musesandlyrics | 8.4. Unknown quote
8.4. "Friends are like walls. Sometimes you lean on them, and sometimes it's just enough to know they're there."
Unknown
Co-written with imheretolive
It was approaching nine pm at night by the time Proctor managed to finish work for the day. On the scale of things, it was a relatively steady and even day. News had come that Chris was stepping up to the plate as a kidney donor for his brother came late in the afternoon when Serena dropped by MT1 to let everyone Chris was being admitted to hospital, and that the surgery would go ahead first thing the following morning. It was sudden, but in light of hearing that Rick’s condition was deteriorated, Proctor was really surprised at the timeframe. Inevitably, he was worried about Chris and his brother, but the decision was one Proctor really did expect of Chris at the end of the day. The MT1 Chief Resident wouldn’t have lived with himself if he knew he could save his brother’s life, but didn’t.
It was mostly quiet in the Oncology unit when Proctor arrived, and although the oldest brother was asleep, despite looking not far off sleep himself, Chris was in his hospital bed tiredly watching a small DVD player open on the bed beside him. Proctor cleared his throat and held up a large bunch of flowers he had been carrying with him, the product of a quick whip-around of the department once news broke that Dr C was in hospital. “Apparently carnations are supposed to symbolise health, according to Kathy. Never was much of a fan of them myself. The bay leaf and garlic apparently mean strength, but she wouldn’t let me put any of those in there,” he explained quietly as he came over to the side of the bed and set the flowers down on the cabinet beside the table. He looked down at Chris is a small smile. “It’s a very selfless and admirable thing you’re doing, Chris. We’re all very proud of you.”
Chris was more than surprised to see his boss appear in the hospital room, and not just because it was relatively late at night. He had managed to sleep earlier, but it hadn’t lasted more than a couple of hours and Serena ended up borrowing her brother’s portable DVD player so Chris didn’t need to just lie here and stew with his thoughts all night. She had been perfect with the taco he had wanted, too, and then with everything in the wake of it. Eventually she agreed to go home for a shower and to try and get some sleep. Chris needed some clothes and things for his hospital stay, so she promised she had all that in hand. “Bay leaf and garlic? If I didn’t know better, I could have been mistaken into thinking you wanted to make me chicken soup, doc,” he joked, but he couldn’t really find the humour in it as he turned the movie off and closed the DVD player. “It’s not selfless. I wasn’t going to do it. Just... the situation changed and helped me realise a few things. I just want it over now. Also, for the record, I’m still dating Serena and I’m still thinking about my priorities.”
Proctor sat down beside Chris’ bed, the typical doctor in him noting the presence of the IV in Chris’ hand and the sick bags in easy reach. “Have you been ill?” he asked, feeling concerned. He hadn’t lied that day Chris recklessly sent himself down the sinkhole. He did consider Chris a friend and this was probably one of the most scariest things Chris would face in his life. He needed to make sure he was okay, in the very least. “I am... pleased to hear that you and Serena make each other happy, and I assume she will be here to support you through this. That is important Chris, and you don’t need to be worrying about anything else. When you return to work, we can sit down together and see what the lay of the land is. For now, you just take your time to recover and help your brother with his ordeal.”
Chris gave a small nod as he watched Proctor’s face, listening to him closely. “Yeah, I felt off a bit earlier. Nothing a decent IMI can’t fix. I think I was just... just nervous.” That was a lot for him to admit to Proctor. Showing weakness to anyone was a hard task for Chris, but Proctor was right up on the top of it all. He still just wanted the guy to like him and respect his work. “Serena’s been amazing. I couldn’t have done any of it without her. Not taking care of Rick... not this,” he added, waving his hand down the length of his body.
“It’s never easy when we’re taken out of our comfort zones. It’s even worse when we’re taken out of them and thrust into a darker world we’re not used to. I could sit here all night a spout false platitudes about how wonderful the transplant team are and how the success rate of live kidney transplants is extremely high. But it won’t help you, Chris. It will probably just piss you off and tempt you to give me a good thump,” Proctor joked with a smirk of amusement. “Not much different from an average day in MT1, no? But at the end of the day, if you can’t be strong, the rest of us around you will and we’ll help you. You’re going to give your brother a new lease on life as well as saving it, and even though things have been tough between you two in the past, he is still your brother and you still love him. I predict that you will come out of this with a renewed sense of relief and hope, Chris. After all the painful and uncomfortable post-operative things you will need to go through, first, of course. You don’t need me to tell you that it might be admirable, but it’s not a walk in the park.”
Chris gave a laugh at Proctor’s joke about pissing him off. It really wasn’t a secret how much Proctor had a tendency to frustrate him to the point of annoyance. He groaned a little and rubbed his forehead. “Tell me about it. Not looking forward to that at all. I’ve never had a much of a track record of being a good patient. I’ll probably have a lot of people wanting to thump me before my recuperation time is out. I don’t like being out of action, either, so it’s going to be interesting, to say the least. And just for the record, thank you for not spouting false platitudes and metaphors at me. Not so sure they would piss me off, more as just make me have a panic attack. I know how easily things can go wrong in surgery, and this is just one time I am wishing I became a computer geek rather than go to med school.”
“I’m not sure a computer motherboard would save your brother’s life, however,” Proctor responded with a hint of a smirk. “I understand you have requested Serena observe the procedure. Is it too much to hope that you did it for her to gain points in her surgical residency?”
Chris laughed and looked at his boss. He really was appreciating Proctor’s sense of humour. It was grounding him back down to earth and taking his mind off things for a little while. “Why, you worried the transplant team are going to poach her off you, doc? Don’t worry, just get them all to start wearing lobster hats and tell her she has to perform all ops in a hyperbaric chamber. She’ll turn down the job offer quick smart,” he joked back with a wink. “I just need her there. I figure if anyone tries to take both my kidneys to sell the other on eBay, she’ll get in there and tear them a new one. She’s taken a favour to other parts of my body, so I assume my remaining kidney will be somewhere on that list.”
“I hear love constitutes every body part. Generally speaking,” Proctor mused and held Chris’ gaze for a moment until he reached into his scrubs pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. “Fancy a game of Go Fish to pass a bit of that pre-operative time you have on your hands? I’ll warn you, though, I’m a champion at it.”
Chris blinked, still stuck on the fact that Proctor had just acknowledged the intensity of his relationship with Serena. The only thing that dragged his mind off getting lodged on that was the fact Proctor was now waving a pack of cards at him out of the blue. Chris just started to laugh softly again, swiping a hand over his face with a nod. He wasn’t sure there was anyone else who could offer him a game of Go Fish as a relaxation technique pending major surgery. In fact, Chris was pretty sure he hadn’t played that game since middle school, and suddenly it felt like exactly what he wanted to do. “Be prepared to surrender that crown, doc. I don’t like losing at anything.”
Proctor gave him a small knowing smile as he shuffled the deck. “That is exactly what we’re all banking on, Chris.”
Word Count | 1,550
Unknown
Co-written with imheretolive
It was approaching nine pm at night by the time Proctor managed to finish work for the day. On the scale of things, it was a relatively steady and even day. News had come that Chris was stepping up to the plate as a kidney donor for his brother came late in the afternoon when Serena dropped by MT1 to let everyone Chris was being admitted to hospital, and that the surgery would go ahead first thing the following morning. It was sudden, but in light of hearing that Rick’s condition was deteriorated, Proctor was really surprised at the timeframe. Inevitably, he was worried about Chris and his brother, but the decision was one Proctor really did expect of Chris at the end of the day. The MT1 Chief Resident wouldn’t have lived with himself if he knew he could save his brother’s life, but didn’t.
It was mostly quiet in the Oncology unit when Proctor arrived, and although the oldest brother was asleep, despite looking not far off sleep himself, Chris was in his hospital bed tiredly watching a small DVD player open on the bed beside him. Proctor cleared his throat and held up a large bunch of flowers he had been carrying with him, the product of a quick whip-around of the department once news broke that Dr C was in hospital. “Apparently carnations are supposed to symbolise health, according to Kathy. Never was much of a fan of them myself. The bay leaf and garlic apparently mean strength, but she wouldn’t let me put any of those in there,” he explained quietly as he came over to the side of the bed and set the flowers down on the cabinet beside the table. He looked down at Chris is a small smile. “It’s a very selfless and admirable thing you’re doing, Chris. We’re all very proud of you.”
Chris was more than surprised to see his boss appear in the hospital room, and not just because it was relatively late at night. He had managed to sleep earlier, but it hadn’t lasted more than a couple of hours and Serena ended up borrowing her brother’s portable DVD player so Chris didn’t need to just lie here and stew with his thoughts all night. She had been perfect with the taco he had wanted, too, and then with everything in the wake of it. Eventually she agreed to go home for a shower and to try and get some sleep. Chris needed some clothes and things for his hospital stay, so she promised she had all that in hand. “Bay leaf and garlic? If I didn’t know better, I could have been mistaken into thinking you wanted to make me chicken soup, doc,” he joked, but he couldn’t really find the humour in it as he turned the movie off and closed the DVD player. “It’s not selfless. I wasn’t going to do it. Just... the situation changed and helped me realise a few things. I just want it over now. Also, for the record, I’m still dating Serena and I’m still thinking about my priorities.”
Proctor sat down beside Chris’ bed, the typical doctor in him noting the presence of the IV in Chris’ hand and the sick bags in easy reach. “Have you been ill?” he asked, feeling concerned. He hadn’t lied that day Chris recklessly sent himself down the sinkhole. He did consider Chris a friend and this was probably one of the most scariest things Chris would face in his life. He needed to make sure he was okay, in the very least. “I am... pleased to hear that you and Serena make each other happy, and I assume she will be here to support you through this. That is important Chris, and you don’t need to be worrying about anything else. When you return to work, we can sit down together and see what the lay of the land is. For now, you just take your time to recover and help your brother with his ordeal.”
Chris gave a small nod as he watched Proctor’s face, listening to him closely. “Yeah, I felt off a bit earlier. Nothing a decent IMI can’t fix. I think I was just... just nervous.” That was a lot for him to admit to Proctor. Showing weakness to anyone was a hard task for Chris, but Proctor was right up on the top of it all. He still just wanted the guy to like him and respect his work. “Serena’s been amazing. I couldn’t have done any of it without her. Not taking care of Rick... not this,” he added, waving his hand down the length of his body.
“It’s never easy when we’re taken out of our comfort zones. It’s even worse when we’re taken out of them and thrust into a darker world we’re not used to. I could sit here all night a spout false platitudes about how wonderful the transplant team are and how the success rate of live kidney transplants is extremely high. But it won’t help you, Chris. It will probably just piss you off and tempt you to give me a good thump,” Proctor joked with a smirk of amusement. “Not much different from an average day in MT1, no? But at the end of the day, if you can’t be strong, the rest of us around you will and we’ll help you. You’re going to give your brother a new lease on life as well as saving it, and even though things have been tough between you two in the past, he is still your brother and you still love him. I predict that you will come out of this with a renewed sense of relief and hope, Chris. After all the painful and uncomfortable post-operative things you will need to go through, first, of course. You don’t need me to tell you that it might be admirable, but it’s not a walk in the park.”
Chris gave a laugh at Proctor’s joke about pissing him off. It really wasn’t a secret how much Proctor had a tendency to frustrate him to the point of annoyance. He groaned a little and rubbed his forehead. “Tell me about it. Not looking forward to that at all. I’ve never had a much of a track record of being a good patient. I’ll probably have a lot of people wanting to thump me before my recuperation time is out. I don’t like being out of action, either, so it’s going to be interesting, to say the least. And just for the record, thank you for not spouting false platitudes and metaphors at me. Not so sure they would piss me off, more as just make me have a panic attack. I know how easily things can go wrong in surgery, and this is just one time I am wishing I became a computer geek rather than go to med school.”
“I’m not sure a computer motherboard would save your brother’s life, however,” Proctor responded with a hint of a smirk. “I understand you have requested Serena observe the procedure. Is it too much to hope that you did it for her to gain points in her surgical residency?”
Chris laughed and looked at his boss. He really was appreciating Proctor’s sense of humour. It was grounding him back down to earth and taking his mind off things for a little while. “Why, you worried the transplant team are going to poach her off you, doc? Don’t worry, just get them all to start wearing lobster hats and tell her she has to perform all ops in a hyperbaric chamber. She’ll turn down the job offer quick smart,” he joked back with a wink. “I just need her there. I figure if anyone tries to take both my kidneys to sell the other on eBay, she’ll get in there and tear them a new one. She’s taken a favour to other parts of my body, so I assume my remaining kidney will be somewhere on that list.”
“I hear love constitutes every body part. Generally speaking,” Proctor mused and held Chris’ gaze for a moment until he reached into his scrubs pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. “Fancy a game of Go Fish to pass a bit of that pre-operative time you have on your hands? I’ll warn you, though, I’m a champion at it.”
Chris blinked, still stuck on the fact that Proctor had just acknowledged the intensity of his relationship with Serena. The only thing that dragged his mind off getting lodged on that was the fact Proctor was now waving a pack of cards at him out of the blue. Chris just started to laugh softly again, swiping a hand over his face with a nod. He wasn’t sure there was anyone else who could offer him a game of Go Fish as a relaxation technique pending major surgery. In fact, Chris was pretty sure he hadn’t played that game since middle school, and suddenly it felt like exactly what he wanted to do. “Be prepared to surrender that crown, doc. I don’t like losing at anything.”
Proctor gave him a small knowing smile as he shuffled the deck. “That is exactly what we’re all banking on, Chris.”
Word Count | 1,550