Disclaimer : I own nothing, guys at WB and NBC do. I just borrow to have fun…
-"What makes you say, he had some?" Suddenly their attention was all on Clemente.
-"Man I'm not blind, are you? He still doesn't like me, but he was in a very good mood yesterday. We could almost pleasantly chat."
-"We were wondering about the same thing. But we weren't sure there were any clues. And about the lady concerned..." Haleh pushed a little bit. Maybe the doctor had also noticed something worth mentioning.
-"Okay let me see... Who was wearing the same clothes yesterday as the day before? With whom did he come in that evening? Who is he always looking for and staring at? Anyone wants to guess? No? Well the answer is Abby Lockhart." Haleh jumped on her chair and happily looked at the others.
-"Okay, but I'm not sure that actually means they did anything." Inez was still adamant.
-"She never wears exactly the same outfit from one day to the other." Chuny was lost in her thoughts. As Abby had been wearing scrubs 2 days ago, it was probably logical that no one had noticed that. Clemente was good!
-"That's true. She at least changes her top." Haleh confirmed, satisfied that finally the others were ready to believe her.
-"Don't forget she was on leave on Wednesday and it was 5.30pm when she came in." Jerry discarded his salad. This was getting too interesting and food would have to wait.
-"Well maybe she didn't bother changing. She spent the whole day in her pajamas and jumped in the first clothes she found, when she was called in." Inez was still not convinced and was looking for a sensible explanation to this apparent lapse in Abby's behavior.
-"Or she couldn't change because she hadn't been home! She was called on her cell. She could have been anywhere." Jerry rubbed his hands together in excitement.
-"And Dr Clemente just said they came in together." Haleh was smiling widely. Yes! She had been right.
-"They certainly did." Victor confirmed.
-"That doesn't mean a thing. They have all been called in at about the same time."
-"Oh Inez, get real! Abby lives further away from here than Luka. If they were called at the same time and she was home, there was no way she could have been here at the same time as him. This can only mean they were at the same place and together!" Haleh insisted.
-"And he wasn't wearing the same clothes as the day before." Jerry chuckled.
-"She was maybe nearby and it was just a coincidence they came in at the same time."
-"So she didn't spend the day in her pajamas?" Frank mockingly wondered.
-"Oh, Frank!"
-"Yeah right! Totally believable: she was wearing the same clothes the whole day even though it was her day off. And she spent it about 15 minutes away from the County just in case we had an emergency. That really makes sense. Poor Abby, she really must miss us when she is not working!"
"So let's say she was at his place. We know she was upset when she left 2 days ago. They're good friends, we all agree on that." Everyone except Clemente agreed half-hearted.
"If you call that friendship, you have to be nuts." The doctor commented.
"It's not far fetched to think that she went to his flat to discuss things with him. They could have talked late in the night and he let her sleep at his place. The next day they talked some more or maybe they did something together. Later they were called in and came together."
"That's an awful long time to talk. He left at 8pm, she left at what? 9 pm? That left them 20 hours to speak. That must have been a hell of a conversation. But yeah, I agree on they 'did' something together." Clemente chuckled at his last comment.
-"Oh Inez! That's the most unbelievable story ever."
-"Well I don't think so." Frank's statement took everyone by surprise.
-"You don't think so?" Haleh rolled her eyes, wondering what was wrong with Frank.
-"Well you just have to replace the work 'talk' by 'have sex' and I think this story makes complete sense!" As soon as he had finished his sentence, everyone except Inez burst out laughing.
-"There must be another reasonable explanation." Inez insisted.
-"Well I don't see any." Chuny smiled at Inez. She knew the young nurse had a crush on Luka. Picturing him with a new girlfriend wasn't apparently something she wanted to do.
-"I can only talk about what I saw." Clemente explained matter-of-factedly. "I can't say I know them as good as you. But believe me, those two didn't talk. They both had that look when they came in yesterday night. A look that tells me that they have done the deed more than once and that it must have a hell of a good time for both of them. Not that I understand what she would possibly want with a guy like him." The nurses exchanged looks. "Yeah well, whatever! If he had any sense of humor, I'd hit on her just for the fun of it. But I'm not sure it's wise."
-"Well it could be fun." Jerry laughed at Frank's comment.
-"Fun for you. You wouldn't be the one counting your bones."
"We could all tease them a little. Imagine: a secret affair? It's been so long since we had the last one." Haleh was smiling broadly. This was going to be so cool. She already knew how to make the best out of it.
"Yeah, I miss the secrecy, the pretend first meeting in the morning, the questions about how the previous evening was..." Jerry dreamingly recalled.
"It was so much fun with Doug and Carol. Those two were like open books." Chuny confirmed.
"The question is do we have enough to start the rumor mill?" Haleh had her doubts. Maybe it was too soon to start talking.
"We have started it with less evidence in the past." Frank nodded, this was more than enough. It would be a like a wake-up call. In no time, it would become the hospital's first topic of conversation. It would be as good as Abby's Dear John letter. No, this was far better, especially if they played it right!
"Yeah but this is major. Two doctors, one an attending, the other a R2 and with their past history, this will make headlines here."
"Oh they were already together once? Guess that explains why they jumped in the sack so quickly. He already knew what buttons to push to get her flat." The men laughed at Clemente's comment.
"This is a very disgusting way of..." Inez shook her head.
"Sorry if I offended you, but... well that's what happened. Too bad, I'd have loved to have a little affair with Lockhart, she is completely my style. Okay, I like them a little trashier, but I could make an exception."
"I'd say let's start the rumor but low-key. We could say that two doctors in ER had a little fling. No real details and let's see how far the ball rolls and the interest it arouses." Frank looked at the others to see if they agreed with his plan. Clemente shook his head.
"No! You shouldn't say two doctors right away... Maybe just that someone from ER got lucky... It's open enough. This way no one will know if it was a doctor or a nurse or someone else. Wait 2-3 days and see how the rumor comes back."
"That's brilliant. It will leave us enough time to see if it was a one-night-stand or if it evolves in something more serious." Haleh's smile was broadening.
"We also have to make sure that the rumor doesn't come back to ER to haunt us. I mean you wouldn't want them to hear from it too soon. That could compromise future encounters or make them too careful."
"No risks there. Luka is the only person in this hospital who isn't into rumors. And that's a good thing, I'm not sure he would still be working here if he knew all the things said about him. As far as Abby is concerned, she almost never heard the ones about her." Chuny laughed. It was so easy to fool Abby on those things. She was so trusting and almost never double-checked with people outside from ER.
"A rumor about Abby and Luka! I can't wait to see it unfold!" Haleh clapped her hands. Clemente was looking at her thoughtfully.
"You know if they are past lovers and good friends, they could have been doing this for quite some time. You know once in a while when they are both unattached, just to release the tension. I used to have a banging friend like that. It's more common than you think." They all stared at him. "What? Don't you people ever get out? Or have a life?"
"They're not like that!"
"They're not like that!" Clemente mocked, imitating Inez shocked voice. "You didn't notice a thing this time, why would you have noticed something before?"
"Hey, I noticed." Haleh countered.
"Okay so they might have done it in the past. Why not? I agree it is possible. But there is no evidence for or against that. Now we have the current situation and here we can figure something out." Chuny stood up to calm things down. "Okay so let's split tasks. Haleh, Malik, Inez and I will be in charge of the monitoring with patients. Jerry and Frank will keep track of every suspicious behavior outside of trauma."
"And what will I do? I want to have some fun too!" Clemente whined. "For once that something happens here…"
"Whatever you like, you seem good at noticing details. And you could still try your luck with Abby. Maybe it isn't serious and you could still score with her."
"Yeah or maybe it is serious and I'm the next ER case to roll in." He snorted.
"Sometimes you have to live dangerously..." Inez smiled sweetly. She guessed that daring him was the best way to force him to action. She saw a cocky smile form on his face.
"It's not going to be said that I'm not up to a little challenge." He suddenly checked his watch and cursed. "I need to go back. It was fun chatting with you." With this he left the lounge as quickly as he had entered it.
"So what do you think? Can he land with Abby?" The young nurse wondered.
"I think he'll sooner discover that 8 inches can make a hell of a difference when another guy punches you!"
"Okay so when do we start?" Chuny asked.
"Our break is over, I'd say let the festivities begin!"