Title by Shania Twain, I'm still loving listening to Come On Over. Full song title is Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) but has constraints on how many characters I can use in the title :/
I still find it hard to write Stephen Strange and hear an American accent, even though I think it was a good one and fitted the character. Thanks for all the kudos and reviews on my last story, I hope you enjoy this one too!
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"And is there any particular reason you couldn't have set this at the Sanctum, Doctor Strange?"
"Well, we don't store muscle relaxants. Also, my hands." Stephen responded, holding his hands out a little as if Christine could have possibly forgotten.
"Hmm. You know if you really wanted to see me so badly you could have just dropped by." She grinned.
Wong shifted uncomfortably, sat on the gurney between the two of them. He might as well have been invisible. However he certainly wasn't deaf. He twisted his shirt between his hands as Christine continued to press her fingers around his recently relocated shoulder.
"I really did think it was best to bring him to the hospital."
"Whatever you say, Stephen."
Stephen stood silent for a moment as Christine continued to work. When she was finished ensuring everything was rightly back in place, she helped Wong put on his shirt before handing him a sling, all the while giving him careful instructions. When she was finished he quickly seized on her arm and dragged her away from Wong who, and this may have been Stephen's imagination, was starting to look a little flushed.
Coming to a stop in the corridor, Christine snapped her gloves off, looking up at him expectantly.
"I didn't use Wong as an excuse."
"I never said I didn't believe you."
"He really did need to have that shoulder looked at."
"Yes, he did. It was starting to swell. Could have caused nerve damage."
"Exactly."
They stood looking at each other for another moment.
"Why are you giving me that look?"
Christine's eyes widened innocently. "What look?"
"That look." Stephen accused, nodding politely at a scrub nurse who passed. Georgia? She looked mystified by his clothes. He really had tried to convince the cloak to stay at the Sanctum, but it was so protective.
She shrugged. "I just figured I'd have seen you sooner."
Scratching the back of his head a little nervously, he looked back down at the woman who had put up with so much of his bullshit it was a miracle she hadn't shoved him down the stairs. Yet.
"I know, I'm so sorry. I did promise. But rebuilding the Sanctum and getting to know everyone...it just took a little longer than expected."
"And Wong is helping you?"
"Well he's now the Master of Kamar-Taj, but he's been going between the three Sanctums - offering guidance. He's been a great help."
"That's nice." She said pleasantly.
"I really am sorry. I should have called."
"Stephen. Really, it's fine. Don't worry about it."
"God you must be so sick of me apologising." He muttered to himself, cursing his apparently natural ability to ruin his relationship with Christine Palmer.
"Hey." She said, moving a little closer. "I get it. Really. This is new for you."
"And for you."
"Well, yeah. But I'm not around it so much. I mean. You've become this whole new person in such a short space of time. Don't beat yourself up."
He sharply exhaled, still rather disappointed with himself. Slowly he raised his scarred hands, moving to cup her face, hoping he would somehow produce the perfect sentence to sum up how he felt.
"Claire?" Christine said suddenly, looking past his shoulder. His hand dropped. "I thought you transferred to Metro-General?"
"Christine!" Stephen looked behind him to see a woman quickly approaching them. She seemed to sag in relief at seeing Christine. "You are just the person I need. Can I talk to you?"
"Sure."
Claire shot Stephen a funny look.
"Oh, Claire this is Doctor Stephen Strange. Stephen, this is Claire Temple. I used to work with Claire. And I used to work with Stephen." She summarised a little awkwardly.
The three of them looked around at each other for a moment.
"It's kinda personal." Claire said. They both shared what seemed to be a silent argument until Christine's shoulders dropped.
"Okay." Christine turned back to Stephen. "Why don't you help Wong sign his discharge papers, I'll catch up."
"Alright." He said amicably, all the while making meaningful eye contact with Christine, making it more than clear that he would expect an explanation later.
Striding back into the ER, he pulled the forms out of Wong's hands.
"Not a word."
Wong held up his hand, his other still immobilised. "I did not say anything."
He soon filled out the forms, Christine having done the work pro bono to save on expense, and handed them back to the nurses' station. When he got back to Wong's bed, Christine was already there, helping him to stand up while reminding him not to remove the sling for a day or two.
"Just until the muscle heals."
"Thank you, Doctor Palmer." Wong said graciously, before hopping off the bed. "I'll go to the car."
"I won't be long." Stephen assured him, waiting until Wong was out of earshot before turning back to Christine. "What was all that about?"
"Oh it's nothing. She just has a case she wants my help on. I'm gonna head over to Metro after my shift ends."
"What is it?"
"Hmm." Christine asked, pulling the sheets off the gurney.
"The case? What's the case Claire wants your help on? And why can't she get help for it at her own hospital?"
"Err, maybe because she knows I'm a good doctor and she wants my help specifically? What is it, Stephen? You forgotten that I'm good at my job. How's the heart by the way." She responded, leaning forward to lightly jab his nearly healed scar.
"You're deflecting."
She scoffed. "No I'm not."
"You were always a terrible liar. I'm not complaining. It added to your charm, actually." He smiled in what he hoped was an endearing manner.
Christine huffed, moving to dump the sheet in the laundry bin before pulling a new one out. "She wants to keep things off the record, she knew I'd help." She finally said, after making a show of being annoyed.
"Why? Is it dangerous?" Stephen asked sharply. He was, of course, well aware that he'd just asked Christine to help with Wong in a rather similar situation - but he knew nothing about Claire Temple or the 'patient'.
"No, I'll be perfectly safe."
"Do you know anything about the patient?" Maybe he could at least convince her to take the cloak?
Christine slammed her hands on the gurney, glaring at him. "You know, Stephen. There are a lot of things you haven't explained to me yet. And when summing up our relationship, openness doesn't exactly spring to mind as an adjective to describe you. Can you just drop this, and let me have one lousy private thing?"
She bustled away, and after a brief moment of shock over the outburst from the usually Saint-like patience of Christine Palmer, Stephen took off after her. Without a word he gently took her arm and guided her into one of the supply cupboards.
Avoiding his gaze, Christine shifted her weight between her feet, crossed her arms and looked generally ashamed of herself.
"Christine,"
"I didn't mean any of that."
"Yes you did." He lightly stroked her shoulder with his thumb. She hadn't shaken his hand off which he took as a good sign.
"I can tell you about Claire."
"No. It's fine. I guess I don't really have a right. We're not in that place anymore?"
Lightly, Christine scuffed the floor with her sneaker before looking up at him. "You think we ever were?"
"Christine. I loved you as much as I could at the time. I know now what I was like. Honestly. I don't even understand how you stood to be with me at all."
Settling her hand over his, Christine smiled slightly. "You had your moments."
"Really? Because looking back few come to mind."
"Yeah. You were quite an asshole."
Stephen nodded. "Way to make a guy feel better."
"Hey, you were. And not even just after the accident. You were pretty much always a self-centred, egotistical, too smart for your own good, prick."
Well this was going wonderfully.
"But. I have a but."
"Believe me, I've noticed."
Her other hand lightly slapped his shoulder. "You had your moments. If I asked you for your help most of the times you would give it, even if you made a big fuss complaining about it at first. You always had my back around the other doctors. And you can be charming when you want to be."
"I can, can I?"
"Yeah. Now can I ask you something?"
"Anything you want?" Stephen answered a little breathlessly.
"Why did you keep the watch?" Christine asked, looking to the broken watch he still kept on his wrist. "It's broken. How did you even break it, when Kaecilius attacked?"
"No. I got mugged in Nepal and they tried to take it off me. I wouldn't give them it and it got broken in the struggle."
"Stephen." She chastised. "You don't fight muggers. New Yorker rule 101."
"I know. But. It means a lot to me. It was the only piece of my belongings I didn't want to part with." He moved a little closer to her, lowering his voice like he was imparting a big secret. Honestly, he couldn't even fool the cloak. "I had no problem selling everything else I owned. They were just things. This, this means something to me."
"Why?" Christine whispered back.
"It meant that someone out there cared about me. That there was someone who would miss me if I gave up. Someone I needed to get my hands back for."
"Stephen. I never loved you for your hands." She said sadly, resting her cheek against his chest. The cloak ruffled to cover her too.
"I just. I figured after everything, all we had left was our work."
"And me sitting by your bed and coming to your apartment every day didn't give you the slightest indication that that wasn't true?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't see things clearly back then."
"But you do now?"
"I'm trying. Would you believe me if I said I loved you back then, too?"
She nodded. "A part of me always figured you did in some way."
"I wasn't very good at showing it. And you were right. Too much of what we did together was about me. Not us. I want that to change."
"That would be nice."
"No, I mean it Christine. Will you let me try? I know I'm still changing. But after my time at Kamar-Taj, I realised the only thing I really missed about my old life was you. Yes, I missed being the best surgeon, and being asked to do speeches and research, all that. But what was really missing wasn't the enjoyment from the work, it was that the work that enabled me to see you.
"It used to drive me insane after we broke up, that I'd have to wait for work just to see you. I should have made more of an effort, I should have told you how I felt. Although, then I guess I wouldn't have ended up on the path that led me here."
"Yeah." Christine's voice came out muffled. "Because I sure as hell wouldn't have let you drive like a maniac with me in the car."
"I wouldn't have put you in that kind of risk." He replied, bending his head down so his cheek could rest against her hair. It still smelled the same. A comforting smell, lightly tinted with antiseptics. Something you couldn't avoid smelling of when working in a hospital.
She snorted. "Yeah, because if you'd tried I would have slapped you across the face and left."
"Yes, I remember you making that threat when we were dating funnily enough." He'd laughed at the time but had then made a considerable effort to drive more safely when she was in the car. Of course if she had been in the car that night he wouldn't currently be Sorcerer Supreme.
Christine pulled her head back to look up at him. "I'd like to try again too. I guess we both have a lot of catching up to do."
"We certainly do."
She smiled widely. It took his breath away. But only a little. "And now if you'll excuse me. My shift is nearly over and Claire is waiting for me."
"Of course."
"Not to mention Wong has been sitting in that car alone for a really long time now."
"I'll buy him a cinnabon to make it up to him."
She grinned. "That'll do it."
"Although he's probably just opened his own portal by now."
"Well, it is cold out there."
"Will I see you soon?" Stephen asked, loathe to let her go.
"I'll drop by the Sanctum if you want. Just let me know when."
"Anytime."
"You have students, don't you?"
"Well,"
"Hmm. I'm not working tomorrow afternoon. How about then?"
"Excellent. I can come to you if you want. Things are still hectic at the Sanctum, and I know you're still new to all of this,"
"So are you Mr. Brain. Oh, sorry. Doctor Brain." Christine laughed, before he could correct her. "I have no problem going to the Sanctum. Besides, I think you mentioned something about portals that could take me anywhere."
That thought brightened him up. "Yes, of course."
Christine pulled her hand away and the cloak returned to fully cover Strange. "You even said something about a beach."
"I believe I did." Stephen grinned.
"Okay. I'll come by then." She turned away before catching herself near the door. "You know. Does it ever bother you that you went all that way to Nepal to heal your hands, and there was a Sanctum a subway ride away from your apartment the entire time?"
Christine left without an answer, leaving Stephen behind utterly flabbergasted. Damn.
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Am I the only one who has thought of that plot hole. Two New Yorkers go all the way to Nepal, and there was a Sanctum already at their doorstep. That would annoy me personally :D I'm taking this relationship slow, they still seem to have a lot of issue to work out. Hope you enjoyed this, please comment and let me know what you thought! I can't believe how many people read the last one! Bye for now :)
P.S. The Night Nurse theme will return. And Christine will get her trip to the beach.