Day Nine: Cookies
Continuation from Day Eight
Between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Madge goes home to get some sleep, but is back at the hospital immediately after. Equipped with a large thermos of coffee, it's been one of those weeks where she feels as though several days just feels like one long, neverending day instead.
Doctor Michaels, who she's relieving, knows to put Hazelle back in her rotation to check on. The nurses will primarily be responsible for her, so she doesn't have to check-in on her if it's not medically necessary, but Madge wants to see her, at least a couple times throughout her shift.
The first time, to her relief, Hazelle is sitting up in bed, but alone. She smiles brightly at Madge as she comes in shyly. "Hello," she says. "Merry Christmas!"
Madge smiles as she comes to the foot of her bed and checks her chart. "Merry Christmas," she says. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better," Hazelle says. "Although I'm on quite a few drugs right now, so I'm not really feeling much of anything."
"That's probably for the best," Madge concedes, turning her attention to the chart. A nurse had come during the previous hour and helped Hazelle use the bathroom, changed her IV, and made sure she was hydrated. Perfect. She sets the chart down. "I'm surprised to find you by yourself, honestly."
"I sent them down to the cafeteria to get something to eat," Hazelle says. "Although I have the feeling they have something else up their sleeves. Even on painkillers, a mother knows."
Considering her own family history, Madge can't quite agree, but at least her mother, after finally finding a good medication and taking the correct dosages, is a fully-functioning adult and mother now. "That's sweet," she says instead. "Well, I'll get out of your hair, so–"
Hazelle grabs her hand. "You'll come by later, won't you?" She asks. "I know Gale wants to see you."
"Oh," Madge blinks, hoping her face isn't as red as it feels. "Well, that's all right. He already thanked me yesterday–"
"He wants to again," Hazelle made a fond, exasperated face. "You know how he is. Stubborn."
"Not much has changed in five years, then?" Madge says lightly, backing up. "I'll make my rounds and then we'll see, okay? If we're lucky the hospital will still be quiet, but you never know on Christmas…"
Hazelle smiles. "Well, I'll tell him you dropped in," she says. "He'll make it up to you somehow."
Madge is confused. "He doesn't need to," she says. "None of you need to. I didn't do anything."
"Tell that to Gale," Hazelle insists. "Stubborn."
Madge thinks that perhaps she should find Hazelle's nurse and tell her not to give her quite such a high dosage of painkillers. She's clearly a little loopy.
Several hours later and Madge is in the cafeteria, listlessly staring at her food. She's exhausted; she's dealt with a stream of patients– some car accidents; some grease and kitchen burns; some kids already swallowing weird parts of their new toys; etc. No matter how much coffee she has doesn't change the fact that she feels like she's at the end of her rope. It's 8 PM and she's been at the hospital for 14 hours. She's just clocked out and she could go home, but she wanted to eat something, because she knew she was going to go home and pass out, and there was nothing worse in Madge's eyes than waking up starving after a shift. It usually led to making awful life and dietary choices.
Despite that, she can't eat much, just moving the food around, trying to summon enough energy to leave, so it takes her a moment to process the large, brown hand hovering over her plate, a cookie stretched towards her.
Madge slowly lifts her eyes up. Gale Hawthorne, looking criminally good in a dark green sweater, is smiling down on her. Is she hallucinating? Is this some sort of Christmas Carol thing, except she's been super good this year, so she's being rewarded with hot men? (She'll take it.)
"Hey," Gale says. "I thought I'd missed you."
"Um," Madge says. She couldn't check on Hazelle, but she did catch Hazelle's nurse a couple times throughout the day and asked her how she was doing. She couldn't quite be too upset by it; she didn't know how she felt about seeing Gale again, especially a Gale who felt he owed her for being kind to his mother. "Nope. I'm, uh… still here."
She's a mess and she's too tired to even be embarrassed by it.
"I'm glad," Gale says, taking a seat. "Um, here's a… would you like a cookie? I made them. To bring to Ma. But I thought I'd offer you one and Ma's nurse said you usually came here after your shifts, so…"
She takes it gingerly from him and he rubs the back of his neck as she takes a bite. "This is really good," she says, and she means it. It's just chocolate chip, but it's chewy and not too sweet, and it's perfect. It goes really well with the mediocre hospital coffee, surprisingly. "Thanks, Gale. Your mom said earlier you were looking for me, but… honestly, you don't have to worry about it. We're good."
Gale shakes his head. "I know, but…"
"No 'buts.' You brought me sugar, can't we just say we're even?" She feels more energized– not by much, but enough to muster up a grin, and to feel self-conscious enough about the state of her hair and smudged make-up.
Gale shakes his head again, and Madge sighs. "Gale…"
"Hear me out," Gale says, and he rubs the back of his neck again. Madge realizes with a start that he'snervous. "How about… you let me take you out to dinner? Then we'll call it good."
"Oh, yeah?" Madge raises an eyebrow.
Gale flushes. "I mean, I don't know if I would count that as me paying you back. Pretty sure even if we go on a date that'll just be putting me more in your debt."
Madge tilts her head, assesses him. "That's only if it was a pity date," she says calmly.
Gale grins. "So it's not?"
"Nope," Madge says, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "Definitely not."
Gale blinks at her for a moment, dazed, before he thinks to ask, "When are you free next?"
"Luckily for you, I have the next few days off." She gets up to put her tray away.
"Where are you going?" He asks with a laugh.
"To my car," Madge says over her shoulder, "if you walk me to it, maybe I'll owe you enough where I'll give you my number… just to make things even."
He hurries to catch up with her– If this is what owing Madge Undersee is like, Gale will take it.
