RP Log with geniuscowboy | More Than Friends
Serena had gone home to catch a nap, and to set her roses up in a vase. She couldn't deny that the sight of them had sent her heart thumping. At first she'd been scared they were from Jeff, but thankfully they were from Chris and they confirmed those three little words he'd let slip the other night. It had been almost impossible for her to rest while she wondered what had happened with Rick's surgery, and how her boyfriend was coping. She hadn't had a chance to drop by during her shift, or even try and find out from someone else how Rick had gone. She drove back to the hospital after waking up and pulling on some sweatpants and a light sweater. She was still yawning as she made her way to where Rick was housed in the ICU and saw Chris still sitting beside his bed through the glass walls.
Serena watched the two brothers for a moment before going in. She was his friend as well as lover, so was it really so strange for her to be here? There was a slight feeling of fear like Serena was going to get caught at any moment, but if the roses could be sent by Chris to the nurses' station, then she could come and visit him. Rick was asleep soundly in the bed with his mouth hanging open while Chris looked like he was ready to dose off in the chair. Serena just came up beside him and rest her hand briefly on his shoulder as she gave it a squeeze. "I missed you too," she murmured quietly. Considering the glass walls she really wasn't about to try and kiss Chris, or do anything more than squeeze his shoulder.
Chris nearly jumped out of his skin and shot up in the chair at the hand on his shoulder. He probably was close to dozing off, and his awareness was probably slipping. Luckily he didn't do anything stupid like fall off his seat. He was still suffering over the ego blow of walking into a glass wall. He just didn't trust his brain to guide him effectively right now. He looked at her in confusion for a minute, obviously wondering if he was dreaming, before he looked at his watch, squinting with a murmured, "What time is it?" Stupid question considering he had a timepiece in front of him, but it sounded good in his head. "It's after midnight. You should be in bed," he told her and then glanced over at Rick to make sure he was okay, his sleepy eyes tracking the readouts on the screen for a moment.
"I was, but I'm here now. I couldn't not know. I just wanted to see if you were okay, and if Rick was okay. I hated not being here. I couldn't stop thinking about you sitting up here waiting for the surgery. Thank you for the roses, they were beautiful. I can't believe you even got them sent while you were stressed about your brother." She crouched down next to Chris and rest her hand on top of his. "How is he?"
"Me and Cindy in the florist, we're like this," Chris joked, holding his fingers up wrapped around each other. He sunk back down into the chair and wrapped his arms around himself so he wouldn't automatically reach to touch her. It was the middle of the night, though. They could probably just write it off to Chris being overemotional and needing comfort, which really wasn't a lie right now. "He's not that great. Got a lot of pain, which... you know, they took a vital organ out. Of course there'll be pain. It was a mess. She had to go from lap to open. He keeps saying it sucks, and he's telling me it's painful, which basically means he's not doing so good. He never admits to being weak."
Serena smiled a little as she looked up at him. "Sounds like another Deleo I know. Maybe you do have some things in common after all, huh? His doctor's looking after the pain, so he'll be okay. I'm sure he will be. If the surgery was a success he's at least got a good start now. Before he was just trying to find a quick fix. Some things take time, and he's learning that the hard way. If the kidney's gone, it'll be difficult but he could still get through this." She really did want to hug him but just made do with reaching for the exam stool and perching on it. "How about you? Are you okay?"
A frown appeared on Chris' face as he watched his brother sleeping. "Can you really determine a surgery to be successful if you're slicing a completely diseased kidney from someone's body, though? Inside and out, the tumours were everywhere. She had to take biopsies to see if it's shifted to anything around the cavity. We aren't going to know for a few days if the other kidney can hold up, and he has to start chemo. Is that really successful? I-I can't be positive, babe. I've tried, and I just... can't. It hurts. I don't want to lose him."
"Then don't be positive, and I'll stop trying to make you positive. We don't even need to talk if you don't want to. I just want you to know I'm here, even when I can't really be. So, okay, losing an organ probably isn't successful but... he's here. He's willing to go through anything to help try and fix this." Serena touched her fingers to her lips and just watched Rick quietly for a moment. He definitely looked sick, but there was something relaxed in his features she hadn't seen the first time she'd met him. Like maybe at least one issue had been resolved. It made her wonder if he and Chris were already patching things up. "Do you need coffee? Water? Anything?"
Chris shook his head. "I don't want anything. I need to be at work in, like, five hours. I'll try and have something closer to the time." He rubbed a hand over his face and felt that he needed a shave more than he usually did. He'd have to drop home before his shift to shower and change, at the very least. Or he could just do that in the staff bathroom in MT1. The latter was probably the better option. "He's only here because he has no choice. If there was a choice, I don't think he would be. I'm not naive, though. I'll take what I can get. I don't know what Dave said to him to get him here that night, but whatever it was, I'm grateful of. If Bella hadn't done all those tests, it would have just kept spreading. Who knows if it even still won't. It's pretty aggressive, but path is path. You gotta wait for the results."
Serena scrunched her nose up a little. "This is the part of medicine that sucks. Just like Dave having to wait until he hits to two year mark to relax. I was talking to Aimee, and it doesn't seem as if Dave's relaxing soon. It probably doesn't help when she's currently watching him like a hawk and playing nurse. Still, at least he has her. And us. It would be harder to do it alone." She glanced at Chris. "He seems to really want you here, and to be here with you. I don't think you should underestimate him."
"Dave doesn't mind Aimee caring for him like that. He understands people are going to react how they react. He didn't tell me, but he's not deliberately concealing any of it. He didn't tell me because he didn't want me to be scared. I can see that now. But he's been honest. He was with Proctor up front, he was with Aimee when he was faced with the downside of it. He has bad periods now and again. I guess anyone who nearly dies does. Aimee's really special to him, and I get a feeling he's a little nervous about getting it right because he's rusty with the dating thing. He's a natural though. Always has been. Got the romance thing down." Chris was watching Rick again and wet his lips before he dropped his chin down to his chest. "You can't tell me how to deal with my brother, alright? You don't know him. I don't even know him. I'm not underestimating him. I'm here, aren't I? I never fucking underestimate him. I've spent my whole life overestimating him, and I'm tired. You would get it if you had a family member continuously kick you in the teeth. That doesn't mean I want him to die."
Serena shifted away from Chris a little and tucked her hands in between her knees as she looked down at them. She hadn't been trying to tell Chris how to deal with his brother, she'd just been trying to help. Only now she'd probably just made it worse. This sucked. She couldn't touch him, she couldn't comfort him. She couldn't openly care about him because it might draw suspicion if she was seen to care too much. Maybe Tuck had been right about a secret relationship being hard work. It really was starting to take its toll, but the alternative was ending things and there was no way Serena was losing Chris completely. She also just knew that there were more important things in his life right now like Rick getting through his cancer. "He's really special to Aimee. She'd do anything for him, she's just scared about how she'll react if the cancer does come back. I can't see her bailing on him, though. She'd be there for him - whatever it took. I didn't say you wanted him to die."
Chris was back to hugging himself again. And again, a couple of worried, anxious tears manage to escape that came whenever he thought about Rick dying. With Serena looking down, he brushed them away and then rested his cheek on his shoulder from the slumped position he was in, he his head facing away from her as he watched Rick again. "No rulebook on how you react to cancer. Dave will take care of her no matter what." He fell quiet and swallowed, really hoping that sick feeling was going to get any worse than it already was. "Just humour me okay, S?" he said hoarsely. "I don't know how to deal with any of this, and I'm sorry for snapping at you. Just don't ever accuse me of underestimating him again, alright? You don't know the half of it."
Serena shook her head before she lifted it slowly and glanced over at him. "I promise I won't. I'm sorry, Chris. I'm just glad he at least got through the surgery okay. I know there's still a long journey ahead." Serena stretched her back out as she sat on the stool before she pulled herself closer to Chris and reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. They were still friends, surely not all touch was restricted and she just wanted to give him something.
Chris didn't respond at first with much more than a shrug. He wasn't sure why she was here if it was just to make small talk. He glanced up at her with a small frown before he looked back to Rick again. He was so fucking confused, it wasn't funny. He pressed his lips together and drew in a deep breath through his nose, letting it out in a rush in some sort of attempt to stop himself crying again. It was lucky he had the knack of staying awake with his on-call shifts or he figured he would be really screwed right now. "Would you do anything for your brother?" he finally asked in a small voice.
Serena pulled her hand away again, and glanced out at the nurse sitting behind her desk. She would have given anything for these walls not to be glass so that all she could do was slip her arms around Chris and just hold him for a little while. She didn't want to make small talk, but it was all she had. Maybe she should have just stayed away after all. She tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. "Of course I would. That was Drew, by the way. The guy you walked in on me with. He's in Miami for a job, but got sunstroke while sunbathing. Us Chicagoites and the sun don't always mix."
Chris' eyes fell closed with a small sigh at what she said. He wasn't going to even ask why she hadn't let him know that sooner, even just with a text. He didn't want to get into arguments, and his emotions were really heightened right now. One day, he just wanted to pull a bed curtain back and it not look like a dude was hitting on her. He linked his fingers together and rested his lips against his hands. "I owe you an apology right now. Everything you are saying is making me want to bite your head off, and I just need you to know it's not you. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I think I have a screw loose. I don't mean it, I really don't. You should go be with your brother."
Serena's eyes dampened with tears and she blinked them back as quickly as she could to try and hide them from Chris. "I guess I'm not exactly helping, either. I didn't mean to come here to make things worse. Maybe you don't mean to bite my head off, but I'm not making things any better. I should just leave you alone, but not because I should be with my brother. I want to be with my boyfriend... and I can't. And I'm trying to be with my friend, but I guess it's not quite working. You've had a long day, and you need your rest. Just try and get some sleep, okay? Take care of yourself and him."
Chris' mouth was still resting against his hands as he nodded. He was scared if he spoke, he would just lose it all over again. It had taken long enough to stop when he accidentally pulled the stunt with Rick earlier. He wanted to talk to her about something that just wasn't leaving his head no matter what he did, but it was stupid to even try now. He was going to get upset and it wouldn't get anywhere. It was probably stupid to make decisions like this anyway. "Catch you later," he got out, even if the words were choked and raspy. He gave her a small wave with his fingers for emphasis.
Serena frowned at the wave but she just gave her own fingers a wave as she got up off the stool with a huff. She felt unsettled about the whole situation but she couldn't actually put her finger on why. It was like she was throwing herself against a wall and not making any progress. She ran her fingers through her hair and almost stopped to say something else to Chris but she just glanced at Rick, and the monitors to check the eldest Deleo was still okay. Now that she was at the hospital she would go past her own brother's room and just sit there for a bit before going home. If nothing else, it just made her glad that Drew was in town so that she could go running to him when she needed to.
Serena watched the two brothers for a moment before going in. She was his friend as well as lover, so was it really so strange for her to be here? There was a slight feeling of fear like Serena was going to get caught at any moment, but if the roses could be sent by Chris to the nurses' station, then she could come and visit him. Rick was asleep soundly in the bed with his mouth hanging open while Chris looked like he was ready to dose off in the chair. Serena just came up beside him and rest her hand briefly on his shoulder as she gave it a squeeze. "I missed you too," she murmured quietly. Considering the glass walls she really wasn't about to try and kiss Chris, or do anything more than squeeze his shoulder.
Chris nearly jumped out of his skin and shot up in the chair at the hand on his shoulder. He probably was close to dozing off, and his awareness was probably slipping. Luckily he didn't do anything stupid like fall off his seat. He was still suffering over the ego blow of walking into a glass wall. He just didn't trust his brain to guide him effectively right now. He looked at her in confusion for a minute, obviously wondering if he was dreaming, before he looked at his watch, squinting with a murmured, "What time is it?" Stupid question considering he had a timepiece in front of him, but it sounded good in his head. "It's after midnight. You should be in bed," he told her and then glanced over at Rick to make sure he was okay, his sleepy eyes tracking the readouts on the screen for a moment.
"I was, but I'm here now. I couldn't not know. I just wanted to see if you were okay, and if Rick was okay. I hated not being here. I couldn't stop thinking about you sitting up here waiting for the surgery. Thank you for the roses, they were beautiful. I can't believe you even got them sent while you were stressed about your brother." She crouched down next to Chris and rest her hand on top of his. "How is he?"
"Me and Cindy in the florist, we're like this," Chris joked, holding his fingers up wrapped around each other. He sunk back down into the chair and wrapped his arms around himself so he wouldn't automatically reach to touch her. It was the middle of the night, though. They could probably just write it off to Chris being overemotional and needing comfort, which really wasn't a lie right now. "He's not that great. Got a lot of pain, which... you know, they took a vital organ out. Of course there'll be pain. It was a mess. She had to go from lap to open. He keeps saying it sucks, and he's telling me it's painful, which basically means he's not doing so good. He never admits to being weak."
Serena smiled a little as she looked up at him. "Sounds like another Deleo I know. Maybe you do have some things in common after all, huh? His doctor's looking after the pain, so he'll be okay. I'm sure he will be. If the surgery was a success he's at least got a good start now. Before he was just trying to find a quick fix. Some things take time, and he's learning that the hard way. If the kidney's gone, it'll be difficult but he could still get through this." She really did want to hug him but just made do with reaching for the exam stool and perching on it. "How about you? Are you okay?"
A frown appeared on Chris' face as he watched his brother sleeping. "Can you really determine a surgery to be successful if you're slicing a completely diseased kidney from someone's body, though? Inside and out, the tumours were everywhere. She had to take biopsies to see if it's shifted to anything around the cavity. We aren't going to know for a few days if the other kidney can hold up, and he has to start chemo. Is that really successful? I-I can't be positive, babe. I've tried, and I just... can't. It hurts. I don't want to lose him."
"Then don't be positive, and I'll stop trying to make you positive. We don't even need to talk if you don't want to. I just want you to know I'm here, even when I can't really be. So, okay, losing an organ probably isn't successful but... he's here. He's willing to go through anything to help try and fix this." Serena touched her fingers to her lips and just watched Rick quietly for a moment. He definitely looked sick, but there was something relaxed in his features she hadn't seen the first time she'd met him. Like maybe at least one issue had been resolved. It made her wonder if he and Chris were already patching things up. "Do you need coffee? Water? Anything?"
Chris shook his head. "I don't want anything. I need to be at work in, like, five hours. I'll try and have something closer to the time." He rubbed a hand over his face and felt that he needed a shave more than he usually did. He'd have to drop home before his shift to shower and change, at the very least. Or he could just do that in the staff bathroom in MT1. The latter was probably the better option. "He's only here because he has no choice. If there was a choice, I don't think he would be. I'm not naive, though. I'll take what I can get. I don't know what Dave said to him to get him here that night, but whatever it was, I'm grateful of. If Bella hadn't done all those tests, it would have just kept spreading. Who knows if it even still won't. It's pretty aggressive, but path is path. You gotta wait for the results."
Serena scrunched her nose up a little. "This is the part of medicine that sucks. Just like Dave having to wait until he hits to two year mark to relax. I was talking to Aimee, and it doesn't seem as if Dave's relaxing soon. It probably doesn't help when she's currently watching him like a hawk and playing nurse. Still, at least he has her. And us. It would be harder to do it alone." She glanced at Chris. "He seems to really want you here, and to be here with you. I don't think you should underestimate him."
"Dave doesn't mind Aimee caring for him like that. He understands people are going to react how they react. He didn't tell me, but he's not deliberately concealing any of it. He didn't tell me because he didn't want me to be scared. I can see that now. But he's been honest. He was with Proctor up front, he was with Aimee when he was faced with the downside of it. He has bad periods now and again. I guess anyone who nearly dies does. Aimee's really special to him, and I get a feeling he's a little nervous about getting it right because he's rusty with the dating thing. He's a natural though. Always has been. Got the romance thing down." Chris was watching Rick again and wet his lips before he dropped his chin down to his chest. "You can't tell me how to deal with my brother, alright? You don't know him. I don't even know him. I'm not underestimating him. I'm here, aren't I? I never fucking underestimate him. I've spent my whole life overestimating him, and I'm tired. You would get it if you had a family member continuously kick you in the teeth. That doesn't mean I want him to die."
Serena shifted away from Chris a little and tucked her hands in between her knees as she looked down at them. She hadn't been trying to tell Chris how to deal with his brother, she'd just been trying to help. Only now she'd probably just made it worse. This sucked. She couldn't touch him, she couldn't comfort him. She couldn't openly care about him because it might draw suspicion if she was seen to care too much. Maybe Tuck had been right about a secret relationship being hard work. It really was starting to take its toll, but the alternative was ending things and there was no way Serena was losing Chris completely. She also just knew that there were more important things in his life right now like Rick getting through his cancer. "He's really special to Aimee. She'd do anything for him, she's just scared about how she'll react if the cancer does come back. I can't see her bailing on him, though. She'd be there for him - whatever it took. I didn't say you wanted him to die."
Chris was back to hugging himself again. And again, a couple of worried, anxious tears manage to escape that came whenever he thought about Rick dying. With Serena looking down, he brushed them away and then rested his cheek on his shoulder from the slumped position he was in, he his head facing away from her as he watched Rick again. "No rulebook on how you react to cancer. Dave will take care of her no matter what." He fell quiet and swallowed, really hoping that sick feeling was going to get any worse than it already was. "Just humour me okay, S?" he said hoarsely. "I don't know how to deal with any of this, and I'm sorry for snapping at you. Just don't ever accuse me of underestimating him again, alright? You don't know the half of it."
Serena shook her head before she lifted it slowly and glanced over at him. "I promise I won't. I'm sorry, Chris. I'm just glad he at least got through the surgery okay. I know there's still a long journey ahead." Serena stretched her back out as she sat on the stool before she pulled herself closer to Chris and reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. They were still friends, surely not all touch was restricted and she just wanted to give him something.
Chris didn't respond at first with much more than a shrug. He wasn't sure why she was here if it was just to make small talk. He glanced up at her with a small frown before he looked back to Rick again. He was so fucking confused, it wasn't funny. He pressed his lips together and drew in a deep breath through his nose, letting it out in a rush in some sort of attempt to stop himself crying again. It was lucky he had the knack of staying awake with his on-call shifts or he figured he would be really screwed right now. "Would you do anything for your brother?" he finally asked in a small voice.
Serena pulled her hand away again, and glanced out at the nurse sitting behind her desk. She would have given anything for these walls not to be glass so that all she could do was slip her arms around Chris and just hold him for a little while. She didn't want to make small talk, but it was all she had. Maybe she should have just stayed away after all. She tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. "Of course I would. That was Drew, by the way. The guy you walked in on me with. He's in Miami for a job, but got sunstroke while sunbathing. Us Chicagoites and the sun don't always mix."
Chris' eyes fell closed with a small sigh at what she said. He wasn't going to even ask why she hadn't let him know that sooner, even just with a text. He didn't want to get into arguments, and his emotions were really heightened right now. One day, he just wanted to pull a bed curtain back and it not look like a dude was hitting on her. He linked his fingers together and rested his lips against his hands. "I owe you an apology right now. Everything you are saying is making me want to bite your head off, and I just need you to know it's not you. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I think I have a screw loose. I don't mean it, I really don't. You should go be with your brother."
Serena's eyes dampened with tears and she blinked them back as quickly as she could to try and hide them from Chris. "I guess I'm not exactly helping, either. I didn't mean to come here to make things worse. Maybe you don't mean to bite my head off, but I'm not making things any better. I should just leave you alone, but not because I should be with my brother. I want to be with my boyfriend... and I can't. And I'm trying to be with my friend, but I guess it's not quite working. You've had a long day, and you need your rest. Just try and get some sleep, okay? Take care of yourself and him."
Chris' mouth was still resting against his hands as he nodded. He was scared if he spoke, he would just lose it all over again. It had taken long enough to stop when he accidentally pulled the stunt with Rick earlier. He wanted to talk to her about something that just wasn't leaving his head no matter what he did, but it was stupid to even try now. He was going to get upset and it wouldn't get anywhere. It was probably stupid to make decisions like this anyway. "Catch you later," he got out, even if the words were choked and raspy. He gave her a small wave with his fingers for emphasis.
Serena frowned at the wave but she just gave her own fingers a wave as she got up off the stool with a huff. She felt unsettled about the whole situation but she couldn't actually put her finger on why. It was like she was throwing herself against a wall and not making any progress. She ran her fingers through her hair and almost stopped to say something else to Chris but she just glanced at Rick, and the monitors to check the eldest Deleo was still okay. Now that she was at the hospital she would go past her own brother's room and just sit there for a bit before going home. If nothing else, it just made her glad that Drew was in town so that she could go running to him when she needed to.