Snow Day
It was snowing again.
The young doctor didn't even have to look outside to know. It had mercifully stopped the night before, but the silence had hurt his ears almost as badly as the wind's howls.
The storm seemed to be making up for it's absence, causing the hospital to creak and groan. Worst of all, there had to be a draft, because his room was getting colder by the second.
At least there weren't any patients to tend to.
The young doctor pressed his face deeper into the pillow, grabbing another to cover his ears. He was already under all his blankets, and could feel his lungs screaming for air, but he was reluctant to leave. At least all this blocked out the noise.
"You know, suffocation is not how I'd picture your suicide attempt."
Well, most noise.
The young doctor turned his head slightly so that his voice wouldn't be blocked by the pillow. "What do you want?"
There was a sigh and the soft thump of a book being shut. Then a corner of the blanket was jerked back, causing a rush of cold air to hit the young doctor in the face. He groaned and tried to pull it back, but it only folded away more.
"Well, I want you to breath, for starters."
The young doctor let out a huff and rolled over, folding the pillow over his head. "I hate this place, and I hate the snow. Won't it ever stop?"
There was a creak and his bed dipped slightly in the middle. "Perhaps it's your perspective." The older doctor said, ignoring the younger's groan. "There are people who rarely see snow, remember?"
The young doctor snorted. "They can have it. Give them a week of never-ending blizzard and see how they like it."
The older doctor rolled his eyes. "The point is, their perspective is different than yours. Maybe you just need to…" And idea began to form in his mind.
The young doctor immediately poked his head out of the blankets. "What?" He demanded. He'd learned to be wary of when the man went silent-it always meant trouble for him.
The older doctor knew he had the younger's attention, but pretended to brush it off.
"It's nothing, really."
"Oh no, what is it now?"
"I was just-"
"What?"
"Change your perspective."
"Change my perspective? What does that mean?" The young doctor slumped against the wall, not seeing the glint in the older doctor's eye. "You can't expect me to-"
Then he cut off, his eyes growing wide with disbelief.
The older doctor only grinned, remembering the panic well.
The young doctor buried himself in the pillows, trying to escape the older doctor. But the older man was ready, yanking the pillows off him just as fast as the younger one hid himself in them.
"It's freezing out there!" He squealed, swatting a hand away. "I am not going outside just to be a part of your little perspective madness!"
The older doctor leaned back, trapping the younger with his weight. "You need to get some fresh air." He chided, ignoring the sharp pokes his younger self was giving him. "Anna's getting irritated-"
"She wasn't before?" The young doctor grouched, finally giving up on getting the older doctor off him. Better to humor him, anyway.
"-and Pelageya is ready to rip your head off."
The young doctor winced. Pelageya had seemed at bit off these past days, almost slapping him when he'd bluntly told a child he and his mother were going to die.
"Maybe she's the one that needs a perspective change." He grumbled.
"Hmm." The older doctor pushed down the thought of Pelageya and patted his younger self on the shoulder. "Come on. It'll be good for you. A change of scenery."
When he got no response, the older doctor sighed and lowered his voice. "You do realize I can force you to go outside, right?"
"No you can't." Came the muffled reply, but the older doctor could hear the sliver of doubt in the younger's voice.
He gave the young doctor one more moment of peace, then reached down and seized the man around the middle, hauling him off the bed.
The young man acted accordingly.
"What on Earth are you doing? Put me down, you idiot!" He jabbed his elbows backwards, trying to hit the older doctor in the kidneys. "Put me down!"
The older doctor adjusted the younger so that he was over his shoulder, then started strutting towards the door. The younger doctor started to panic.
"What are you doing? We can't go out like this! Stop!" He hit the older on the back as the door swung open. "What are the others going to think? I'll freeze!"
The older doctor paused. "So you're willing to change and come out?"
The younger doctor felt his mouth hang open in anger. This man was insane! Finally giving up as he felt more blood rush to his head, he went limp and muttered, "All right."
The older doctor grinned and swung the door shut with his foot. He turned and let the younger slide to the floor. The younger doctor gave a huff of indignation and brushed his clothes off before stalking over the his truck. The older doctor kept his grin and turned to look out the window, not noticing the younger doctor pause, an idea coming to mind.
"On one condition."
The older doctor paused and slowly pivoted around to face the young man. "Do tell."
The young doctor whirled around, eager now, chill forgotten. "I get a nice 48 hours that are you-free." The young doctor waved a hand in the older doctor's general direction. "Go and do...whatever it is you do when you aren't bothering me."
The older doctor tilted his head and regarded the younger carefully. A tense moment overcame the two.
"Done. But don't complain when I'm not there if something goes wrong."
"That will not be a problem." The young doctor huffed. "I'm a doctor, I don't need you hanging around all the time."
The older doctor laughed, moving out of the way as the younger dashed by him to grab his gloves.
"And I'm blaming you if I get phenomena." He added, then glanced over his shoulder to see that the older doctor had disappeared.
In a matter of minutes, the young doctor was ready. He marched to the door, glancing around to see if anybody was watching. He felt like an idiot.
His hand was just stretching towards the door when a voice made him freeze.
"Going out, Doctor?"
The young doctor's hand fell away from the door. "Well-ah….I'm just…"
Pelageya stood behind him with a heap of bloody sheets, with a streak of rust staining her clothes. The older doctor stood behind her. When the younger doctor looked to him in a panic, all he got was a shrug.
Cursing that he'd ever agreed to this, the young doctor managed to stammer, "I-"
(Pelageya's glare intensified,) "I just want some fresh air." He fully turned to face her.
"Is that too much to ask?"
Pelageya's face twisted into disgust and confusion, then she shook her head and walked off.
"Come by the surgery room for when you need an amputation from frostbite." She called. The older doctor gave her a fond grin, which the younger doctor swiftly ignored.
As the older doctor walked next to his younger self, the young doctor noticed, fully, what the older doctor was wearing.
"You are going to freeze even worse than I will!"
The older doctor was still dressed in normal clothing, the bow tie as smart as ever. I hope it blows away in the wind.
The older doctor shrugged. "It's only going to be as bad as I remember." With that, he pulled the door open.
The wind brought a flurry of snow through the doorway, spreading through the hall, causing Anna to yell, "You can go freeze yourself, but don't subject the rest of us to it!"
The older doctor nudged his younger self out the door, then pulled it shut. Time had done nothing to ease his fear of Anna's lectures.
While he would
Never admit it to the older man, the young doctor was glad to be outside the hospital. He had a slightly better jacket-Pelageya had sewn in an extra layer after he'd arrived at the hospital. Another idea was forming in his mind as he watched the older doctor tramping around, making deep imprints in the snow with his shoes. He slowly bent down and tested the white powder. Perfect snow-ball snow.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he made the largest snowball he could and hurtled it at the older doctor's head.
The older doctor bent over in shock as the cold snow tumbled under his tweed coat. The wind didn't bother him as badly, but snow right against his skin- that was something else.
When he turned to rebuke his younger self, another snowball hit him in the face.
"Are you seriously-?" Was all he got out before a third snowball hit him. So that's how it is, then. He really must be starved for entertainment.
So he dodged the next snowball and bent down, quickly forming one of his own. With precise aim, the snowball hit the younger doctor full in the face.
The squeal he let out told the older doctor he'd hit his target. He grinned and ran the last few paces towards the young doctor and tackled him into the snow.
But the younger doctor was ready. He threw a handful of snow into the older doctor's face, then rolled out from beneath him. He jumped onto the older doctor's back, keeping him facedown in the snow.
Pelageya and Anna stood by the window, each with their own look of disgust. They watched as the young doctor threw snow into the air, then jumped and rolled around, as though having a fight with an unseen being.
"He's mad." Pelageya dead panned, rolling her eyes as she saw the doctor burst out laughing.
Anna sniffed. "Leopold Leopoldovich would turn over in his grave if he could see who has taken his position." A tsk sound echoed around the hall as the young doctor started trying to claw-was for that snow?-out of his coat.
With another mumbled complaint, Anna turned and marched down the hall, while Pelageya stayed to watch him. While her opinion on his sanity didn't waver, she had to admit it was slightly endearing to see the doctor relaxing and having some fun.
Outside, the older doctor poured yet another handful of snow down his younger self's coat, trying to keep the grin off his face. He knew the young man needed to at least have a few happy moments before his life went downhill. He'd really only planned on cheering the young doctor up, but this was taking some stress off him, as well. The pressure from the Soviets was getting worse with every passing day, and he was getting worried about what they'd find in his old notebook. How ironic that I should seek refuge in this frozen hole in the snow.
A sneeze interrupted his thoughts. His younger self stared in horror at his sleeve. "I told you!" He said, his voice going up an octave. "I'm going to get phenomena!"
The older doctor rolled his eyes. "You'll be fine." He said, walking toward the door. "Just get yourself inside." He waited for the younger doctor to head for the door, but instead the young man sat in the snow and started molding snow together. Then he mumbled something under his breath.
The older doctor went back, then squatted down and rapped his younger self on the cheek. "What did you say?"
The young doctor's head shot up with a sudden fierceness that took the older man by surprise. "I don't want to go back in there. If I do, that means more patients that I can't save will come, more sleepless nights, more-"
"But your head is a little clearer, isn't it? You can take a break when you need to, you know." He paused. "Perhaps not a true vacation, but you can take a few moments for yourself. And you must remember, you're a wonderful doctor." He gave the young doctor's shoulder a reassuring shake. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
When he got only a small nod, the older doctor took hold of the younger doctor's shoulders and heaved him out of the snow, holding in a laugh at the powder covering the young man's face. "Come on. Let's get you inside, hm? Pelegeya's getting concerned."
The young doctor glanced up to see Pelegeya's silhouette against the window. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring grin, and the shadowy figure moved away.
The young doctor's teeth were chattering and his muscles started to shake. When the older doctor threw an arm around the young doctor's shoulders to keep him upright, the younger doctor hesitated only a moment before leaning some of his weight on the older man.
The older doctor half dragged, half carried his younger self through the front door, trying to brush the snow off the young man's hair and coat so Anna wouldn't cause a fuss. He briefly wondered how this looked to Pelageya, who came out as thought to help before the younger doctor waved her off with mutters of, "I'm fine, I can do it. Just wanted a walk."
"I didn't realize that a walk meant throwing yourself into a snowbank over and over." Pelageya snorted. "Just remember, Doctor, you do have patients coming to you for help. You're the only one around for versts, don't forget."
The younger doctor nodded and muttered his assent, while the older doctor smiled at Pelageya gratefully. Even if his younger self was too thick to see it, it was clear Pelageya was concerned for him. At least he has her, for when I can't be here.
The younger doctor fell onto his bed, barely shrugging out of his coat and mittens. The older doctor collapsed into the chair near him, dusting the white power off himself. He glanced over to the younger doctor.
He'd known full well what would happen if he took his younger self out there. Clearly, the young man had-for once- paid attention to him, and thus he remembered the experience.
But if making the young man happy, if just for a few minutes, meant making a fool of himself, the older doctor was glad to do it.
Yawning, the younger doctor didn't protest when the older doctor pulled up the last of the blankets.
"See you in 48 hours." He whispered in his younger self's ear, smiling when he heard the pained groan come from deep beneath the pillows.
It was about a half an hour later when Pelageya came by to check on the doctor. She could barely see his head, but tsked when she spotted the wet clothes on the floor. Gathering them quietly, so as not to wake the doctor, she walked over to the chair, expecting something to be thrown on the back.
Nothing was there.
Pelageya frowned. There was a wet stain of a soaked man on the chair, no doubt. But why on earth would the doctor sit here when his bed was inches away? And if he'd sat here, why were his clothes on the other side of the room?
A whistle of wind caused the house to shake, and Pelageya felt a shudder up her spine. Taking one last look at the chair-and at her doctor-Pelageya pulled the door shut, leaving the doctor with only the wind for company.
Hey! Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you liked it/you want to see more!
-Aria