Chapter 14

"Hah, Paige got you? You can't be too mad though. You know that money goes to charity, right?" Johnny says, folding up a piece of paper into a miniature football.

"What? Uh, no I didn't. I thought the government paid for everything here?" Mike answers, eyes wide in confusion. For some reason he's carrying a box, and standing instead of sitting next in the empty chair next to Charlie.

She really wishes he would sit.

"Psh, no. They can only do so much. Cheapstakes. Anyway, what you waiting here for?" Charlie chimes in, while turning the page of her magazine. She was at front desk duty again when Johnny showed up, with Mike following behind him, carrying a box.

"Briggs told me to wait here for something," Mike answers, looking around. Charlie watches him thoughtfully. He looks a little tired. Probably because of last night's bonfire.

Their motley crew didn't have one run that long in a very long time. Since the Donny incident, they didn't have a chance to get together like that to unwind. It was nice to have an excuse to do so with a new guy in their ranks.

"You got chose?"

"What?"

"Don't listen to him. So, Paul has you doing a mission already?" Charlie continues, without lifting an eye from her magazine. She flicks her eyes upwards to see Mike looking back at her. She smirks slightly in recognition and he gives her a goofy grin in return. "This is what you wanted right?"

"Well, I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be doing. He just told me to pick this up-"

"Seems better than what I'm supposed to be doing today," Johnny sighs, placing a finished paper football into a pile of other footballs. "And doing tomorrow."

Charlie stares at him blankly and Mike follows suit.

How could he be so carefree?

"And what's that exactly?" Mike questions.

"Huh?"

Charlie shakes her head. She has a better idea on how to pass the time now, well before Briggs locates Mike. "Let me see your phone."

"Me?"

"No, you look pretty busy over there," Charlie refers in sarcasm, making Johnny laugh. She turns her attention to Mike again.

"I'm talkin' to you Mikey," Charlie asserts, holding her hand out. "Hand it over."

She hides her smile at the way Mike is watching her in apparent shock. After a second, he places the box he held down at the desk before reaching into his pocket for his phone. He pulls out a similar phone to Charlie's own, holding out in front of her.

"Hand it over," Charlie repeats, for the third time.

What was taking him so long?

Did he have porn on there or what?

Wouldn't be that shocking of a thing to see on a guy's phone though.

"Uh."

"Got something to hide Mikey?" Johnny teases, sitting closer to Charlie now and abandoning his arts and crafts.

"Am I gonna get it back?" Mike asks her quietly.

The sweet expression on his face almost makes Charlie pinch his cheeks.

So cute.

"We'll see," Charlie goads, with a shrug. The petrified look on Mike's face almost makes her laugh this time, but she manages to keep the urge at bay.

She sees him debating with himself on what to do. And before she could even say another word about it, Johnny reaches up and snatches the tech from his hands.

"Hey!"

"Taking too long son!" Johnny cackles, holding the phone away from Mike's reach. He takes out his own phone, lying it side by side with Mike's.

"Johnny, we don't snatch things from people's hands," Charlie lectures, trying not to sound too pissed off.

This kid.

It was rude of him to do that. But also, Charlie didn't want it to go about it this way. Now she won't be able to put her number in first. She's doubtful that Mike got anyone's contact information the day before.

"You ain't make any friends yet Levi?" Johnny quizzes, as he looks through Mike's phone and taps in information near the contacts list. Charlie sneaks a peak to find only names unknown to her and Johnny.

"I haven't had the time to. This is only my second day here. Now, would you please-"

"Hold on, I only gotta put in Paige's and Chuck's digits and I'm done," Johnny mumbles, inputting said information from what Charlie could see.

Charlie looks up at Mike, to see any reaction. The only one she got was Mike casting a sideways glance at her.

She wondered if he is attracted to Paige or not. She initially wanted them to meet, because maybe they'd be cute as friends or something. Who knows?

They wouldn't be able to date each other though, based on hospital and Graceland house rules-

Now, there was this business with the swear jar. The little encounter probably offset Paige's chances a little bit. If they were going to dive into that territory that is.

"Don't be mad at Paige," Charlie says, and she is a little surprised by the bewildered look on Mike's face. As if he wants to explain himself. "She means well. Just don't drop any f-bombs in the kids ward if you like your wallet to stay full. Capisce?"

"Got it," Mike says, with a nod.

"There you go," Johnny pipes up, as he tosses Mike's phone back to him. "Text us anytime. Now you won't be so lonely."

"Don't throw it Johnny," Charlie scolds, nudging him in the side. "And maybe he wants to be alone sometimes. There's nothing wrong with that."

She noticed this at the bonfire last night. Mike interacted with everyone a few times at some point. Then there were long periods of time he just observed, talking in everything. Charlie couldn't help but admire that about him. Although rare, there were times where she felt that way too.

"Thanks," Mike murmurs, searching through his phone. Probably making sure Johnny didn't get too curious with his settings or something. Charlie couldn't blame him for that one.

Charlie suddenly hears someone whistling from down the corridor. Mike, Johnny and herself turn to find Briggs strolling towards them, carrying a box identical to the one Mike has.

"What's up nurses?," Briggs greets, casting a cheerful glance at everyone.

What was he so happy about?

Charlie hopes he is taking care of this missing pills thing. She's still a little jumpy about it, even though it's not in her hands anymore. Anyone else in her shoes would be relieved…but she can't bring herself to think that way.

"What's in the box?" Charlie asks, staring straight into Brigg's eyes. He stares back, not revealing a damn thing as usual.

"Boxes, yeah. What's going on?" Johnny questions.

"Nothing for you to worry about right now," Briggs says, with a small smile. It was one of his infamous 'reassuring' smiles.

And it irritates the hell out Charlie, instead of reassuring her. She wants to press further, but decides against it. She'll get Briggs alone eventually.

"I have your thing," Mike says, picking up the box he had earlier.

What are they even up to?

"Thank you for that. Now, come with me," Briggs confers, with a nod. "Seeya Chuck, Johnny."

"Yo, where you taking him? Can I come?"

"Bring him back in one piece or else Paul!" Charlie makes sure to warn. She isn't sure she likes the way Briggs has taken to Mike. It was almost a lackey-grunt type of thing, if Charlie didn't know any better.

Wasn't Mike supposed to figure his own way around? At least that's the dribble Briggs gave her as an excuse for not showing him around the hospital yesterday.

"I'm bored Charlie," Johnny groans, resting his head on her shoulder. She pats him on the head and thinks for a bit. The hospital around where they were is pretty empty.

"Wanna get lunch?" Charlie offers, after looking at the time on her phone.

Time passed so quickly-

Thank god.

Now that she thinks about it, she also sorta misses Mike's company. There was nothing wrong with being in Johnny's company, obviously. It was just nice having him around to keep her sane…

Which was a strange thought, because they only met yesterday.

"Your treat?" Johnny inquires, stretching out his limbs.

"Sure, why not. It's the FBI's dime not mine."

I just want to say quickly thank you for the 1100+ views on this story! :D I was so happy when I saw that so many people are reading this. I'm trying to get better at updating this on a consistent basis again when I upload chapter chunks. Please bear with me on that lol. If anyone has any illness/diseases patient ideas please let me know. I can include them later on after I finish up what I have planned already. Thank you for reading this~ bye for now.