Word count: 1.515;
Author's Notes: AU. Ian is working at a hospital archive. Anthony is a resident looking for a certain file. They meet. First part of a new AU story. Ongoing. :)
Files. Hallways of files. Never ending shelves of files. Tons and tons of files. Piling up. Stacking up. On desks. On the floor. On chairs. On every available and somehow still free spot possible. That is all I've been seeing every day for the last six months. Files. Papers. Documents. I'm so sick of it. As usual, I'm the only one working. Apparently, the hospital can't afford more people to work down here. Or they just don't care. It's not like there is a lot to do here, actually. It's called ARCHIVE for a reason.
I sigh deeply. In one arm I am holding four patient files while my other hand is spinning a little wheel to move the shelves in a certain direction. A small gangway opens up, so that I can enter, looking for the right spot to sort in the files. Files. More files. I sigh once again. This is probably the most boring job I have ever had. And I've had a lot of boring ones. One time I was working for a museum as a night watchman. Man, those were some intense and exciting times compared to this.
I lay three of the patient files on the floor while trying to squeeze in a rather thick one into its proper place. It's one of those shelves where the files are hanging on a thin rail, which is saving space but it's a pain in the ass when you have such huge files. They just won't fit. I push a bit too forcefully, and lucky me, a few of the hanging files drop to the floor creating a mess of lose papers. I groan loudly and annoyed, kneeling down and starting to put in the right documents into the right files. Files. More fucking files.
Not used to people coming down here often, I jump slightly when I suddenly hear a young male voice.
"Hello? Anybody here?"
I get up and peak into the hallway. I can see my desk, my computer - and a tall, dark haired and tanned man standing in front of it. He is wearing light blue scrubs. An intern? A resident? He looks very much lost, go figure. The archives are a labyrinth alright. It took me two months to get to know every corner. And still there are some places I have never stepped foot in so far.
"Yes.", I say, making myself visible. The intern / resident flinches and turns his head to face me. "Can I help you?"
"Uhm... I'm not sure. Dr. Robins sent me down here. For a file." The young man sounds rather unsure. A total greenhorn. Intern then. I suppress a grin.
"No shit.", I answer sarcastically. "A file. Here?"
The dark-haired man frowns, looking seriously at me now. I kinda feel guilty for making fun of him and decide to lay off my pissed attitude.
"Yes, a file." He holds out a hand, a note between his fingers. "This one."
I take the small yellow post-it and read the name of the patient written on there.
"Birthday?", I ask.
"16th of September 1987.", is the immediate answer.
"Not yours." I laugh. What a dumbass. "The patient's. I can't look it up unless I have the date of birth."
The man looks at me quizzically.
"I... I don't know." He looks around nervously. "Dr. Robins just gave me this. I... I don't have the-"
I make a stop-gesture with my hand, interrupting him. I quickly go over to the stationary phone – no cellphone in the world will work down here – and call up Dr. Robins. 2 minutes later I have the information I need and type in the numbers into the search mask of my computer.
"Got it." I look up from the computer screen. "Follow me."
I lead the way, heading for the far end of the archive.
"So, what are you? 1st year intern? 2nd year?", I ask, making small talk. I don't have a lot of opportunities to talk to people so I use this young – and I gotta admit very attractive – looking doctor to chat.
"Actually, 1st year resident."
I look at him a bit shocked.
"Really? And you've never been down here? A lot of interns visit the archives when exams are close to go through old files and learn."
I experienced this a few months ago. And even then I felt lonely. No one really cares for the archive guy. No one talked to me back then. They were way too busy with studying.
"I transferred here. Just a week ago.", he answers, his tone having changed from unsure to utterly sad and devastated.
"Oh. May I ask why?" What? It's a simple question! If he doesn't want to answer it, he can say so!
"There was that thing... and I got fired."
I decide not to bug him with more questions. This is obviously a very sensitive topic for the young man, so I let it go.
"We're here.", I say instead, already spinning the wheel. We both enter the very small gangway, my eyes scanning the files already. "There it is." I pull out another one of those huge and thick files and hold it out to the other man.
"Thank you."
"Wow. It's just a kid and she already has such a huge medical history.", I notice. When I am bored, I actually look for those really huge-ass files and read through them. Sometimes I come across children's files. "Poor thing."
"Yeah, that sucks."
There is an awkward silence before I decide to finally introduce himself. Why the fuck not. I've been here long enough to make at least one friend. Someone I can go to lunch from time to time. Or just someone I can say "Hello" to in the hallways.
"I'm Ian, by the way."
"Anthony."
He holds out a hand and I shake it.
"Pleasure.", I reply, strangely enough not really wanting to let go of Anthony's hand at all. But holding on to it would be kinda creepy.
"How long have you been working here?", Anthony wants to know, trying not to drop the huge file stacked up in his arms.
"Not for long. Half a year."
"Don't you ever get lonely down here?" Anthony sure asks a lot of questions. I kinda like it.
"Sometimes." Well, that's a straight out lie. "Okay, all the time.", I correct myself.
"I can imagine." Anthony looks at me and I stare back. Two fucking seconds too long.
I don't know what has gotten into me at that very moment. Maybe it's the loneliness. Maybe it's Anthony's brown eyes. Maybe it's the way a strain of hair got lost and falls into his eyes. Or maybe it's simply the fact that I haven't gotten any in a fucking long time.
I make a step toward him. He immediately drops the file to the floor. I slam him against the moving shelve and it shakes slightly and makes clinging and rustling noises. My lips clash onto his, my tongue invading his mouth almost at once. Oddly enough, he doesn't fight me, or push me away. He even parts his lips for me and lets me in. No obstruction there. He must enjoy it as much as I do. Maybe he is just as lonely and lost as I am. The kiss takes way too long, but we both don't care. I tilt my head slightly to explore the inside of his sweet mouth from a different angle. He imitates my actions, capturing me completely with his kiss. His lips are so plump and soft. They feel perfect against mine – which are a bit dry, but this doesn't seem to bother him at all. Suddenly I feel his hands around my neck, pulling me closer against his chest. His fingers wander up and entangle themselves in my hair. I'm resting my hands on each side of his head against the very shaky shelve.
When we break the kiss, not because we want to but because in need of oxygen, we gaze into each other's eyes. I notice him blush and his eyes widen in shock. Shocked at we he did? Damn. Maybe he has a girlfriend. Or boyfriend. I didn't even ask. I just kissed him. Way to go, Ian.
"I... I...", he stutters in a low voice, his breath warm against my face. I want to continue kissing him. This has felt so incredibly good. It's been a while since I've been kissed like that. Or kissed at all, for that matter. I stare into his eyes and ponder over closing the space between us once more. When my thoughts are interrupted by a sudden beeping tone.
"That's me!", he exclaims and reaches for his pager. "It's Robins. I gotta run."
He kneels down to collect the file he has come to pick up, gets up and is about to leave. However, he halts shortly and turns around to look at me.
"I'll return the file myself. Tomorrow."
And with that promise he leaves me a complete emotional mess.