Hospitals give me the creeps.
My complaints are pretty clichéd, I guess. Smells funny, food's bad, blah blah blah. But they're valid all right. One look at the so-called tuna casserole they were serving in the cafeteria was enough to chase my appetite away for the rest of the night.
So now I'm standing here, not daring to sit in any of those dirty looking chairs in the reception area, trying to breathe through my mouth, and avoiding eye contact with the receptionist, who seems to be glaring at me for some reason. I suppose she must have her reasons. Just like half the town does.
What the hell is taking David so long? For all he knows this could be a serious emergency. I thought doctors were supposed to be little agile athletes, sprinting down the halls and leaping over stretchers. I mean, if ER has taught me anything, it was definitely that.
There he is, finally. Oh, how disgusting! He's absolutely covered in blood! I tell myself to get a grip. This is a hospital, Kendall. People die here. Respect that.
"David, oh my darling David. How are you?" I smile and try not to look too grossed out by all the blood. David doesn't say anything. He's just looking at me, confusion on his face. I think I see a flicker of disappointment before the anger that I've grown accustomed to overcomes him.
"Now just what the fuck do you want? I'm not in the fucking mood." He snarls. Well, that was certainly rude. I can't think of what I've done to merit two fucks in one greeting. The receptionist is smirking and not trying to hide it either.
"Can you give us some privacy?" I snap. She looks at me blankly.
"This is my work station, Miss Hart."
"Listen, you little fuckwit-"
I hear David sigh.
"Oh, just shut up Kendall and let's go to my office." How do you like that, I want to shout at that damned receptionist, who probably just wants to fuck David. But she's already gone back to her paperwork and I feel embarrassingly petty. I hate when that happens.
I follow David into his office, which is littered with papers and has nowhere to sit. Wonderful. David starts pullingoff his heinously bloody scrubs and for a horrible panic-stricken moment I fear that he's wearing nothing underneath. But such is not the case, so I resume breathing normally.
Wow. David's office is really big. I would have thought, since he's been fired and re-hired so many times, that they would have just shoved him in some dirty old closet somewhere. But I guess he would never allow that. He probably makes sure he has the biggest office in the whole hospital. He's such a guy.
"Well?" He's standing there in a t-shirt and those bloody pants, arms crossed.
"Well nothing, David. I've just dropped by to see how you are." I smile sweetly. Or, you know, how I imagine a sweet smile would look like. Probably something like Bianca's.
"I'm fine. So, goodbye." He continues to change and—whoops, just boxers underneath. I hastily cast my eyes elsewhere.
I can't help but notice the lack of pictures. Understandably he wouldn't have any of Vanessa or Anna, but wouldn't he at least want one of Leora? Of Leo? But maybe that would be too hurtful for him. I mean, I try not to feel sorry for people but David...he's had some incredible losses in such a short time. And the worst part is, he's definitely the kind of person who would despise pity of any sort.
I spot a chair against the wall and begin moving stacks of paper, binders, books, and all the other crap off of it. David tells me not to mess anything up.
"Sure." I mumble, wondering how this room could possibly get any messier. I unearth a CD with a post-it note stuck to the front, which I surreptitiously take in.
David, it reads. Here are all those songs that you like off The OC, so you can listen to them wile you're at work. Maxie. I stifle a giggle. David, a fan of The O.C? Colour me slightly surprised. I would have thought shows about teenage drama to be beneath him. And who's this Maxie? That's such a porn star name. And she had misspelled while. It must be one of the bimbo nurses that work here.
David has finally pulled on his sweat pants and he walks over, snatching the CD out of my hand.
"Do you mind not going through my things?" God, he seems even more paranoid then usual. It's not like I'm going to steal anything. The Definitive Manual on Ventricle Arteries didn't really interest me and that CD was one I already had in my collection.
I collapse in the armchair.
"So, what's new?"
"You aren't actually serious, are you?" David mutters, scowling.
"Of course I am." I'm finding that I quite like annoying him. He takes it so badly.
"Nothing is new." He says tersely.
"And yourself, Kendall..." I prompt. David says nothing. "Nothing really new in my life either, since you're so interested." He gives me a look that clearly states that he is not interested, and pulls on a sweater. I guess I had better stop beating around the bush. "Okay, well, I just came to see if you're still inexplicably attracted to that raging harpy."
He's quiet for a moment. I wait for the explosion.
"Well, I don't know Kendall. Are you still inexplicably attracted to that arrogant heartless blowhard?" For a minute I feel like punching him in the face, until I remember that I started this.
"I am. So I'll take that as an affirmative on your part as well then." He opens his mouth to speak but I rush to cut him off. "Look David, you and I both know that they don't love each other but I'm getting tired of waiting. I miss Ryan and I wish I didn't because he's being an asshole but-" I have to stop because I've started to cry. Beautiful.
"So, what then? What the fuck do you expect me to do about it, Kendall?" He isn't shouting, but his words are laced with venom. I blow my nose, trying to regain my composure.
"It's not what you can do, David. It's what we can do. Together."
"What do you mean?"
"How much does it kill you to see them together?" I ask him.
"I haven't seen either of them for a couple weeks so..."
"Well, consider yourself lucky. It's as though they're joined at the hip these days." I had seen them several times, mostly at the grocery store and sometimes in the park. They never seemed to speak to each other much, which would have given me hope if not for the fact that their hands were always tightly clasped, with Ryan's arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder. He could really make a girl feel safe. "And it kills me."
He shrugs and sits down at his desk.
"Well, they are married."
He's trying to act as though this isn't bothering him. I'm not going to let him.
I don't really understand what kind of thing David and Greenlee ever had between them. Maybe it was nothing. But David doesn't seem the type to carry a torch without being given some encouragement. Frankly, if it's true I'm shocked and a even little disgusted with them. I mean, sometimes it's helpful to take comfort in another person during a mourning period, but David was his brother and Greenlee was his wife. That's just nasty and wrong.
"Married? Ryan sure has a funny way of showing it." I was of course referring to the night he came home from his honeymoon and then proceeded to crawl back into bed with me. At the time it had seemed like a victimless crime, as I had whipped myself into an almost unbearable state of longing for Ryan since he had been away, and because, to me, Greenlee would never be a victim, no matter how often she portrayed herself as one. But I had been short-sighted. Beacuse there had been a victim. Me.
David narrows his eyes.
"You disgusting slut. Does it make you feel good, sleeping with someone else's husband?"
Now that's just hypocrisy at it's finest.
"I don't know David. It probably feels the same way it felt for you when you were sleeping with Dixie Martin. Pretty damn good." Game, set, and match for me. David has no response so he starts fumbling with the papers on his desk. "But come on, I didn't come here to fight. I came here to make you a proposition."
He stops what he's doing and looks toward me expectantly. Not that kind of proposition, idiot. Well, not really. "I propose we do the same thing to them."
David laughs.
"What, get married?"
"Well, we don't have to go that far. But imagine how much it would hurt them, us being together."
David sighs.
"I don't want to hurt them. Well, not Greenlee anyway."
"I know that. But when they see us together, they might realize that they've pushed it too far, that they could actually lose us." David seems unconvinced. "Just think, David. They catch a glimpse of us here and there, laughing, having a good time. Plant the seeds in their mind. And then step things up a little. Kissing-" David starts to object and I'm forced to shush him. "Look, there's no need to go any farther than that, if it bothers you so much. God, as if you're such a prude. It's not as if this is going to be my finest hour, either."
I'm surprised to see David smile.
"No, it certainly wouldn't be." He chuckles. "But you're forgetting one thing. No one would ever believe us. It would be pathetically transparent what we were doing."
This is turning out to be much easier than I had originally thought or prepared for. The poor guy's desperate for her. Or maybe he's just desperate for some action. Has there been anyone else since Anna? I can't think of anyone but I know there must be someone. David's too much of a slut to keep it to himself.
"I don't think so, David. I'm an amazing actress. And all you have to do is stand there and say ahhhhhhhhh." David laughs again, which I think must be a record.
"You know, I think this must be the most ridiculous cliché of a plan that I've ever heard, but fuck it, I just can't resist a good old-fashioned proposition. I'm going to give you a week to make this work, and you had better Kendall, because I don't think you're going to find another guy in this town who Ryan hates more than me."
I grin happily, for I have ventured into the lion's den.
And I have triumphed.