RP Log with undercoverdoc | We Meet Again
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It had been one hell of a week at Princeton Plainsboro. Left and right people were coming crashing down with the horrible flu bug that was going around. Alex had actually been the one to blatantly tell the new Peds resident, Dr Mitchell, to go home because he looked like crap. And the poor kid did. He looked like he had been dragged along behind a double decker bus for a few days, only just living to tell the tale. Alex wasn't at all surprised when the guy called in the day after and said he needed to take the next few days off because it had turned from just plain flu to the stomach flu. It was also what had Patrick Preston hooked up to an IV in one of the medical wards. Alex was just fucking glad that he had managed to dodge the bullet so far. He had always had a pretty good immune system, probably built up from years working two jobs.
Right now, though, he was putting in some extra hours at the hospital to try and pick up the pace on the kids' ward. All wards were short-staffed, and all wards were fill to the brim with patients coming down all over the place with it when they were already in for other things. He now found himself on the surgical ward, waiting at the Nurses' Station for someone in authority to come speak to him. Some young receptionist had gone off to apparently find someone to help him, but she was taking her fucking time about it. They had a kid who was in surgery at that present time, along with the kid's mother. A car accident meant they both needed emergency surgery and would both be admitted in the wake of it. Alex wanted to try and get the Surgical ward to agree to take the kid into the same room as the mother, if he would continue to consult as the kid's doctor. It wouldn't be the first time, but bed management was mental at the moment. It might be a small miracle if it could be pulled off, but at the same time, the kid had no father and it would be some comfort to be close by to her mother. He was writing down a few brief notes in the file while he waited following a phone call from nursing staff to update on the kid's progress. She would be okay, but it was a pretty nasty accident, leaving her with a collapsed lung and two broken legs. It was never easy seeing a kid so banged up like that.
George came out of a patient's room and looked down at her soiled scrubs as she scrunched up her nose and tried to wipe off the remnants of vomit with a cloth. There were definitely times when she was reminded forcefully that this was not a glamourous job, and Pat's pink shoes were still no easier to fill when her staff were dropping like flies. Matt had only just come back to work, and George hadn't really had time to feel awkward about it, when there was too much to worry about just trying to keep the ward running.
She had come to one realisation though: she'd fucked up because she hadn't wanted something secret. If she was going to be with someone, she would be with them. She didn't want to be a dirty secret, or hidden under the covers because it was taboo. Yes, she was technically his boss, so yes, it could have been a much bigger fuck up than it was. And there in lied the rub. The sex had been great, but there was no enjoying it.
She huffed out a breath as she slumped against the station, barely registering the fact it wasn't a doctor she knew standing there. "Fuck me, I wish just for once I could go through a day without needing to change my clothes about ten times. It's gotten to the point I even have to carry spare bras."
Alex actually took a small step back as he glanced around to see if anyone was in hearing distance, like patients or visitors. He wasn't sure swearing like a trooper was actually the image of nurses the hospital wanted to convey, and he also didn't want to technically come into contact with the vomit if she hadn't scrubbed up after it. "That's what they pay you for," he returned, still looking around and waiting for someone to actually come and help him. He didn't have all bloody day to wait for the nurses to get their fingers out. Where the hell had the receptionist gone? Alaska?
"I'm sorry did I offend you? Sometimes it just slips out. I do keep it away from patients, though. And it might be what they pay me for, but I don't have to enjoy every aspect. I can think of better bodily fluids to be covered in." George arched her eyebrow, looking at the doctor finally. She took in the colourful scrubs and smirked. He really wasn't that bad looking, and the Toy Story thing really shouldn't have been sexy. "Peds, huh? You lost?"
Alex smirked at her and closed the patient file over. "No, you didn't offend me, love. Takes a lot more than that to offend me." He tucked his pen away in the pocket of his scrubs, but remained a safe distance away from her. "Oh yes, I'm lost. I make a habit of getting lost in the hospital on a weekly basis because my navigational skills are up the shit. Much like the person running this ward, apparently. They seem to have gone AWOL along with the deaf receptionist."
"Oh, so now it's 'love', now? Didn't realise we were so intimately acquainted, Doctor." George smirked back at him, her eyes sparkling with challenge. She couldn't help it, she always did like teasing someone. She figured it came from having a younger brother. "And which person would that be? You can't possibly be blaming the nurse in charge, can you? He's knocked out with the flu going around. Which means you're talking about his second-in-charge, right? I hear she's a real ball buster. You should be careful about badmouthing her."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "I hate to break it to you, but I even call my kid patients 'love', but if you've got tickets on yourself, fair enough. We can't all be perfect," he threw back, watching her in amusement. He tilted his head a little. "No, no. See, if Nurse Preston was here, I wouldn't have been kept waiting for close to ten minutes to liaise about a patient. I'll badmouth anyone who doesn't do their job efficiently. And if this is ball buster right here, you need to do something about your receptionist, because next time she might get House, who'll tear her a new one."
George stopped wiping her shirt down to really look at the doctor this time, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Oh, you're questioning my effectiveness when you just pointed out not two minutes ago that I'm the one who gets paid to deal with vomit? I'm sorry my patients can't follow your schedule and hold in their bodily fluids so I can just drop everything and meet with you. Apparently they're unfamiliar with you being the most important man in this hospital, Doctor." She spat out his title like she had wanted to curse instead, but knew she'd never get away with it. "If you haven't noticed, we're all a little understaffed. I can't be here to answer a doctor's every whim when it's the patients that come first. Speaking of, which patient are you here to see me about? Wouldn't want to keep you waiting any longer. I'm sure you have very important doctoring to get back to."
Alex remained stoic through her whole outburst, and then glanced at a nearby elderly couple who would have heard the whole thing. "I'm surprised you stick in the 2IC position with a temper like that." He held up the patient file. "I'm going to take this to Cuddy. I'm sure she'll be a lot more sympathetic about a six year old girl currently undergoing massive surgery while her mother's life hangs in the balance in the OR next door, making it vital for me to actually be in the OR in case the kid takes a turn. But, no no..." He held up his other hand. "You go deal with your vomit, because I'm sure no other nurse in the whole ward can possibly handle that like you can."
George held her hand up as she looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. Normally I can deal with the stress, but I've just been run ragged lately. I've done God knows how many double shifts, and I'm just getting frayed around the edges. Of course I have sympathy for the girl. I also did have to finish dealing with my patient. There is another nurse in there now. I had to wait for her to get back off break. At least if my staff aren't as worn out as I am, stuff will get done." She was about to raise her hand to push her fingers through her hair, but thought better of it. "Just give me two minutes to at least get into clean scrubs. Please."
"We've all been run ragged. That's no excuse to let your professionalism fly out the window. It's lucky mine wasn't an emergency." Alex pointed to the vacant reception seat. "She's still not back. My patient could have been dead by now. Luckily, she isn't and is being moved to Recovery. Go, get changed. I'll wait here," he said with a small sigh. "Is it just Peds you have an issue with?" he couldn't help but adding.
George glanced at the empty receptionist seat, and let out a sigh of her own. "She's new, and I've been having a lot of issues with her. She really is on my list of things to do. I need to fire her as soon as I can line up a replacement. I'm not running without an ass in that seat. I do apologise profusely, Doctor." She gave a small shake of her head. "No, just doctors that assume I'm not doing a good job. Yes, we're all run ragged, but there is still only one of us. We can only do so much. I'll be right back, I promise."
George disappeared straight into the staff lounge where the locker rooms were, and was already pulling off her scrubs shirt as soon as she was in the safety of the women's side. She took no more than two minutes as promised, the act of putting on fresh scrubs nothing new. She just wished it was that easy to shake her sudden attitude. She rolled her shoulders and tried to pull herself together as she headed back towards the Peds doctor she now wished she could just start over with. Especially when she realised he wasn't at all uneasy on the eyes. She held out her hands that she'd also given a wash, and gave him a smile. "Hi, I'm Nurse Georgina Morrison. I apologise about the unprofessional woman you encountered earlier, and I will do anything in my power to get you what you want."
Before Alex could stop it, he started to laugh in realisation and glanced at her with a nod. "Well, well, at least I know not everyone hides behind a false personality on the internet now," he commented, finding the whole thing highly amusing. "This is very refreshing indeed." And he was also highly aware how much she had spilled her guts to him online, while he had managed to get away with revealing little more than his name and the fact he was a Pediatrician. He took her hand, smirking. "Dr Alex Carter."
"I'm sorry, do I--Oh..." George's eyes went wide as it all clicked into place when she heard his name. She was about to curse again, but was aware of the elderly couple still sitting there, and the fact that he probably really did think she was an idiot. "I wish I could say it was a fake personality, but sadly it's all me. Nice to meet you finally, Dr Carter. I believe I still owe you coffee."
"I won't hold you to that, on account of the fact I'm scared you'll dump it in my lap if they get the order wrong," Alex joked, not doing a very good job of stifling the smirk. This was definitely interesting and he was intrigued to know if she would remember what they spoke about. He didn't think she was an idiot, just maybe had a minor screw loose. "Stress isn't your friend," he had to add teasingly.
George tried remain straight-faced but failed. She had to laugh, and let go of his hand as she realised she was still holding it. "I promise I won't. I'll behave myself from now on. And if you remember, I've lost my personal stress-reliever. I can't actually think of anything to help me out other than maybe getting a punching bag. I still can't believe it's you. This hospital is just... it's like its own city."
Alex wet his lips and nodded his head in the direction of the ward. "Have you lost him, or is he actually around here somewhere? I'm sure the last thing you want is a sexual harrassment suit on your hands, though. Shame that," he commented and handed her the patient file. "I need my patient in a double room with her mother, rather than admitting her to the Peds ward. I'll still be her doctor, but she doesn't have a father and grandparents are en route from England. She should be with her mother. A city? It's a lot smaller than that when the walls have eyes and ears."
"Are you implying that you wish to sexually harass me, or that you wish I would sexually harass you?" George asked as she tilted her head. "And yes, he's here. Somewhere. He's doing a very good job at staying out of my way." She took the file and started to read over it as she nodded. "I'm sure it can be arranged. I do actually care about the patients regardless of my behaviour earlier. The kids always make my heart hurt, though. Alright then, a small town. America doesn't exactly do villages."
"Take it how you like," Alex returned, his eyes shining cheekily. "Can't say I blame the guy with your temper. He's obviously a very smart cookie. She's in a bad way, and I need to know she'll be in good hands. We'll need to get some peds equipment down here for her, and I can maybe pull some strings to get a ped nurse rostered on around the clock for a few days. Would help out your staffing issues, and she'd have someone there if something went wrong. You've been the brunt of the grapevine then, I assume."
George ran her tongue over her lips as she let out a soft laugh. "Careful there, Dr Carter. You might find me in your lap rather than coffee. And no, I don't suppose you can. I honestly didn't mean to come across as such a... bitch," she said as she dropped her tone a little lower. "And he is smart, but now he'll be someone else's smart. Not mine. She'll be in good hands. I can assure you of that. I'll make sure she's well looked after, although if you can get a Peds nurse up here I'd appreciate it. The brunt, and then some. It's never been particularly kind to me, and certainly not right now. But I guess I deserved it."
"Are you offering?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Have you even spoken to him since the whole blow up? It might help to clear the air, you know. You do still need to work together? You don't want to be avoiding each other. I'll speak to Cuddy about the nurse. It was a big accident, had the ER on their toes when it came in. You know, I'm actually not all that surprised. You don't seem to do yourself any grapevine favours."
"Would you accept?" George asked in turn. "Not exactly. Not anything that wasn't work related any any rate. And yes, thank you, Dr Not a Shrink, I do know it would help clear the air. I'm more than aware of it. Thank you. I'm surprised we haven't seen more patients on this floor, then. ER are actually pretty good at their job." George snorted. "Well, thanks very much."
Alex's pager beeped where it was clipped onto the pocket of his scrubs pants. He unclipped it, throwing her another smirk. "You won't know until you ask. Just saying, you let things go too long, and the harder it'll be to clear up the shit. The kid and her mother were the only casualties. Everyone in the other car escaped uninjured. One of those fucked up things. Anytime. You know, without the sordid grapevine rumours and the bitchy temper, you might not have as much trouble getting laid."
George stared at him for a moment, not sure if she was insulted or turned out. Right then it could have gone either way. "Well, keeping in mind the sordid grapevine rumours, and bitchy temper, how would you feel about hooking up with me?" She looked down at the file again, and shook her head. "I hate those kinds of fucked up things. It's like there's no justice. Do you need to go?"
"What's your definition of 'hooking up'?" Alex asked her and gestured with his hand across the wall. "I don't fuck at work. No, especially when the accident was the other crew's fault running a red light for a laugh. Hopefully the justice system manages to do some of it's job. No, not yet. Another one of my doctors just bit the dust. As if losing my new guy wasn't enough," he said, rubbing his head.
"Neither do I. And I guess I mean a tumble for stress relief, and see what happens. I'm not committing myself to anything yet. Not after last time." George frowned, and bit the inside of her cheek to stop her anger rising. "Hopefully, but we'll see, I guess. I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to lose staff. Hopefully you'll get them back soon."
Alex hooked the pager back onto his pocket. At this rate, they were going to need to call in doctors from other hospitals to step in. "Are you sure you want to fuck another colleague? Committing or not, which I would rather not right off the bat, anyway. We might both be shit lays," he joked. "Bugs like this hit kids harder than adults. We're turning kids away in the clinic and ER because we don't have enough beds. I'm glad it's technically not my job to figure out which kid is sicker than the other. We just take what the ER pass on to us."
George shrugged. "Well, I'm not your boss, so it's a step in the right direction. And we may well be shit lays, but we won't know until we try." She sighed. "I can't believe it. I can't even remember the last time the hospital got hit with something like this. Especially something that takes the staff down as quickly as the patients. And you do have a point. We take on the referrals as well. Thankfully no one here really has to decide about turning patients away, plus it's usually pretty serious by the time it reaches us."
"How much of a rebound am I?" Alex didn't mean to technically interrogate her. Okay, so maybe he did, but it was in his blood. He wasn't sure he could be bothered dealing with being someone's rebound, and the fact she worked here, along with her ex, could get messy if he was. He liked sex as much as the next guy, but messy sex, in the emotional sex, was a bit of a turn off. He'd been there, done that, still got the odd random bitchy email from chicks wanting his balls on a platter. He threw her another smirk. "Pretty serious by the time it reaches us, too. That's why we're a hospital."
George fell quiet as she actually gave his question some thought. How much of a rebound was he? She had been hurt when Matt initially ended things with her, and she'd been angry at herself when she'd realised she had betrayed his confidence, but she was getting past it. She didn't spend as much time thinking about Matt in that way, and she'd even gotten over her initial panic about throwing out everything in her place that he'd touched. "Hardly any. It's impossible not to move on without there being a tiny amount of rebound, but I'm not asking to try and force myself over him. I'm past it. I've done a lot of naval contemplating since our online chat." George pointed her finger at him. "Point taken."
Alex's pager went again and he scrunched his nose up in annoyance. He checked the screen with a small nod. "Okay, this time I do have to go. But I'll make you a deal. We'll go out and get a drink together, see what happens, if you talk to your ex and clear the air," he bargained and tucked the patient file under his arm.
George's eyebrows went up. "You drive a hard bargain, don't you? Alright, then. Deal." She held her hand out. "Pleasure doing business with you, Dr Carter. Now go save lives."
Alex took her hand, shaking it and then pulled her closer to him so he could whisper into her ear. "No fantasising about tearing my scrubs off now," he said lowly and then smirked as he stepped away from her, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner.
George fell back against the nurses station and huffed out a breath. How was she supposed to not think about tearing his scrubs off after feeling his hot breath on her ear, and now watching him walk away, her gaze firmly on his ass. Now she just had to try and get her focus back onto her work otherwise her professionalism really was going to fly out the window.
It had been one hell of a week at Princeton Plainsboro. Left and right people were coming crashing down with the horrible flu bug that was going around. Alex had actually been the one to blatantly tell the new Peds resident, Dr Mitchell, to go home because he looked like crap. And the poor kid did. He looked like he had been dragged along behind a double decker bus for a few days, only just living to tell the tale. Alex wasn't at all surprised when the guy called in the day after and said he needed to take the next few days off because it had turned from just plain flu to the stomach flu. It was also what had Patrick Preston hooked up to an IV in one of the medical wards. Alex was just fucking glad that he had managed to dodge the bullet so far. He had always had a pretty good immune system, probably built up from years working two jobs.
Right now, though, he was putting in some extra hours at the hospital to try and pick up the pace on the kids' ward. All wards were short-staffed, and all wards were fill to the brim with patients coming down all over the place with it when they were already in for other things. He now found himself on the surgical ward, waiting at the Nurses' Station for someone in authority to come speak to him. Some young receptionist had gone off to apparently find someone to help him, but she was taking her fucking time about it. They had a kid who was in surgery at that present time, along with the kid's mother. A car accident meant they both needed emergency surgery and would both be admitted in the wake of it. Alex wanted to try and get the Surgical ward to agree to take the kid into the same room as the mother, if he would continue to consult as the kid's doctor. It wouldn't be the first time, but bed management was mental at the moment. It might be a small miracle if it could be pulled off, but at the same time, the kid had no father and it would be some comfort to be close by to her mother. He was writing down a few brief notes in the file while he waited following a phone call from nursing staff to update on the kid's progress. She would be okay, but it was a pretty nasty accident, leaving her with a collapsed lung and two broken legs. It was never easy seeing a kid so banged up like that.
George came out of a patient's room and looked down at her soiled scrubs as she scrunched up her nose and tried to wipe off the remnants of vomit with a cloth. There were definitely times when she was reminded forcefully that this was not a glamourous job, and Pat's pink shoes were still no easier to fill when her staff were dropping like flies. Matt had only just come back to work, and George hadn't really had time to feel awkward about it, when there was too much to worry about just trying to keep the ward running.
She had come to one realisation though: she'd fucked up because she hadn't wanted something secret. If she was going to be with someone, she would be with them. She didn't want to be a dirty secret, or hidden under the covers because it was taboo. Yes, she was technically his boss, so yes, it could have been a much bigger fuck up than it was. And there in lied the rub. The sex had been great, but there was no enjoying it.
She huffed out a breath as she slumped against the station, barely registering the fact it wasn't a doctor she knew standing there. "Fuck me, I wish just for once I could go through a day without needing to change my clothes about ten times. It's gotten to the point I even have to carry spare bras."
Alex actually took a small step back as he glanced around to see if anyone was in hearing distance, like patients or visitors. He wasn't sure swearing like a trooper was actually the image of nurses the hospital wanted to convey, and he also didn't want to technically come into contact with the vomit if she hadn't scrubbed up after it. "That's what they pay you for," he returned, still looking around and waiting for someone to actually come and help him. He didn't have all bloody day to wait for the nurses to get their fingers out. Where the hell had the receptionist gone? Alaska?
"I'm sorry did I offend you? Sometimes it just slips out. I do keep it away from patients, though. And it might be what they pay me for, but I don't have to enjoy every aspect. I can think of better bodily fluids to be covered in." George arched her eyebrow, looking at the doctor finally. She took in the colourful scrubs and smirked. He really wasn't that bad looking, and the Toy Story thing really shouldn't have been sexy. "Peds, huh? You lost?"
Alex smirked at her and closed the patient file over. "No, you didn't offend me, love. Takes a lot more than that to offend me." He tucked his pen away in the pocket of his scrubs, but remained a safe distance away from her. "Oh yes, I'm lost. I make a habit of getting lost in the hospital on a weekly basis because my navigational skills are up the shit. Much like the person running this ward, apparently. They seem to have gone AWOL along with the deaf receptionist."
"Oh, so now it's 'love', now? Didn't realise we were so intimately acquainted, Doctor." George smirked back at him, her eyes sparkling with challenge. She couldn't help it, she always did like teasing someone. She figured it came from having a younger brother. "And which person would that be? You can't possibly be blaming the nurse in charge, can you? He's knocked out with the flu going around. Which means you're talking about his second-in-charge, right? I hear she's a real ball buster. You should be careful about badmouthing her."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "I hate to break it to you, but I even call my kid patients 'love', but if you've got tickets on yourself, fair enough. We can't all be perfect," he threw back, watching her in amusement. He tilted his head a little. "No, no. See, if Nurse Preston was here, I wouldn't have been kept waiting for close to ten minutes to liaise about a patient. I'll badmouth anyone who doesn't do their job efficiently. And if this is ball buster right here, you need to do something about your receptionist, because next time she might get House, who'll tear her a new one."
George stopped wiping her shirt down to really look at the doctor this time, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Oh, you're questioning my effectiveness when you just pointed out not two minutes ago that I'm the one who gets paid to deal with vomit? I'm sorry my patients can't follow your schedule and hold in their bodily fluids so I can just drop everything and meet with you. Apparently they're unfamiliar with you being the most important man in this hospital, Doctor." She spat out his title like she had wanted to curse instead, but knew she'd never get away with it. "If you haven't noticed, we're all a little understaffed. I can't be here to answer a doctor's every whim when it's the patients that come first. Speaking of, which patient are you here to see me about? Wouldn't want to keep you waiting any longer. I'm sure you have very important doctoring to get back to."
Alex remained stoic through her whole outburst, and then glanced at a nearby elderly couple who would have heard the whole thing. "I'm surprised you stick in the 2IC position with a temper like that." He held up the patient file. "I'm going to take this to Cuddy. I'm sure she'll be a lot more sympathetic about a six year old girl currently undergoing massive surgery while her mother's life hangs in the balance in the OR next door, making it vital for me to actually be in the OR in case the kid takes a turn. But, no no..." He held up his other hand. "You go deal with your vomit, because I'm sure no other nurse in the whole ward can possibly handle that like you can."
George held her hand up as she looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. Normally I can deal with the stress, but I've just been run ragged lately. I've done God knows how many double shifts, and I'm just getting frayed around the edges. Of course I have sympathy for the girl. I also did have to finish dealing with my patient. There is another nurse in there now. I had to wait for her to get back off break. At least if my staff aren't as worn out as I am, stuff will get done." She was about to raise her hand to push her fingers through her hair, but thought better of it. "Just give me two minutes to at least get into clean scrubs. Please."
"We've all been run ragged. That's no excuse to let your professionalism fly out the window. It's lucky mine wasn't an emergency." Alex pointed to the vacant reception seat. "She's still not back. My patient could have been dead by now. Luckily, she isn't and is being moved to Recovery. Go, get changed. I'll wait here," he said with a small sigh. "Is it just Peds you have an issue with?" he couldn't help but adding.
George glanced at the empty receptionist seat, and let out a sigh of her own. "She's new, and I've been having a lot of issues with her. She really is on my list of things to do. I need to fire her as soon as I can line up a replacement. I'm not running without an ass in that seat. I do apologise profusely, Doctor." She gave a small shake of her head. "No, just doctors that assume I'm not doing a good job. Yes, we're all run ragged, but there is still only one of us. We can only do so much. I'll be right back, I promise."
George disappeared straight into the staff lounge where the locker rooms were, and was already pulling off her scrubs shirt as soon as she was in the safety of the women's side. She took no more than two minutes as promised, the act of putting on fresh scrubs nothing new. She just wished it was that easy to shake her sudden attitude. She rolled her shoulders and tried to pull herself together as she headed back towards the Peds doctor she now wished she could just start over with. Especially when she realised he wasn't at all uneasy on the eyes. She held out her hands that she'd also given a wash, and gave him a smile. "Hi, I'm Nurse Georgina Morrison. I apologise about the unprofessional woman you encountered earlier, and I will do anything in my power to get you what you want."
Before Alex could stop it, he started to laugh in realisation and glanced at her with a nod. "Well, well, at least I know not everyone hides behind a false personality on the internet now," he commented, finding the whole thing highly amusing. "This is very refreshing indeed." And he was also highly aware how much she had spilled her guts to him online, while he had managed to get away with revealing little more than his name and the fact he was a Pediatrician. He took her hand, smirking. "Dr Alex Carter."
"I'm sorry, do I--Oh..." George's eyes went wide as it all clicked into place when she heard his name. She was about to curse again, but was aware of the elderly couple still sitting there, and the fact that he probably really did think she was an idiot. "I wish I could say it was a fake personality, but sadly it's all me. Nice to meet you finally, Dr Carter. I believe I still owe you coffee."
"I won't hold you to that, on account of the fact I'm scared you'll dump it in my lap if they get the order wrong," Alex joked, not doing a very good job of stifling the smirk. This was definitely interesting and he was intrigued to know if she would remember what they spoke about. He didn't think she was an idiot, just maybe had a minor screw loose. "Stress isn't your friend," he had to add teasingly.
George tried remain straight-faced but failed. She had to laugh, and let go of his hand as she realised she was still holding it. "I promise I won't. I'll behave myself from now on. And if you remember, I've lost my personal stress-reliever. I can't actually think of anything to help me out other than maybe getting a punching bag. I still can't believe it's you. This hospital is just... it's like its own city."
Alex wet his lips and nodded his head in the direction of the ward. "Have you lost him, or is he actually around here somewhere? I'm sure the last thing you want is a sexual harrassment suit on your hands, though. Shame that," he commented and handed her the patient file. "I need my patient in a double room with her mother, rather than admitting her to the Peds ward. I'll still be her doctor, but she doesn't have a father and grandparents are en route from England. She should be with her mother. A city? It's a lot smaller than that when the walls have eyes and ears."
"Are you implying that you wish to sexually harass me, or that you wish I would sexually harass you?" George asked as she tilted her head. "And yes, he's here. Somewhere. He's doing a very good job at staying out of my way." She took the file and started to read over it as she nodded. "I'm sure it can be arranged. I do actually care about the patients regardless of my behaviour earlier. The kids always make my heart hurt, though. Alright then, a small town. America doesn't exactly do villages."
"Take it how you like," Alex returned, his eyes shining cheekily. "Can't say I blame the guy with your temper. He's obviously a very smart cookie. She's in a bad way, and I need to know she'll be in good hands. We'll need to get some peds equipment down here for her, and I can maybe pull some strings to get a ped nurse rostered on around the clock for a few days. Would help out your staffing issues, and she'd have someone there if something went wrong. You've been the brunt of the grapevine then, I assume."
George ran her tongue over her lips as she let out a soft laugh. "Careful there, Dr Carter. You might find me in your lap rather than coffee. And no, I don't suppose you can. I honestly didn't mean to come across as such a... bitch," she said as she dropped her tone a little lower. "And he is smart, but now he'll be someone else's smart. Not mine. She'll be in good hands. I can assure you of that. I'll make sure she's well looked after, although if you can get a Peds nurse up here I'd appreciate it. The brunt, and then some. It's never been particularly kind to me, and certainly not right now. But I guess I deserved it."
"Are you offering?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Have you even spoken to him since the whole blow up? It might help to clear the air, you know. You do still need to work together? You don't want to be avoiding each other. I'll speak to Cuddy about the nurse. It was a big accident, had the ER on their toes when it came in. You know, I'm actually not all that surprised. You don't seem to do yourself any grapevine favours."
"Would you accept?" George asked in turn. "Not exactly. Not anything that wasn't work related any any rate. And yes, thank you, Dr Not a Shrink, I do know it would help clear the air. I'm more than aware of it. Thank you. I'm surprised we haven't seen more patients on this floor, then. ER are actually pretty good at their job." George snorted. "Well, thanks very much."
Alex's pager beeped where it was clipped onto the pocket of his scrubs pants. He unclipped it, throwing her another smirk. "You won't know until you ask. Just saying, you let things go too long, and the harder it'll be to clear up the shit. The kid and her mother were the only casualties. Everyone in the other car escaped uninjured. One of those fucked up things. Anytime. You know, without the sordid grapevine rumours and the bitchy temper, you might not have as much trouble getting laid."
George stared at him for a moment, not sure if she was insulted or turned out. Right then it could have gone either way. "Well, keeping in mind the sordid grapevine rumours, and bitchy temper, how would you feel about hooking up with me?" She looked down at the file again, and shook her head. "I hate those kinds of fucked up things. It's like there's no justice. Do you need to go?"
"What's your definition of 'hooking up'?" Alex asked her and gestured with his hand across the wall. "I don't fuck at work. No, especially when the accident was the other crew's fault running a red light for a laugh. Hopefully the justice system manages to do some of it's job. No, not yet. Another one of my doctors just bit the dust. As if losing my new guy wasn't enough," he said, rubbing his head.
"Neither do I. And I guess I mean a tumble for stress relief, and see what happens. I'm not committing myself to anything yet. Not after last time." George frowned, and bit the inside of her cheek to stop her anger rising. "Hopefully, but we'll see, I guess. I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to lose staff. Hopefully you'll get them back soon."
Alex hooked the pager back onto his pocket. At this rate, they were going to need to call in doctors from other hospitals to step in. "Are you sure you want to fuck another colleague? Committing or not, which I would rather not right off the bat, anyway. We might both be shit lays," he joked. "Bugs like this hit kids harder than adults. We're turning kids away in the clinic and ER because we don't have enough beds. I'm glad it's technically not my job to figure out which kid is sicker than the other. We just take what the ER pass on to us."
George shrugged. "Well, I'm not your boss, so it's a step in the right direction. And we may well be shit lays, but we won't know until we try." She sighed. "I can't believe it. I can't even remember the last time the hospital got hit with something like this. Especially something that takes the staff down as quickly as the patients. And you do have a point. We take on the referrals as well. Thankfully no one here really has to decide about turning patients away, plus it's usually pretty serious by the time it reaches us."
"How much of a rebound am I?" Alex didn't mean to technically interrogate her. Okay, so maybe he did, but it was in his blood. He wasn't sure he could be bothered dealing with being someone's rebound, and the fact she worked here, along with her ex, could get messy if he was. He liked sex as much as the next guy, but messy sex, in the emotional sex, was a bit of a turn off. He'd been there, done that, still got the odd random bitchy email from chicks wanting his balls on a platter. He threw her another smirk. "Pretty serious by the time it reaches us, too. That's why we're a hospital."
George fell quiet as she actually gave his question some thought. How much of a rebound was he? She had been hurt when Matt initially ended things with her, and she'd been angry at herself when she'd realised she had betrayed his confidence, but she was getting past it. She didn't spend as much time thinking about Matt in that way, and she'd even gotten over her initial panic about throwing out everything in her place that he'd touched. "Hardly any. It's impossible not to move on without there being a tiny amount of rebound, but I'm not asking to try and force myself over him. I'm past it. I've done a lot of naval contemplating since our online chat." George pointed her finger at him. "Point taken."
Alex's pager went again and he scrunched his nose up in annoyance. He checked the screen with a small nod. "Okay, this time I do have to go. But I'll make you a deal. We'll go out and get a drink together, see what happens, if you talk to your ex and clear the air," he bargained and tucked the patient file under his arm.
George's eyebrows went up. "You drive a hard bargain, don't you? Alright, then. Deal." She held her hand out. "Pleasure doing business with you, Dr Carter. Now go save lives."
Alex took her hand, shaking it and then pulled her closer to him so he could whisper into her ear. "No fantasising about tearing my scrubs off now," he said lowly and then smirked as he stepped away from her, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner.
George fell back against the nurses station and huffed out a breath. How was she supposed to not think about tearing his scrubs off after feeling his hot breath on her ear, and now watching him walk away, her gaze firmly on his ass. Now she just had to try and get her focus back onto her work otherwise her professionalism really was going to fly out the window.