24th March 20X5
Alfred was glaring as he walked down the hall, leaving Lovina and their 'stupid patient' (as he had dubbed the man in his mind) alone as he moved towards the nurse's station. He had to do some charting, Richard was fine and he had Lovina looking after him anyway. He picked up a chart a little too roughly, causing the nurses in the immediate vicinity to jump, not that he was paying any attention. He frowned at the pages, grabbing a pen with the same ferocity to start making notes. Why did Richard have to be like that? It was one thing to say flirtatious things whilst Arthur was in the room, he didn't need to continue while he wasn't.
Alfred was, of course, a little over-sensitive, though he didn't think he could be blamed, he just couldn't stand being in the same room as that guy; A guy who, in his opinion, probably had a much higher chance of actually getting with Arthur than he did. He was obviously also forgetting the certain taboo of doctors dating their patients, but he was tired and bothered and not entirely focused on what he was doing. He shook his head when he realised his thoughts had been wandering, sighing in a disgruntled manner before running a hand over his face.
He was being irrational. He was just over-tired and stressed. He didn't have any claim over Arthur, they weren't even friends, let alone an item – though this reminder made his face crumple up in a frown and he quickly discarded it. He looked back to the chart, realising now that a few nurses had been giving him weird looks.
"Alfred." Lovina's voice caught him off guard, causing the American to jump in slight fright as the sudden word startled him.
"Lovina—" He sighed, turning to face the smaller doctor only to be greeted with a glare.
"What the hell?" She hissed, pulling Alfred's arm to turn him away from the nurses. "That's a patient, you can't just pick and choose when you treat him."
"He was fine! We're waiting for blood results and he had you anyway, what are you complaining about?" He turned away again, expression bitter. He didn't appreciate being called out like that, especially by his friend, particularly when he'd just sorted through all the negative, angry emotions that were distracting him. She already knew how down he'd been that week, where did she get off calling him out for leaving a patient's room when she knew it annoyed him?
"You didn't even take a moment to check his vitals for yourself – and you snapped at him."
"You had that covered, I was reading the chart. But I did not snap, I was very careful not to." Though ironically those words were snapped, Alfred's irritation bleeding through into his words.
"That's not an excuse; Mr Wright could tell you were angry. I know you weren't bothered about his condition so it's not that big of a deal, but come on you're supposed to treat patients well." The Italian argued, not liking the way Alfred spoke. She paused, staring at Alfred for a long moment. The man remained silent, scribbling at the papers in his chart as if trying to block out whatever she was going to say next. However, her expression softened, glare disappearing. "—He was just teasing you, bambino. This thing you have about Doctor Kirkland, it's obvious."
Alfred paused at that, blinking once or twice as he processed those words. He was being made fun of? Was it not enough that he'd had a shitty week, now he had to deal with one of his best friends and some stuck-up patient laughing at him too? Whatever kind intention Lovina had in admitting the truth may well have not existed, it was downright insulting. "He what?" He turned sharply, facing Lovina with a returning glare. "Someone else is making fun of me and you blame me for acting up? Real nice, Lovina, real nice."
Lovina frowned now, Alfred's irritation mirrored in her. "It's not my fault that you get jealous over the smallest thing."
"I am not jealous, what the hell is there to be jealous over anyway?" That in itself was a blatant lie, though it was surprising the conviction with which it was said.
"Oh don't pretend, bambino. You can't have him and you get upset when someone with a chance shows up." She snatched the chart he was holding from his hands, turning away to lean against the counter. "You really need to get over yourself."
Now that stung.
Even though the intern had attempted to hide the comment under her breath, their proximity made it almost impossible for Alfred to miss it. It was true of course, there was no denying that, but there was a difference between Alfred admitting it to himself and hearing his friend cast the same judgement over the situation. He hadn't really given such an impression to anyone, likely because he was afraid of the fact it would never happen but it wasn't as if he was just interested in Arthur physically. Maybe it started out like that, but he'd seen the man work, he'd seen Doctor Kirkland change from nasty and cold to reassuring and warm. He wanted more than just a quick shag in a closet to get his frustration out, he cared about the older man – but Lovina's comment had made it clear exactly why he wasn't willing to tell his friends that.
Alfred's expression hardened, glare turning cold now. "Is that what you think?" His hand found itself on the counter beside Lovina's own, closing her in though the woman didn't flinch. "That I should 'get over myself'? That I'm not good enough for anything?"
"That's not what I said!" Lovina looked up, hands curling into fists.
"That's exactly what you said."
"I said you needed to get over yourself, I didn't say you're not good enough for anything!" She exclaimed, eyebrows knitting together furiously until she noted the way the nurses were tossing looks their way. She grabbed Alfred's arm, trying to move away from the desk again but he only wrenched the limb from her grasp. "—It's just the way you act about it! It's unprofessional." The Italian hissed, trying to be quiet despite her voice seething with irritation.
"Unprofessional?" Alfred scoffed, giving no regard to anyone who looked their way. "What's unprofessional here is your—" He felt his voice rising, ready to yell at the other intern full force only to catch sight of a doctor over Lovina's shoulder headed their way. The tension in his shoulders dropped, straightening away from her though his hands mirrored Lovina's at his sides. "Your attitude." He muttered, finally keeping himself quiet as Doctor Kirkland came to a stop beside them.
"Just what is going on here?" Arthur asked. He'd seen the pair from the other end of the corridor, though he hadn't heard any of their arguing he could hear the way Alfred's voice rose – and if not that then he could at least see the way the nurses were looking at them. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a disagreement between the two interns, but the way Alfred's face was set, well, it made him concerned.
Lovina straightened too, turning to face their senior with just as poorly concealed discontent as Alfred. "Nothing sir." She replied, avoiding meeting his eye. "We were just sorting out some charts. I'll be going to collect Mr Wright's test results now." She turned sharply on her heel, not willing to spend another moment in Alfred's presence.
Alfred's gaze remained averted, though for once he didn't fidget nervously as he had any other time he was left alone with Doctor Kirkland. Instead, his jaw was still set, eyes poorly masking his irritation and face turned obviously away from Arthur. The elder raised an eyebrow, not convinced by Lovina's answer and not happy at the prospect of two warring interns looking after one of his most important patients.
"Is it nothing, Jones?" He asked, internally surprised to find no embarrassment or fluster rushing through him when he spoke. Perhaps his concern for Alfred's wellbeing had overrun his discomfort.
"Yes sir." Alfred's tone was clipped, swallowing his fading irritation. He was well aware of Arthur's stare on him, so much so that he was almost entirely certain he could pinpoint the exact placement of his gaze. He wanted to just crumble, vent out all of his frustrations to Arthur. But for all he knew Arthur didn't care, Arthur didn't have time for him, and half of his frustration came from Arthur anyway so what would be the use in embarrassing himself like that? The thought made him bite his cheek, that same cold feeling that shot through his heart when Lovina spoke rushing through him again.
Arthur stepped forward, moving himself into Alfred's line of vision. "Are you sure?" There was a softness in his voice, the same tone Alfred only heard when Arthur spoke to those scared patients and for a moment Arthur could see all the anguish in Alfred's eyes. But it was gone again just as fast, covered as if by some mental forcefield Alfred wasn't willing to take down for Arthur yet.
"Positive. Excuse me, sir." Alfred cleared his throat, raising his head and brushing past Arthur to head down the corridor in the opposite direction of Lovina, leaving Arthur to stand still; confused and more concerned.
Alfred hadn't technically been avoiding work, in fact he was doing work right at the moment; rearranging his locker to make things easier to access. Perhaps he'd been in Mr Wright's room as little as possible that day, perhaps he'd been sure to never be in there at the same time as Lovina, perhaps they'd skirted around each other and perhaps he was even spending his lunchtime in the intern's locker-room just to avoid talking to anyone. It wasn't as if he was hungry anyway.
It was quiet in the room, save for the sound of his breathing and the back and forth shuffling of his feet as he sorted out his messy locker. He wasn't a messy person by nature, but things had become so hectic lately it was hard to keep things in order. He'd been expected to be left alone; certain Lovina would bitch about him and turn the others against him anyway. He hadn't expected that soft, accented voice to break the silence, though at this point he was surprised he hadn't.
"Jones." Arthur stepped into the room quietly, his face still hard as his expressions normally were, but there was something – gentle around the edges. He'd spotted Alfred through the window of the door; he'd only meant to walk past, but after the earlier business he found he was still in want of an explanation.
Alfred turned, holding a spare scrub top in his hands. "Doctor Kirkland…Are you looking for something?" He swallowed thickly. He'd calmed down at that point, no longer worked up over his argument with Lovina, but with his anger gone embarrassment could very easily take its place.
"No." Arthur said slowly, wandering further into the room. He glanced around, making sure there was no one else in the room, though he wasn't sure why he was worried by that prospect. "In fact I wasn't looking for you at all." Alfred wasn't sure what to make of that, a frown forming on his lips as he debated whether he should be confused or further concerned. But Arthur shook his head, lifting a hand to scratch his cheek as he found words. "This…argument between you and Lovina, is it serious?"
Those feelings of embarrassment spiked with fear, the sort of fear that came when one was afraid someone would find out something they shouldn't. "…I don't underst-"
"Answer the question, Jones."
Alfred swallowed, finding his eyes wandering around to his hands and the scrub top they held. "…Not exactly, sir."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes sir."
Arthur paused, watching the way Alfred held himself for a moment. He moved forward again, slowly, stopping once he was by Alfred's side. "I don't expect you to want to tell me anything, Jones, but that doesn't mean you have to pretend things between you and your friend are fine. You're not my intern so I don't know if you expect something touchy feely when things go wrong, but if there's an issue with you and Lovina working together at current I can move one of you." He tried to find Alfred's eyes, though that quickly proved to be futile, so he took found an averted gaze.
"It's not a problem, Doctor Kirkland, we have it under control." Alfred finally looked up, but only into his locker, very quickly folding up the shirt so he could put it away. He glanced Arthur's way and surprised even himself by flashing the older man with a smile. "We're professionals, we can sort it out soon."
"…Good." Arthur nodded, for once not that reassured by the flash of Alfred's pearly teeth. But the intern didn't seem quite as down as before and Arthur couldn't find a reason to keep prying for information when Alfred seemed to have swept himself out of whatever funk he was in. "I'd expect nothing less from you." He added, voice still quite soft, though what shocked Alfred was not that, nor the gentle emphasis Arthur put on the word 'you', but instead the surprise of a very small and very genuine smile on Arthur's lips. Aimed at him.
"Thank you, sir." Alfred said dumbly, after a moment's hesitation staring at the gentle expression on the man's face. If only he could kiss that beautiful smile.
"You're welcome, Jones." The Englishman nodded, smile still there as he too hesitated. But he turned away after a moment too long, walking determinedly back to the door, smile relaxing into his usual expression. Alfred watched him walk, very aware of his heart and the way it beat fast in his chest. Lovina could say what she wanted, he wasn't about to 'get over himself' anytime soon. Particularly as Arthur turned in the doorframe, leaning around to see the intern with a concerned frown now in place. "—Get some lunch, won't you?"
"Yes."
"Good."
There was one more flash of that smile and Arthur was gone, this time leaving Alfred standing still, the intern's face lit up with a small smile of his own.
Sorry for the delay in this chapter, guys, life happens and all that. Hope you enjoyed.
