This little ficlet came to my mind while I was studying for my exams and it did not give me peace until I've put it on paper. So here it is. It was meant to be a one shot put if I'll get time and inspiration I will probably add one more chapter.
Tell me what you think.
Cheers from Aida!
It had been three days since Catherine Avery had started her routine visits to a much dear patient of Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital. And it also been three days since gossip magazines and crossword puzzles did not do their job in keeping her entertained enough in order not to meddle in the hospital's affairs.
Oh, the hospital staff had gone out of their length for such a thing not to happen, and even her dear Richard, whenever he was awake, would do his part in giving his darling Catherine her much needed share of distraction. What could she do? She was a person prone to boredom. She was not the kind of woman that would just stand around and lament her unfortunate situation.
„Catherine darling, you promised ..." Richard reminded her, seeing how her eyes drifted from one nurse to the other, eager to squeeze out some sort of information that might or might not turn into gold later on. This is how she found out that Callie and Arizona were barely making it out of an adultery scandal and that Chief Hunt wanted children but Dr. Yang was not on the same wave as him and that her boy nearly came out alive after saving a little girls life. This is how a hospital news system functioned.
„I am not doing anything." she defended with starring back at him with a pair of oh too innocent eyes.
Richard gave her and incredulous look and then returned to his crosswords. „Prefix with array, three letters"
„Dis." they both answered in unison. Hmm, something was in disarray in this hospital as well, a whole bunch of somethings. Catherine ruminated witnessing April and Jackson bump into one another.
„Jackson darling. Is everything alright between you and Dr. Kepner?" she asked as soon as her son entered Webber's room.
"Yes." her baby boy answered in a high pitched tone „Why do you ask?"
„Then would you mind telling me why the two of you are avoiding each other's eyes?"
Jackson opened his mouth to answer, reconsidered, opened his mouth again, closed it again, smiled, puffed, ran his hand across his head, got mad, warned his mother not to meddle in his affairs and then stormed out of the room utterly forgetting the reason he had come there in the first place.
„Thank you." Webber said, placing back the bandaged hand that he had lifted for Dr. Avery to check up on.
„You're welcome darling" Catherine replied automatically. „For what? ... Oh darling, I'm so sorry."
„Couldn't you have waited at least until he had checked up on me?"
„I apologize baby. I'll have the nurse call him back. Wait here, I'll be back in an instant."
Of course he would wait. Where else could he go? Webber lamented, not giving sound to his thoughts as he watched Catherine slip out of the room with God knows what plans in mind.
When he woke up, his hand was freshly bandaged and Catherine was interrogating one of the new interns, Stephanie to be more precise. The poor girl was barely steps away from being glued to that corner. Her smile was plastered on her face like a defense mechanism while her mind was probably searching frantically for an excuse to get out of this damn room. And saved by the bell she was as the beeping sound of the pager escaped from her pocket.
„I'm sorry Dr. Avery. I ... I should go. It was a pleasure to be talking to you madame." Stephanie excused herself rushing out the door, heaving a sigh of relief for being finally away from the Avery mother.
„She's my son's girlfriend ..." Catherine informed Richard in an as a matter of fact tone. „She's smitten with him." she added after a small pause.
„But ..." Webber encouraged her thoughts to come out to light further.
„But he's not."
„He's not you say?" a little devil inside his head pushed her on.
„No he isn't." It was futile to play innocent here, why not join the game?
„But he isn't smitten with someone, isn't he?"
Richard's lips slid up into a smile revealing two rows of pearly white teeth and a Cheshire cat smile. „I've heard from the grapevine that Dr. Kepner and Jackson had an affair recently." he said waiting for Catherine's reaction. Shock, surprise ...?
„You don't say." was the only answer he got as he could clearly see Catherine's wheels turning inside of that mischievous head of hers. She would meddle, of course she would.
„Dr. Kepner is newly engaged." Richard added feeling a pang of remorse now that he had spilled the beans.
„Just a little inconvenient ..."
„Catherine?"
„What baby wants baby gets!" he heard her say before he saw her storm out of the room.