Vacations, Vacations

"Hey, Artie. Guess what? I'm going on vacation!" Alfred announced one day over the phone, his smile evident even through the speaker. He sounded excited, and Arthur was happy for him.

"Oh, that's great, Alfred. Where are you going this time? Aruba? Jamaica?" The other enquired, laughing.

"Ooh I wanna take ya', Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama..." Alfred laughed back, a deep chuckle that rumbled in his chest. "Nah, I am going to the Florida Keys though! Might have ta have a trip down to Kokomo afterall." The Texan began to sing the rest of their song, stopping half way though. "Hey, why don't you come? It'll be so fun! I just managed to get some time off work for two weeks-"

Arthur stopped him. "Go with you? To Florida?" He asked like the other had gone mad, "Alfred, I've never been to America in my whole life! I.. I can't just go and meet a stranger. No offence, but you know how weird it will sound at immigration when they ask who I'm meeting and I reply with, 'Oh, some guy I met on the internet.'"

"Yah, I know." Alfred replied sadly, scratching the back of his neck. "Jus' would'a been nice, yano?" Getting up from his dinner table, he put his bowl of cereal in the sink, back resting against the kitchen counter as he listened to Arthur's voice. God, he was such a sucker for his accent. Even if he were listening to him yell he would probably still swoon. But he was rambling now... "Mmhm. Yeah. Yup. Yesss. Okay, okay." He yawned and rolled his eyes, smirking and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. He laughed again, enjoying winding Arthur up as the other blushed and got frustrated. Lying in bed still, Arthur rolled onto his side and began to smile, scolding him though he didn't mean it.

"You're such an arsehole." He said, laughing at the other's mock gasp. "Right, I've gotta go. I need a shower and then I'm on a late shift so I'll talk to you later."

Alfred grinned cheekily. "Send me pics?"

"Goodbye, Alfred."

"Aww.."

Arriving at work at 2 pm, Arthur trudged through to the unit he worked in, washing his hands first thing before he entered and again after. "Afternoon." He greeted the other nurses, taking a look around the ICU. His patient was still there, anyway. Sending a quick thank you up to whatever being had kept her in a stable condition, he made his way over to the woman, her husband perched in a chair beside her bed. Every time Arthur came to check on her he was there, never leaving her side except for a quick cigarette. And even then he would kiss her head and tell her he would only be a few minutes, even though she was in a coma. Though they weren't sure if she could hear them, they still acted as though she could, and Arthur smiled at the gent who was holding her had. "Hi, Mr Lewis. Just coming to check up on Amanda; I see her heart rate and blood pressure are steady." He took a look at the machines and then grabbed the small hand held light, shining it in her eyes and sighing when he gained no response. "I'm just going to turn you over, sweetheart." He told the young woman, gently shifting her to her side. Her husband looked so lost, eyes vacant and yet full of love for the brunette on the bed. Arthur hated that look. It was hard for anyone in the department when a new patient came in, and just as hard for the patient's family, but when it wasn't getting any better it made the nurses feel like they weren't quite doing their job up to scratch.

Mr Lewis stayed with his wife for the rest of the afternoon, a few stitches on the side of his head and scratches over his body. They'd been in a horrible accident, and his wife suffered the blunt of it. She'd been unconscious since she came in a week ago. "Go grab a coffee, Mr Lewis. I promise I'll look after Amanda until you get back." Fuck; there. He'd done it - broken one of the nurse rules: never make any promises. What if something happened to her-? "Honestly, Sir. You must be knackered. Your wife is in good hands here."

Amanda passed away at 5:41 pm under Arthur's watch, just half an hour after her husband left to nip home. "You promised." Was the first thing her husband said to the blond nurse after driving straight back, "If I'd have stayed a little longer, I- I could have-!"

There was nothing anyone could have done, and Arthur knew that. But he still couldn't help but feel guilt for letting such a young girl pass. She wasn't able to function, not with the damage done to her head from the accident. Arthur shed a few tears when he entered the staff room, knowing he shouldn't get so attached and feel so guilty. The first thing he did was call Alfred, breathing shaky until he answered. "..I need a bloody holiday." He said with a bitter laugh.

After booking the next few days off work, Arthur felt instantly better. He relaxed in his bathtub, only getting out an hour later and smelling of grapefruit. He spoke with Alfred while lying in bed, being put on speaker while the American packed his bags for his trip to the sunny Florida Keys. He even met with Francis and the man's friends, going out for a drink at the local pub where he witnessed one man get punched square on the nose for offering to show a woman a good night. They all found it hilarious, the man returning in a shoddy state. "So, how's the love life going?" Francis asked with a turn of the head, ignoring the rest of the group at the table. "It's been 10 months since you started talking. Please tell me you've sent at least one nude."

"H-hey! You were against sending naked pictures last time!"

"Ah, no. I was against you sending naked pictures last time. I enjoy it."

"I bloody know you do. If I get one more Snapchat of your cock and balls I'll be removing them myself." He retorted, taking a gulp of his beer.

"That was one time!"

Arthur looked at him. "Make that seven."

"Your name is next to hers! I bet you liked them though..." Francis replied with a wink, downing the rest of his pint and setting the glass down as Arthur gagged.

"You can get your head out of your arse if you think I find your cock attractive. Come on, Fran; you can at least angle it so it looks bigger! And you need to work out. Imagine how many more guys and girls you could get with a six pack. You've got some serious sagging of your balls too, mate." Arthur laughed until his throat hurt; he loved to tease him, just as Alfred did to him. It was funny seeing Francis get so red in the face, instinctively going to check he didn't have loose balls. "Jeez, Francis! At least have a little bit of dignity and check it out in the bathroom. Christ..." The look on his face was priceless as he scurried off to check himself out in the bathrooms.

No more than five minutes later had Arthur received a new Snapchat from the Frenchman, this one taken from the front and a little down so you could see his toned stomach. How the bleedin' hell had he gotten an erection that quick?! It pressed against his stomach like a proud soldier and made Arthur gag, screen-capturing it as he laughed and showed the others at the table. Shame; he'd set it for the full 10 seconds too! The clearly agitated Frenchman came over not moments later, jaw set firmly as he plopped back down on his stool. "You'd better not show anyone that, Rosbif."

Except he had, and the rest of the table were already prepared. "Ey' up, Fran; how's Jr doin'? Didn't know he worked as a royal guard now!" One of their friends joked.

"Ah yeah, lookin' after them crown jewels, weren't he?"

"Aye! You got a nice 'un, mate. Just keep it away from those dingy toilets, yeah?" The others piped up, all laughing as Francis hit his head on the wooden table, whining with a ruby red face. Arthur didn't think he'd had this much fun in ages.

AN/: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages but I've been on holiday and exams and etc, plus family things, but I swear I'm looking to update this and OLS more! (It's been almost a year since I last updated OLS!)

I also need your advice - I'm thinking of making this M Rated; how many of you would continue to read if I did and how many wouldn't? Just wondering!

By the way, the song Arthur and Alfred were singing was a great song called Kokomo by the Beach Boys.

Thanks for reading!

-BritishTraveller