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Jul. 2nd, 2022 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
socksalloverThey honestly aren't that far apart. Ten maybe 15 minute drive apart, especially at that time of night, morning. It's that strange time on an overnight where it can go either way. No one says anything that can push the balance the direction that no one wants it to go. He's done his share of running for the time. He hates being on opposite shifts to Nic. He misses her and he swears that when he sees her, fleeting as they cross paths, her at the start of her day with him at the end of his. She's tired already. Maybe it's just his ego wishing that's the reason. He might even be losing his grip on everything that he's even missing the radio station in the car that seems to always be playing Taylor Swift as she drives him to work.
It's always Taylor Swift.
He low key hates that he knows so many of her songs but Nic doesn't mind her music playing so he says nothing and doesn't admit that he was singing along with 'I knew you were trouble' when someone in the ER was playing it until it cut off, he doesn't find out why it stopped abruptly. He's hoping that it was just the battery finally giving out rather than anything else. There was no panic so it seemed that was the answer. Nic would be the first to tell him that she knew he was trouble the moment that she saw him at the pool table.
Conrad scanned the ER, he still did not want to curse the calm that seemed to have fallen in there at 2am? He checked his watch subtly. 2am. 5 more hours and he'd be slipping into bed next to Nic who would be leaving him not long after. He wants the overnights to be over, he wants their schedules to match up again. For however long they can. He misses her. He pats Irving on the shoulder as he walks past him. Silently able to say he's going to try and get a nap while the opportunity presents itself. Irving nods. They've done this enough times to know their parts in it all. Wordlessly. Effortless. Still not wanting to curse themselves. Conrad knows that Irving will call if he's needed. He does a quick run of the ICU (everything is as he wants it and they know where he'll be) then heads to the on-call room.
Conrad pushes the door open, already reaching for his phone and sending a text:
Good morning ❤️️
Delivered
So it can be there when she wakes up. He sets his phone next to him and his pager alongside. He'd deny later the heart even if it was there staring at him. It's gone 2am. She can't blame him at that time of the morning. She can tease him about it later. (And he'll let her.)
It's not a nap. Conrad doesn't sleep. He's just lay in the dark. Enjoying the down time. The quiet and missing the person that usually is next to him, stealing the sheets. Leaving him alone and thinking about everything. After about an hour? Well, no it's closer to 4am now he gets up and heads back to check on his patients in the ICU before returning to the ER.
Just in time too as he's tucking his pager back in his pocket. Watching Irving trying to wrangle a patient that seems determined to leave, with or without the drip they're attached to being removed. He talks them out of walking out with the drip stand and sorts our some referral as Conrad just watches from the desk letting Irving do his job.
A few muttered words between the two of them that say well done for saving the drip stand and importantly the person attached. The rest of the morning passes the way it should. Understated and with coffee.
Except the last coffee comes courtesy of a blonde he knew should have still been in bed. Stood at the desk looking at him. Irving is clearly judging him from the other side of the ER as he kisses Nic. Not that he cares because, he's kissing Nic good morning while taking the coffee from her and it's still early and it's unprofessional but he doesn't care because he hasn't seen her properly in what feels like forevertwelve hours.
She's telling him that she'll see him later, because that was the last overnight he had for the next few weeks and their schedules matched up again. He could jump for joy at hearing that. He wants to spin her around but there are more people now, why is it getting busy? Right. ER. It's the beginning of the day and they're both holding coffee. He settles for kissing her cheek and holding her hand and looking at her the only way he can that he's certain makes other people jealous.
He will just go put his things away then he can convince her outside for a moment for one more kiss then he can be headed home for some well earned rest and so he can be awake when she comes through the door. He pushes the door to go change and instead of Chastain he's... well he's not sure where he is. It isn't the 404 either, because that sure wasn't right. He wondered if someone had slipped something in his coffee when his back was turned.
He's still in his scrubs, holding the coffee Nic brought him and stood in a completely different place to where he was supposed to be. If he was drugged or something was happening he was at least going to find somewhere comfortable to sit down and finish his coffee before he felt like he should work out what was going on. He's supposed to be at the end of a twelve hour shift not wherever he was.
It's always Taylor Swift.
He low key hates that he knows so many of her songs but Nic doesn't mind her music playing so he says nothing and doesn't admit that he was singing along with 'I knew you were trouble' when someone in the ER was playing it until it cut off, he doesn't find out why it stopped abruptly. He's hoping that it was just the battery finally giving out rather than anything else. There was no panic so it seemed that was the answer. Nic would be the first to tell him that she knew he was trouble the moment that she saw him at the pool table.
Conrad scanned the ER, he still did not want to curse the calm that seemed to have fallen in there at 2am? He checked his watch subtly. 2am. 5 more hours and he'd be slipping into bed next to Nic who would be leaving him not long after. He wants the overnights to be over, he wants their schedules to match up again. For however long they can. He misses her. He pats Irving on the shoulder as he walks past him. Silently able to say he's going to try and get a nap while the opportunity presents itself. Irving nods. They've done this enough times to know their parts in it all. Wordlessly. Effortless. Still not wanting to curse themselves. Conrad knows that Irving will call if he's needed. He does a quick run of the ICU (everything is as he wants it and they know where he'll be) then heads to the on-call room.
Conrad pushes the door open, already reaching for his phone and sending a text:
Good morning ❤️️
Delivered
So it can be there when she wakes up. He sets his phone next to him and his pager alongside. He'd deny later the heart even if it was there staring at him. It's gone 2am. She can't blame him at that time of the morning. She can tease him about it later. (And he'll let her.)
It's not a nap. Conrad doesn't sleep. He's just lay in the dark. Enjoying the down time. The quiet and missing the person that usually is next to him, stealing the sheets. Leaving him alone and thinking about everything. After about an hour? Well, no it's closer to 4am now he gets up and heads back to check on his patients in the ICU before returning to the ER.
Just in time too as he's tucking his pager back in his pocket. Watching Irving trying to wrangle a patient that seems determined to leave, with or without the drip they're attached to being removed. He talks them out of walking out with the drip stand and sorts our some referral as Conrad just watches from the desk letting Irving do his job.
A few muttered words between the two of them that say well done for saving the drip stand and importantly the person attached. The rest of the morning passes the way it should. Understated and with coffee.
Except the last coffee comes courtesy of a blonde he knew should have still been in bed. Stood at the desk looking at him. Irving is clearly judging him from the other side of the ER as he kisses Nic. Not that he cares because, he's kissing Nic good morning while taking the coffee from her and it's still early and it's unprofessional but he doesn't care because he hasn't seen her properly in what feels like forever
She's telling him that she'll see him later, because that was the last overnight he had for the next few weeks and their schedules matched up again. He could jump for joy at hearing that. He wants to spin her around but there are more people now, why is it getting busy? Right. ER. It's the beginning of the day and they're both holding coffee. He settles for kissing her cheek and holding her hand and looking at her the only way he can that he's certain makes other people jealous.
He will just go put his things away then he can convince her outside for a moment for one more kiss then he can be headed home for some well earned rest and so he can be awake when she comes through the door. He pushes the door to go change and instead of Chastain he's... well he's not sure where he is. It isn't the 404 either, because that sure wasn't right. He wondered if someone had slipped something in his coffee when his back was turned.
He's still in his scrubs, holding the coffee Nic brought him and stood in a completely different place to where he was supposed to be. If he was drugged or something was happening he was at least going to find somewhere comfortable to sit down and finish his coffee before he felt like he should work out what was going on. He's supposed to be at the end of a twelve hour shift not wherever he was.
