With a heavy sigh, Claire removed her coat. Underneath was a wrinkle free lab coat, completely white and without a single stain. Carefully, she applied her name tag a few inches below her shoulder. "Doctor Claire Temple" was printed in large black letters on it, and a photo taken about two years earlier was on it; of all the pictures that could have been on there, it had to be that one, the one where her smile showed too much teeth and her hair bun looked as if it would fly apart at any moment.
Claire shook her head. There was no point in getting worried about that again; she had another work day to face, and she had enough on her plate already. Why add worrying about an identity photo (no matter how ugly) to that?
"Hello, Ms. Temple," one of the secretaries (whom she still had yet to catch the name of) called. She was young, with a face covered in freckles and a pile of curly red hair. She waved to Claire, and she herself waved back. It was a weak wave, the best that she could with what little energy she had.
The gift shop was closed, its doors locked tightly shut and lights off. As she passed it, she turned her eyes down, trying to avoid seeing the colorful "Get Well" balloons and shelves full of teddy bears. The cheesy items inside, no matter how well meaning, just never seemed to cheer anyone up, at least from what Claire had seen. There were a number of reasons that she usually came into the hospital through the back, and that was near the top of her list.
The elevator moved slowly, dragging its way down to the first floor. Perhaps it was as tired as she was, overused and feeling older than it actually was. When it finally opened, she stepped inside quickly and pressed the button for the sixth floor.
There was nothing fancy about this hospital. While some hospitals that Claire had worked at before were fancy, with paintings on the walls and in the elevators, Ivy Hill Hospital was blank everywhere. Grey walls, too white and overly shiny floors, dim lights...
Claire shook her head.
It's too early to think about this, she thought.
Still, there wasn't much else to think about in that slow elevator. There were reports to be made, patients to see, interns to email...
The elevator's door slowly opened. Across from her sat Angie, a regular nurse, who was busy typing away behind a computer. Claire waved and Angie looked back at her, her lips moving into what might have been a smile.
It was early, too early for the patients to be up. A few nurses walked around, their footsteps echoing in the halls. None met her eyes when she looked at them.
She didn't come in this early, at least not usually. But her coworker, Doctor Alex Rodriquez, had to take off for a few days to go to his father's funeral in New Mexico. Until he came back, Claire was working an extra shift.
Though the place always smelled of bleach and window cleaner, the smell was stronger than ever that morning. It had hit Claire's nose the moment the elevator opened, and only got stronger the further inside the hall she went.
The walk to the coffee room felt longer than usual. Inside, it was small and sparsely decorated, save for a few old newspaper clippings about the hospital taped onto the wall. The staff called it the coffee room not only because it stank of cheap, watery coffee (though it smelled better than bleach ever could), but also because the ancient coffee machine was just about the only thing in it. The only other things inside were two ancient orange plastic chairs, and they were already occupied.
Claire nearly brought up her hand to wave, but stopped herself. Foggy's eyes were absently locked on the cup of coffee below him and Matt never would have seen her wave at all.
"I suppose that you two had a long night." Claire commented. They showed up at the hospital a lot, enough to where the three had gotten friendly. The two lawyers mainly worked on money and medical cases. "Unless you two like getting up at this unholy hour."
"Don't tell anyone," Matt commented, "but sometimes I sleep when I get here too early. No one tends to notice."
Claire and Foggy's laughs filled the room before it went silent again. Walking over to the coffee machine, Claire began to make herself a cup.
"So what's today's case?" she asked.
"Oh," Foggy said, "we're not sure yet. This guy just called us a half an hour earlier and told us we had to get here, and when we arrived a nurse was checking on him and wouldn't let us in his room. You would think that he could wait a few hours."
Claire bit her lip, holding back a comment. The patients on the sixth floor didn't always have time to wait.
"How long has it been since you last left his room?" Claire asked, turning towards them.
"About ten minutes ago," Matt said. "Why?" His voice rose.
"I just thought I could walk you two back." Claire turned back towards the coffee machine. "By now he might be ready to see you."
"Oh, sure," Foggy said. He and Matt got up. "If it's no problem."
"I have the time," she said. Her papers could surely wait an extra five minutes. "What room is he at?"
"Six forty-four," Matt said.
It was across the floor, but the walk there was slightly more enjoyable than before. There was something in the steady pair of footsteps and the tapping of Matt's came that made the tension in Claire's stomach lighten slightly.
Just slightly.
They were across the hospital floor in what felt like no time at all. Matt and Foggy vanished behind the door. Had the guy inside been one of Claire's patients then perhaps she would have followed them.
While she turned, a face caught her eye. Even dressed in scrubs, Karen looked beautiful. She had been working at the hospital for about a month, and every day Claire had thought about going up and talking to her. Saying hello, chatting about the weather or patients or how the hospital cafeteria's food was so bad that she was surprised it hadn't given anyone food poisoning. But Claire had yet to say any of that. Stuff got in the way, like work or changing shift hours. And if she couldn't even get around to asking the blond nurse small talk, how could she ever get around to asking her out for coffee or dinner?
Besides, her life didn't need a cliche doctor and nurse romance. Claire didn't have time for cliches, let alone much else but work.
Maybe one day she would do something other than avert her eyes, take a sip of her lukewarm, sugarless coffee, and turn her mind towards paperwork. One day, but certainly not that day.
Karen walked past her. For a moment, Claire caught another glimpse of her face, not much but enough to tell that she looked tired as well, exhausted to the bone.
Claire sighed. Bothering Karen would have just made things worse for her. Unless her shift schedule had changed again, then she would be leaving work in a half an hour. She certainly looked like she needed it.
Paperwork, Claire reminded herself.
She had enough on her plate already, a pile too big to add the pretty blond to it.