give Sarah the right impression about their attitude. Sarah managed to convince some people to move out of her way, but she had to excuse herself before asking that to the people. The crowd at this point of time, had started to lessen, and it was more disperse then what she had just encountered minutes ago. But the one person that she had to run into was the one that had to spot her first.

“Woodlands, what are you doing here?” asked Ravyn, as Sarah turned around to see her new boss in front of her.

“With Jo and that,” answered Sarah. “They invited me to come watch the fireworks with them.”

“I thought I said no contact out of the hospital,” reprimanded Ravyn, crossing her arms.

“But, you’re the one that ran into me,” replied Sarah, trying to keep her cool. She had been trying to keep her cool all day with her boss’s attitude and hypocrisy at times.

“Whatever,” dismissed Ravyn, impatiently. “Don’t let it happen again. Because that rule is down for a purpose; I don’t like you and you don’t like me, understand?” Sarah nodded. “Now go back to whatever you were doing outside of my life. I hope you come more prepared tomorrow than you were today.” Ravyn turned around and walked away, before Sarah could open her mouth as a response to what Ravyn had just criticised her about.

Sarah pouted, as she thought about there was nothing wrong about how she had handled being a slave to a communist dictator for the first time ever. Sarah started to walk again. Sarah did think to herself that she could stand up for herself a bit more, as she started to remember the majority of the time that day, how basically, she was criticised and bullied. Maybe Jo was right after all, she did need to learn to stand up to for herself.

Sarah soon realised that she was outside again, and that she couldn’t find Meaghen. But she didn’t know where though. She was too deep in her thoughts before, to even think about where she was going. She was in the car park, about two blocks away from the last location that she remembered standing at, and that was when Ravyn was going at her for meeting her outside of the hospital trading hours.

She looked around in all of the directions that she could see wherever her feet could take her. She didn’t like the fact that she was alone in a car park and it was dark. The car park was only highlighted by the street lamps stationed at the sidewalk, not far from the car park barriers. But one thing that she didn’t know was that she was being watched from Ravyn, hidden away behind a nearby brick wall.

“Hey, how hot were those chicks back there man?” asked Matt, as he came walking into the car park with Viking by his side, as his D12 chain swung side to side from around his neck. “I mean that one with the black hair. Man, I would tap her any day.”

“You mean that tourist?” asked Viking. Sarah froze as they stopped and noticed Sarah in the middle of the car park. “Look what we have here.”

Sarah wanted to say something but even though she had her mouth open to say something, she just couldn’t force the air to go through her throat. Her throat had tightened. She was scared of Matt, nothing else.

“Look, she can’t talk,” added Matt. “That’s a first for someone who constantly talked.” Matt and Viking walked over to where Sarah was. The circled her, as though they were vultures over a dead carcass in the middle of a desert. “So how’s my ex-girlfriend going?”

She couldn’t work up the courage to say something in response. She knew that the pair of them was around, but she didn’t know it had to come down to this.

“What’s wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?” asked Viking.

“Thank god the bitch can’t talk,” added Matt. “I never wanted to talk to her again after the split.” Matt gave Viking a nasty smile.

“Leave me alone,” Sarah managed to whisper.

“What was that?” asked Matt, as both of them stopped circling Sarah, just instead came closer to her. “Did you want me to leave you alone?” Sarah nodded. Matt smiled, as he started to walk away. He took one step, turned around, and slapped Sarah across the face. That threw Sarah to ground, it was that hard. “That is for feeding me bullshit about me having a daughter and trying to scam money off me.”

Ravyn didn’t know what to do. For the first time ever, she actually was a bit worried for someone that she had already started to hate for no particular reason. She turned around to see if Rob was nearby. Thank God he was. He was looking at a poster that was endorsing whale watching for the season was apparently coming up. Ravyn ran over to him, grabbed his hand, and ran back.

“Whoa, hold young lady I ain’t going anywhere,” Rob replied as he stopped Ravyn from trying to dragging him off. Ravyn turned around and gave him a serious look. “I take it you do not want to do what I’m thinking that you’re trying to do with me.”

“No,” Ravyn shook her head. “You have to come and do something about this.” Ravyn tugged at his arm so more. Ravyn didn’t want to say this, but she knew she had to. “Please.”

“Alright,” sighed Rob, as he followed Ravyn outside. “What am I looking at?” Ravyn pointed to the pair of two guys talking to Sarah. One looked like he just wanted to hurt Sarah some more, and the other looked as though he was just there to witness the show. Sarah by now looked a bit battered, because she had already had a trail of blood running down on side of her face. “What are they doing to her?”

“I don’t know,” answered Ravyn. “But if I did, don’t you think that I would be doing something about it by now?”

“True,” answered Rob, nodding his head. “Then what do you want me to do about it?”

“Rob, I do not want to be the one looking after her in ICU while she lies in a coma,” answered Ravyn, briskly. “Do whatever you guys do best.”

“Ah, watch the Friday night football?” asked Rob, stupidly. He knew what she meant, but he was just playing with her head. Ravyn slapped him lightly on his back and frowned at him. “Alright I’m going in.”

“But I’m not lying about Ava!” defended Sarah, as she started to fumble around for her picture pendant around her neck. “You can even see her! She’s so gorgeous.”

“Look, she’s grovelling,” commented Matt, talking to Viking.

“Hey guys,” said Rob, standing behind them. Matt and Viking turned around, to see Rob standing behind them. He was a fair few inches taller than them and they were a bit unimpressed by his presence. “If you want to be a woman basher, do it in the privacy of your own home, not in public. You’re ruining the event for me.”

Sarah looked up to see Rob standing there, looking as mean as ever, just by the height factor. She’d forgotten his name, but she knew him by sight. It was the janitor that Jo had said to you that she reckons that there was something going on in between him and Ravyn. Ah yes, she remembered, that was Rob, he was in the elevator with you and your boss today. And that was the moment where Ravyn was trying to hide the shades of pink that she was going.

Matt and Viking started to walk off, but Matt did not forgot to signal a threat to Sarah, as Viking and him backed off, afraid of getting beaten up from a six foot man.

Rob made sure the pair had gone out of sight, and that was when Ravyn had emerged from behind the wall. Rob offered his hand for Sarah to get up. Sarah smiled as she accepted his assistance.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” lectured Ravyn, as she came storming out. Sarah tried to defend herself but she was cut off from Ravyn some more. “Were you looking to be raped? Or in this case, were you looking to be bashed?” Ravyn stopped in front of Sarah. “Look at you, you’re a mess! I hope you’re going to take full responsibility over this incident, because there’s no one else to blame but yourself and your stupidity. Why don’t you just go and join Jo’s department in that case?”

“I’m sorry,” apologised Sarah.

“I don’t want to hear it, right now,” replied Ravyn.

Awww....i feel so bad for me in this story!

 

lol, great updates

 

can't wait for more

awww....here's a mega update! Cos I think my net expiry date is tomorrow sometime around ten....

this part cracked me up big time especially Rav's attitude towards Josh.

 

Ravyn looked at her watch. She was late.

She looked around in the elevator to see if it would actually be possible if this elevator could break down and be the reason for her not attending this stupid meeting for all doctors that had interns. Come on, break down, she told the elevator in her thoughts.

She took a sip of her Gloria Jeans coffee in the other hand, and realised only who had just come into the elevator.

”I heard about last night,” said Jo, as she stood in the opposite corner to Ravyn. She had her pockets in her white coat.

“Why didn’t you do anything to prevent her wondering off?” asked Ravyn. Jo was about to say something in defence, but Ravyn’s habit of cutting people off before they had even started their sentences kicked in. “Don’t you start pulling the blanket over my eyes Madison, she told me you were there cos you had invited her down to the wharf.”

“She’s an adult, and I am not her mother,” defended Jo, as the elevator doors closed. The elevator started to go down. “I do not have to look out for her, as though she’s a five year old let loose in the playground. She can look after herself. And how was I supposed to know that Matt would do that to her?”

“Wait, you knew that they were there last night?” pouted Ravyn. “Just when I thought the nursing department couldn’t get even dumber, this happens!”

“I didn’t know he was going to bash the living daylights out of the kid,” replied Jo, sincerely. “And plus, why would you care about her?”

“Because she’s my intern,” defended Ravyn.

“That’s never stopped you bulling my interns on a consistent basis,” added Jo.

“Yeah, but that’s the nursing department for you,” retorted Ravyn. “If it wasn’t for the text books in college, they wouldn’t know what a needle was.”

“See, you won’t even admit to even liking the girl!” snapped Jo, angrily. Ravyn took another sip of her Gloria Jeans coffee. “She’s done nothing wrong, and yet, you trample over her as though she’s a patch of turf to you.”

“Like I said to Rob last night, I only didn’t want the kid to end up in a coma and I would’ve been the one looking after her,” Ravyn blurted out. Jo wasn’t meant to know about Rob’s presence last night, for the sake of all the girlish remarks that would eventually find their way out of her mouth.

“What was Rob doing there?” asked Jo, as the elevator doors opened. Both women had to go to this floor for the important meeting and they both left the presence of the elevator’s musty smell. “Answer me, dammit, that was a question.” Jo knew Ravyn was avoiding answering that question.

“Look,” started Ravyn, as she stopped and Jo followed suite by stopping as well. “We don’t have a thing going on, or what ever the hell’s going in on your mind. Just drop it okay? It’s getting tiring and old, and frankly, I’m no teenager, I’m a grown adult, if you’ve failed to recognise this.”

“Come on Harris, while we’re still young,” intervened Josh, coming up behind Jo and then stopping beside her.

“Then in that case, it’s too late for you,” sneered Ravyn, as she separated herself from Jo and Josh and walked to the meeting by herself.

“Don’t worry, she’ll get over it,” advised Josh to Jo.

“I hope she will do it sooner than later, it’s really starting to annoy me,” replied Jo.

“Other than what happened with the new intern, how was your night?” asked Josh, as the pair of them started to walk to the meeting together.

“It was alright, I guess,” answered Jo, as they stopped at a door to the meeting room. Josh opened it for Jo, and signalled for her to first. “Thanks.” Jo gave Josh a small smile and walked in. She found her seat on the opposite side of Ravyn, but Jo was a bit smarter to seat directly next to Ravyn. Of course, Ravyn was sitting next to Andrea, the head of paediatrics. Jo sat next to Meaghen, who was sitting near the end of the table, where Josh usually sat and Grant sat at the other end.

“Did you cop it from Harris?” asked Meaghen, as she noticed Jo’s presence next to her. Jo nodded. “But it’s not your fault.”

“Try telling that to her,” replied Jo, smoothly and quietly.

“What the hell is she on about then?” asked Meaghen. “I’m getting sick of her attitude and today, I’m not going to put up with her if she gives me shit about last night.”

“I reckon we should just get over it,” added Jo. “What’s done is done, and there’s no changing what happened. Even Sarah said it herself at the end of last night when I took her home, that she was the one to blame. So I don’t see what Ravyn’s going on about. The kid’s admitted to everything, it’s not like she’s denying it.”

“Okay, when everyone’s ready,” said Josh at the top of voice, as he looked around to see if everyone was here. He was surprised that Ravyn hadn’t walked out by now. She usually didn’t show up to these things, and normally when she did, she would walk out two minutes into the meeting. “How are your interns working out for you people?”

“It’s funny how the interns mostly complain about one doctor only,” replied Meaghen, bitchily. Her and Ravyn met eyes and Ravyn replied with a simple smile. “I wonder who that could be.”

“And whose fault is it when their interns cannot even operate a simple MRI scan?” asked Ravyn, in retaliation. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it the supervising doctor’s responsibility to teach them the correct ways of a simple MRI scan? Cos I can tell you now Greyfoxx, your interns are the ones that are driving this hospital’s efficiency levels down. I must say, radiology and nursing must be in competition for the first place for the pathetic medal when it comes to their interns.”

“Lay off the nurses for once,” retorted Jo.

“You’re sounding like me bagging the nurses out, like as though, it’s a new thing,” commented Ravyn. “How do you confuse two nurses Jo? Put them in a circular room and tell them to find the nearest corner. Or failing that, give them a needle and ask them where they should insert the coronary artery.”

“Enough Harris, Greyfoxx, and Madison, I’ve had enough of your bickering,” interfered Josh at the top of his voice. “Can I hear from someone else for a change? Andrea, how are the new interns going in paediatrics?”

“We haven’t had any deaths amongst the interns, unfortunately,” answered Andrea. “I swear one of them is just asking to be hung or to be put to death by any other means. And there is another that just refuses to obey my orders so I’m going to fail her and make sure she gets the lowest mark possible in her med exams.”

“By the rate you’re going, you two should marry,” commented Meaghen, looking at both Andrea and Ravyn. “You seem to have all the characteristics that makes a marriage last.”

Ravyn was about to say something back at Meaghen but was interrupted by Josh.

“If a war breaks out in these meetings, ladies, do not expect me to sympathise with either side,” states Josh, calmly. “On a brighter topic, the Minister for Health is going to pump some more much needed hospital funds into this place. I think it’s going to be something like 4.6 million dollars into this place.”

“And how much is nursing going to get out of it?” asked Ravyn, eyeing Jo then looking at Josh.

“About twenty-five percent of it,” answered Josh. “I’m not sure just yet.”

“How are we going to evenly spread that cash across all of the departments if the nurses always get a fair majority of it?” asked Andrea, wisely. “Would it be better investing that money into another department for a change?”

“Like social services!” suggested the head of social service from the other end of the table.

Andrea turned around to the guy that had called that out. “As if the government cares about social services within this hospital, you’ve got more of a chance with the nurses,”

“There’s nothing wrong with the nursing department,” replied Jo, smoothly, as Andrea’s attention was back on Jo.

“Just except for the people who are in it of course, and the amount of over-funding they get,” added Ravyn. “Other than that, I’ve got nothing against it.”

“Without my nurses Harris, your department would be useless,” reminded Jo. “And plus, if we didn’t conform and whatever else you bitch on about us, you wouldn’t have anyone to bitch about.”

“I would still have Greyfoxx’s department, she’s also head of radiotherapy if you’ve forgotten Jo,” reminded Ravyn. “I would still have a lot of other departments to bitch about. So don’t feel special.”

“Fine, what department do you recommend Harris?” asked Josh. “Seeing you’re always keen to have your opinion heard, which is sometimes excruciatingly annoying at times.”

“Democracy, gotta love it,” smiled Ravyn. Both Jo and Meaghen rolled their eyes. “Why don’t we put it in the lithotripter unit?”

“I’m surprised Harris, you didn’t suggest ICU for a change,” said Meaghen.

“I’m not self-centred, Greyfoxx,” replied Ravyn, shortly.

“Could’ve fooled me,” commented Jo.

“I’m a doctor, I signed a contract, in fact, several times, I’ve signed that piece of paper that says I cannot be narcissistic when it comes to my profession,” retorted Ravyn. “Hey Jo, at least I have a doctor status here and I’ve held it for quite a while now.”

“Don’t see you having a doctorate,” said Meaghen.

“I do though in medicine,” interfered Josh. “Now shut up, the lot of you. Now, to avoid further bicker and bitchiness at each other, I am going to dismiss this meeting. I am sorry that Grant could do not make it, but he had personal affairs to attend to.”

“So it’s alright if he takes a day or two off work to attend to his personal affairs and he won’t let me to attend to my personal affairs?” asked Meaghen, angrily.

“Meaghen, you know I tried talking to him,” reminded Josh. “He said no, and then he ended the conversation. You go and talk to him when he comes back in a couple of days.”

“If he thinks he’s having a hard time, lets see his mother half way across the world, being in a coma and fighting for her life,” snapped Meaghen, angrily. “I’m angrier at the fact that Grant’s being hypocritical to the max.”

“Meaghen, you know there’s nothing I can do when it comes to Grant and his decisions,” replied Josh, who by now, was getting worried that Meaghen might snap at him about Grant.

Everyone in the room, by now had left, leaving Jo waiting at the door for Meaghen. The choice was to wait for Meaghen or to have Ravyn complain about everything in sight, including Jo and her nurses. She didn’t have much of a choice when it came to these things. Meaghen by now was nearly at tears end. Because Grant was being hypocrite and Josh was just being…Josh, the usual annoying and difficult Josh. Jo reckoned if someone put Grant and Josh together and compared them to communist regimes, there wouldn’t be much difference between them two. Grant would be the communist and Josh would be the communists’ bitch, the regime. Jo thanked herself personally, that she wasn’t married to the communist named Grant, but to another person named Grant.

By now, Meaghen wasn’t more or so crying, she was flared up and angry. Jo had separated herself from reality to realise what was being said. But it didn’t take her long for reality to kick back in when the swearing had started.

“Meaghen,” said Jo, as both Josh and Meaghen stopped talking to listen to what Jo had to say. “Come on, we’ve got work to do. Cuss and go on about Grant some other time, because this isn’t the right place or time to be lingering on what Grant is and what he isn’t.”

Meaghen was about to say something to Josh, but decided not to say anything and she went along with Jo’s proposal. She went to the elevator, looking at the floor most of the time, as she pushed the up button several times. Jo put her arms around Meaghen, giving her a hug. Meaghen didn’t hug her back; she just wanted to be left alone for the time being. The elevator came to a halt in front of the two women, as Jo let go of Meaghen. The elevator doors opened and both women disappeared from the corridor, as the elevator doors closed. Jo pushed the nurse’s button and also the radiology button for Meaghen, was just in the corner, looking at the floor.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Jo, as the elevator started to move upwards.

“Not really,” answered Meaghen, as she fought back some more tears. “There’s really nothing to talk about.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your mum, I didn’t know,” said Jo. “I’m with you really, why isn’t Grant letting you go? Couldn’t Locket cover for you while you’re gone?”

“Colin’s not that smart,” answered Meaghen. “I asked him once to do a cat scan, so instead he did a PET scan.”

“And plus, he’s always creepy towards me whenever I’m down there,” added Jo. “If it cheers you up, I’ll shout you lunch down at the cafeteria at lunchtime.”

“No thanks,” replied Meaghen. “I just need to think this through and I need to let it go.”

“Honey, she’s your mum and I doubt it’s going to be that easy to get over it until she gets through this,” advised Jo.

“Thanks,” thanked Meaghen, as the elevator came to a standstill at the radiology department’s foyer. “You give the best advice sometimes, Jojo.”

“No worries, anytime,” replied Jo, as she gave Meaghen a small smile and Meaghen walked off. But when Meaghen walked off, Jonathon walked into the elevator. Jo’s expression changed from sympathetic, to ‘Oh fuck not you’. Jonathon gave Jo a small smile, as he realised that the ICU’s button had already been pushed.

“Are you off to the nurses or the ICU, Jo?” asked Jonathon, as the elevator doors closed.

“Depends,” answered Jo, briskly. “If you’re going to ICU I’m going to the nurses, if you’re going to the nurses, than I’m going home.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” said Jonathon, dusting some white powder off his green pants. “I’ve got to go to ICU, got a patient due in for a bypass operation and Ravyn said she would only help me file the paperwork. She refuses to operate with me, because of the new intern she has. I say, just another excuse. Just hoping, that I get the good operating theatre downstairs, this time, I hate the second one upstairs.”

“Did you check the roster?” asked Jo.

“It said pending on it,” answered Jonathon. “I asked what the hell that meant, and Josh said first come first serve. So I’m racing Brad to it today.”

“Ha, Delson!” laughed Jo, at the very mention of Brad’s name. “I wonder if he’s learnt the consequences of sticking a fork in an electrical socket by now.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Jonathon.

“We went to med school together, and we dared him to do that, despite the fact that at that time he didn’t know the consequences of such actions,” explained Jo, as the door opened to both the ICU and the nursing department. Both of the pair got out and started to walk in the same direction. “But yet again, he’s friends with Bennington, so again, he’s intelligence is almost questionable.”

“Look at yourself, you’re turning into the Almighty Bitch,” noticed Jonathon.

“Excuse me, but I am nothing like Harris,” objected Jo, almost at the point of being offended at being compared to Ravyn. “She’s almost, how do I put it? Oh yeah, sui generis. A class of her own, I tell you now. Not even Andrea could match up to her and her antics. Now if you’ve done comparing me to Harris, I have to get some business done with my nurses, thank you very much.” Jo separated herself from the conversation with Jonathon, to see a bunch of her nurses piled together talking about God knows what. She knew she had to separate them before they started a cult of their own.

It was about half past three when Mel’s shift started. She was only walking through the nurses’ common room now, looking for some papers that Jo had angrily snapped at her for almost losing. Mel knew she hadn’t lost them because she had seen them the previous day. Unless…unless the janitor might’ve picked them up off the floor and considered it to be rubbish or some other horrid possibility that could result from Jo having to do the same work over again for the same patient down in ward nine. She even looked in the cupboard were everyone kept their coffee mugs. Guess what she found? Coffee mugs that belonged to a number of nurses, including Jo’s, and the interns had even started to put their mugs in there. She closed the cupboard door and went in search of Rob the janitor that should be around here.

She rushed out to the desk, and started rummaging amongst various pieces of paper, all colour coded according to the severity of condition. She was looking for green pieces of paper that had Mrs Harley’s information on them. She couldn’t even find the carbon copies that Sally, the other nurse, would usually keep hidden away underneath the desk, in the drawers. She would be processed dead meat if Jo came back from the burns unit and Mel still hadn’t been able to find them.

“What are you looking for Slowpoke?” asked Ravyn, as her presence in front of Mel had been a rather quick appearance. Mel looked up at Ravyn, standing on the other side of the desk, gave her a sarcastic smile, and went back to what she was doing before.

“Looking for some documents, if you don’t mind,” answered Mel, as Mel started to pull out the drawers of this desk and empty their contents onto the floor. “Have you seen Rob around by any chance?”

“What do I get if I say yes?” asked Ravyn, not looking at Mel anymore but what was on the clipboard in front of her.

“You get my friendship,” answered Mel sarcastically. As if Mel would give her friendship to someone who regularly calls her Slowpoke! Mel started spreading sheets according to their rank of importance to her.

“Oh in that case, we can’t have that happening, and I wouldn’t stand for it,” replied Ravyn, starting to write something messy on the pieces of paper attached to the clipboard. “I don’t want to ruin the hate we’ve created in this relationship.”

“I didn’t create any hate, you instigated it,” Mel retorted.

“I only express what we both feel for each other,” muttered Ravyn under her breath. Mel heard her but she chose to ignore her, knowing that Ravyn liked to start things with Mel, in an aggravating sense. “Whose thing did you lose this time?”

“Mrs Harley’s down in ward nine,” answered Mel.

“What colour of importance was it?” asked Ravyn, looking up for a second, only to think what else she could write down on this patient’s chart that she was trying to complete.

“Green, so, third highest,” answered Mel.

“In other words, you’re wasting your time looking for a mid-range case?” asked Ravyn, ripping off some pieces of paper and placing them next to the clipboard. “And let me guess, you’re going to get your ass busted by Jo if you don’t come up with it?”

“You know Jo too well, for me to lie to you about that answer,” answered Mel, as she started to put back some files, individually into a number of different manila folders.

“Yeah, you’re screwed,” commented Ravyn, as she stopped her clipboard action, and looked down at Mel on the floor, behind the desk. “While you’re down there, Slowpoke, can you get me a J.A. Davidson down in ward six? It should be an intermediate-ranged case.” Mel sighed as she had to go back through some manila folders, to pull out a piece of blue coloured paper. Mel stood up and gave it to her. Ravyn smiled at the fact that with most people she got away with calling them by her nickname, and Mel was no exception to the theory if Ravyn stopped calling people by their actual names, they would respond better to the name provided by them, courtesy of Ravyn. “So how’s that stupid boyfriend of yours?” Ravyn looked through the papers, until she found the right one. She slapped the others down on the desk in front of Mel.

“Who, Shawg?” asked Mel, getting back on her knees to gather more papers.

“Whatever his name is,” muttered Ravyn.

“He’s okay, I guess,” said Mel.

“When was the last time he came in here, because he was too drunk and needed his stomach pumped?” asked Ravyn. “Ah yeah, that was right, last week. I remember him wanting to marry me or something, because I apparently saved his life when all I did was stand there and critique Delson. God bless the idiots who make my life more exciting and God damn the ones that don’t.”

“Critiqued?” spat Mel, putting one full drawer back in its place in the desk. “Brad and you were having an argument.”

“I wasn’t getting fired up over anything as I recall,” replied Ravyn, smoothly. “I was more disturbed by the fact that the drunk we had in the operating theatre was your boyfriend. And that he wanted me to marry him, that too, was disturbing in its particular nature.”

“There’s nothing wrong my Shawg,” said Mel, almost girlishly. “He’s a generous and kind guy to be with.” Mel went back to the two other drawers on the floor and started to gather the appropriate papers for the second one that was supposed to go through the railings of the second empty socket of a drawer in the desk.

“Also a very regular drinker to be with as well,” added Ravyn, as she attached the green piece of paper to her clipboard. “If he comes in here for drug abuse, I wouldn’t be surprised. I honestly, would rather date a rock than to date that junky-looking guy. Cos God forbid that if I ever end up dating the rock, I ate least would know the feeling that I’m safe because it wouldn’t be able to harm me. And at least the rock wouldn’t get liver sclerosis or failing that in the long run, major brain damage from drinking all the time.”

“Why don’t you have a man Ravyn?” asked Mel, as Ravyn stopped writing when the question was thrown at her.

“Why do I have to have one to live a life?” asked Ravyn, somewhat offended, because a number of people had asked her about not having a man in her life. That’s why, she was after Rob. Not only because of what people were saying to her, but also, Ravyn had decided that Rob should soon know about her little year and a half crush on him. “I can still be human if I don’t have a love life.”

“I’m sorry I had to ask,” apologised Mel, sarcastically, as she put the second drawer back in its place in the desk. “It’s just a question that’s been hanging around you with various people.”

“Oh look what I’ve just found,” Ravyn smiled, as she removed green pieces of paper from her clipboard. “You’re looking for A. J. Harley right?” Mel nodded, as she got to her feet. She knew it. Ravyn had deliberately done this to her, she had kept her waiting this long. “I’m going to be nice to you Slowpoke.” Ravyn handed the pieces of green paper to her, Mel smiled as a response. “Now, let my niceness go unnoticed. Because people might start asking for me to treat them the same, if this ever gets out. And then, I’ll have to deal with the interns. It’s bad enough I have to have regular contact with Jo, wither I like it or not.”

“Thank you so much,” replied Mel. “What do you want in return though?”

“Like I said before, your silence would be my gratitude, not as though I had any to start with,” answered Ravyn, attaching the ripped off pieces of paper to her clipboard that she had previously ripped off. “Have you seen Woodlands by any chance?”

“I saw her in the intern common room, when I came looking for the interns from here,” answered Mel. “I think she’s avoiding you.”

“No shit, wow, I couldn’t tell,” replied Ravyn, sarcastically. “I’ll be in ward eleven if you somehow want me.” Ravyn walked off before Mel could even respond.

Mel felt a bit relieved that she had gotten the papers, but at the same time, a bit annoyed at the fact that Ravyn had kept her waiting that long. She put the papers on the desk, and went back to picking the last few papers off the floor. She finally put all the papers back in the arranged manila folders and in the right spot in the drawer, after about ten minutes or so. She put the final drawer back in the desk and proceeded to chase after Jo was probably down at the triage’s quarters as Josh had scheduled an hour for Jo to do her work down at the triage part today. She just couldn’t wait to be lectured of how to put things back from where they came from.

It was Josh’s turn to leave the hospital now, as he walked back into the locker room with his phone in his hands. He was trying to play Tetris and manage walking in the right direction at the same time. He had gone through so many lectures today, with interns and don’t even get him started on Meaghen’s complaints about Grant. He was so into the game on his mobile that he didn’t see the bench in front of the locker and nearly tripped over it.

He heard some laughter, that’s when he decided he should tune back into reality. He looked up to see who had laughed at him, as he put his phone in his pocket. Sarah and another guy he knew only by the name of Bennington were standing near some lockers in the corner. He knew he should have mastered that guy’s name, but you only recognised him as Bennington from the clinic downstairs.

“Wake up Doctor,” said Sarah; trying to keep her laughter to herself, so instead she tried to hide the traces of a smile on her face.

“It’s been a long shift,” replied Josh. “Bennington, why aren’t you down at the clinic?”

“My break, Sir,” answered Bennington. “You know I do have a first name.”

What was his first name again? Oh God, Josh couldn’t remember off the top of his head.

Josh replied with a blank smile.

“He’s probably forgotten your name Chester, I wouldn’t be surprised,” commented Sarah. “He looks tired.” Sarah looked to Josh. “What time did you get here?”

“About seven this morning,” answered Josh. “That was quite a change, because I’m normally here at five or six, I think I slept in or something.”

“Good morning sleepy head,” said Jo, as she walked past Chester, Sarah, and Josh and straight to her locker on the other side of the room. “Did you finally wake up?”

“Don’t you have large black pit to die in Madison?” asked Josh, a bit annoyed.

“I think I better get back, before my break is over,” said Chester to Sarah. “I’ll see you tonight then at seven?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” smiled Sarah, as Chester said his goodbyes to everyone in the room and left the locker room.

“Was that a date, I just heard?” asked Jo, opening her locker.

“No,” answered Sarah, walking over to where Jo was and finally stopping in front of her, as Josh, on the other side of the room, opened his locker. “We’re just friends.”

“Meaghen’s going to kill you if you end up dating him,” said Jo. “Apparently, according to her, Bennington’s her destined Romeo.”

“Guys,” said Ravyn’s voice at the entry of the locker room. Everyone had stopped what they were doing, due to the seriousness present in Ravyn’s tone. “You guys better come quick. We’ve got a code red down in emergency.” As she rushed away back to the emergency part of the hospital, leaving everyone else in the locker room ready to have a long night ahead of themselves.

“Code red?” asked Sarah, as Josh and Jo stopped thinking about ending their shifts suddenly, and closed their locker doors.

“In other words, my dear, all hands on deck,” answered Jo, as she signalled Sarah to follow her. She met Josh at the entrance of the locker rooms. “Have we ever had a code red before?”

“We’ve had oranges, but never red,” answered Josh, as the trio of them rushed to the emergency.

Mel was also looking for them, and found them not long after they came out the locker rooms. “We’ve got a code red,”

“I know, Harris came in and told us,” replied Josh, smoothly.

“What happened?” asked Sarah.

“You haven’t heard?” asked Mel. “It’s all over the news.” Just by luck they were passing a TV that had been switched over to CNN and a group of patients were looking at the headlines.

The trio gasped when the headlines came up on the television in bright red colours. The news reporter started to retell the story.

We have a major situation here in downtown Chicago; there has been a terrorist attack. Several hundred people bore witness to it, as the peak hour traffic started to build up down here on Seventy-Fourth Street just down from The Piazza Towers. Police highly suspect that it was a car bomber. We have thirty reported deaths so far, but the toll is on the rise, as emergency rooms are getting fuller by the second. This will be the time that Chicago’s hospitals will be packed, and please make sure you do not dial 911 unless it’s an emergency.

“We better move,” suggested Jo. “I better get my nurses together.” Jo separated herself from the pack and moved so quickly she wanted to make sure she got the opening doors of the elevator.

The remaining trio, rushed downstairs, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, as each person took the time to be precious. Everyone arrived outside where the wounded were being lifted out from packed ambulances. The night sky was highlighted by the flashing lights of ambulances and the sound of police sirens echoed throughout the night.

Sarah found Ravyn checking out some patients that had been laid on stretchers on the ground. Sarah couldn’t believe it, when she realised who it was.

“Alexis?” asked Sarah, as she released the damage that had been done to her eldest sister. There was blood draped over body like curtains to a window. It was a mixture of blood, shiny pieces of glass, various bits of shrapnel and ash smothering her like own skin.

“Hey little sis,” Alexis managed to say, as Ravyn’s eyes lit up at Alexis response.

“Let me handle this one Sarah,” said Ravyn. “There’s going to be an influx of people just like her, and right now, I don’t need conflict of interest.” Sarah didn’t know what to say, but she knew this wasn’t the time for arguments with her supervisor, so she went. Sarah only just noticed when she went to attend to an elderly man, that Ravyn had just said her real name for the first time ever since starting at this hospital. Ravyn had a feeling if she told Sarah what was wrong with Alexis; Sarah would get distracted and lose the plot. Ravyn didn’t have a good feeling that this one was going to make it through.

“What’s wrong with me doc?” asked Alexis.

“What isn’t wrong with you is more the case than anything right now,” muttered Ravyn, as she noticed that Josh was standing next to her. “Must you Gradon?”

“Give me a short brief Harris on this one,” ordered Josh.

“Second degree burns, deep lacerations, and by the abdominal pain she’s in, maybe ruptured spleen, definite internal bruising, embedded shrapnel, and broken collar bone,” explained Ravyn. “There’s always the possibility in this case, internal bleeding. I don’t know, put a neck brace on this case, and prepare her for prep, that’s all I can recommend right now until we know what’s inside this kid. And get the God damn burns unit down here dammit, Gradon.”

Josh turned to a paramedic that had brought Alexis to the hospital, who was standing right next to Josh. “You heard her, get a neck brace on the kid,”

“Do we have any DOAs?” asked Ravyn, as she moved onto another victim that had been laid on a stretcher, as another two lots of ambulances arrived. Another paramedic followed her, as Josh rushed inside to call the burns unit.

“We’ve had three so far, on top of the thirty that’s already dead,” answered the paramedic. “We’ve put them down in the morgue for safe keeping.”

“We need to get these people inside, before the cold starts settling in,” ordered Ravyn. “I don’t want to deal with hyperthermia on top of these burns. Where the hell is Madison?” Ravyn stopped looked around to see if she could see Jo anywhere. She was half way across where Ravyn was standing. Ravyn walked over to Jo, as Jo stopped what she was doing to address the serious look embedded on Ravyn’s face. “I want you and your nurses to take these people in.”

“But most of them have not been diagnosed,” argued Jo.

“We won’t have any space left outside here, if there are going to be more people coming,” snapped Ravyn. “Start to move them inside, or else people will die. Do I have to make myself any clearer?”

“You are not Gradon, you do not have the authority to do that,” argued Jo.

“But while he is not here, he’s inside getting the burns unit off their asses, I’m in charge wither you like it or not Madison,” clarified Ravyn. “Now get these God damn people inside, Madison, they don’t need to fight off the cold if we can prevent it.”

“Yes…Ma’am,” replied Jo, quietly but angrily, as Sarah ran up to Ravyn, who was about to go to the new ambulances that just arrived.

“Ravyn,” said Sarah, as Ravyn turned around. “This guy needs to go into surgery right now. His blood pressure is 160 over 130 and rising. He’s got severe internal bleeding and he will die.”

“Show me,” replied Ravyn, as she followed Sarah to a young looking guy. She checked the vitals. “Shit.” As she removed the stethoscope from his chest, and her ears, and swung it back around her neck. “Do you have any major heart problems?” He nodded. Ravyn looked around to see if Jo had started to move people, in which Jo was reluctantly ordering her nurses to do. Josh came back out again. Ravyn raced over to him and stopped in front of him. “Have you emptied all of the theatres out?”

“Do you think I’m a retard or something Harris?” asked Josh. “Of course I have and burns are going to be right down.”

“I need one right now, and that is not a request it’s an order,” ordered Ravyn. “This guy has severe internal bleeding and we need to clog it before he bleeds himself out.”

“Everyone needs an operating theatre right now Harris, so don’t feel like that guy is the only one,” retorted Josh. “If you want a theatre, go through the normal protocol for one. The ones that can survive they go at the bottom of the list.”

“Fine, fuck you Gradon, you weren’t even listening to a word that I just said to you,” snapped Ravyn, impatiently, realising that it’s been a while since she said fuck you to Josh. “I’m going to take the first operating theatre if you like it or not. I’m not going to let this kid bleed him self out.” Ravyn stormed off out of the conversation to back over where Jo was. Jo stood up from the patient to talk to Ravyn. “I need your help.”

“So what, you want my help now?” asked Jo. “Since when do you come grovelling to me?”

“When it’s somebody else’s life I’m holding in the palm of my hand,” answered Ravyn, as she turned around pointed to the guy that Sarah was still next to. “He’s going to bleed himself out if we don’t get him into a theatre, and as far as I am concerned, Gradon’s not willing to play God tonight for once.”

 

 

That part isn't finished but I didn't exactly wanted have everyone hanging on by a single strand. Yay! Ravyn actually calls Sarah by her name in this part. Lol.

Meh..I should still be on.

 

Here's the rest of the previous post. BEWARE: extreme medical terms. I had to ask my friend who does Bio for this. And btw, for people who do not know about my new Nightwish obsession, Tarja is the ex-singer (the good one!) in this part posing as a nurse. I'm trying to not use Brian Molko in it for the sake of Ravyn's sanity. And because he belongs in melodramas and this is not a melodrama. Lol.

 

“So what do you want me to do then?” asked Jo.

“Get your nurses into theatre one, this might take a while,” answered Ravyn. She faced Sarah, who had caught her eye. “Woodlands, I mean, Sarah, or whatever you’re called…my intern…I’m going to teach you.”

“And what, you weren’t planning to before?” Sarah muttered to herself, as she got from the guy that Ravyn was going to defy Josh’s order with.

It was about ten or so minutes later and the guy that Sarah had told Ravyn earlier about was on the operating table, under the anaesthesia and probably dreaming of places where he could’ve been when the car bomb went off. Josh wasn’t happy about Ravyn wanting to play hero with this particular person, but he stood in to overlook on the procedures. He stood in the corner, because Jo, Mel and another nurse called Tarja surrounded the body. Ravyn was next to him, because she wanted to see what this new intern could do.

“Has the bleeding stopped?” asked Ravyn from the corner. Of course, everyone in this room were in their surgery gear, they weren’t stupid enough to get air-born diseases from opening someone up.

“Yes,” answered Sarah. “But this guy’s got some major heart damage. It’s as though he had a heart attack or something. Because of the coronary artery is swollen is so is the left ventricle.”

“Any more damage?” asked Ravyn, crossing her arms.

“That’s basically it,” answered Sarah, as Jo and her met eyes but then she went back to looking at Ravyn in the corner. “What do you think I should do?”

“Get the laparoscope, I want to see the damage,” ordered Ravyn at Tarja, as Tarja obeyed and went out of the room. Tarja came back in a couple of minutes with a long tube that had a fibre optic telescope at the end of it. “Tell me that you know how to work one of these, kid.” Sarah nodded her head. “Now can I see?”

“You’re being very impatient today aren’t you?” asked Josh from right next to Ravyn, as Ravyn’s attention was diverted from Tarja setting it up.

“I could’ve said the same thing about you, but instead annoying,” retorted Ravyn. “God help your wife.”

“God help who ever goes out with you,” muttered Josh to himself.

“Thanks,” thanked Sarah as Tarja handed the tiny telescope and Tarja returned to Jo’s side. “What do you think doc…err…Ravyn?” Sarah almost just called Ravyn name she didn’t like to be called and it was on the list. Ravyn looked at the small television screen as she pointed at a large area of white on the screen.

“See that?” asked Ravyn. “This guy’s got an internal infection.”

“Isn’t that just fat?” asked Josh.

Ravyn looked at him sharply. “It’s swollen Gradon, and it’s an infection. If you want to prove me wrong go ahead.” Josh was about to open his mouth, but nothing came out of it. He had to admit he had been ultimately defeated.

“Then what’s your solution in that case?” asked Jo.

“Antibiotics,” answered Ravyn, as Ravyn stopped pointing to the screen and looked at Jo. She looked at Sarah, looking like a lost puppy. “Go deeper, so we don’t miss anything.” Sarah went straight to it, trying not shake. It was kind of hard not to when Sarah thought about it, she had this guys life in her hands and she was only following orders. If anything outside of Ravyn’s orders caused this guy to die, Sarah wouldn’t be able to cope with it just yet. Ravyn looked back at the screen. “Stop.” Sarah stopped. Ravyn carefully examined the screen, as Josh gave her a weird look. “This guy must be on drugs to have such a screwed up heart.” Ravyn looked at Josh. “And sorry my bad, it is fat.” Josh felt relieved that he was right.

“Why are you admitting defeat Harris?” asked Josh. “You never admit defeat unless there’s something wrong with this guy other than fat build up in his heart.”

“Woodlands,” said Ravyn.

“You called?” asked Sarah.

“From your med text books, to you remember what atherosclerosis is?” asked Ravyn.

“Shit, I can remember this,” muttered Sarah, trying to remember that familiar term.

“You have to be kidding Harris,” said Josh. “The kid’s only young. Atherosclerosis is mainly found in elder people.”

“It’s still possible,” retorted Jo, checking the kid’s vitals. “Guys, we have to be a bit quicker. We’ve been in there too long. The heart’s going to risk dust contamination.”

“I would like the answer preferably in this century Woodlands,” said Ravyn, trying to keep her calm. “Okay here’s the answer for you.” She turned around so that she faced her intern, who was looking back at her with confused eyes. “In this condition fatty deposits called plaque, composed of cholesterol and fats, build up on the inner wall of the coronary arteries. Gradual narrowing of the arteries throughout life restricts the blood flow to the heart muscles. In this case, this guy has been taking steroids to narrow the arteries in his heart. The swelling is also due to the guy’s intake of steroids because his body can’t cope with the synthetic lipids present in the steroids. If the bomber didn’t get him, a heart attack would’ve.”

“How do you know the guy’s on steroids to start with?” asked Josh, as Ravyn spun around to face him and to give him his answer.

“Do the tox screenings after we sew him back up, one would have it,” answered Ravyn. “Jo.”

“Yeah,” replied Jo, as Ravyn spun around to speak to her.

“You, Slowpoke, and Tarja can sew him back up,” ordered Ravyn. “I am going to have a very long night.”

 

 

Everyone by 4 am was buggered.

Even Andrea had a fair majority of stuff to do, because a number of infants and children were victims to the horrific incident. So she was racing around and getting things organised, including papers, beds, and x-rays. She was lying down on her back on the seats in the locker room with her arm over her eyes, trying to block out the light. The only thing she was really fussed about was that she was going to be paid double overtime, because her shift had originally ended at eleven that evening.

Jo was at the nurses’ desk, sitting down in front of it in the waiting sector with her head on Josh’s shoulder, as she slowly fell asleep on him. Josh was out right buggered, he was running on Red Bull and the fact that he know he’s going to have the day off. In fact, both of them had hoped that their roster would be cancelled for the next working day. For Jo felt like she could sleep in the waiting room, just on Josh’s shoulder, soft, squishy in some bits and that made one hell of a good pillow as far as Jo was concerned.

Sarah and her number of sisters found some spare beds in one part of the hospital. Originally, she had told all four of them to go to sleep there and that she had to go back to Ava, because her babysitter would want some money for staying the night. Sarah had totally forgotten about the babysitter and Ava by the end of the long shift, and found herself telling her little sister Halle to move over, because she wanted to sleep in that bed. Halle wouldn’t get off the bed completely, so they shared the bed for the night. Sarah was glad that Halle was only five, because Halle spent her time sleeping hugging her older sister while she slept.

Meaghen spent her sleeping time with her head on Brad’s shoulder, in the corner of the emergency corridor. Brad was stuffed as well. He had spent all of his time with Jonathon and Chester running around from one theatre to another. Meaghen was just glad that the whole red code thing had been dropped down to neutral and there wasn’t much to worry about anymore.

Mel was nearby; she was lying down in Jonathon’s lap, in the opposite corner of the emergency corridor to where Meaghen and Brad were, fast asleep as well. She was too tired to even think about getting up and going places. Not only did she have to deal with being called Slowpoke a couple more hundred times from Ravyn, but she had to race around after Jo, who had forgotten to attend to things and Mel was her reminder clock going off.

While Ravyn, she slept in her office, not far from where Josh and Jo were. She slept on the couch which was stationed nicely about two metres away from her desk. She had various cases, but there were some that she didn’t really like. Like this one chick, the shrapnel had basically melted into her skin. That wasn’t one that Ravyn could really help with, because she had been on call for the ones that were going to die if they weren’t seen. Her patience had worn down, as her energy went down and she had snapped at people unnecessarily a couple of times. She was actually quite glad of how her intern had handled her sister Alexis being a victim. Ravyn made sure that Alexis would be able to make it through the night or until she could see to her next. She knew she had to wake up and get home, but the couch was so comfortable and plus, she was having a nice dream about Rob.

 

 

I swear that's all I've done.

Omg....that was fucking intense!

 

can't wait for me

 

hehehe, bennington is my romeo!

veeeeeeeeery nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

hehe thankyou p.s. The reason why Im not going to be on the boards frequently is because I've got my major year 12 exams AND OMG I JUST FINISHED MY PAPER 2 OF ADV. ENGLISH AND I FEEL SO FUCKING RELIEVED! Just some more exams to go.

OKay this part kinda gave me a nightmare, but I wrote it anyway just because I love Ravyn that much that i would morbidly disturb myself this extent. I have no respect for myself sometimes LOL. Okay here it is without further ado, here's a continuation from the last part.

 

“Wake up,” said Rob, as he crouched beside where Ravyn was sleeping. He started nudging her in the shoulder for her to wake up. He was dressed in his normal dark green janitor’s uniform, and was coincidentally up. He was unsure how he felt about Ravyn. He was unsure how she felt about him. He kept on getting mixed versions of her, one moment she’s as insufferable as Lenin himself, but, the next moment she could be as sweet and innocent as a lily pod. Ravyn started to stir, but didn’t want to wake up because of the long night that she just encountered.

“No, let me sleep you bastard,” groaned Ravyn, as she frowned in her sleep and rolled over, as Rob resorted to poking her in the ribs. “Stop poking me.” Ravyn was annoyed that she had to be awake to see who it was before she carried out more insults. She had a feeling it was Grant about to give her the sack over some dumb reason. She rolled over, squinting through the darkness. “Who’s there?” Rob stopped poking her and got to his feet, to only turn on the lamp that was stationed right next to Ravyn’s computer. She realised who she just called bastard and who she was about to call prick if she hadn’t restrained herself. “Oh. I’m sorry Rob.” Rob turned around and gave her a faint smile.

“That’s alright,” replied Rob, walking back to Ravyn’s side, as she tried to sit herself back up, but failed in the two attempts. Rob helped her to get up. Ravyn finally managed to sit straight. She hoped this one incident won’t deter Rob off her. Rob crouched in front of Ravyn to talk to her. “I take it long night?”

“What kind of question is that coming from someone who watches the news when he comes home to have a beer or two in front of the box?” asked Ravyn, rubbing her eyes for a couple of seconds. “Of course it’s been a long night and I’m afraid I’m going to have longer nights.”

“Do you want a lift home?” asked Rob. “Because you can’t spend the rest of your remaining sleeping hours here in your office, it would be almost like me eating pork, blasphemy.”

“I’ve got to go back to work in a couple of hours, so I may as well stay here,” answered Ravyn. “But thank you for the considerate thought.”

“I think that everyone who was on call last time, I think their rosters have been cancelled for today though,” said Rob. “Let me drive you home, because if I don’t, no one will. And plus, that intern of yours is sleeping amongst her sisters, soundly asleep, and I doubt that she’ll be in any mood to drive you home.”

“No, I am right,” replied Ravyn. “I’ve got a stack of things to do that I didn’t do last night. And plus, how long have you been here for?”

“Been cleaning since twelve, was on my way out of here, when I spotted a limp figure on your couch and I thought to myself, that I better see who it is, just in case you come in and rip their heads off,” answered Rob. “I’m a very considerate person, believe it or not.”

“Yeah I know,” replied Ravyn, with a small smile. “I have known you since you started working here about a year and a half ago.” And that’s how long I’ve had a thing for you; she pictured herself saying directly to him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?” asked Rob, giving Ravyn a quirky look. “You would sleep much better in the comfort of your own home and I do know where you live. Right down from Doctor Greyfoxx’s place.”

“Sadly,” Ravyn muttered to herself, but Rob heard her, as he stood up straight. “Look Rob, you don’t have to go out of your way for me.” She tried to get to her feet, but she only gave herself a head spin.

“I would love to go out my way just for you,” replied Rob, nicely. Wait, Ravyn thought to herself, what does that mean? Ravyn was unsure if that was a move or just her ego being set loose. Rob helped her to her feet, by grabbing hold of her small wrist and pulling her up. Ravyn stood up straight, trying to ignore the dizziness around here. She shook her head, as she tried to get rid of it. “You know, since us being friends and all.” Oh, thought Ravyn to herself. “Or whatever way you want to take it, I don’t mind either way.” Why won’t he just make up his mind? Thought Ravyn, trying to figure out what to say next as she released how nervous he was.

“Do I detect nerviness?” asked Ravyn, honestly.

“No, not at all,” answered Rob, as he lied through his teeth. He now knew that Ravyn had picked up on his edginess. But there was one more thing he had to get out into the open with Ravyn before it was too late and she found someone else. “Do you want to have dinner with me tonight? I mean, that’s if you’re not working.”

“What are you trying to tell me Rob?” asked Ravyn, not sure that putting him in the main spotlight was such a good idea, but she was going to do it anyway. “Are you…are you trying to ask me out in other words?” She may as well just start to beg, because Rob nodded. She didn’t know what to do. For the first time ever, she could not come up with an insult, for that would only drive him away, and, she was speechless, literally, for once.

“Look, I’m sorry if your world just came crashing down on you, and I’m sorry if I’ve just made the biggest mistake in our friendship, but I just had to ask you,” Rob tried to apologise, but Ravyn couldn’t find the words. “Please don’t hate me, because I feel this way. I was meant to do it last night, but when I tried talking to you, the code red was called.”

“I’m not hating you for one second,” Ravyn tried to explain, as she was searching for the words to describe how she felt. An oxymoron for everything she stood for, she could perfectly insult people with descriptive and clever words, but the one thing that really mattered, her feelings, she could not describe. “God, no, I’ve never hated you for anything and I don’t see why I have to start hating you now. Oh God, I don’t know what to say, I really don’t know where to start from, Rob.”

“Then what’s the answer?” asked Rob. “Will you?” Ravyn didn’t know what to do. She’s never had her dreams turn into reality. Well, one of them had already been answered when she realised Sarah was one of the new interns that was dead scared of her, other than that, she didn’t have that much luck with dreams coming true. Ravyn walked for a couple of paces, as Rob followed her with his eyes, unsure of her actions, he turned around so that they weren’t back to back. Ravyn stopped. Stepped forward, pushing Rob pack a pace or two, and physically pushed him onto the couch. “What the fuck was that-” Ravyn interrupted him, by simply kissing him, as she leant over him. She pulled back.

“That was for the height difference,” she explained. “Do you not know you are literally a foot taller than me?” Rob didn’t care. He was just happy that she had accepted, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled back in for a thank-you-so-much-because-I-love-you-so-much kiss.

While Ravyn and Rob attended to their business, Sarah was just waking up at the sound of whispering going on. She struggled to see what was happening through the darkness, as she realised Halle was sleeping on her. What the actual sound was, was Dominique and Monique talking in the dark. Sarah had always hated when these two got together and started to talk at various times of the day, include half past four in the morning.

“Get off me,” groaned Sarah, as she pulled Halle off her, who was dead to the wolves come home. Halle just slumped over the rest of the bed, while Sarah sat up. Once Sarah had sat up, that was when Dominique and Monique stopped talking. Sarah turned her head to see both of them sitting up straight and facing each other. “What are you doing at this time of the morning?” Sarah was overtired and she wasn’t happy. Monique and Dominique were the annoying twins of the family.

“Talking,” answered Dominique.

“That I realise,” replied Sarah, impatiently. She was also angry at the fact that her own mother hadn’t bothered to see Alexis in hospital. “Where’s Mum? And why hasn’t she come to see Alexis?”

“Didn’t you hear?” asked Monique.

“I hear a lot of things, some that I don’t even want to know about,” answered Sarah. “What haven’t I heard?”

“She’s in Australia, with her new husband, James,” answered Dominique. “Alexis was looking after us.”

“And there’s no possible way that we can contact her?” asked Sarah.

“Not that I know of,” answered Monique. “She doesn’t check her inbox any more and she’s not picking up her phone. So we assume everything’s okay.”

“So you’re telling me, me being the second eldest of this family, I have to take care of you guys?” asked Sarah, angrily, as she saw Monique and Dominique nod at the same time through the darkness. “I already have difficulty handling two jobs, a child, an abusive ex-boyfriend who has threatened to kill me several times, and now I have to handle the lot of my four sisters with Alexis being in hospital.”

“It’s not that bigger of a deal,” complained Dominique. “Just think of it, you don’t have to get Alexis or a babysitter to look after Ava when you’re out.”

“But instead, I have to deal with someone who refuses to go to class,” Sarah replied, looking directly at Monique, who by now had figured out where the small light switch was and turned it. It took the girls a moment or two to adjust to the light. “Okay, let’s get it straight. I have to deal with you two truanting both school and class so you can smoke pot instead, I have to deal with Jade’s OCD, and I have to deal with Halle’s epilepsy, let alone putting her into kindergarten. I really doubt that Mum would do this to Alexis.”

“Well, guess what? She did to it, because Alexis put herself in that position not us,” retorted Monique.

“And do you think that I put myself in this position, Monique?” asked Sarah, angrily. “Look, I’m here to be an intern, I am already a single mum, and the last thing that I need to worry about is being contacted from your principle about the days that you choose not to attend school.”

“When are we going home?” asked Monique.

“My place would barely fit all six girls, including Ava,” said Sarah. “I say we all go crash at Alexis’s place.”

“But it smells like B.O.” complained Dominique.

“And it’s another girl if Alexis gets discharged from hospital,” reminded Sarah. “So tell me, Dominique, oh mightiest annoying sister of mine, tell me how we are going to fit seven girls into my place? Do you not know how small and crammed it would be?”

“I say, give it a try,” suggested Dominique. “That’s my suggestion.”

“But yet again, I don’t listen to your suggestions and I will never start to,” retorted Sarah.

“What other options do we really have then?” asked Monique. “Live in the sewer?”

“I wouldn’t have any objection to you living in the sewer, it would only mean that I wouldn’t have to put up with your bullshit day in and day out,” commented Sarah, as she realised how Ravyn-like that comment was. Damn her ways, Sarah thought. Sarah let out a sigh. “Get Jade up and Halle up, you’re going back to my place. I’ve got to go home anyway; the babysitter would be worried about me not coming home to my own daughter.”

While Sarah was more concerned about how all of her sisters were going to fit in the same household with her and her daughter, on the other side of the hospital Jo was waking up.

She shielded her eyes from the gleaming lights of the hospital as she sat up right, rubbing her eyes for a couple of seconds. Josh had somehow fallen asleep in the midst of his Red Bull high. Jo yawned as she slapped Josh in the gut telling him to wake up. She stretched her sore arms, as she found the perfect manoeuvre to slap him across the head. He woke up when she had to resort to the second attempt.

“What?” asked Josh, trying to keep his eyes open. “I’ve only been asleep for twenty minutes, compared to you, who had been asleep for three hours on my now dead shoulder.”

“Don’t you have a hospital to run?” asked Jo. “I would assume you would.”

“Not now,” groaned Josh. “I’m taking the day off. I need it.”

“I need to get home before Grant decides to report me missing,” said Jo, as she got to her feet, to only stretch some more. “I think we all need some God damn proper sleep. You should’ve seen Ravyn and her moods last night and this morning.”

“I know Jo, I was there, she looked like she wanted to severely hurt me at one stage, just because I was right with a diagnosis,” replied Josh, as he also got to his feet. “I need to get home also, the missus won’t be too happy that I abandoned her for a night.” Jo and Josh started to walk towards their lockers, which meant of course, walking past Ravyn’s office.

Ravyn was a person that most people associated her with such fictional characters like Doctor John Becker from the sitcom Becker, and Doctor Bob Kelso from Scrubs. But the only difference between Ravyn and those characters were the height and gender differences. John Becker was suppose to be six foot something, along with Bob Kelso, no, this woman had a class of her own, some even described her attitude like, the attack of the hobbits from Middle Earth. John Becker’s character opposed smoking, and yet, he was a smoker himself, there was no smoking when it come to Ravyn, only when it came to calling other medical staff hypocrites when they are supposed to be promoting anti-smoking behaviour and yet, they contradict themselves by doing it. Bob Kelso’s character, he was practically the head of everyone else, Ravyn only had one head, and that was the one attached to her body that overlooked the wrong doings of her work colleagues. But what these two fictional characters had in common with this real life persona is that they were careful how they ran their personal lives, and they never let their guard down. But to every virtue there’s always a fool amongst the pack of thriving hormones, and, just by coincidence the one time that she happened to let her guard down, it was the one time that she didn’t expect the obvious to happen. Ravyn noticed both Josh and Jo at the doorway, with their mouths gaping wide open, as though they were fish with hooks in their mouths. Ravyn stood up promptly, not knowing what to do or say, while Rob sat down looking at something behind Ravyn.

“Oh my God,” gasped Jo.

“I think my eyes are soiled,” muttered Josh. “Just when I thought things had started to become impossible, this happens.”

“Can you just leave?” snapped Ravyn, suddenly. She just felt a little embarrassed and a bit put down by the fact that this would be all over the hospital before she had the chance to tell everyone to go to hell.

Jo and Josh left without debate and without any further arguments, as they walked off, as though they had just seen the rarest and most disturbing thing ever. Josh had already concluded that it was the most disturbing and rarest thing ever, Ravyn showing her other side of her, the one that Josh would beg to see never again. Jo didn’t know what to say, she actually felt a bit happy for Ravyn, who had always been grumpy and mean towards her, but yet again, Jo was no exception to anybody else that encountered Ravyn. Jo thought maybe now that Ravyn actually had a boyfriend (as much of that is an oxymoron contained within itself), maybe she would be a bit happier and nice to work with now. This was Jo getting her hopes up high again, for it was normal for someone who’s second favourite pastime was to gossip about other people, to their faces and of course, behind their backs.

It was the next day.

Everyone was back to their normal routines around Sacred Heart. Well, a majority of them, who hadn’t by now found out about Ravyn and Rob, the new hospital couple.

Andrea was shocked to hear it from one of her new interns that was bitching on about, how it was possible for Ravyn to have another life outside this hospital, for all that she did was boss the interns around. Andrea had come running to Jo, a couple of floors below her, asking if it was true or not. Andrea was stunned when Jo swore to tell nothing, in other words, Jo wasn’t about to be the one blamed for spreading the rumour for she had told no one. Josh must’ve. So Jo decided not to put the guilt trip upon herself.

Meaghen found out when she overheard a conversation between Josh and Jonathon. She was so shocked she ran into an open locker, and gave herself a mild concussion. Knowing Meaghen’s stubbornness, she refused treatment or any sort of help from either Josh or Jonathon, because they had caused the accident themselves. In fact, she had refused treatment from anyone who was going to treat her like an infant.

Mel found out through Jo. Jo refused to talk to her about it initially, but Jo made an exception when Jo had scribbled it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Mel. Mel’s gaping mouth was larger than Jo’s and Josh’s when they had originally cracked this Da Vinci code. Well, it wasn’t exactly that hard to figure out, if Jo really had to go into detail, Jo already figured that there was something going on and that Ravyn wouldn’t actually admit to it.

Brad and Chester thought it was some sort of sick joke when they found about it. So what do people that are friends with the friend that they’ve just been rumoured about, to? They go ask that friend. Rob hadn’t denied it to anyone, and he wasn’t about to play along with a façade. So he made Brad and Chester come out with various cruel comments such as:

“Dude, if there were no people alive, and there weren’t any sheep, I still wouldn’t touch her,” Chester came out with.

“I would at least have a ten foot pole for me to touch her,” Brad came out with. “Don’t get me wrong man, she’s hot, but you’ve never encountered her moods. She’s like a prune, she’s all nice on the outside, but she’s very hard and intimidating on the inside.”

Rob didn’t appreciate such comments. Ravyn on the other hand, knew that people were too afraid to approach her about it and ask if it was true or not, they all took Josh’s and Jo’s word for it. She didn’t know who had opened their mouth first, but she was well assured by midday, that this hospital had once employed circus freaks, and still is employing them. Such freaks, according to Ravyn, were the interns that she did not like. Sarah, in the other case, she wasn’t sure about it. It was a hybrid emo that kid, she described her once to Rob.

Sarah hadn’t found out about it, until she approached Ravyn about some patient’s charts.

“Mrs Eppleston in ward six needs these release forms signed so she can get out of here,” said Sarah, handing Ravyn a clipboard with various bits of paper on them. She took them and pulled out her pen from her top pocket from her white coat. She scribbled her signature at the bottom of all the papers. “Apparently, she can’t stand this hell hole.”

“Lucky for her, she’s getting out alive,” muttered Ravyn to herself, as she hoped that Sarah just didn’t hear that. “Why do you look like there’s something you’re wanting other than my incomplete attention? Or maybe it’s the amount of eyeliner you’re wearing today. Didn’t you look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself ‘fuck, I wear too much makeup and that’s going to annoy the crap out of my supervising doctor’?”

“No, not really,” answered Sarah, as Ravyn stopped scribbling her signature. “You’re in a foul mood other just being moody.”

“And what, you haven’t heard what’s being rotated around in the rumour mill?” asked Ravyn.

“I just got in, and you’re basically the only one that I’ve spoken to,” answered Sarah, as Ravyn gave back the clipboard and Sarah took it back and held it in her arms. “Why? What’s so annoying about the rotating rumour mill?”

“Do you want to endure the rumours that are going around about me or should I just stick my head in a bucket and drown that way?” asked Ravyn, sarcastically.

“Why do you care is more the case?” asked Sarah, trying to make sense of why would she care to start with.

“Have you not heard?” asked Ravyn. “I like this one; one of Jo’s nurses came up to me this morning and asked me if I was pregnant yet. I replied back saying that I would have more of a chance falling pregnant with a guy’s child then she would ever have. Go figure.”

“You’re pregnant…?” asked Sarah. “I’m still lost back in Timbuktu.”

“I got asked out last night and everyone’s making it out as though I was the one responsible for the attacks on the Twin Towers,” clarified Ravyn. “Now, does that answer your question?”

“What’s the big deal there?” asked Sarah. “I don’t see it.”

“Thank you!” sighed Ravyn. “You’re the only one that has said that. Because I was getting sick of putting that question on the repeat button, and I’ve had to hear myself say that several thousand times from when my shift started. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work and other life-saving things to do, other than to gossip about other people’s business that I don’t particularly care about and I still don’t see why people feel the need to have the want to have that trait.”

Jo made sure Ravyn was out of hand and ears reach when she came over to where Sarah hadn’t moved. Sarah was too busy looking at what Ravyn had written on the papers. Instead signing the release forms, Ravyn had put a comment on the bottom of each sheet she was supposed to sign saying that Mrs Eppleston was to remain in hospital and in the hospital’s care because her mental stability was questionable.

“Are you alright?” asked Jo, standing in front of Sarah. “You haven’t moved since talking to Ravyn.”

“What a bitch,” Sarah muttered to herself, trying to tell herself that Ravyn was probably doing that for a good purpose, one that Sarah could not yet see. Jo gave her a quirky look. “She was supposed to sign these release forms, instead, you know what she does? She writes that Mrs Eppleston has to stay in this hospital.”

“And you think that’s a surprise?” asked Jo, taking the clipboard from Sarah and looking at it for herself. “It’s nothing new. I can tell you that, coming from someone who knew her when she was an intern.”

“You knew her when she was an intern?” asked Sarah. “Was she actually nice?”

“Surprisingly yes, but she was already a second year intern when I arrived to do my first year, but not at this hospital,” answered Jo.

“What happened?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know, I ask myself that question every time she has a go at me,” answered Jo. Jo walked over to the nurses’ desk and went behind it, a couple of metres on her left and Sarah followed her. Jo put the clipboard on the desk as she sat down in front of a computer and started to look for something in the files. It took a couple of minutes of her trying to find something on the computer to stop looking for it and give up. Jo looked to Sarah, whom was right next to her, sitting on the cupboard that had files filed above it. “I think the biggest surprise with that woman, is the fact that she can keep up her moods for such a long time. If you think you dealing with her is bad, don’t worry, you’re not the only intern she’s had. But what makes you special, is that you haven’t left by the second day.”

“And, I should feel proud, why exactly?” asked Sarah. “My mother’s moods are worse then hers.”

“You’ve only had to deal with her for a couple of days so far, while me on the other hand, I’ve had to deal with her for a number of years,” answered Jo, as she swung her chair around and faced Sarah.

“How’s Alexis coping?” asked Sarah.

“She’s alright, she’s making a recovery,” answered Jo. “In which that is good news, because she had a really screwed up collar bone when she came in. I hope you’re dealing with your other sisters, well, they seem, how do I put it?”

“A handful,” answered Sarah, blankly.

“That’s one way you could put it,” added Jo, with a faint smile, as the main telephone for the nurses rang. “That would be for me I take it.” Jo swung around and picked up the receiver.

Sarah zoned out completely and was too distracted by the fact that Chester had entered the room. Sarah got to her feet, walked from behind the front desk and stopped in front of Chester. Chester looked like he wanted to speak to her, and she was also wanting to speak to him, but about something else.

“Hey,” greeted Chester and Sarah at the same time.

“What are you doing tonight?” Sarah asked.

“Nothing that I know of,” answered Chester. “I know, we were meant to go out a couple of nights ago, but the code red was called and everything, including our social lives had to be put on standby. They are a bugger of those things, those code reds. Look Sarah, before you start getting your hopes up and everything, I need to tell you something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not getting my hopes up about anything,” replied Sarah, as Jo got off the phone and looked a bit worried from the phone call.

“Okay, so where do you suggest we go?” asked Chester. “Go ahead with just a walk in the park?”

“Yeah, why not?” asked Sarah, smiling a little, as Jo came over to where she and Chester were standing. “Aren’t you meant to be on paramedic duty?”

“Delson’s covering,” answered Chester. “Got to love that kid, he’ll cover for anyone.”

“Ah, Sarah,” Jo joined Chester and Sarah in their conversation, or so Sarah had hoped. “I think you might want to come with me.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” asked Sarah, as she had detected the seriousness in Jo’s tone.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” said Chester, as he lingered away to attend to his duties in the operating theatre alongside Jonathon.

Jo led Sarah to the elevator, without a word and without a sound. Sarah knew something had happened to have Jo in such a sombre state. They were waiting for the elevator to come to their floor, when the emergency elevator opened up behind them and they turned around to see who it was and who was attending. Someone who looked very familiar was lying in the trolley bed, someone who Jo had recognised as being, Shawg. He was attached to various medical equipments and another thing was attached to him, his girlfriend, Mel. Mel was in tears right next to him, as various people told her to go away. She eventually detached herself, as soon as she saw Jo and Sarah standing opposite the emergency elevator.

Mel threw her arms around Jo, as Jo started to pat her own the back. Jo wasn’t saying anything, she had a mixture of an expression upon her face, which read that she was half angry and half upset. The elevator door opened for both Jo and Sarah, as Jo handed Sarah a crying Mel. Sarah somehow managed to drag Mel into the elevator with her, because Mel would not let go, as her tears made Sarah’s light blue shirt wet. Jo pressed the paediatrics button and Sarah realised that something serious had just happened, and Sarah was still confused and not sure about what’s happening or what had happened that Jo had to drag her away from her work.

Mel wouldn’t say anything, just sobs, and every now and then, wails. Sarah had repeatedly told Mel that everything would be okay, but she didn’t know who Shawg was, but she figured that he had some importance to Mel to make her cry that much. The elevator doors opened to the paediatrics department, as Sarah recognised Andrea standing against the wall opposite the elevator doors. Andrea too, had a solemn expression upon her face, as Sarah, Mel (still attached to Sarah), Jo walked out of the elevator, and the elevator doors closed behind them. Sarah handed Andrea Mel, as Sarah had the feeling that Andrea was waiting particularly for Sarah and Jo’s arrival in the paediatrics department.

“You’re Sarah right, the new ICU intern?” asked Andrea, as all of the women started to walk down the hallway. Sarah nodded.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sarah.

Jo signalled to Andrea using her hands not to answer that question so instead, Andrea ignored the question. When the women arrived in the area that Andrea wanted them to be in, Andrea sat Mel down at a chair outside a room and told her to go get some tissues and stay and wait for them to come out of the room. Mel nodded in agreement.

Andrea turned to Sarah.

“Brace yourself,” warned Andrea. Sarah was somewhat, confused about what would make Andrea say that to her. Sarah nodded anyway. Jo led the way into the room, with both hands in her pockets, while Sarah was in the middle and Andrea made sure Sarah didn’t run out, so she went at the end of the line. Sarah’s eyes lit up when she saw what she saw before her, well, two things in front of her that really surprised her, as Jo stood to a side.

But the one thing that really caught her attention was the small figure in a bed, on what Sarah recognised as, life support.

“Ava?” asked Sarah, as she ran to her daughter’s side, ignoring the fact that Matt was standing right next to Ava. Sarah had already concluded this circumstance. Sarah stood up angrily. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” answered Matt, innocently. “I swear I didn’t do this to her, I wouldn’t do anything like this to my own daughter, Sarah.”

“Since when did you start believing that you had a daughter?” asked Sarah, as tears started to swell up in her eyes. “And how the hell did you get here so fast?”

“I was in the car with her, Sarah, that’s how I got here so fast,” answered Matt. “I was over looking for you and Dominique was there. She said you’d already gone to work and that she wouldn’t mind if I take Ava out for a couple of hours. I didn’t do this Sarah, I wouldn’t hurt Ava.”

“And yet, you’ve threatened to kill me how many times has it been now?” asked Sarah, angrily. Sarah turned around to Andrea and Jo, who were leaning against the wall. “Why didn’t you tell me that he was here? Why didn’t you tell me that this had happened?”

“That phone call I got was from Andrea, as one of her interns had recognised her to be your daughter,” answered Jo. “Matt refused to leave her side.”

“What happened?” asked Sarah, looking at Andrea for answers. “What happened to my baby girl?”

“Car accident,” answered Andrea, shortly. Sarah looked at Matt harshly, but before Sarah had a chance to go off at home even more and abuse the daylights out of him, Andrea interrupted him. “It wasn’t his fault.” Sarah closed her mouth and looked back at Andrea. “The guy coming at him ran a red light and crashed right into the passenger side, where Ava was at the time. He tried swerving but only did a fishtail right into a pole, and now he’s in intensive care.”

“Do you remember that guy we saw coming up?” asked Jo, as Sarah nodded and her attention was on Jo.

“The guy that Mel was crying beside,” added Sarah.

“That guy was the guy behind the wheel, and was also the one that ran the red light,” explained Jo. “But, he’s Mel’s boyfriend Shawg.”

Sarah slowly sank into a chair at the Jo’s explanation of the events. The chair was nicely positioned, right next to where she had been standing. Andrea sighed, knowing that in the first place that this atrocity shouldn’t have had happened, but she sighed again, knowing that there was practically nothing that she could do about it. No one could anything about it as it was up to Ava herself, if she wanted to live or die. Matt didn’t say nor did anything; he just looked at Ava, and looked at Sarah who was looking at the floor. Sarah held Ava’s tiny hand, as tears overflowed and Sarah just broke down.

Her eyeliner ran as her mascara formed black veins down her face. Jo came over to her and comforted her as Jo embraced her in a hug. Andrea didn’t know what to do.

“I’m going to go ask Ravyn if you can have a couple of days off,” said Andrea, as she walked outside to where Mel was trying to get better, but failing in great success. Andrea crouched down beside her, looking at Mel who had not noticed her presence. “Are you okay?” Mel looked up to see Andrea next to her. Mel shook her head. “Do you want to see Shawg?” Mel shook her head again. “Do you want to know how Ava is?” Mel nodded. “She’s on life support, but, I think she’s going to be okay. She’s got some internal bruising and she’s had some battering done to her.” Mel tried to wipe away a couple of tears but only to be replaced by more tears. “Don’t blame yourself, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“He was coming to see me on my break,” Mel managed to say through tears.

“And was it your fault that he decided to run the red light?” asked Andrea. Mel shook her head. “Then it’s not your fault. It’s Shawg’s stupidity’s fault, not yours.” Andrea embraced Mel in a small hug but let go a couple of seconds later. “I’ve got to go to talk to Ravyn about Sarah, but will you be okay?” Mel nodded. “I won’t be long, if you want me.” Mel smiled a little and went back to crying. Andrea didn’t want to go, but if she didn’t talk to Ravyn as soon as possible, Sarah would be the one suffering the blame game not Andrea.

Andrea stood up straight and walked to the elevator quietly and running into anyone that would love to cause more shit to hit the roof. She pressed the down button and waited for a couple of minutes. In that time she had time to think through some other patient’s stuff while trying to remember what else she had to do, other than to attend various meetings. The elevator doors opened and she went in, only to realise that Rob the janitor, or more now known as, Ravyn’s new man, was in there with is normal broom stick and still wearing his normal dark green janitor’s uniform. He gave her a small smile and went back to looking at the ground as though there was something interesting about staring at the ground. Andrea went to push the ICU’s button, but it was already pushed. She figured for herself, by the time that the doors closed, that Rob was going to ICU or the nurses. Andrea didn’t want to ask.

“How are you today?” asked Rob, trying to make conversation, as Andrea’s attention was diverted from looking at the numbers above the door being highlighted by each dropping sensation to Rob.

“I’m okay,” she answered. She had guessed for a while that Ravyn and him had a thing going on, it was the fact Ravyn wouldn’t admit to it, was the thing that kinda annoyed Andrea. But Andrea just assured herself, that Ravyn was always the denying type and she hadn’t changed since the time that she had drawn that conclusion. “What about you?”

“I’m the same,” he answered. “How are the bombing victims going up at paediatrics?”

“Some are alright, some not so well,” Andrea answered. “But yet again, we’re one out of many departments that were on call that night and I didn’t sleep very well either. I found myself sleeping in the locker room at four in the morning. However, I was not the only one sleeping in this hospital.”

“Yeah, Ravyn was fast asleep in her office,” added Rob. “And, I think it was Sarah, or Woodlands, I’m not sure what her real name is anymore, she was with her sisters in an empty ward. I know that Brad and Meaghen were sleeping in the emergency corridor, I tried waking them up, all I got was a slap in the gut from Brad.”

The elevator doors opened before Andrea could speak her mind about the business concerning Ravyn and him. But at the same time, Ravyn was also her friend and she didn’t want to cause chaos in their friendship. Rob and Andrea walked out of the elevator, but instead of walking out together, Rob offered Andrea the door first. Andrea accepted the offer and walked out. She half-expected Rob to walk with her, but when she turned around, Rob had already taken to flight to fly somewhere else. She strode down the hallway until she reached the nurses’ desk. She knew Jo would still be with Sarah, or failing that trying to calm Mel down some more. She stopped in front of the desk. Tarja was nearby and came up to assist Andrea.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Do you know where Ravyn is?” asked Andrea. Tarja pointed towards the hallway that began behind the front desk. “Thanks.” Andrea followed Tarja’s directions down the hallway. It didn’t take Andrea long to find Ravyn, as she was walking the opposite way to her. “Hey.”

“Hi,” replied Ravyn, stopping to talk to Andrea. “You look like a lost puppy in the middle of the cat food aisle.”

“I was actually looking for you,” replied Andrea. “You do know what has just happened to that intern of yours?”

“What shit has that stupid girl managed to wind herself into this time?” asked Ravyn, looking a bit annoyed at the mention of her intern and whatever Ravyn can connect her too, without even being told anything.

“She hasn’t done anything,” defended Andrea. “She’s in paediatrics right now. Her kid’s been involved in a car accident and I’m trying to see if you can give her some time off.”

“As far as I know she doesn’t have a kid,” said Ravyn. “She’s never mentioned anything to me about having a kid.”

“Yeah, but she’s very young, like two,” explained Andrea. “She’s on life-support right now, and her father is there as well. I don’t think Sarah and the father get along very well.”

“Would his name be Matthew something by any chance?” asked Ravyn, remembering hearing something about a Matt coming out of Jo’s mouth a couple of days back. Andrea nodded. “Ah, so that would explain talk about having an abusive ex that apparently wants to kill her someday. Why does this sound like a surprise to me? It’s Woodlands for God’s sake. She needs to learn how to keep her legs shut that girl, or she’s going to end up with another one.”

“What do you mean?” asked Andrea, who thought the last comment, was out of line.

“She and Bennington have been caught various times by me, canoodling in the locker room,” answered Ravyn. “And just when I thought Meaghen had a thing for Bennington. I don’t know anymore, the rumour mill tends to do that to people’s heads.”

“So would you give her time off, because of the circumstances with Ava?” asked Andrea, trying to persuade Ravyn, but she knew it within herself, that her attempts with Ravyn were failing.

“So that’s the kid’s name, Ava?” asked Ravyn. “Very odd. I have to say I’ve never heard it before. Where did she get the name from, off the back of a cereal box?”

“I haven’t heard the name Ravyn before, but you don’t see me calling you an emo black bird,” retorted Andrea.

“It’s a bird thank you, you know an omen,” reminded Ravyn.

“That would explain the nurses’ comments about you being an omen, not of death, but of something abstract and rude,” replied Andrea, remembering what Mel had said once.

“But that’s the nursing department for you,” commented Ravyn. “If it wasn’t for my intelligence, they still wouldn’t know what letter comes after A.”

“Getting back to my main point,” said Andrea. “Will you give Sarah some time off to be by Ava’s side?”

“And what, the father can’t be there?” spat Ravyn. “No I will not give her time off, she’s an intern, and she wants to learn and trust me, she will learn.”

“It’s her only child Ravyn, you have to empathise a bit,” explained Andrea.

“I’ll give her some time off in that case,” replied Ravyn. “Three hours, off today’s shift. That’s all.”

“Ravyn,” snapped Andrea, suddenly, getting angry with Ravyn’s childish behaviour. “Why can’t you grow up and look beyond what you can only see? The girl is in tears right now; don’t you feel anything for her?”

“Because while she is still learning in this hospital, she does not need a personal interference and I do not need a problem with my intern interference,” replied Ravyn, smoothly. “While she is still an intern, she is here to learn, not to gossip and be felt up by Bennington in the locker room. If she or anyone else has a problem with my perspective, I say, screw you all.” But before Andrea could come up with a comeback, Ravyn cut her off before Andrea could even open her mouth, “I know it sounds cruel, but I do not like to mess around and play tootsies with, when it comes to me and my profession. She is either here to learn what I have to offer, or she’s not here.”

“Do not make her choose between her job and her kid, Ravyn; no single mother would stand for that,” replied Andrea, trying to see if Ravyn would compromise a little bit. “She’s in shreds right now.”

“How did the kid end up in hospital to start with?” asked Ravyn.

“Mel’s boyfriend ran a red light and crashed into the side of the car where Ava was,” answered Andrea.

“Who, that Shawg guy?” asked Ravyn. “More like an ‘it’, than anything right now.” Andrea nodded. “Alright, I’ll give her some time off. Only, because my hate for Shawg and Slowpoke together as one is never-ending.” Andrea smiled. “But let my niceness remain a secret. I’ve been being nice to people lately, even to the people I have put on my death list.”

“It must be Rob’s influence over you,” retorted Andrea, as Ravyn opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it before anything had the chance to come out of it.

Wow so much to comment on! Man, you're updates are gonna outdo mine in length soon! And the accident with Shawg and Ava, awful stuff! I know I'm a severe bitch in this one (The Kelso comparrison cracked me up hardcore, bloody love that character/show - if I were a doc I'd wanna be just like him! ) but given the fact I sound like I'm going through menopause or sth even I wanted to slap my character silly for her lack of empathy for her new intern's plight! Way to go Andrea, the voice or reason, thank god!

And me and Rob, awwness! I do believe that made me smile like some love struck schoolgirl while I read that. Might have been cause I was trying to imagine the look on your face as you penned that particular scene or whatnot but it still made me all none the less. So thumbs up there from me. Its nice to see I'm not a complete and utter bitch... most of the time. haha.

And what the hell is going on between Sarah and Chas?! Haha now THAT made me laugh. Wow, so didn't see that one coming. I mean, I did like you led up to it and all, but still... the man's a regular romeo alright! Weirdness, have to start charging by the hour or sth soon, he can moonlight as a gigalo when he's not working the ambo maybe. Its possible. *lmfao*

And yeah... just overall cool. The little description there makes it more visual, its a nice balance to the medical jargon so yeah, well done. The black veins/eyeliner thing as Sarah wept very poignant. Bravo.

So yeah, great work. And I know you're busy lately (who aint?) but when the studies and stuff are over for the year look forward to reading more when you can manage it. Sweet job so far.

Thanks Ma.

Scrubs and Becker were once my favourite shows, now NCIS and Chaser's War on Everything is.

I've done my two english papers *phew* they were hard and frustrating. I've got Modern History tomorrow which is hard and then Geography on friday. Then IPT (like advaced computers) next Tuesday then the following Wednesday (or whenever the 9th is) is my last exam DRAMA (the theory is hard as!) which is gong to be shit hard cos we've gotta stoudy Contemporary Australian Drama and Irish Drama. I've got myself an iterview and auditions for various uni courses, applying for TAFE (gotta do that before this Friday!!!) applying for an apprenticeship/traineeship for graphic art. So I'm busy!

But I'm trying to finish another section off before I post it (gotta avoid broken sections) then I'll post it. And trying to handle social issues with ex boyfriends of mine and of my friends. So yeah!

Btw Rachi, I'm going to Nightiwsh next year! So I'm all excited and rushing around and bugging my bother for accomodation down in Sydney.

I love the fact that I've impressed you that much. Btw. I had to put you and Rob together, or it's not believable.

Okay here's some more.

 

IT'S A MEGA UPDATE BECAUSE I FEEL HAPPY! In other words I just sat my second last exam that went for three hours!

 

It was 7 pm when Sarah’s doorbell went off. Sarah was upstairs putting Halle to sleep, as she knew earlier in the day that she had to come home and look after her sisters or no one would. Sarah was in the process of reading some random book that Sarah had picked up off for the living room floor, to Halle. She yelled at Monique to get it. But Monique was too busy watching television, so Monique turned to Jade, who was sitting right next to her and ordered her little sister to go get the door. Jade didn’t want to disobey Monique in any way, because she knew she would get hurt from Monique.

Jade got off the couch and walked several metres into the entrance hallway to open the door.

“Yes?” asked Jade, who was only fourteen but looked like she was at least seventeen. Ravyn stood at the other side of the door, dressed in her long black coat, with Rob next to her in his long khaki pants and a plain dark blue collared shirt. “Can I help you?”

“Is Sarah home?” asked Rob, giving Jade a small smile, as he looked at her through his glasses that he had on.

“I’ll just go get her,” answered Jade. “Do you want to come in?” Rob nodded, as he let Ravyn go first and then he followed. Jade ran upstairs to get Sarah, as Ravyn and Rob wandered into the living room, where the twins were watching crime shows.

“Are you after Sarah?” asked Dominique.

“Yeah,” answered Rob. Ravyn wasn’t in the talking mood, since Andrea had decided to put her on a, guilt trip about not letting Sarah get at least two weeks paid leave. “I saw you the other night. You’re her sisters, right?”

“Dominique,” said Monique, raising her hand.

“Monique,” said Dominique raising her hand also. They had decided to screw with people’s heads that they didn’t know.

“You’re not her new boyfriend, are you?” asked Monique.

Rob shook his head, as he couldn’t help but to laugh at the thought of ever going out with that hybrid emo intern.

“He’s my boyfriend,” answered Ravyn, somewhat defensively. “Who’s Sarah’s boyfriend?”

“I think his name’s Chester,” answered Dominique. “Or so, that’s the new rumour around the household has it.”

“So you’re the kind of person that believes anything that people tell them?” asked Ravyn, modestly. Dominique nodded, as though there wasn’t something wrong with that. “Did you know that Canada got electricity yesterday?”

“Nice one,” laughed Monique as Dominique realised that Ravyn was just joking. Ravyn rolled her eyes. “What do you want with my sister? Is it about Alexis?”

“No it’s not,” answered Rob.

“I’m her boss,” said Ravyn, blankly.

“Err…Ravyn is it?” asked Dominique. Ravyn nodded. Dominique looked to Rob. “Then who are you?”

“I’m another friend of hers,” answered Rob, shortly, as Jade and Sarah entered the room. Sarah looked a bit shocked to see Rob standing in her living room, and even more to see her son of a bitch/hypocrite boss standing right next to Rob. “Hi.”

“Hi,” replied Sarah, shortly, still confused of why she had to have the pleasure of meeting Ravyn outside hospital times. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Is there somewhere where we can talk?” asked Ravyn.

“Yeah, out the back,” answered Sarah, as she led the way to the back porch. She waited until they were out on the back porch until she started the conversation back up again. “Aren’t you going to remind of me of one of the rules that you set down in place?” As Rob and Ravyn took a seat opposite Sarah on the back patio, Ravyn didn’t look like she wanted to be here. Sarah took the shifty eyes of Ravyn, as a means of her trying to tell her something serious. “What’s wrong? Has something happened with Ava? What has Matt done this time?”

“Do you want me to tell her?” asked Rob, looking to Ravyn, who looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I may as well tell her,” answered Ravyn, as she looked from Rob to Sarah. “Yes and no, concerning Ava and your ex.” Sarah was bit confused by the fact that Ravyn somehow knew about Ava and that she hadn’t said anything to her that consisted of ‘keep your legs closed next time’. “The good news is that Ava has woken up, or so Andrea has told me, just a couple of minutes before he convinced me that I should be the one to break it to you and that yes, I will give you a week off to deal with your personal affairs.” Ravyn would love to see Greyfoxx’s reaction to this, since all she did was bitch about not being time off to attend to her personal affairs.

“And…?” asked Sarah, slowly.

“But, there is a catch-22 to this good news,” explained Rob. “Hours after you left the hospital, in tears, Matt had to be drug tested, as part of the normal accident procedure.” Oh great and he’s tested positive, Sarah thought to herself, as she convinced herself that Rob would say that he had tested positive to either cocaine or heroin.

“And let me finish the rest of the news for you,” added Sarah, with a sarcastic smile. “Knowing the asshole that Matt is, he tested positive.”

“You sound like that’s nothing new,” said Ravyn.

“Oh, it’s not new I can tell you that now,” replied Sarah. “What did he test positive to, heroin or maybe even cocaine?”

“Cocaine,” answered Rob.

“Is he an addict, Sarah?” asked Ravyn. “If he is, why haven’t you said anything about to anyone and why are you letting him intimidate you to this extent? It was because of Matt’s slow reaction time that he got Ava hurt. He could’ve avoided Shawg running the red light.”

“The last time I checked, he was, but it’s been ages since I’ve had anything major to do with him,” answered Sarah. “So what, is he in jail or even been arrested by now?”

“How can the police catch him when he’s done a runner?” asked Ravyn. Sarah’s sarcastic smile faded. “And guess who’s with him?”

“Ava,” whispered Sarah. “But why would Matt want anything to do with her? For quite a while he believed that he didn’t have a daughter and that I was only trying to scam the money required for child support, out of him.” But before Sarah could continue her response, Jade came and stood in the doorway, as though she wanted something. Sarah shifted her attention to her little sister. “Yes, Jade, what do you want?”

“Chester’s here,” answered Jade.

“Oh shit,” whispered Sarah, as she remembered Chester and her were meant to go out. She had completely forgotten about it. “Tell him to come out here.”

“Okay,” replied Jade, as she disappeared out of sight.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Sarah asked, assuming that if she sucked up to her boss, Ravyn would treat her a bit better. “I mean, I’ve already fed and put Halle to bed but the rest of us haven’t had our dinner.”

“No,” answered Ravyn, shortly.

“We may as well,” answered Rob, as Ravyn shot him a look. “It’s the least we can do for the girl.”

“Alright,” sighed Ravyn, eventually. Sarah smiled, as she got to her feet and walked off inside to see what Jade had done with Chester. “Rob, I don’t want to have dinner with an intern that I’m growing to hate. That’ll just spoil the process of it all. I might end up liking the girl, and we can’t have that happening, as I would turn out to be the biggest hypocrite that the hospital has produced so far.”

“It’s not going to kill you,” negotiated Rob. “She seems pretty nice to me.”

“That’s because you don’t have to put up with her all day every day,” replied Ravyn.

“And you won’t have to from now on, because you’ve just given her time off,” reminded Rob. “Come on Ravyn, it’ll do us some good. It’ll do you some good as well, as it is a chance to socialise and you can get to know your intern better. You don’t know what might happen; you might end up liking her at the end of the night.” Ravyn rolled her eyes, disgusted by the fact that she was allowing a man like him tell her what to do. “You haven’t even given her a chance and already it’s an automatic hate towards her. Is she that bad compared to Jo’s interns?”

“No, not really, when you look at it,” answered Ravyn, not wanting to admit to the fact that Sarah did a pretty good job as an intern. “She doesn’t annoy me, she doesn’t get in the way of my work, and she doesn’t come up with ditzy comebacks and answers.”

“Then give her a chance,” urged Rob, getting up from his seat. He offered his hand out to help Ravyn up, but Ravyn didn’t take it, as she also got up from the seat.

“I can’t believe I’m actually communicating with my intern outside of training hours,” muttered Ravyn, to herself. Rob didn’t hear the exact wordings of her sentence, but he knew what it would say, as Chester and Sarah came out onto the back patio. “Oh, that’s just, great, Bennington.” Chester and Sarah stopped in front of the couple and Chester and Rob exchanged a handshake and then let go of it. Chester was dressed in black pants and a white half-buttoned up collared shirt.

“How are you tonight?” asked Rob.

“I’m okay,” answered Chester. “What about yourself?”

“The same actually,” answered Rob. “I didn’t know that you two were going out.”

“No, we’re just friends,” replied Chester, smoothly, as he noticed Ravyn’s presence in the room. Bullshit, thought Ravyn, cynically. He turned to Ravyn. “How about you, how are you tonight? Still uptight and angry at Delson’s little stunt?”

“I wouldn’t consider what he did a stunt, I would classify that as stupidity in the rawest form,” answered Ravyn, sourly, as Rob turned to her and gave her a queer look. Ravyn sighed knowing that was the que to explain to Rob what had happened in the day with Brad and her. “He thought it would be fun to take all of my charts for my patients and mix them up with Jo’s. I can tell you now; Jo wasn’t too pleased about it either. I think it went along the lines of Jo wanting to slap him.”

“So, does anyone want anything in particular for dinner?” asked Sarah, not sure of what Rob and Ravyn would make of Chester’s appearance in her household.

“Pizza!” yelled Monique and Dominique at the top of their voices from inside the living room. Sarah turned around to remind them of what was asleep upstairs.

“Shhh!” hushed Sarah, impatiently. “Halle’s still asleep, and no, no pizza, you’re both getting fatter by the day.” Sarah turned around with an awkward smile on her face that was suitably forced upon her face. “Any decent suggestions from the adults in the household? I mean anything in particular that anyone fancies?”

“Oh no thanks,” Ravyn managed to find an excuse, as she looked to her watch and pretended as though she had to be somewhere. “I’ve lost track of the time, and I’ve got to be somewhere. It’s a pity that I can’t have dinner.” This was Ravyn in her pettiest state, as she was running out of excuses, as she had already used them up that day, trying to see how many meetings she could get of and which ones she couldn’t avoid the chasms of sharing a room with two idiots of the rawest and most common form, Greyfoxx and Jo. “But thanks for the offer, and I just had to tell you that about Ava and Matthew. That’s basically it.”

Rob was somewhat confused by the sudden change of attitude, as he turned back around to face Ravyn who, was looking uncomfortable and out of place as ever, as the phone in Sarah’s house started to ring and Dominique picked up.

“Yeah, I think I have to go as well,” added Rob, slowly, as he faced Sarah again. “But yet again, thank you for the offer.”

“Alright then,” replied Sarah, as Dominique turned up at Sarah’s side to hand her the phone. She was somewhat confused of why Dominique was handing her the phone. “What?”

“The phone just rang and it’s for you,” answered Dominique, as Sarah received the phone and put it to her ear.

“Hello?” asked Sarah, as Rob waved goodbye and they both left the house, after saying good bye to Chester as well.

“What was that about?” asked Rob, when both were seated in the front of his car. He hadn’t even ignited the ignition in the thing and already he was getting fired up about something.

“I never said, nor did I agree to have dinner with her,” answered Ravyn. “Don’t put me in that position again, I don’t like it. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“Being nice to people makes you feel uncomfortable?” asked Rob. “I must say, out of all the bizarre things for you to say and do, that’s the weirdest. I don’t even know why we’re going out in that case.”

“Excuse me,” spat Ravyn, looking offended as they faced each other. “What was that last comment about? You don’t even know why you had asked me out, was that it? I can’t believe you, nor will I ever believe you when you say that. Why did you say that?”

“Because it’s not working out, for at least for me it isn’t,” answered Rob, being honest. “You’re lovely one moment and an evil biatch the next. I mean, how many God damn mood swings can you have in one day?”

“I am trying to compromise here, and I would expect you to do the same thing,” retorted Ravyn. “I know I’m no darl, when it comes to my attitude some days, but at least I have the decency to not say that to the person that I’m trying to have a relationship with. It’s not like I’m asking you to defy your own religion, Rob, it’s certainly not like that.”

“I’m compromising here, I’m putting up with my woman’s attitude,” replied Rob, trying to keep his calm. “You do not know how much crap I’ve copped from the boys ever since finding out about this relationship, you have no idea.”

“Then if you hate my attitude so much Rob, why don’t you just get the balls to break up with me, after how many days of going out with me?” asked Ravyn, impatiently. “Look, I don’t care about this subject no more, just, drive me home.” Rob was going to say something in retaliation along the lines of her walking home, but he didn’t. He knew if he said that, it would be an overreaction to a pointless argument. He turned the key in the ignition and started to drive off, as he was telling himself that everything would be okay, it was just him overreacting.

Ravyn didn’t want to say anything for she was afraid that if she were to say something, it would be too out of line for Rob’s liking. The possible threat of having another argument was lurking around the corner somewhere, and Ravyn wasn’t sure that she really wanted to walk straight into it. So she resorted to looking out the window, the thing that Ravyn did when she wanted to avoid discussion.

Rob slammed down the accelerator driven by his emotions, as he cut a corner. Ravyn opened her mouth to say something about how badly he drove, but again, she wasn’t sure that she wanted another pointless argument with him, so she closed it. Rob slammed down the brakes, as the car approached the front yard of Ravyn’s house, jolting both of them forward, as they came to a stop.

“Why are you afraid of being nice to people?” asked Rob, breaking the silence between them, as Ravyn unbuckled her seatbelt. Rob wasn’t even wearing his, and Ravyn had secretly thought of how if he had slammed the breaks down any harder, he would’ve gone through the front window. “It’s not like there’s something wrong with being nice to people.”

“It’s my moral obligation,” answered Ravyn, harshly. “My morality is very high Rob, if you haven’t cared to notice. I’m not on this planet to be trodden over and treated like a doormat; I’m not anything like that. You don’t know me very well in that case then.”

“I’ve known you for quite a while, and trust me, I have been a victim of your parade of abhorrence on some occasions,” replied Rob, smoothly, carelessly reminding Ravyn of their past together. “I don’t know where you’re coming from when you say it’s your moral obligation. Obligation to do what exactly, Rave? I don’t know it’s just me or something, but I just cannot see it, and I don’t see it at all. I’ve never treated you like a doormat ever in my life, and really I can’t see who would treat you like a doormat. Were you this harsh and unsympathetic when you were an intern?”

“Don’t remind me of my internship, I’ve always hated looking back at my internship,” answered Ravyn, trying to hide the old wounds of her internship. “You’re just going to bring back healed wounds and that’s the last thing I want right now.”

“What happened in your intern years Rave? What happened that was so bad you’ve had to be like this for how many years has it been now?” asked Rob, knowing there was something up Ravyn’s sleeve, but knowing Ravyn, she was either to afraid to admit it, or she was just going on with some bullshit that she’s known to come up with just to get people off her back.

“Stop acting like you know me Rob, because you don’t!” snapped Ravyn, suddenly, as her eyes flared up with anger, as Ravyn faced Rob. “I have to get inside. I’ve got things to do, before we continue this pointless discussion.” Ravyn just had to separate herself from the conversation before anything else was said, that she either didn’t mean, or that was stored in her memory that she didn’t want to bring back. She gave Rob a small peck on the cheek, as she tried her mightiest to restrain her tears and got out of the car. Rob felt like something wasn’t right and he felt as though he had an obligation for someone who loved Ravyn by now. He opened his door, as Ravyn stormed to her front door, and as she scrambled for her keys in her pocket. Rob slammed the door shut, calling her to stop and talk to him. She ignored him, as she approached her front door. Rob sighed as he ran up to catch up with her. Rob finally managed to grab hold of Ravyn, around the wrists, but all Ravyn did was try to resist. “Let me go.” She could barely say it, because she was getting that emotional and upset. “Please, Rob, please just let me go, I’ll be alright.” She was futile against her attempts to free herself, because Rob’s grip was too strong on her wrists. She stopped struggling and Rob loosened his grip.

“I won’t let go, unless you tell me what’s make you so damn emotional,” ordered Rob. “Please Rave, please, I am a person that cares about you a lot and I am getting really attached to you, and I can’t bear to see you like this. You have to tell me, please, if you love me; please tell me, that is all I’m asking for, nothing more and nothing less.” Ravyn went limp, as Rob took her house keys from her and put them in his top pocket of his shirt. Ravyn was feeling as helpless as ever, as she knew she had no choice but to tell Rob what had happened. Rob embraced his upset girlfriend in his arms, as Ravyn cried heavier in his arms. Rob was worried. He had never seen not even a glimpse of Ravyn ever being like this, and being a janitor in the hospital, he got to see a lot of the staff upset. “Come on, we’ll go inside and talk about this. It’s getting cold, and I don’t want to rush you to emergency because you’ve caught hyperthermia.” Rob got the keys back out from his pocket, as he had the other arm around Ravyn. He wasn’t sure which key was the right key to her front door, but guessed that the one with the blue rubber around it was the front door key. He inserted the brass key into the handle and clicked it open to a house that was filled with darkness, as two cats came out; one was a fluffy Persian with black and with white markings on its back (in which Ravyn had called it Nemo) and one was a tan, black, and white, tortoiseshell (in which Ravyn had called it Miffy) and curled their tails around Rob’s legs. He didn’t like cats.

It was about 8 am, when Josh had walked through the front doors of the hospital with a cup of coffee in one hand and his mobile in the other. One thing that should be known about Doctor Gradon, is that him and his mobile were inseparable, even when it came to areas like a hospital, he still had it on and his favourite pastime wasn’t fishing or playing poker with the boys, it was in fact, playing Tetris on his phone. No exception to in this case, today.

He was so keen on beating the highest score set down by his nephew, a couple of weeks ago, that he had just walked straight the first person he had to see to, Chester.

Chester and Brad were only trying to figure out what would happen if Mike from pharmaceuticals and Jo were to ever go out and how long it would take for Mike to break up with Jo. Brad of course reminded Chester that Jo was married. Chester just told him to shut his trap.

Josh was so keen on getting the highest score in Tetris Version 2.0 (can’t forget that it was also in 3D) that he had bumped into Mel, carrying a heap of papers stacked up so high that it had blotted out her vision and she relied on people having the courtesy to look where they were going. The papers went everywhere and that was only when Josh had realised what he had just done.

”Oh, fiddlesticks,” said Josh, as he had just sent papers flying everywhere, and the main point for his disappointment, he had accidentally just exited the game that he knew he would eventually win. Josh put his phone away in his pocket, placed his coffee on the ground, and started to help Mel, who by now was already on her hands and her knees trying to pick up the papers. “I’m sorry Phoenix, I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s all right,” smiled Mel, like a schoolgirl but without the red cheeks. “I’ve just proved myself more of a klutz, nothing too detrimental to my self-esteem.” Mel’s smile faded as she rolled her eyes.

Josh stopped for a second to have a look at the time on his watch and then at the clock on the wall, as he realised that his watch had stopped working. He was late, only by three or so hours.

“Crap,” muttered Josh, as he felt like banging his head against the nearest wall, as he picked up his coffee from the ground and got to his feet.

“You can say that again,” added Mel. “Why the sudden change from your normal swearing to replacing your words with lame sayings?”

“Trying to cut my swearing down, it apparently upsets my wife when I swear too much,” replied Josh.

“I would be upset if I was married to you,” retorted Mel, quietly, as she continued to gather more papers. Josh heard and shot Mel a nasty look.

“What would you know about commitment Phoenix?” asked Josh, snappishly.

“A lot actually,” answered Mel, stopping what she was doing and faced one of her bosses. The other bosses were Grant and the government, none of which Mel liked either of. “Shawg and I have been together for quite a while now. So don’t tell me that I can’t commit to a relationship when you don’t know anything about me.”

“Who are you, Ravyn?” asked Josh. “Because you’re sounding exactly like her and that’s the last person I really need to have a stupid argument with today.” Josh wasn’t going to have an argument with a nurse like Mel and proceeded to go to his desk, on the paediatrics level. He stopped in front of the elevator, and pushed the up button, as Brad and Chester stood next to Josh. “Good morning Delson and Bennington.”

“Good morning Gradon,” they replied, looking as though they just did something wrong.

Josh knew he had to see Chester about something, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Josh ignored such thoughts as he sipped his coffee that had turned lukewarm.

Sarah arrived next Brad, as Chester was the closest to Josh, and stood there, but she didn’t say anything. Brad saw Sarah, Sarah smiled, as she took a sip out of her latte in one hand, Brad looked back to Chester and whistled. Chester just slapped him in the gut.

Sarah wasn’t in uniform she was actually back in the hospital to see if Ava was alright, after getting a phone call from Andrea saying that Matt had returned Ava in the early hours of the morning.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?” asked Josh, as he looked past Chester and Brad to look at Sarah. “And give me a reason of why I should care?”

“Day off,” answered Sarah. “Ah, Ravyn gave me a week off to deal with personal affairs.” Josh nodded, and looked back at the elevator.

“Then why are you back in this hospital?” asked Brad. “That’s a sad life you’re living.”

“What’s so sad about having my only child in hospital because of stupid people?” asked Sarah, angrily. Brad nodded, trying to understand of where she was coming from. Chester nearly choked on his own breath, when he heard Sarah’s response, in particular the words ‘my only child’. Chester hadn’t been told that Sarah had a kid. Chester knew she had a number of annoying little sisters but never a kid. Chester managed to catch his breath.

The elevator doors opened as all of them hurried inside. Sarah and Chester avoided being near each other for the sake of the amount of stupid comments that Brad would say. So Sarah went to the left back corner and Chester went to the right side of the elevator. Brad pressed the day surgery button for both him and Chester, while Josh pushed the paediatrics button for both him and Sarah.

“Have you seen Shinoda today?” Josh asked Chester. Chester shook his head. The elevator doors closed and they felt the lifting sensation under them. “Damn. I should just sack that laze. But I can’t. I can suspend him, the medical board sacks people.”

“What has he done this time?” asked Brad.

“He screwed three of Harris’s prescriptions up and then I had her come bitching to me about how much this hospital would be better off without Shinoda,” answered Josh. “I wish Grant will come back sooner. I’m sick of handling his affairs.”

“Has anyone noticed that woman, or whatever it is, has complained more about people to you then when Grant was here?” asked Chester, as Josh took another sip of his coffee. “I see a trend.”

“You know Harris, she hates the guts out of Grant,” added Brad as Sarah was deeply engrossed in this conversation and she took another sip of her latte. “One description was of him that I heard that came out of her mouth, was that Grant reminded her of a non-comical version of Bob Kelso, and Bob Kelso tends to annoy Ravyn a lot. She said that he reminded her of a hobo that knows how to read and write. I swear that woman has more balls in her than Grant does at times.”

“No argument from me,” replied Josh, as the elevator doors opened at a level just below day theatre. Jo entered the scene, as she took a spot in between Brad and Sarah. “Good morning. What floor?”

“Paediatrics,” answered Jo, as she realised that it already had been pushed. She saw Sarah and was kinda surprised to see Sarah there. “Good morning, I didn’t know you had to come in. Isn’t it your day off? I heard something off Andrea about Ravyn finally budging and giving you a week off to deal with Ava’s accident.”

“I’m coming to see her,” replied Sarah, shortly, as the elevator doors closed and they were lifted up.

“I would love to see Greyfoxx’s reaction,” Chester told Brad. Brad smirked. “I swear that woman is just, weird. It’s like she thinks she knows me.”

“Meaghen’s not that bad,” said Josh, overhearing the conversation between Chester and Brad. “And she’s pretty smart when it comes to anything that has the word radio in it. She even spares Rob the duty of calling someone to fix the machines that the interns have stuffed up. She fixes the machines herself.”

“Yeah, by kicking them,” replied Jo, smoothly. “It doesn’t take that much of intelligence to understand the simple philosophy of violence is useful when it comes to fixing machines.”

The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened to day surgery, and Chester and Brad walked out. But before Chester walked out, he and Sarah caught each other’s attention and Sarah smiled. Chester replied with a small smile and disappeared before Brad had a chance to bag the living daylights out of him for a number of things, including the new ICU intern. But no one came in though. Jo had seen the exchange of smiles between Chester and Sarah, as she smiled and whispered some things in her ear.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” whispered Jo, as the doors closed and they were lifted up.

“What about?” whispered back Sarah.

“About Chester,” answered Jo, still maintaining a level of whisper.

“There’s nothing going on,” replied Sarah, on a whisper.

“Bullshit,” said Jo, as she went back to adjusting her volume of voice back to normal. “Don’t kid me, I know the signs.”

“What are you ladies bullshitting about?” asked Josh, overhearing Jo’s previous sentence.

“Don’t you have a swearing limit on you?” asked Jo. “I heard about how Ellen put a swearing limit on you. How much do you have in the swear jar so far Gradon?”

“Shut up,” muttered Josh, not wanting to continue this conversation now. Jo’s attention went back to being on Sarah.

“You know where I am, if you ever want to admit to it,” said Jo, as the elevator stopped and all three people remaining in it exited the small space. Jo and Sarah went one way, towards the paediatrics desk, while Josh went the opposite way to his desk where he wanted to bang his head on the desk several times, because everything was just going wrong today. Sarah and Jo walked side by side, and Sarah was afraid that Jo was going to exaggerate on the situation. “So how long have you been seeing each other? I mean, that was a bit quick for you two to be seeing each other.”

“We’ve known each other for quite a while,” replied Sarah. “And we are not going out. How much do I need to stress that point?”

“Don’t worry, you’re just in denial, we all go through it,” smiled Jo, as though it was something positive.

“Why are you up here?” asked Sarah.

“Got to round up my nurses, they’re spreading around the hospital like cows in a paddock,” answered Jo. “I don’t know what is in the air lately, but my nurses are acting weird, especially towards me.”

“Is Ravyn not keeping up her role as the omen of the anti-nurses?” asked Sarah, remembering something another intern had said to her once.

“Nah, that’s not even possible for her to slack off in that area of her profession,” answered Jo, shaking her head, as Sarah saw Andrea outside of Ava’s ward talking to someone she hadn’t recognised before. Jo saw them too. “I’ll leave you to it.” Jo and Sarah parted their ways, as moments later Jo ran into one of her interns squandering around in the corridor talking to Jonathon. “Excuse me, but this is not a forum where you can sit around and do nothing but gossip.” Jo stood next to the new intern, as the new intern stopped talking to Jonathon, who looked like he was comfortable chatting Jo’s intern up. “Meg, get back to work, and that’s an order.”

“But I’ve filed all the files in the archives and I was with Mel with her rounds,” answered Meg. “There’s nothing else you can do without being criticised by the head of ICU.”

“This is a hospital, it’s always busy around the clock, and that’s the most pathetic excuse I’ve heard so far,” retorted Jo. “And as far as I know, Doctor Harris isn’t around because if I knew she was around, trust me, I would know.” Jo looked to Jonathon. “And you should know better.”

“What?” asked Jonathon, innocently. “I was only talking to her like a normal person.”

“Don’t you have to deal with affairs related with Bennington and Delson?” asked Jo, as Jonathon sighed, waved goodbye to Meg and walked away. Jo turned to Meg, who was still standing around doing nothing. “Miss White, please, you could do so much better than Jonathon.”

“I’ve never suggested anything about it or the nature,” replied Meg.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fail you on your final med exams,” said Jo, blankly, as she was also getting sick of her nurses’ attitudes. “In fact, don’t give me one, I’ve already found one. Now, get back to work. Find something useful other than chatting up surgeons that fail in society.” Jo was quick to shut her mouth after that comment, after she realised that was a comment that Ravyn had came out with before. “Go to the locker rooms and bum around there. Just do it out of my sight.” Meg nodded and she disappeared out of sight, as Jo realised that no, she hadn’t seen Ravyn around. That was unusual for someone who liked to keep up to scratch with her shift starting times. Jo just shook it off and convinced herself that Ravyn must be around, but she was looking in the wrong places for her. Jo went down the corridor some more to where a bunch of other nurses were gathered around. She popped her in the circle and smiled. “Now, I am not slightly entertained by anything that has just been said. Now get back to work before Doctor Gradon gets the right to suspend you all.” Jo was being particularly Ravyn-like today, and she knew she had to stop it before she actually completed the three stages of becoming Ravyn; it was just the last stage got Jo a bit worried, the height stage. Jo walked off some more to do the same thing to another bunch of nurses who looked as though they were ready to start a cult of their own. Jo knew she was going to be worn down by the end of the day if she did this all day. The hospital was very large in distances and it didn’t particularly sit well with Jo.

It was lunchtime for most of the doctors and interns; it was starting time for Ravyn. Ravyn had slept in completely and had already missed her daily rounds for the patients that were conscious in the ICU ward. She rushed through the front doors and ran straight to the elevator, as she rushed to tie her hair back with the elastic around her wrist. She pushed the up button, but it was taking forever to get back down to the ground floor. She had slept in due to a couple of reasons, she didn’t get up until 11 am, she couldn’t have been bothered from getting up from bed, because Rob was right next to her fast asleep, and by the time she had gotten dressed, found her keys, separated her car keys from her house keys for Rob to lock up when he left, wrote Rob a note and gave him a peck on the cheek and left, it was already quarter to twelve.

Come on you stupid piece of junk, thought Ravyn, pressing the button repeatedly, once she had done her hair in a loose ponytail. Just when Ravyn thought her day couldn’t get any worse day, someone she didn’t particularly like right now stood next to her and looked at the numbers being highlighted on the wall.

“Screw you Shinoda,” snapped Ravyn. Mike’s attention was now on Ravyn’s outbursts. “You screwed up three of my prescriptions and you’re still working here. How is this even plausible?”

Mike showed her what he had his hands. It was three white paper bags with the Sacred Heart emblem printed on the front of them.

“Do you know what they are?” asked Mike. “It’s your damn prescriptions for the patients you wanted them for. I’ve been trying to find you all damn day and this is what I get? What is wrong with you? I at least start my shifts on time.”

“And how long ago did I want those prescriptions?” asked Ravyn, impatiently. “How many days ago did I ask for them? Was it along something along the lines of about, four days ago?”

“The drugs aren’t that common and they are expensive to get in,” argued Mike. “If you want to switch jobs Harris, I would be glad to any day.”

“You wouldn’t know what the difference between septicaemia and the bubonic plague was, let alone what day it would be,” retorted Ravyn. “So don’t ‘Harris’ me, Shinoda. And plus, if you can’t handle three prescription drugs, what are the chances that people will trust you to make important decisions? It’s called responsibility, learn how to spell it first then you should know what it is.”

“Then what do you want done with these?” asked Mike.

“Give them to White,” answered Ravyn, bluntly.

“Which White?” asked Mike. “There are two Whites in the same area. Meg is doing nursing and Jack, well, he’s just there for some God damn unknown reason.”

“It’s Jack the one that looks like a chick, and he’s the one that you should give them to, because he handles the doses, not me, I tell people what to take and how much, I don’t give it to them,” answered Ravyn, as the elevator doors opened and both her and Mike went inside. Ravyn pushed the cafeteria button and Mike went to the back corner. The doors closed without any further discussion, taking place, or so Ravyn had hoped. Ravyn sighed as the doors closed and they were both lifted upwards.

“How’s Rob?” asked Mike.

“Why do you care?” asked Ravyn.

“Just, trying to make conversation, that’s all,” answered Mike. “There’s nothing illegal about that.”

“Yeah, but the last time I checked murder is,” replied Ravyn.

“I didn’t mention anything like murder,” said Mike. “Why would I want to mention murder for?”

“Because that’s what you’re going to drive somebody to do soon,” answered Ravyn. “I most congratulate who ends up being the one that murders you. Because you’ve got to be careful of who you make conversation with, it might be the last attempt you make.”

Mike was confused. Ravyn’s response was a mixture of a threat, harassment and, the truth. Mike shook his head, trying to get it out of his head, because he knew that would just drive him up the wall all day, just thinking about it.

The elevator doors opened, as Mike released that he didn’t want to go to the cafeteria but he wanted to go to the ICU. Ravyn walked out, and Mike pressed the button for the ICU ward. Ravyn was hungry, she had totally skipped breakfast to make it to the hospital before someone noticed the absence of bitchy comments and smart remarks about people’s personal lives (she had considered herself to be multi-talented because of this ability).

Talk about good timing (another thing she had to kudo herself on), her entrance to the cafeteria was the precise time that Andrea entered the cafeteria through the opposite entrance.

“Good afternoon,” greeted Andrea, as they both met each other in front of the Subway outlet. “I was starting to miss your snide remarks about the interns.”

“I feel loved,” replied Ravyn, with a small smile. “I slept in, that’s my excuse. I’m sure you’ll love that one.”

“I am going to believe you because you are not an intern,” assured Andrea. “If you were an intern, you wouldn’t have a hope in hell at convincing me that you were telling the truth.” Andrea looked at the Subway sign on her side, and then looked back at Ravyn. “Attempting to eat something healthy today?”

“No,” answered Ravyn, also turning her gaze on the highlighted menu behind them. “This isn’t healthy. It’s generic false advertising, because it’s all processed food. In many other cases, I would say that I would prefer to starve myself until I ate some real food, but since I didn’t have time for breakfast, and as much as that sounds hypocritical of me, I am going to assign this fast food outlet as the outlet that is going to provide me with my nutrition until I decide that I am better off with stuff that I know where it has been.”

“Do you want to grab the table or should I?” asked Andrea.

“I have the less energy here, I should automatically have the right,” answered Ravyn, as she walked off, leaving Andrea to order. She passed many gossipping interns that looked at her as though she was some kind of retarded alien and some that were gossipping, but didn’t have the guts to look up at her. She found a table by the window, for two people only, so people could not invite themselves to sit with her. Too late. “Why must you be here?”

“Why not?” asked Josh, as he sat down in what was meant to be Andrea’s seat. “Why were you late?”

Ravyn smiled at the fact that she just thought up the best comeback.

“I couldn’t have been screwed going to my job, so I went and screwed my boyfriend instead,” answered Ravyn, sarcastically.

“Please tell me that was sarcasm,” pleaded Josh, who was really disturbed by that comeback. “You don’t know how badly you’ve scarred me now.”

“Yes, Gradon, it was sarcasm, plus, it was a parody,” replied Ravyn, as she was aiming to confuse her boss with literary techniques and literary jargon. “It’s almost like Brave New World by Huxley, which is set in After Ford years, 632 to be exact, where promiscuity is encouraged by the government and soma is the new anti-depressant drug, in which Lenina dies of it because she overdoses on it. You could almost put me in there if you want to give me rhetoric or some stupid shit like that.”

“That’s a clever tactic Harris, try to confuse me with Aldous Huxley’s works,” retorted Josh. “I know Brave New World as well. It was the shittiest book that I had to study for English back in my high school days.”

“Oh, in that case then, you would understand when I say that if this world ever become like Huxley’s, I would be in the Alpha class, I would be one of the smart classes of people to be alive,” insulted Ravyn, as she couldn’t remember what the lowest class of humanity was in Brave New World, she thought it was Gamma, but that’s when she remembered what class Gradon would be in, Epsilon, the lowest. She had just basically said that she was in the top caste class. Josh looked lost. “A new caste system and form of servitude has been developed where individuals are predestined for a particular role in life and therefore genetically engineered on an assembly line and each caste category is based on the Greek alphabet. Remember Gradon, you have your damn political jargon and I have both my medical and literary jargon. Don’t bullshit me Josh; I don’t like people, especially those younger to me, wasting my time. I don’t mind if my own mother does it, she’s been doing it all my life, and plus, she’s older than I am. Don’t even try to attempt a literary battle with me Gradon.”

“Okay then, looks like you know, your stuff, and I won’t even attempt in that case,” replied Josh, backing off a bit. “So, how’s life?”

“Why do I even want to start a discussion about something that you play no major role in?” asked Ravyn, blankly. “You’ve just been defeated in Brave New World. Don’t make a further ass of yourself.”

“Hello Josh,” greeted Andrea with two Subway bags in her possession. She laid one in front Ravyn, as Ravyn was still persisting to give her boss the evil eye. “How are you today?”

“Fine, thanks for asking, by the way,” answered Josh, as he got up from Andrea’s seat. “I’ll see you two ladies later.” Andrea took her seat.

“Bite me,” muttered Ravyn, under breath, as Josh walked off.

Josh was seated at the other end of the cafeteria next to Jonathon and Brad. No one knew where Chester was. Sarah walked past with Meg and Tarja trailing behind her. They were busy talking about what was happening around the hospital. Sarah had stayed because Ava was asleep and that, she wanted to catch up with friends. It was only her first day off and already she felt isolated, socially. They put their trays out on the bench for collection and wandered off outside to catch a breath of fresh air. When they arrived downstairs at the main admin desk, they saw Mike and Meaghen in a heated discussion about something. They only caught wisps of what was said, something about how Mike had betrayed Meaghen, but they weren’t ready to stay and stir it any further.

They walked through the automatic doors, to see Jo talking rapidly in, Greek (that’s what the girls assumed) on her mobile phone. Meg giggled at the fact that Jo actually had friends, but of course, Meg didn’t say anything. Meg wasn’t fond of Jo, and vice versa. Jo stopped talking for a second, to hear a reply back; she saw the trio of them, smiled, and waved. They waved back, even though Meg wouldn’t naturally do that, if she was alone. They came to a pair of seats, shaded under a tree and sat on them. Tarja decided not to though, but instead, she laid down on the ground in front of them, just where a soft patch of grass was.

“Do you know what’s happening with Matt?” asked Meg. “Andrea wasn’t too happy with him being in the hospital.”

“How did you find out about Matt?” asked Sarah, as she remembered she hadn’t really spoken to Tarja or Meg about Matt, but more Jo and Mel.

“It’s all over the hospital,” answered Meg. “There are so many different versions of it.”

“Like?” asked Sarah, wanting an example.

“Like, apparently, Matt was the one responsible by ramming the car into a tree because he was too drunk and lost control,” answered Tarja, from the ground. “That’s the most pathetic rumour someone could make up.”

“Only pathetic people make up pathetic rumours,” commented Meg. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Bennington who made it up.”

“It wasn’t him,” replied Sarah, in defence. “He wouldn’t do that, it’s not like him to make up rumours about me. If anything else, he doesn’t believe rumours, he has to know if the version he’s heard is true from the source. It was probably Delson.”

“So can we have the real story from you?” asked Tarja. Tarja found it hard to find the right words sometimes, as she was Finnish and was used to speaking the same language as everybody else in the country. That’s why she wasn’t a social bird in the hospital; she was more like Jo’s doormat. “If that is, alright with you.”

“I can tell you now, that version that you heard, it’s nowhere near the truth,” explained Sarah. “When Matt and I were young, we did some serious shit together. I used to run away from my place to be with him that would only last a couple of days until the cops came and found me at his place on the other side of the state. He used to be a hardcore drug user, and then eventually I melted into drug using. It was when I was about nineteen, or just after I turned nineteen, I’m not sure anymore, that I found out that I was pregnant. By then, we’d been together for two years and I thought he would’ve allowed me to go through with it. But because I was scared for Ava’s health, I had to give up the drugs, in which I was a total wreck on the side of the street for some months because of that. He said he would rather be with what’s left of the cocaine that we had, we even stole it as well, then to be with me because of the child, and that I wouldn’t give it up. He said it was the child or the drugs, and that I wouldn’t and I couldn’t choose both. I went into massive rehab sessions after my mum found me on the side of the street. And Matt is now still on it.”

“So he wasn’t drunk, he was high?” asked Meg. Sarah nodded. “I had no idea.”

“No one does really,” answered Sarah. “The scary thing is that I’ve had relapses, and every now and then, at the least expected moments, I have them, just randomly. I’ve even ended up in hospital because I’ve blacked out and banged my head or something, because when I got into the drugs, we did it together, and he was always a heavy drug user, and he dragged me into it. So, I’ve been told that he could’ve avoided being hit by Mel’s boyfriend that ran the red light and smashed into the back of Matt’s car. God knows how the hell he’s going to pay the insurance on that thing.”

“Well, the good thing about this situation is that you’ve learnt from your past, you’ve moved on and you’re trying to get your life back together,” said Meg, wisely. “I don’t know about Matt, but that’s his problem if he wants to die from an overdose. You’ve got your act together and that’s the thing that matters.”

“I was so scared for Ava’s health for those long nine months,” explained Sarah. “I still am in a way.”

“Any mother would be,” replied Tarja. “Especially for one who was in your position at the time and considering how young you were as well.”

Chester was nearby and saw Tarja, Sarah and Meg talking on the seats, well, Tarja was laying just near where Sarah and Meg were talking. He started to walk over to see if there was an open invitation open.

“Good afternoon,” greeted Chester, as the girls stopped talking about whatever they were talking about. Chester didn’t care nor did he heed any attention, as he came to a standstill, as he put his hands in his pockets. “How are you today?” He looked to Sarah.

“I’m okay I guess,” she answered, giving him a small smile. “What about you?”

“Just had to run around and do some things so I wouldn’t get in trouble for not doing my paramedic duties yesterday,” answered Chester. “Josh is actually quite smarter than what originally meets the eye. Curse him. But I tell you what; Delson’s going to cop it as well, if Josh finds out about yesterday. Because it was Delson’s idea, because apparently he didn’t want to be harassed or stalked by the new nursing interns, or something like that. I got lost in the words when Delson was explaining it to me.”

“Excuse me, I do not stalk Delson,” defended Meg. Tarja didn’t say anything, because she had been a qualified nurse for a while and the fact that she wasn’t an intern applied as well. Also, the fact that Tarja and Brad were good friends as well, applied to her decision not to say anything.

“Who said I was talking about you?” asked Chester, not sure of whom Meg was, as his attention shifted from Sarah to Meg. “And who are you to start with?”

“I’m Meg, a nursing intern, thank you very much,” pouted Meg. “And don’t bother introducing yourself, I know you as Bennington, Delson’s retarded friend.”

“Oh, okay,” replied Chester, as he had just realised that he shouldn’t have just insulted the new nursing interns. But his excuse was that he didn’t know and he was going to stick with it. His attention shifted to Sarah. “So what are you up to?”

“Just talking, nothing exciting,” answered Sarah, blankly. “Why? What have you been up to?”

“Delson’s planning to cut the supply of electricity off on a number of houses out the front of his place, and he wants me to keep watch, well, that’s what I’m doing tonight, I don’t know about you,” answered Chester, smiling. “Now that’s what you call fun.”

“Why though?” asked Tarja, as she lifted herself up from the ground, as she deliberately showed off her new black hair that had been stained with dark red streaks throughout it. “It sounds stupid.”

“No, it’s only because his neighbours have been stealing cable TV from him and he wants to get back at them,” explained Chester.

“I’m with Tarja, it sounds stupid,” sided Meg. “It sounds immature and childish.”

“I’m not saying anything,” said Sarah. “Don’t get me involved.”

“Thank you for the dinner last night,” thanked Chester, knowing there was something he had to thank Sarah for. “I didn’t know that your sisters could have such, how should I put it? Such talent, in the expert field of embarrassing themselves.”

“It’s Dominique and Monique we’re talking about, no surprise really, well to me it isn’t,” replied Sarah, as Sarah looked to her watch on her left wrist to see what time it was because she had to go and see her sister’s principle at three because Sarah had gotten a call earlier saying that both of them are in trouble and that Sarah made a pathetic excuse up not to be there right then when she got the call. She looked back up at Chester, who now was putting all of his weight on his left foot. Chester wanted to say some things to Sarah, but because Tarja and Meg were around. Sarah picked this want up just in his body language. “Is there something you want to ask or tell me?”

“Yeah, a couple of things, but I don’t know if this is the right time or the right place,” answered Chester, looking a bit uncomfortable being around two of Sarah’s friends. He looked to Meg. “Can we have some privacy please?”

“Sure thing,” answered Meg, as she got to her feet, and as Tarja got to her feet as well. “I should be getting back just in case Jo wants to declare biological war on me for not doing half the stuff that I’ve been asked to do.”

“I’ve got to go to a meeting with the medical board in like twenty minutes,” explained Tarja. “And it takes me about ten minutes to get to their stupid building. So I think I should just lounge around for ten or so minutes around the building.”

Tarja and Meg walked off, but Meg found the time to turn away still in the process of walking, to give Sarah a wink of her eye. Sarah ignored Meg, as both girls walked off.

“Yes?” asked Sarah, as Chester sat next to her. He leant forward and looked at the ground. Sarah was quick to notice his mood change. “You look like you’ve been distraught over something. Care to explain?”

“You have a child,” spluttered Chester. “You have a child, already.”

“So what’s the big deal there?” asked Sarah. “Because, I don’t see what’s the big issue is.”

“You’re in your early twenties, and already you have a child that is how old exactly?” asked Chester, still trying to get over that major day-changing factor.

“Ava, she’s almost three, she’s three in a couple of months,” answered Sarah. “I know I didn’t exactly tell you about her, but I kept her away from you for a good reason.”

“You didn’t exactly tell me?” spat Chester, looking to Sarah. “You didn’t tell me to start with. And what’s the so-called good reason that you kept the big secret away from me?”

“I didn’t want to give you the wrong impression about me,” answered Sarah, sincerely. “I’ve tried to have various relationships after Matt, and as soon as they find out about Ava, God, it’s like I’ve just committed a mortal sin.”

“Matt, as in the father of Ava?” asked Chester. Sarah nodded. “Ex-husband?” Sarah shook her head. “Ex-boyfriend then?” Sarah nodded. “God Sarah, you weren’t even married when you had her.”

“Don’t you lecture me over something you have barely any knowledge about,” retorted Sarah, angrily, as what Chester had just said was exactly the same thing that her mother had said when she found out that Sarah was pregnant. “I was young, I was naïve and I was stupid, and my youth was just taken away from just like that. Don’t you think for one minute that I did not learn my lesson, Chester, because I did and no matter how many people have given me a hard time about her, I still love Ava to death and no one can take that away from me. You don’t know what Matt has put me through, so don’t try to lecture me about naivety and stupidness.”

“I’m not making you choose,” objected Chester, as he just interpreted her speech about her only child the wrong way.

“But you were sounding like it, and the last thing I need to do is to be pulled between my child and the man I’m trying to make a relationship with,” replied Sarah. “You have no idea of what I’ve been put through with Matt, and the latest stunt, God, I don’t know anymore. I try to trust the man, but every time that I associate my trust with him, I just get stabbed in the back. In fact, I hope he spends the rest of his sad and miserable life in jail after the latest spectacular act he’s pulled.”

“Is Ava the one in paediatrics under Andrea’s care right now, the one with in the car accident with her father?” asked Chester, remembering something Brad had said to him about Andrea taking care of a car accident victim and that some man had returned her to the hospital in the early of the morning. Sarah nodded. “Oh God, I didn’t know that was your daughter. I didn’t think for one second that she could be related to you, because I thought you would’ve had more decency than to date a guy that took his daughter away from being treated.” Chester sat back up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Chester put his arms around Sarah.

“I’ll be okay,” replied Sarah. “I always end up being okay.” Chester gave Sarah a small peck on the cheek.

“So, doing anything tonight?” asked Chester.

“Yelling at my sisters if that counts as anything,” answered Sarah. “I got a call from their principle, saying that Dominique has been caught with weed in her locker and Monique refuses to obey teacher directions. So I’m going to have good fun thinking about what their suspension punishment will be and what my mother would do if she had bothered to be here.”

“How weird was it when Ravyn and Rob dropped around last night?” asked Chester. “I was so surprised that she had actually had that many thoughtful thoughts, to drop around and see if you were okay.”

“Actually, she was there to break some news to me about Matt, but it’s all settled down now,” answered Sarah. “Funny, she didn’t look very comfortable. Rob apparently pushed her to tell me. I don’t know what’s wrong with that woman, it’s like, she’s afraid of being nice to people, as though it’s some sort of crime to be nice to people. I don’t know anymore and I’ve stopped trying to figure her out, it’s too much of an effort, one that I am not willing to continue. But the only thing that came out of that meeting, that was positive, is that she had least cared enough to give me a week off.”

“No, she didn’t think of that, Andrea did,” explained Chester. “If it’s anything along the lines of treating people nicely, coming from Ravyn, it’s either Andrea nagging at her, or in this case, her own man nagging at her. I must have to question, which person in that relationship does the most nagging at the other person. Knowing that woman and her work, she would’ve only given you about ten minutes off your shift, without the useful interference of Andrea.”

“Oh,” replied Sarah, sarcastically. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“Well, I have to go now,” announced Chester, as he and Sarah gave each other a small peck on the lips. “I hope everything with Matt and Ava goes well. I’ll be thinking of you.”

“Thanks,” replied Sarah, as they repeated the same actions as before. Chester let go of her and walked into the hospital, with his hands in his front pockets, as Sarah remained where she was.

Chester walked through the automatic doors as he stopped to think about what he had forgotten to do other than avoid Josh for the entire day. He frowned as he thought about how long and tiring his shift is. He shook it off, as he continued to walk to where he knew Mike would be slagging off completely. Moments later, he stopped in the entrance of the pharmacy, as Mike noticed Chester giving him a queer smirk, with hands still in his front pockets, Mike got up from his stool from behind the counter.

“What are you smirking about Bennington?” asked Mike, as he started to walk over to Chester, who still was smirking in the entrance to his store.

“Gradon has the shits with you so bad, Shinoda,” answered Chester.

“At least I’m not shagging the new ICU intern,” retorted Mike, as he came to a standstill in front of Chester.

“If I wanted to play childish games, I would’ve gone to Ravyn for them, not you Shinoda,” replied Chester smoothly. “I at least would think she has more brain capacity than you right now.”

“I’m not jealous,” pouted Mike. “What’s your main purpose for being here Bennington? I am kinda failing to see your main point.”

“I don’t know, was walking past and I decided that I should visit my old friend Shinoda, who Gradon wants to hunt down and stab,” answered Chester. “You’re totally fucked man. I swear to God, you so are.”

“Friends?” coughed Mike. “Come on Bennington, I think the lie detector just went off its scale from total bullshit to fuck, you’re just a walking son of a bitch. Now leave Bennington, you’re only digging yourself a deeper grave.”

“Is that some sort of threat, Shinoda?” asked Chester. Mike turned around and started to direct his focus on more serious issues like where he had stashed all of his reports and order forms. “Come on, Shinoda, you’re no fun.”

“Fun?” spat Mike, as he turned around and faced Chester again. “Your idea of fun is totally fucked to the highest point of stupidity. I would be so concerned for Sarah, if she ever found out about your past and your remaining idea of the term, fun.”

“You need to get a proper life,” commented Chester. “You use to be so fun back in the day Shinoda, but now, you’re so preppy and pristine. You’re such a mama’s boy.”

“Do you know what you remind me of, Bennington?” asked Mike. “A teenage boy thriving on hormones, and my advice is, that you need to grow up.”

“And do you know what you remind me of, Shinoda?” asked Chester. “Nothing like the Mike I knew back in college. You used to be such a cool person.”

Chester turned around and left the conversation as Mike went back to looking for the missing order forms and all of his reports that had somehow disappeared. Chester walked past a couple of new interns that obviously belonged to Jo’s department because of how hard they were giggling and the kind of retarded pitch they were giggling at. Chester ignored them, despite the fact that they were pointing at him and obviously talking about him. He just wished he could run into someone that he liked before he got approached and asked out by a stupid nursing intern. Just by luck, he saw Rob standing in front of the notice board that Chester had failed to look at for a number of weeks now.

“Hey,” greeted Rob, as he took note of Chester’s presence next to him. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you and Delson supposed to be back on paramedic duty?”

“What?” asked Chester, a bit confused. Rob pointed at the timetable for paramedical duties and underlined the names ‘Brad Delson’ and ‘Chester Bennington’ with his finger.

“Go figure,” answered Rob, blankly.

“No, wait, that’s the old roster,” explained Chester. “I was on yesterday.”

“What new roster?” asked Rob. “I didn’t hear of such a thing.” He turned to Chester. “Stop pulling the wool over my eyes Bennington. There’s no such thing. Or else this wouldn’t still be up.” Rob looked at one piece of red coloured paper and ripped it right off the notice board. “Holy shit.”

“What’s holy shit now?” asked Chester, a bit confused, as Rob started to mutter the words that he was reading. Chester leaned over to read the piece of paper that Rob was watching. “Oh that’s holy shit now.”

“Gradon won’t be too happy,” muttered Rob. “I would love to see the expression on my woman’s face when she reads this.” Rob laughed. “She’s sure to sign it.”

“So would I,” added Chester. Rob stopped reading the piece of paper and shot Chester a look. “What? I mean, my woman’s face, not yours. God forbid that would be me committing the ultimate mortal sin of all time.”

“You don’t even have a woman,” accused Rob. “So you can’t even say that.”

“Ah, yes I do,” defended Chester.

“Imaginary girlfriends do not count Bennington,” retorted Rob.

“Each day you date that woman of yours, the more you’re going to become more like her,” muttered Chester to himself, but Rob heard it. “Just quit while you’re ahead.”

“I at least have a woman, that’s the only thing that’s separating you from me right now,” replied Rob, smoothly. “You have yet to show evidence to me that your woman isn’t a figment of your horniness.”

“Is that a challenge Bourdon?” asked Chester. “Do you really want to lose money to me over this?”

“I never said that I was going to waste my money on you,” answered Rob, crossing his arms, with the piece of coloured paper still in his hands. “I said I wanted to see evidence. And until I see any evidence, I will think of you being the lonely little boy I’ve grown to know as Bennington.”

“Fine,” replied Chester, as Rob started to walk away because he had better things to do. “You’ll find out sooner or later.” Rob stopped and turned around to face Chester.

“And until I don’t, I will not believe it,” stated Rob, as he turned around to give the piece of paper to Ravyn, as he made his way through a crowd of new interns belonging to paediatrics, and not the nursing for once in a while. “Excuse me, coming through.” He managed to convince the interns to make room for him as he caught the soon-to-be-closed elevator. He walked in to realise that he would be sharing a ride with Mel and Jonathon. “Hi.” The elevator doors closed and Rob pushed the ICU button, but it was already pushed alongside with the day surgery button, as Rob remembered that Ravyn got the ultimate pleasure of sharing the same floor space with the nurses and Mel was obviously heading up there.

“Hi,” greeted Jonathon and Mel simultaneously in a chorus. Only Mel sounded as though she actually meant her niceness. The elevator went up.

“How are you today Rob?” asked Mel.

“I’m fine thank you,” answered Rob, as Rob leant against the wooden rails of the elevator. “How about yourselves?”

“I’m okay, I guess,” answered Mel, slowly.

“I don’t want to talk about it, really,” answered Jonathon, looking angry over something.

“Why? What happened?” asked Rob.

“It’s none of your business, Rob, it really isn’t,” answered Jonathon, looking away from Rob.

“He’s just not a happy chap,” explained Mel. “Some shit went down between him and your woman a couple of minutes back, and just say, that Jonathon isn’t too happy about some of the things she said about him to his face.” Mel looked from Rob to Jonathon. “Do you want me to tell him?” Jonathon shook his head. “Oh, okay then.” Mel looked back to Rob. “But at the same time, I don’t think Ravyn’s too happy about a lot of things. She looked as though, as though she just wanted to break down, emotionally over something. Jo tried getting it out of Andrea, who tried getting it out of Ravyn, but she wouldn’t budge.”

“I just wish Grant was back, so he could control her attitude, he was always good at that, when he was around,” commented Jonathon. He looked back at Rob, who was going to open his mouth and retort Jonathon’s little comment but he didn’t. “I honestly don’t see what you see in that woman of yours Rob, I really don’t.”

“You get to see another side of her, that I don’t like either, but you don’t know her that well, as I do,” explained Rob. “You haven’t seen the side of Ravyn that I’ve gotten the privilege to see. And I think Andrea, her being her good friend; she’s seen Ravyn’s good side.”

“Good side?” spat Jonathon.

“Jonathon, don’t get yourself worked up,” advised Mel, softly but Jonathon just ignored her. “It’s really not worth it. You’re going to achieve nothing if you get yourself worked up over it.”

“Good side?” repeated Jonathon. “You have to be kidding yourself Bourdon.”

“Go take Mel’s advice Jonathon, it’s not worth getting yourself worked up over,” advised Rob. “I don’t see why you’re suddenly complaining. It’s not like this a new thing to you. Stop causing a scene Jonathon.”

“No, don’t tell me what to do,” retorted Jonathon. “I’m going to lodge a serious complaint against Ravyn with the medical board.”

“Good luck of trying to get that to be taken seriously,” replied Rob. “To start with, she’s been working longer at this hospital more years than before you were, and she’s had more experience with her profession that you have had. You know it yourself Jonathon; the medical board will look at her medical history with the hospital before they can even think about interviewing her for her behaviour.”

“Trust me, the medical board will be taking this seriously if Grant becomes involved,” warned Jonathon. “And he’s bound to do something about her attitude.”

“Despite the fact, Grant has been trying to control Ravyn’s attitude for a couple of years now, and Ravyn listens to no one about her attitude, not even for what Grant has to say about it,” argued Mel, suddenly wanting to become involved in the heated argument. “Ravyn will point out the major point that Grant is a walking hypocrite when it comes to him and his profession, as Grant is only working a minority of the time that he’s supposed to. And the only reason why Ravyn doesn’t take him seriously because Grant’s area of profession is in business and not in medicine, that’s why she takes Gradon a bit more seriously than Grant. So if you’re aiming at getting Ravyn sacked, the most likely scenario is that Grant will lose his job, as a consequence of Ravyn defending herself.”

“I thought you were on my side, Phoenix,” said Jonathon, shifting his attention to Mel.

“I’m not on anybody’s side,” replied Mel. “It’s a clear fact that if you’re intending to get Ravyn sacked, most likely, Grant will be the one that’ll lose his position. And once Grant is out of the office, his job will be up for grabs. Just guess who’ll be going for his place as the head of the hospital and all of its functions?”

“Oh I wonder,” Jonathon sarcastically said, as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened on the day surgery ward. “It’s only been the same people going for Grant’s job when the medical board has decided to suspend him over various stunts.” Jonathon rolled as eyes, as he walked out into the hallway that led to the day surgery department. The elevator doors closed behind them, leaving Rob and Mel in the elevator.

“Yeah, he’s not having a good day today,” said Mel, as the elevator went up.

‘Oh well, it’s not my problem, it’s his,” replied Rob. “I don’t see why he has to make a big deal of it. I mean, Ravyn’s always been like this, and he’s acting like its some new mood swing of hers.”

“Hey, have you seen Greyfoxx around lately?” asked Mel, changing the subject completely.

“No, I haven’t, which is kinda unusual,” answered Rob, as he thought back to when the last time that he saw in the hospital. “She usually likes to make her presence known in the hospital.”

“Do you reckon that Meaghen’s basically ignored Grant’s decision to not give her personal leave?” asked Mel. “Because it’s kinda looking like she just, has disappeared from the face of the planet.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know her that well to actually understand of how she works,” answered Rob. “I’ve never really associated myself with Meaghen, I don’t know why though.”

“What do you have in your hands?” asked Mel, noticing the piece of red coloured paper in Rob’s grip. “Is it the new notice thingy for the nurses?”

“Ah, if it were to be for the nurses, why would I have it?” asked Rob, wisely. “And I think Jo has more energy then that, to just dump this on the notice board downstairs.”

“Oh okay, because Jo said something in the meeting for the nurses, this morning, about looking out for a new notice for us all,” explained Mel. “In which, I think Jo is another person not to cross today. I think she’s having some troubles with her marriage to her Grant.”

“You just love gossipping, don’t you?” Rob couldn’t help but to ask. Mel nodded. “Is it meant to be a thing you have to learn as a nursing intern to be a proper nurse?”

“No, it’s just a woman thing,” answered Mel.

“No it’s not, Ravyn doesn’t gossip and go on about people behind their backs,” defended Rob. “Well, the second part was a lie, I admit to that.”

“Yeah, but that’s Ravyn for you,” replied Mel, smoothly. “I don’t know what’s wrong with your woman Rob.”

“There’s nothing wrong with her, she’s just very opinionated and independent,” explained Rob. “Which, I admit to, is very frustrating for me.” The elevator calm to a halt and the elevator doors opened on the ICU/nurses floor, as both people walked out and the elevator doors closed behind them. Mel walked beside Rob as they walked together. “I guess that’s just Ravyn for you. I mean, she’s such a sweet person when you get to know her, but she would rather show her other side that I don’t really appreciate that much.”

“Oh well then,” sighed Mel, reluctantly. “There are some people that are a mystery to others, and then we have Rav, well, she’s no exception.”

“She would kill you if she found out that you just called her that,” Rob pointed out, as they approached the nurse’s front desk. Rob stopped and looked around to see if Ravyn was in sight, but she wasn’t, as Mel went behind the front desk and into the backroom. Jo was coming out of the backroom, looking unimpressed and unpleased as ever. “Hey Jo.” Jo reacted to her name being called out by stopping and looking at Rob with an odd look.

“Yes?” asked Jo. “Are you looking for your woman?”

“Yes, I was actually,” answered Rob. “You’re starting to read my mind.”

“No, it’s just obvious now,” replied Jo. “If you happen to up here, it’s because of her. It’s a well known fact that you two are seeing each other, around the hospital now. I don’t think she can see you right now, because she’s busy typing up some reports for the Minister of Health, or so that’s what she’s saying.”

“So, she’s in her office then?” asked Rob, making sense of what Jo had just said to him. Jo nodded. “That’s all you needed to tell me.”

“And that she doesn’t want to be interrupted, unless you’re willing to have your head ripped off,” explained Jo, remembering how Jonathon was telling her about how he got his head ripped off his shoulders for asking Ravyn a simple question.

“I should be fine,” replied Rob, as he smiled and walked down the hallway, where at the other end of it he knew as Ravyn’s office, because he had cleaned it so many times. He didn’t know how the hell she could keep it so clean at times; compared to the number of unfiled papers he’s used to seeing on Josh’s desk. He walked past a couple of nursing interns, he had known them to be second year interns, because a majority of first year interns didn’t know his name, only by the ‘hot guy’ that was the janitor. That disturbed Rob mostly. The interns greeted him with a smile and wave. “Good afternoon.” He didn’t even know their names, but he greeted them anyway. They giggled and continued to walk the opposite way down the hallway. He felt a bit relieved that they weren’t heading in the same direction of him. Of course, a group of young interns being around near Ravyn’s office was a recipe for disaster and a recipe for someone to lose their internship, so they tended not to hang around in the hallways too long because of that major factor. It would be like putting Stalin and Lincoln in a room together. He slid into a room which had its door originally closed, opened it, and shut it as he saw Ravyn at her desk, looking at a number of manila folders. She was looking up at him as though Rob had pulled a rabbit out of a hat for his trick of the year performance.

“What are you doing here?” asked Ravyn. “Don’t you have other business to attend to? Like making up a reasonable excuse for being six hours late for your shift, would be a good starting point.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” answered Rob, taking a seat in front of her desk and putting the piece of paper in front of her. “I thought you might like that, babe.”

“Don’t ‘babe’ me,” retorted Ravyn, as her attention was diverted to the piece of paper lying on her desk. “What’s this?” Ravyn slid it around, looked at the piece of paper, and gave Rob a quirky look. “Who made this up?”

“Bites me,” answered Rob. It was a petition for Grant to leave. Ravyn felt a bit relieved that she wasn’t the only person that expressed her opinion about having Grant as the head of the hospital. “I didn’t know if you were willing to sign it, so I brought it here. Why? What’s wrong with me calling you babe, babe?”

“I don’t appreciate little fluffy pet nicknames, it is bad enough I let you get away with ‘Rave’,” answered Ravyn, as she opened the top draw to find a pen. She found one and signed her name, which she was the fourth person to sign it. “Now, I’ve just got to narrow my reasons down for my hate for Grant down to one. Damn, there are so many, but I must choose one that doesn’t involve swearing in it. Despite the fact, I might not be the only one when this is complete, but I’m going to avoid a harassment case being filed against me.”

“Yeah, that’s a good start, you should start by explaining to me about what you did to Jonathon,” said Rob.

“I don’t have to answer to you,” retorted Ravyn, as she was trying to think about what reason she should put down for her hate of Grant. “Especially on that incident since you weren’t there.”

“From what I hear, I’m kinda glad that I wasn’t,” commented Rob. “You’re not going to put down what we spoke about last night are you?”

“Hell no,” answered Ravyn, shooting Rob a look. “Why would I want that reason be put on display for everyone else to read? There are already enough circus freaks around in this working environment without Jo’s department of illegally blondes being around.”

“I was only making sure, there’s nothing wrong with just making sure,” answered Rob, innocently. “So what is going to be the reason? Have you decided yet?”

“I’m just going to stick to Grant being a walking hypocrite,” answered Ravyn, as she put her head back down to look at what she was writing about Grant.

“What are you doing, or more so, what were you doing before I came in?” asked Rob, as he got to his feet and off his chair. He started to walk behind Ravyn’s desk, to look at the computer.

“Stuff,” answered Ravyn, shortly.

“This isn’t just stuff,” noticed Rob, as he noticed of what it actually was. It wasn’t reports for the Minister for Health, but it was actually a resignation letter. “You’re resigning?!”

“Not yet, but it’s going to come in useful one day,” answered Ravyn, as she looked back up and looked back down again. Rob got reach of the keyboard in front of Ravyn and pressed alt, control, and delete, twice, after noticing that it hadn’t been saved and that because Rob couldn’t get to the mouse. Ravyn looked up to see her computer shutting down. “Hey! I was in the middle of that!” Ravyn got to her feet and looked Rob directly in the eyes. Rob had just made her annoyed and angry. “Why the hell did you just do that for?”

“I don’t want you resigning over what I learnt last night,” answered Rob, calmly. “It’s Grant’s problem, not yours.”

“But it becomes my problem when the Board of Medicine doesn’t believe me,” retorted Ravyn, angrily.

“You refuse to go to the Board of Medicine of what Grant did to you,” remembered Rob from last night’s conversation. “So I don’t see why what the big deal is here.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” asked Ravyn.

“Because you’re not living up to your end of the deal, Rave, so it’s only fair for me, to how did, you put it last night? Ah yes, to ‘control’ you,” answered Rob.

“What end of the deal?” asked Ravyn. “I never agreed to anything.”

“Compromising,” answered Rob, remembering the conversation that they had in the car. “I’ve compromised, I’ve put up with your attitude, and like hell I’ve put up with the complaints about you from other members of the staff.” He put his hands on her shoulders, but Ravyn tried throwing his hands of her shoulders, but Rob just put them back on and made his grip a bit firmer so Ravyn couldn’t throw him off as just as easily. “I love you very much, but you’re driving me up the wall with your attitude. If we ever want to make this work out, you have to live up to your end of the deal and that can be achieved through compromising. I am not asking you to give up anything important, but just loosen your attitude a bit more, that’s all I am asking. Because I don’t want to have you uptight all the time, because that makes me annoyed at you and I don’t want to be annoyed at you.”

“Okay, you can now get out of my office, if I annoy you that much with my attitude,” replied Ravyn, trying to keep her cool. “You’ve just proven to be a waste of my time, Rob.”

“Do you want to start making up your mind of what I am to you?” asked Rob, as Ravyn threw his arms off her shoulders. She turned around and sat back down, but Rob wasn’t going to give up so easily. “One minute I’m the love of your life and the other, I’m just a waste of your time. Well, I don’t know about you, but hell, I’m convinced that this relationship has already failed before it had chance to begin.”

“So you’re suggesting that we should break up because you don’t like my attitude, is that it Rob?” asked Ravyn, as she got back to standing on her feet and looking at Rob directly in the eyes. “That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve heard as a reason to use, than the reasons Jo uses to have constant communication with me. Well, hell, if that be the case, I could say many things about you, but I don’t.”

“I’m saying, it is your attitude that is ruining this relationship already, before it had a chance to begin,” clarified Rob. “Look, I’ll just get out of your sight before you decide to tell me that I should just go and die in a hole. And yes, you were right, I am just a waste of your time, and you’re just a waste of mine, really. I have better things to do than to have an argument with an insolent teenager.” Rob started to walk out of Ravyn’s office, secretly hoping that she would just fall down on her knees and start begging to be forgiven. Ravyn wasn’t the predictable.

“If you’re afraid of dating an insolent teenager, where did you go wrong with Vanessa?” asked Ravyn, quite bitchily, as she remembered some rumours about him and a woman named Vanessa a couple of months back. Ravyn despised Vanessa for all that she was, even putting aside that she had once went out with Ravyn’s crush at one stage of her life. Rob stopped in his tracks, turned around, and shot Ravyn a very nasty look. “Oh wait, she was an insolent whore even before you twos went out. Oh, so it’s okay to date an insolent whore but not at any point, an insolent teenager. Wow, I never knew the difference until now. At least now I know what we both have in common Rob, we love dating insolent people, for not what they really are, but because they are insolent.”

“There are many differences that separate you from Vanessa, any day,” retorted Rob. “And I know which was way easier to get along with.”

“Would one of the differences include, that, I’m an insolent teenager while, Vanessa, she’s a whore any way that you looked at her?” asked Ravyn, as she congratulated herself for such a good comeback. “Call me a self-righteous bitch any day, but least I don’t sleep with people just because I want a cheap fuck out of them. I don’t know if you knew what Vanessa did while she was not in your arms, Rob, but I can tell you now, that’s what she did and where is she now? Oh yeah, she’s an executive of a massive, multibillion company, because she slept her way to the top.”

“Don’t call me tonight,” ordered Rob, swiftly, as he couldn’t come up with a good comeback, and he continued his walk outside, anything was better than being in Ravyn’s office right now.

Ravyn felt a bit unsure of how she just reacted. She wasn’t sure if it was the wrong thing to do, as she had just pushed Rob away even further from her, or if it was the right thing, as she was never used to be told being told of what she can and cannot do, that, was her mother’s role not Rob’s. Ravyn admitted to herself her comments about Vanessa were out of line, and, Ravyn was just unsure about a lot of things. She used to picture Rob as a person exactly like her, but now, since these past days, she didn’t know anymore. She wanted to be with him forever, but there was just something in the back of her head that told her that Rob wasn’t the guy for her. That made her sad.

Wow, so much to read here! I must say you manage to cover all the aspects at once in this update - It had it's moments of drama, of humour (Chas and Brad are like rebellious teenagers sometimes I swear), of intellect (the book review at the cafeteria) and dare I say it like this; tenderness. Though I still have no idea what makes Ravyn as a character so caustic and nasty her breakdowns with Rob leave me with more questions than answers. The last part there in her office there at the end was very... pivotal for me. It was well written. Heartfelt. Rob deserves better dare I put it in such a way. But as he and Rave seemingly end their brief interlude the promise of her new intern Sarah and Chas seems to blossom with promise. Just a shame her past (and her ex with his strange ways) has to cast a dark cloud over them. But very sweet none the less. All of it was very good. A bit confusing in parts to read but by and large still entertaining. Mike the chemist of sorts in this cracks me up. I cant help but see this Mike as the young Mike of early days. Spiky blue/red hair, baggy ensemble, playful untouchable aspects. Gotta love that visual. And him and Chas was funny too. Love those punchy one liners. Yeah. Keep it coming sister

Awww thankies

 

Btw. In this story Allie is my mum. And note: Jade is my little sister's name in real life.

I didn't know what a real life drug-relapse would be like to endure, as I've tried my best to stay away from illegal drugs (and failing to do so in my previous teenage angst years).

More celebs! Meg + Jack White !! Yay!! But I thought "White" is a common last name, why not put a twist on it? Lol. Reminds of me "The Denial Twist" a song I know like the back of my hand!

And another thing with Tarja, it's not pronounced that way. It's pronounced Tar-ya because she's from Finland. And her full name is Tarja Turunan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarja_Turunen). And, the new singer's name is Anette Olzon. Explains the new whiney voice. Okay, enough of my random trivia.

 

 

 

It was half past four in the afternoon when Mel had decided to call it a day. She was sick of being trampled over and being treated like she was a doormat, and the fact that her shift had ended half an hour ago, was another major factor. The reason why Mel hadn’t walked into the locker room, as she was doing now, was that Jo made her stay back and file the components of some of the cabinets properly. It was only because Jo was worn down with handling what was going on at home between her and her hubby Grant and she was sick of Mel slagging off in her work.

Mel sighed as she entered the locker room, ready to go to a big night out on the town with some girlfriends of hers. She stopped in front of her locker and opened it. Only to realise that Rob was muttering some things to himself half way across the room, at his locker. Mel stopped to listen to the muttering, but she couldn’t distinguish who was saying and what was being said. So she closed the locker door and walked over to where she could hear some words being muttered. She was actually quite surprised when she saw that it was Rob sitting on the bench with his hands smothering his face and he was muttering some words. Mel decided that whatever it was that was troubling Rob, it was worth talking about. So she sat down next to Rob.

“Hey,” greeted Mel. “Are you alright?” Rob looked up. He looked angry, and tired.

“Yeah, I should eventually be,” answered Rob.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Mel, trying to be nice. She wasn’t usually this nice to people.

“That woman drives me up the wall with her damn attitude,” complained Rob. “I’ve asked her politely to stop with the attitude, and what do I get? I get more damn attitude. No wonder she hardly dates, how can any man find that attitude attractive? It’s not as though I haven’t stuck up for her, when she hasn’t been around, what have I done that was this bad to deserve this type of attitude?”

“Ah, okay then,” replied Mel, not knowing what to say, as she figured that Rob was complaining about his woman’s attitude. “Well, that seems a bit complicated what you’ve got on your hands there. Well, I don’t know about you, but I think many people don’t like Ravyn for many reasons. I personally do not appreciate being called Slowpoke, to start with, not to mention the way she can consistently keep up her moods for such a long period of time. Not to mention the way she criticises me and Shawg.”

“Well there’s no point just sitting here and bitching about it,” concluded Rob, as he managed to get to his feet. “I wish I could just…I don’t know anymore, Mel, I really don’t. I feel like just giving the relationship a miss, before it even had a chance to work out. I should really get back to work, though, but at the same time, I’m trying to restrain myself from barging right into her office, and telling her to just forget that anything happened.”

“You don’t want to do that to a woman, Ravyn in particular,” advised Mel. “If something happened, and you telling her to forget it, that wouldn’t go down well with a woman like Ravyn, trust me, I’ve seen it happen too many times with other couples. I don’t think Ravyn is one to cross today either.”

“Well what do you want me to do then?” asked Rob, exasperatedly.

“You’re starting to sound like she’s the first girlfriend that you’ve had,” commented Mel.

“She isn’t,” defended Rob. “Why don’t I just marry her to shut her up or something?”

“That’s not what marriage is about, it’s not about shutting people up just because they are difficult,” advised Mel. “If that were be the case, Shawg and I would’ve been married by now, because I do put up with Shawg’s shit a lot. He’s a stupid hooligan at times. You need to clear your head that’s all.”

But before Rob had a chance to reply to Mel’s advice, there was a crash on the other side of the room. Neither of the pair was aware that somebody else was in the room. It wasn’t just a little crash; it was a major crash, followed by whimpering and cussing.

“Sarah?” asked Rob, as he realised that Sarah was the one whimpering and cussing, and repeating the name of her ex-boyfriend. Mel got to her feet, and the pair of them rushed over to Sarah who was backed into a corner. She was holding her forehead, as she looked much spaced out. She looked very paranoid. They stopped before her, as they met eyes to see Sarah’s eyes full of tears. “Are you alright?”

“What happened, honey?” asked Mel, as she came closer but Sarah only told her to go away at the top of her voice. “What just happened?” Mel stopped.

“No, don’t come near me,” whimpered Sarah.

“Why?” asked Mel.

“Just don’t!” yelled Sarah.

“What are you on?” asked Rob. “Are you on drugs or something? Because it looks like you’re tripping out.”

“Just don’t try to help me!” yelled Sarah some more. “Go away. Go away far away from here. I’ll be fine. Just go, Matt, I don’t want you here. You’ve done enough damage. Mum said she’ll get me clean; I don’t need your help anymore, because you’ve never offered it to help me. All you’ve got is all you’ve wanted from me, why can’t you be happy with that?”

“What the hell?” asked Mel. “Do you want to tell me something?”

“Yeah, what the hell…Matt?” asked Rob. “Sarah, Matt’s been locked away for what he did to Ava.”

“Don’t try to make me better, you just, you don’t understand of how I felt when you left just like that, just go away from here!” yelled Sarah, getting to her feet, but still pressed against the wall. “I don’t want you here because you’ve never wanted me there for any real purpose.” Sarah looked at the blood on her hands, from crashing into something before she came in here. “Look what you’ve done!” Sarah showed Rob and Mel. “This me bleeding Matt, I am still human, and you can’t just ditch me like that. I thought you said you loved me!” Sarah looked carefully at Rob and Mel, as though they were her enemies. Sarah was seeing no one but Matt in front of her and that’s what Rob and Mel could now understand.

Sarah suddenly ran out of the locker room and into the corridor. She looked side to side, trying to find a way out of this hellhole.

Rob and Mel had already made a dash for it, to get the nearest doctor. Mel actually had start to run to grab the elevator, as she had two intentions, trying to prevent Sarah from walking into dangerous territory, like day surgery or Ravyn’s office, and at the same time, she was looking to find Jo, who was somewhere, but Mel assumed she would be where the nurses usually would be on their twenty minute break, in the coffee room upstairs.

Rob looked around. Sarah had disappeared out of sight, and it was practically any moment now, she would get herself hurt. He saw Ravyn talking to some people some metres away. They met eyes, but Ravyn quickly disconnected with a simple gloat. Rob sighed, knowing that it would be hard to convince Ravyn to do this for Sarah. But he figured if Andrea could convince Ravyn to give her intern some time off, she would have the decency to do her magic. Rob ran up to her, grabbed her by the arm, and started to drag her down the corridor.

“Excuse me, but I was in the middle of something important,” objected Ravyn. “This is the second time today you’ve interrupted me. Is this your new hobby to deliberately annoy me? Or is this time, a revenge tactic for what I said about Vanessa before?”

“There’s something seriously wrong with your intern,” Rob started to explain, but Ravyn had already concluded of what he was going to explain to her.

“I know there’s something seriously wrong with her, she’s twenty-something and already she has a two-year-old, and she dresses like, a teeny Goth, and she listens to the vilest music that my ears have ever heard. I mean, who the hell listens to a band called Nightwish, that’s apparently Finnish symphonic metal?” Ravyn interrupted. “I have a habit of knowing these things about people by the way.”

“No, not her personality, she’s tripping out or something,” Rob clarified, as he came to a stop and he let go of Ravyn’s arm. He didn’t know it, but he was holding her quite firmly. Ravyn was a bit glad that he didn’t rip her arm off, as she started to rub it; it was a bit sore after the drag. They met eyes, and Ravyn read the serious face on his face. “I’m not kidding you.”

“What do you mean by that she was tripping out?” asked Ravyn. “Ah, knowing my laws, you can’t come into this hospital if you’re a member of the staff, high out of your brain. And, I only spent a minority of my usual time around her today, because I made her work an hour today, and, she didn’t seem high on drugs.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing though, Rave,” replied Rob, as Ravyn had no objection this time about the pet name he just called her. It was her way of saying sorry to him about the incident before, in which she was trying to avoid a repeat of. “She didn’t seem like she was on drugs. And then, she thinks I’m Matt and she went off at me and Mel, about getting clean and how much she loved Matt, or this case, me.”

“If she’s not tripping out completely, she’s having a relapse,” explained Ravyn, as the pieces started to fall into place for her like a jigsaw puzzle. “I never caught word of her ever being on drugs.”

“I have,” interrupted Jo, as Rob’s and Ravyn’s attention was diverted to Jo standing beside them.

“Since when?” asked Ravyn.

“Just then,” answered Jo. “Mel just came and told me, and right after that, the pieces actually made sense when Meg told me that Sarah was in the past, a hardcore cocaine user. That would explain the paranoia.”

“Do you know where she is now?” asked Ravyn, as she turned to Rob for answers.

“She ran off before I could catch her,” answered Rob. “I’m going to have a look for her now, after that I’ve found you.” Rob gave Ravyn a small peck on the forehead to farewell her, and to tell him that he was also sorry. He ran off in the opposite direction. Ravyn turned to Jo.

“What do you think we should get?” asked Jo.

“I don’t know about me, but I reckon you should get the adrenaline ready,” answered Ravyn. “I think I know where she might be.”

“We already know where she is,” interrupted Chester, as he ran up to them. He stopped, as he tried catching his breath for he had just ran the down the emergency stairs because the elevator was too slow. “Delson’s pinned her down. She’s struggling like a fish caught on a line. She really wants to get away.”

“Where Bennington?” asked Ravyn, as she signalled for Jo to get the adrenaline. Jo nodded and ran to the supply room. Chester was still trying to catch his breath. “Where Bennington?” Ravyn was getting impatient of repeating herself for the second time.

“Upstairs, paediatrics,” Chester managed to say. “We think she was trying to free Ava.”

“Well even Einstein, still stiff dead in his grave could’ve figured that out,” retorted Ravyn, as she ran over to the elevators, and Chester joined her. Ravyn repeatedly pushed the up button, but it was taking forever to come up from the basement. “Fuck this.” Ravyn turned around to open the emergency stairs, followed by Chester without a word. In a matter of time, she arrived on the paediatrics level with Chester trailing behind her. She stopped to wait for Chester, as she held the door open for him. Chester came through. “Where is she?”

“Follow me,” answered Chester, as he guided Ravyn with long strides, and Ravyn could keep up with him. “I hope Jo comes soon with the adrenaline because I can tell you now, she was one hell of a handful when I left just moments ago. I doubt anything has changed.”

“She’s got to be at least a bit worn down by now,” guessed Ravyn, as they approached a small circle of people. “But this is Woodlands we are talking about, anything is possible, surprisingly.” Ravyn managed to push her way through the crowd to see Brad pinning a swearing and frustrated Sarah down on the ground. “Where the hell is Jo?” Ravyn sat next to Sarah, in which Brad had pinned her down on her back and was holding her arms. “Sarah.”

Sarah acknowledged Ravyn’s presence, but in the worst way possible to Ravyn.

“Ma, please tell me that you’re going to get me clean, please, tell Matt that, he doesn’t believe me,” Sarah ranted. Oh God, she thinks that I’m her mother, Ravyn thought, as she sighed knowing that she’s going have to shove all the urges to slap the crap out of the girl down into a narrow bottle. Sarah struggled to get up, but Ravyn and Brad put her back down. “Why Mum? Please. I have to get away from here, Matt said he didn’t want me if I go through the child, but at the same time I want the child. Mum, are you going to let me keep her? Please, please let me back into the house. I promise I’ll get my act together.”

“Sarah, listen to me, I am not your mother,” Ravyn tried to make it clear, but she knew it was no use really. “I am your boss, Ravyn, do you remember me?”

“Mum, please, this isn’t time for joking,” answered Sarah, as Ravyn reassured herself that her attempts would be like mixing green and black paint together to make yellow. “Please Ma; don’t walk out on me, not again. I really need you, and I promise I’ll be good.” The one time that Brad had an itch, was the time that Sarah saw an advantage to get up, but Ravyn thought she would be running to her, but instead Sarah decided to make another run for it. Brad had lost his grip on her, as many people in the crowd tried to restrain her, but Sarah was overpowering them. Rob had just arrived with various syringes in his hands. He saw Sarah, carefully placed them in his mouth, and grabbed hold of her. Sarah yelled and screamed some more.

“Sarah, you have to listen to me, I am not here to hurt you,” assured Rob, as Ravyn came over and took the syringes out of his mouth. But they were empty syringes and Jo was in nowhere to be seen. “If you want to see Ava, she’s asleep right now. Do you really want to disturb her?”

“Why can’t you just let me go, Matt?” asked Sarah, as she gave up trying to fight Rob’s grip, and was crying more black veins, down her face.

“Because I am not Matt to start with,” answered Rob. “Jo’s coming with some stuff that’s going to calm you down, and then we are going to see what you need.”

“I don’t need any sort of drug to calm me down, that is what you said last time,” whimpered Sarah.

“What did I say last time?” asked Rob.

“You said that I would need so many hits to calm me down, and look what I’ve become, I’ve already become an awful mother, and the baby isn’t even born,” answered Sarah. “I’m an embarrassment to my family and it’s all because of you!”

Jo came rushing through with several small bottles of clear liquid in her hands. She gave them to Ravyn, who was trying hard not to drop the bottles as she was at the stage of shaking.

“Here’s seventy mils of adrenaline, and just in case, fifty mils of sedating drugs,” explained Jo.

“Good, that’s going to make up for your slowness,” Ravyn muttered to herself, as she put the drugs into individual syringes. She looked to Sarah, who had now had restarted her attempts of freeing herself. She doesn’t have a hope in hell that girl, Ravyn thought to herself as she momentarily reflected to a couple of minutes ago where Rob had dragged Ravyn by the arm away from some people that were important to making Ravyn’s day better. She finished. “Okay, Sarah, this might feel like a little prick, but this is what going to get you back to normal. Well, that and a couple of sessions of rehab.”

“Question,” said Rob. “How would adrenaline help Sarah? Wouldn’t sedating her be better?”

“Not when you’re going through a major relapse, proper sedating drugs would cause her to trip out even more because of the way the brain reacts to types of drugs when tripping out,” answered Ravyn, smoothly. “Adrenaline will help slow down the process of her paranoia, and will act as a sedating drug when the paranoia eases, it would be almost considered a placebo in this circumstance. Could you hold her still? I don’t want to end up killing the girl. Or it would be me doing the paperwork.” Rob made his grip firmer on Sarah, so much that Sarah couldn’t literally move. Ravyn jabbed the needle in the side of Sarah’s neck, as Ravyn closed her eyes and pushed the drugs into her. Sarah soon fell limp.

It was an hour later, and Ravyn was in her office filling out some paperwork that she really didn’t want to fill out. But she knew if she just left it for the next day, it would only mean that there would be more paperwork that would need filling it and eventually filing it. But it was Sarah’s paperwork, and she knew it had to be done today. She hated days like these where she knew she had to push herself to do things that she particularly didn’t like.

The phone rang. She looked at which line it was coming through, and it was coming through the admin line from downstairs. She picked up.

“Doctor Harris?”

“Yeah,”

“You’ve got a visitor coming up,”

“Oh goody, the thrill of my day, who is it this time, the Minister for Health?”

“Ah, she says she’s Sarah’s mother, Allie,”

“Hey, she actually cares. What a surprise.”

“Do I send her up?”

“Why not? It’ll only get me out of doing my paperwork.”

Ravyn hung up, as she thought this encounter with the ‘neglectful’ mother would be, somewhat interesting. Ravyn could also remind Allie that her other daughter, Alexis, was in hospital because of the previous bomb attacks. She finished up writing a half-finished report, and stashed it in the top drawer. She loved stashing things in the top drawer; it was her favourite spot to hide things. Ravyn smiled at a memory she had which one time she had taken Josh’s phone off him, because he would rather play Tetris then play God on the operating table, and hid it in the top drawer. She had him begging on his knees for almost the entire day.

“Excuse me,” said a voice coming from Ravyn’s office, as she closed the top drawer and looked up to see a woman standing at her door. “Are you Sarah’s supervising doctor, Doctor Harris? I’m her mother, Allie.”

“Yes I am,” answered Ravyn, as she got to her feet. “Take a seat. We’ve got a few issues to address.”

“What has that girl done this time?” asked Allie, as she walked over to a seat in front of Ravyn’s desk, and she sat down. Ravyn sat down, knowing this would be a rollercoaster ride and half.

“She’s not in trouble, Mrs. Wo…”

“It’s King,” interrupted Allie. “I recently got remarried. But you can call me Allie.”

“Allie, then, she’s not in trouble,” Ravyn corrected herself, still wanting to remain ‘Doctor Harris’ to Allie, instead of ‘Ravyn’. “Do you know why the hospital requested your presence so urgently?”

“Not sure, I just got back from a holiday in Australia,” answered Allie, looking like she was clueless.

“Allie, can you fill me in with Sarah’s background, specifically with her usage of illicit drugs,” requested Ravyn.

“She was always in trouble that girl, all my other girls are perfectly fine, but Sarah was the trouble maker in her teenage angst years,” explained Allie. “Her and that boy Matthew always used to get into trouble. Sarah used to runaway to be with him, once we found her on the other side of the country, in California, as we lived in Connecticut at the time with Halle’s father Mark. Then, I don’t know what gave Sarah the idea that being a drugged up woman was a good thing, she soon found herself pregnant in a couple of years of drug using, with Ava, her daughter.”

“I am aware of some of the details surrounding Ava and the times before her birth,” explicated Ravyn. “Sarah recently, well, today, a couple of hours ago, had a major relapse. I am not only concerned for her physical and mental state of mind, but also for Ava’s. As I am sure you know the risks of having cocaine remaining in your system when you’re trying to raise a kid like Ava.” Allie nodded. “Andrea, the head of paediatrics has requested to run some tests on Ava, see if she has suffered any complications or abnormalities that have not yet been detected.” Allie interrupted her before Ravyn had a chance to detail.

“Ava was a healthy baby when she was born,” objected Allie. “She measured ten on the Apgar scale.”

“Yes, that’s all nice Mrs. King, but that’s not the point,” explained Ravyn. “Because of the situation that Sarah was in, when Ava was conceived, her brain may not have developed properly, and I have been asked from Andrea, the head of paediatrics to see if you will sign some forms saying that this hospital has the right to do the tests. By the signing the forms you’re basically letting the paediatrics department do whatever they need to do, but still holding a strong responsibility if the worse were to occur, ah, to the hospital in general.”

“But why me?” asked Andrea. “Can’t Alexis do it? She is twenty-six to start with.”

“Mrs. King, are you even aware of Alexis’ condition?” asked Ravyn. Allie shook her head. “Alexis is in this hospital, under close supervision, because of her injuries. Now, before you start asking me questions, she is going to be okay. There hasn’t been much internal damage done to her, but she just needs to be left alone and she needs her space.” Ravyn didn’t want to particularly be the one that had to tell her mother that Alexis was in actual fact, a bombing victim that was slowly recovering. “So are you willing to sign the papers? Because as far as I am aware, the rest of your daughters are five, fourteen, and the twins are sixteen. No one is legal to sign for Ava there and Matt, being behind bars for his latest little stunt, I don’t think that’ll be happening too soon.”

“But what sort of tests though?” asked Allie. “Nothing too harmful, right?”

“No, nothing too harmful,” answered Ravyn. “As far as I have been informed, just PET scans, CAT scans, to see if her brain is operating as normal. They might test for hereditary diseases, but I don’t know. This is the ICU department, not paediatrics.”

“So this is not the paediatric department, what role do you play with business concerning my granddaughter?” asked Allie.

“Because Sarah’s in ICU, being kept under observation until I am convinced that she is over her ordeal and that the papers for the rehab clinic is been cleared,” answered Ravyn. “Your daughter needs to go back into rehab to address her problems concerning Matthew. It is because of him, that she got into drugs, like you said before.”

“But other than those issues, they are both okay, are they?” asked Allie.

“Ava’s come out of intensive care, she’s awake, she’s asking for Sarah, yeah she’s alright,” answered Ravyn. “And I assume Sarah would be okay to come back to work on Monday morning.”

“Can I see either of them?” asked Allie.

“I’m restricting visits to Sarah, but yes, you can go see Ava, Mrs. King,” answered Ravyn. “Just, when you go see her in the paediatrics department upstairs, ask for Andrea and she’ll go through the process with you.”

“Thank you for your time and your participation to try and help the two girls,” thanked Allie, as she got to her feet, and walked out of Ravyn’s office.

Ravyn groaned as she crossed her arms on the desk and hide her face in them, as she thought of how long her day is going to get.

 

awesome stuff!!! cant wait for another update

okay here's another update.

wrote it all last night and tonight.

 

It was 9 pm on Meaghen’s clock.

Meaghen sat in front of a non-active television set, as another tear rolled down her face. She was distraught. She was sad. She was everything under the sun that could describe the loneliness inside of her. She hadn’t been to work. She hadn’t even stepped outside.

Her mother was now dead.

She had stopped breathing and the doctors found no point trying to resuscitate her.

In front of her, on the coffee table, laid several bottles of anti-depressants, they were all empty. Meaghen had lost count of how many she had actually taken, but she didn’t care right now.

She sniffled, as she tried to tell herself to come down. But it was no use. That side of herself, was overpowered by the other, the one that was drowned in sorrow. She cried some more, knowing that she had just lost the only parent she grew up with.

She was at the state of starting to imagine stuff, that she predicted that a strange man would just burst through the front door and proclaim himself to be her estranged father. She had tried convincing herself several times that this was one big mix up and her mother was actually still alive.

She didn’t want to go anywhere. She didn’t want to speak to anyone about it. She didn’t want to go into the next room of her house to lie down her bed and try to rationally think the whole situation through. She didn’t even want to pay the rent on her place.

There was a knock at the door. She didn’t even want to have the energy to get up and answer it.

“Go away, no one’s home,” said Meaghen, as she looked to the door with blurred vision.

“Oh funny trick Greyfoxx,” replied Ravyn’s voice. “Now open the door. Got a couple of issues to face with you about something I like to call, work. You do realise that we still work together or is it just my imagination being set loose again?”

“No, like I said before, no one’s home,” retorted Meaghen, angrily.

“You’re doing a very bad job of convincing me that no one’s home,” replied Ravyn, smoothly. “Maybe I should just pull the rabbit out my ass now and I’ll let you decide which approach of you convincing me that no one’s home is better.”

“What do you want?” asked Meaghen, still not getting up, but still remaining at her couch.

“Ah, so some one is home now, wow, that was quick,” Ravyn replied, trying to make a smart-ass out of herself and was achieving that level quickly. “Did you arrive Father Christmas style and through the chimney? Or did you just suddenly pop out of nowhere?”

“And you’re doing a very bad job of convincing me that I should let you in,” retorted Meaghen, as she sighed and got to her feet, knowing that this bickering would only be the start of things to come if she wasn’t let in. Meaghen still stood by the fact that she didn’t really have any right to be at her doorstep like this, and at this time of night. It wasn’t as though Meaghen wasn’t doing anything at all, that as of some high importance. She walked over to the front door, unlocked several locks, and opened the door to a Ravyn who looked very cold. “Yes?”

“Can I come in? December’s going to freeze my ass over before March would have the right to interfere,” answered Ravyn, as Meaghen stood aside and signalled for Ravyn to come in. Ravyn felt the temperature difference all right, as she ran up to Meaghen’s fire and warmed herself up. “December’s such an audacious bastard. I hate him.” Ravyn saw Meaghen’s red eyes, as Meaghen diverted her attention to stopping all the cold air from coming in to her warm house. Meaghen closed the front door. “Is everything alright? Did you find out about Bennington and Woodlands already?”

“No, but thanks for the information,” answered Meaghen, as she turned around and tried to hide the tears. “I’m just going through a rough day.”

“Yeah I hate those, they tend to hang around me on a weekly basis,” replied Ravyn.

“Do you want anything else to warm you up?” asked Meaghen. “I have coffee, I have tea, I have Red Bull if that rocks your boat, and all sorts of different things.”

“I can’t have coffee right now, it will keep me up all night, and I can’t have tea, or, it’s more of a case I’ve never been a tea drinker, so that rules out Red Bull as well,” answered Ravyn. “You home alone?”

“Yeah, tonight I am, I usually have friends over to keep me company,” answered Meaghen.

“Weren’t you seeing someone recently?” asked Ravyn. “Ah, I don’t remember his name, someone named, I think his name was, Brandon?”

“We split,” answered Meaghen. “Wait, why are you trying to be…nice to me?”

“You’re obviously beside yourself about something, and who am I to come and piss on your parade of sorrow?” asked Ravyn. Well, the real reason was because Rob was fed up with her behaviour and Ravyn knew she had the ability to change, she just didn’t know which foot she was so suppose to start on.

“Where was that attitude a couple of days ago?” asked Meaghen, as she sat on a nearby chair and faced Ravyn, who, Meaghen thought, that Ravyn was trying to become her friend her something. Something didn’t add up, if it didn’t benefit Ravyn.

“Let me remember, about somewhere stuck on an isolated island in the middle of the Atlantic,” answered Ravyn. “A couple of few hundred miles off Rhode Island, I assume.”

“What’s your real purpose of being here Ravyn?” asked Meaghen. “I know you weren’t here just to have a conversation about your ego and where you last saw it.”

“Have you seen any of my damn cats?” asked Ravyn. “I can’t find them, and I don’t want to bring home a frozen kitty, much to Rob’s disgust. Especially after how much one of them set me back, wallet wise.”

“The last time I saw them, was the other day, and they were hunting birds in the park a couple of blocks over,” answered Meaghen. “So, really, I’m no help there.”

“At least you talk English, unlike some of my neighbours don’t, or they refuse to communicate to me in the same language as me,” explained Ravyn. “Um…can I ask you on a neutral level, why you haven’t been at work? I’m not getting up you or anything, but people have been asking questions, and they mainly ask them to me, as we live in the same street. I’m just sick of putting the answer on repeat. I hate listening to myself repeat things.”`

“And what, you’ve stopped pulling the rabbit out of your ass?” asked Meaghen, trying to divert the subject matter.

“No, it’s still up there,” answered Ravyn. “I think I should reserve it for Grant’s arrival and then I’ll give him a dose of his own medicine. Despite the fact that he knows jack all about medicine, but hey, he decided to graduate from Oxford with a business degree instead of doing the smart thing to do, and graduate with a double degree in both business and medicine. But yet again, that’s Grant for you.”

“So what does that leave Gradon with?” asked Meaghen.

“My divided attention, as always,” answered Ravyn, smoothly.

“Oh, that’s always appreciated, at least it’s a portion of your attention,” commented Meaghen, with a faint smile. “It’s better than being ignored.”

“You’re avoiding my original question,” stated Ravyn.

“Personal matters,” replied Meaghen, quietly, as she was half expecting Ravyn to go off at her, because Meaghen had defied direct orders not to take personal leave. “Before you go off at me, don’t. Because you don’t know what I’m going through, and screw Grant and his decisions.”

“I was going to say the same thing, screw Grant, he ain’t no medical genius,” assured Ravyn.

“What is the one reason why you hate Grant so much?” asked Meaghen. “As far as I am aware of, he’s done nothing wrong.”

“You’re much younger than I am, and you don’t know what Grant really wants, I do though, and I’m not prepared to give it to him,” answered Ravyn.

“But why though?” asked Meaghen.

“Just say, I love to hate him, but I would hate to love him,” answered Ravyn, almost getting confused in her sentence. “I wouldn’t narrow my hate down for Grant, just to that reason. No, there’s much more where that came from.”

“But what does Grant want from you exactly?” asked Meaghen, still a bit confused. “I mean, he couldn’t expect too much out of you. You’re basically the top doc of the hospital. Why can’t he be just happy with your participation in the medical industry?”

“I’m not sure what Grant wants from me exactly, but as far as I am concerned, I don’t want any communication with him,” answered Ravyn. “It’s kinda hard, seeing he’s the boss of us all. Well, I don’t think of him as my boss, I think more of the government than that little sad boy.” Ravyn looked to the silver and black clock on Meaghen’s wall, as she realised that she better be start heading back to her place a couple of houses down. “Well, thanks for the warmth, but I better start heading back, before Mr. Treebeard rocks up to my place, uninvited, again.” Ravyn shortly smiled and left Meaghen’s residence. She walked down Meaghen’s front steps, as Meaghen waved and closed her front door.

Ravyn was freezing as she crossed her arms, trying to maintain her body heat, as she fought the bitter wind pounding Chicago and it wasn’t even the start of December and walked towards her house. Damn global warming, thought Ravyn to herself. It made Chicago feel like a tundra zone.

It was a matter of moments until Ravyn had reached the front porch of her place, when a silver car approached her house, and parked in the front of her place. She could see what colour it was because of the lights that were on the front porch. She stopped looking for her keys inside her pockets, to stop and see if she knew that car. It didn’t ring a bell. Rob’s car was cruddier looking, and an older model than this one. It was the person that she least expected to see at this time of night, as the person got out of his car. And then another person got out of the passenger side. Delson and Bennington.

“Hey man, I told you that she lived here,” said Chester, as both fools closed their doors, and as he looked to Delson.

“Dude, I never doubted you,” replied Brad. Brad turned around so that they saw Ravyn standing at her door, with her arms crossed, looking really unimpressed by their presence.

“What are you doing here?” asked Ravyn. “And why must you be alive still?”

“Now that’s a bit harsh,” answered Chester. “Just came around to say hi, that’s all.” Chester and Brad started to walk up her front lawn.

“Are you drunk?” asked Ravyn. “Do I look like I want to see you?”

“Dude, do you think she knows the real reason?” whispered Brad to Chester.

“Just shut up and she won’t,” whispered Chester.

“What have I done this time to deserve such a punishment?” asked Ravyn. “Don’t you have things to steal or properties to vandalise?” Chester and Brad walked up to where Ravyn stood on her front porch and stopped in front of her. “Yes?”

“We need a favour done,” requested Chester.

“Do I look like someone who does people favours?” asked Ravyn, shortly.

“It’s not that bigger of a deal really,” explained Brad, starting to withhold a smirk.

“Do I need to start repeating myself?” asked Ravyn. “I’m not going to do you any sort of favours.” Ravyn looked from Brad to Chester and back again. She knew something was up and she was afraid that she was going to agree with their plan; just to shut them up and that she would never have to have the urge to pull out a dagger out of thin air and stab one of them; just because she felt like it. “It’s bad enough I found out you’re dating my intern.”

“There’s nothing bad about that,” defended Chester. “We just need you to cover for us, for the traffic authorities. That’s all we are asking, it’s not like you’ll be lying to the cops.”

“Why? What did you do?” asked Ravyn, shooting Chester a sharp look.

“I did some things, not damaging any property, well I wasn’t until he stepped in,” answered Chester, referring to Brad.

“Okay, here’s the story,” Brad started to explain, as Ravyn’s divided attention span was diverted to Brad. “Einstein here, Bennington, left the keys to the car inside, and also taking into mind, that I wasn’t told this until we came back to the car. So Bennington decided to set off the car alarm by constantly trying to force the car door open, also mentioning his failed attempts at kicking at it. I was the wise one, and grabbed a baseball bat and smashed the driver’s window open. The authorities thought we were trying to break into the car, but we weren’t and we just ran for it.”

“And let me guess, you managed to obtain a baseball bat out of thin air, did you?” asked Ravyn, really unimpressed by their story, as she held her keys in her hands. “And pigs might fly, Delson.”

“I went into a nearby house and I asked if they had any objects that could break glass easily and a kid just gave it to me, I did return it by the way,” explained Brad.

“I am cold, I am unimpressed, and you’re both a waste of my time, I could be in my warm house, if you, teenagers, hadn’t come up and fed bullshit to my ears,” retorted Ravyn. Her attention was now on Chester. “Why couldn’t you have gone to Jo’s or Mel’s place and tried to convince them instead this pathetic and failed effort with me?”

“We already thought of that, but they weren’t home,” answered Chester. “And plus, we couldn’t just walk into Sarah’s place and ask her, couldn’t we?”

“And so, I’m the last resort for a cover up plan?” asked Ravyn, as she turned away to open her door in which it opened a second or two later with a simple, click. “You’re more childish than Ava, and she’s only three! Go back to primary school the both of youse; I don’t see a place for you in the hospital. Wow, I have to say you’ve made me look like cheap.”

“Dude, I told you so,” said Brad to Chester, quietly, but Ravyn still managed to hear it. “You’ve failed big time.”

“Come on, Ravyn, why can’t you do this little favour for us?” asked Chester, as Ravyn’s attention was on Chester, fully, as her front door swung open. Ravyn wanted to see how far Chester would go to, to convince her that what she was doing was the right and the moral thing to do. Ravyn turned her back on them, as she stepped inside her now warm place. She switched a couple of her lights on. Chester snapped at her vulgar to turn her back on him just like that. “You know what? I don’t see what Rob sees in you. I really can’t convince myself that Rob isn’t just using you.”

“You know what I think Bennington?” asked Ravyn, from the middle of her entrance, as her attention shifted back to Chester, looking like he wanted to grab her by her throat or something. “I don’t care what you think. And I also don’t see what Sarah sees in you Bennington, other than just a teenager going through his teenage angst years. The second part is where I try to convince myself that you’re either a teenager going through his teenage angst years, or a boy who’s just hit puberty. It’s sometimes hard to tell the difference sometimes.”

“You know why many people don’t like you, woman?” asked Chester, getting fired up. “Because you’re never nice, and you’re such a bitch all the time. I am actually quite surprised that Rob and you have been together, for how many days now? I’ve known Bourdon a lot longer than you have, even before he came to the hospital, and, I’ve always known him to have better taste in women.”

“And I don’t see what Sarah sees in you, other just a little boy high on thriving hormones, you’re just a schoolboy to me Bennington, and to you, I’m a bitch, I’m fine with that comparison,” replied Ravyn, smoothly. She was on a roll today with picking arguments with people. She was a bit disappointed that she didn’t feel like she was the one to start this argument. “I’ve only known Sarah for a short time now, but I always thought she had at least a decent taste in guys. Guess I was wrong. I mean, hell, you’re like the devil that wears, punk clothing.”

Chester wasn’t about to continue this conversation and Brad had already started to tell him to calm down and for him to walk away from the pointless conversation. Brad was standing on the second last step and was tugging at his mate’s shirt, urging him to come along with him back to his place. Chester shook his head at Ravyn, biting his lip, as he had just stopped several lines of abuse from escaping from her mouth. Chester stopped biting his bottom lip, and turned around to go into his car with Brad.

He stopped unexpectedly, as Ravyn had been following his actions closely with her eyes, and turned around.

“Screw you Harris, Jo said once upon a time you were actually nice, what happened?” asked Chester. “Did you get rejected by too many times or weren’t you what Grant wanted?”

“What happened, was that people like you, stupid little teenagers, they start playing with people’s lives, I tend not to be neither, nor God, nor a stupid little teenager,” answered Ravyn, as the little comment about Grant stung Ravyn badly. She wasn’t about to continue this argument, as she turned around and closed the door behind her.

Chester was grabbed by the arm by Brad and forcefully dragged to the driver’s side of the silver car. Brad and he stood face to face on the icy road. Brad wasn’t too happy.

“You jerk, you just picked an unnecessary battle with Harris, and that’s the last thing the hospital needs, is to have you and her quarrelling like two insolent children smashing windows,” complained Brad. Chester tried to defending him, but Brad interrupted him by continuing his lecture of Chester’s behaviour. “Why did you feel the need to? Now the rest of the hospital is going to suffer.”

“This is what I get for trying to get her to do us a favour Delson?” asked Chester, as though Brad had just insulted him.

“You didn’t need to push her, if she didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have forced her to comply with what I wanted, it is common sense, you idiot, Bennington!” snapped Brad, suddenly, whacking Chester over the back of the head. Chester pouted as he rubbed the sore spot that Brad just made present. “Now, drive.”

“I can’t believe you’re sticking up for that, that cow,” argued Chester.

“I am not sticking up for her,” replied Brad, trying to keep calm as possible. “I’m saying like I said before, twice to be exact, is that now the rest of the staff from the hospital has to suffer her attitude even more, thanks to you, you stupid Einstein. Now, drive, we have places to go and people to see.”

“I still can’t believe it,” muttered Chester. “Out of all the people for you to stand up for, it had to be Harris.” Chester opened the driver’s door, as Brad ignored Chester’s mumbles, and walked around the front of the car, to the passenger’s side. He opened the door and got in without complaint. He was half-expecting Chester to continue his moping. But he didn’t as each person put their seatbelt on and Chester revved up the engine, once ignited.

“She doesn’t sound too good dude,” heeded Brad, referring to Chester’s other missus, his car. “You better take her in before she gets to her menopause stage.”

“She better not go anywhere near that stage,” replied Chester, as he slammed down the accelerator and sped off. The empty window pane blew in cold air from Chester’s side. Brad had taken out the whole window pane when he decided to play Babe Ruth with his car earlier in the evening. “It’s bad enough I have one missus in hospital. I don’t want have the other in to get fixed.”