Eva & Chris Prompt – Eva tells Chris about his brother's Cancer
Eva and Chris watched as Rick's helicopter flew off. Standing in the cool Miami air Eva put her arm around Chris and took a deep breath "Chris, I have something to tell you." She hated having to deliver bad news to relatives. She hated having to deliver bad news to her friends even more. But Chris had always been more than that to her. Even if she'd never said it out loud she couldn't deny it. "Eva please don't tell me. I don't want to know about anything that's going on between you and my brother. It's just too weird."
"Chris no that's not what this is about. There's nothing going on between us. Wait no why is it weird?" Eva held her breath. Why would Chris care if it was weird? Could she dare to hope? Chris realised his mistake just a moment too late as he hastened to cover his tracks. "Well it's just that we've known each other for so long and I've never seen you with a guy. It's just weird to think of you like that." Chris waited with baited breath to see if Eva bought it. She did. Reluctantly.
"Chris, your brother only kissed me so you wouldn't see me taking his blood." Chris turned to face Eva confused. Eva stared out over towards the harbour, knowing that if she looked at him she'd stop talking and just want to kiss him. "He had a consult last week and was looking for a second opinion. I gave him an MRI. He was in the machine when you came to speak to me." Eva waited for Chris to put the pieces together. She could almost hear the cogs slotting into place in his head.
"Wait. You're telling me that my brother has Cancer? That I basically diagnosed my own brother with having Kidney Cancer?" "Chris you have to believe me when I say I never meant to go behind your back for anything. He backed me into a corner and you know how doctor/patient confidentiality works." Chris had sank to the floor, not knowing how to react. He knew he and Rick didn't always get along. Ok they rarely get along. But still. How could you not tell your own brother that you have cancer?
He was barely paying attention to what Eva had said. He just sat and stared out at nothing in particular. Trying to absorb the news. He didn't notice that Eva had sat down beside him and put an arm around him. He reacted on instinct and turned into the hug, closing his eyes and just breathing her in. She smelt like apples. A 12 hour shift and she smelt like apples.
Eva stiffened slightly when Chris curled into her but soon relaxed. How long had she dreamed of hugging him? Taking yet another deep breath Eva offered Chris a ride home, knowing that he shouldn't be alone at this moment. He accepted and Eva stood, offering a hand to help him up. Having had such a draining shift, neither of the pair seemed to want to stay in their scrubs another moment longer so they took a detour to the staffroom to change clothes, and collect belongings. Eva knew the drive to Chris's like it was her second home. She was always having to pick him up when his bike stolen every other week. Traffic was light so they made quick time, doing a half hour journey in merely 20 minutes.
Suddenly Eva was nervous. She shouldn't be doing this. They had a good thing being friends. She didn't want to risk it. But she just couldn't leave him like this. Chris hadn't said a word since they'd left the hospital, he'd spent the car ride just staring out ahead, still absorbing the news he'd received but an hour ago. Eva walked into the kitchen to fix a couple of drinks while Chris collapsed onto the sofa.
She opened the fridge and pulled out a beer for each of them, thinking that a drink might help her relax a bit. Walking back into the living room she saw Chris had sunk to the floor, leaning up against the sofa. Eva crouched to join him handing him a beer. He took a swig and finally spoke.
"Thank you for being here Eva. You don't have to be." Eva smiled softly. She knew what Chris was like, if she left him alone he'd probably end up going out and finding some random girl to take to bed to escape his feelings. At least if she was here just talking to him he wouldn't be getting himself into any trouble he'd later regret.
They sat for some time just staring at the wall, taking the occasional swig of their beer. It was well past 2am by the time Eva finished her first beer, she was taking care of Chris tonight, and she didn't want to drown her feelings in a bottle. Chris, however, had been on his 3rd for the past half an hour. He had gone past the point of wanting to speak and just sat with a blank expression, the occasional tear rolling down his cheek.
It was fast approaching 3am and Eva felt it was time to leave, he couldn't really get into too much trouble at this time of well of morning really, she decided if she put him to sleep he wouldn't be going anywhere. She stood and bent down to pull Chris to his feet. He wobbled slightly but remained standing.
Eva started to speak but as soon as she opened her mouth Chris's lips were upon hers, silencing any thought she had been about to voice.
When Chris pulled away he looked shocked, as though he hadn't realised what he'd been doing, let alone who he was doing it with. Eva was reeling what had just happened and took a few moments to get to grips with the lines that had just been crossed. Not bad lines, just lines that once crossed would be hard to distinguish again.
Eva took a deep breath and reached for Chris's face, pulling it back towards hers so she could capture his lips. Chris relaxed into the kiss this time and pulled Eva flush against his body with his hands on her waist. When the need for air became too great they pulled their lips apart but held onto each other and pressed their foreheads together. Sighing deeply Eva finally spoke.
"Chris" her voice was shaking she could barely manage a whisper. "I don't want to ruin what we have with a drunken night, so I'm going to go." Not looking back, knowing that if she did she'd change her mind she picked up her bag and headed out the door. Eva leaned up against the door as she closed it and wiped away a tear. She had opened herself up again. Exactly what she told herself not to do.
The next day Eva walked into the staff room acting as if nothing had happened. She had decided on the drive in that if Chris wanted to do anything about it he would. She silently prayed that he didn't remember but she privately hoped that he did and wanted to do something about it. She changed into her scrubs and waited for her pager to go off informing them of the incoming trauma cases for that shift.
Eva hadn't noticed Chris standing outside the door to the staffroom, looking slightly hung over with red rings under his eyes. Taking a deep breath he swung open the door and marched over to where Eva was stood with her back to him, he spun her around and pressed his lips to hers taking her completely by surprise. Eva melted into the kiss and flung her arms around his neck and his went around her waist again.
He reluctantly pulled apart from her and held her for a moment before whispering into her ear "I want more." Eva hid her tears of happiness in Chris's shoulder. They could have stayed like this for hours if it wasn't for a cough behind them. "3 red bands incoming. Guy went nuts with a gun on a high-street. Eva you're with Serena on the helipad, Chris you're with Proctor in the ambulance bay." They spun around to see Tuck and Serena stood in the doorway grinning, Tuck reluctantly handing over a $20 bill. "It's about bloody time you guys" Serena's words were met with smiles from the pair that were still locked in an embrace.
I feel like this ends a bit abruptly but I also feel happy with the way it ends. But let me know what you think :) reviews are love guys ;)