Disclaimer : I own nothing, guys at WB and NBC do. I just borrow to have fun…
Abby groaned as she entered the hospital in a rush. A brief look at the clock told her what she already knew, she was 15 minutes late. Divesting her coat as she walked towards the lounge, she gave Admit a quick look. Things didn't seem too busy as Neela was chatting with Chuny.
"You're late, Lockhart." Eve shouted her way as she walked by.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'll be here in a minute." Great not even 10 seconds in and the head nurse had already managed to ruin her day. She rushed in the lounge, opened her locker and grabbed her lab coat and stethoscope. As she ran out struggling to close the coat, she felt her still wet hair drench her turtleneck. She groaned for the second time and cursed. She hated that sweater, the wool was hoarse and by the end of the day her neck would be raw from the friction. But she had had no choice this morning, it was the only one which effectively hid the hickey Luka gave her last night. Yeah first sin on the list. Of course they had spend far longer than 20 minutes in the shower, leaving her no time to get her hair dry. Second sin... She walked to the Admit and smiled at Neela who was waiting there.
"Hey, how is our newly-wed doing this morning?" Abby asked with a smile.
"I'm doing good, thank you." The young doctor answered. With a smile Neela freed a strand of Abby's hair which had been stuck in her lab coat. Instantly her hand went to her collar to press it more firmly against her throat. Neela laughed at her start. "You sure seem jumpy. What happened to you? Your hair is still wet and you look positively exhausted. Rough night?" She wondered her smile widening.
"Well I didn't hear my..."
"You're late, Abby!" Morris interrupted her at mid-sentence. "Your excuse being?" He cocked his head and Abby felt hey eyes squint. That was exactly what she needed, Morris on her back minutes after she came in. She closed her eyes a second to collect herself, then sweetly smiled at him.
"Gee thanks, Morris. I might have missed that fact. And I'm not even 15 minutes late."
"That's 15 minutes too many." He scolded her. "Take an example on Neela. Our prett bride was here on time, and that, even though I'm pretty sure she had a very busy night."
"Morris!" Neela screamed out shocked.
"What? It was your wedding night after all." He reminded her. "One is entitled to have fantasies." His dreamy and far-away look at the end of the sentence made both doctors roll their eyes. Frank chuckled at the sight but got serious again as Neela looked daggers at him. She turned towards Morris again.
"Please, don't have fantasies about me and Michael." She pleaded with him. "That is one thought I can do without." Morris shrugged and turned his attention back to Abby.
"So what's your excuse, Abby? You didn't hear your alarm clock? You got stuck in traffic? Maybe a suicide on the El?"
"You're far too curious. So I woke up too late. It won't happen again and I'll stay longer tonight."
"Of course you will. An additional hour would do nicely." He firmly announced. Abby felt her shoulders sag. Great! A 15-hour shift definitely sounded like fun after the little sleep she had gotten. And that was sin number three. She shifted a little, slightly smiling as she remembered Luka's massage. Sure that had soothed her aching muscles, but what had followed clearly hadn't.
"Do you already know who the new ER chief is?" Morris asked turning once again towards Abby. She felt herself blush by the mere mention of their future chief. She cleared her throat but no sound seemed able to pass her lips. She coughed a little, mentally chastising herself for letting pictures from the previous night and early morning enter her mind with Morris or anyone next to her.
"Was it announced?" Neela wondered coming to her rescue.
"Not yet. But the choice has been made." Morris confirmed. "Sadly as none of our Attendings is in at this ungodly hour, we're all left to wonder."
"Then why are you asking me?" Abby could finally vocalize her question.
"We thought you might know." Frank answered, suddenly very interested by the turn their conversation had taken.
"Why should I know?" She insisted on the 'I'.
"Oh come on, Abby. You chatted with Kovac last night." The clerk reminded her. "We thought that maybe, he had told you something."
"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But it isn't my place to say anything." She added with a smile. "And as I was reminded forcefully several times, my shift has started and patients are waiting for me. Let's see, hmm yummy, I have an ulcer to debride in Exam 1, a head lac to suture in 3, a woman with abdominal pains in 2 and a little boy who has apparently lost 2 marbles in his nose in 4. Suddenly I'm happy I didn't have time for breakfast. See, I'm far too busy to answer your questions."
"I'll take the ulcer, if you tell me who the new ER chief is." Morris proposed, ready to take the chart from her.
"I'll give you a doughnut." Frank offered already opening the box containing his much beloved morning treats.
"Hmm I don't know." Abby tapped with a pen against her lips, pretending to give their offers serious thinking. "The idea of you depending on me for news is kind of thrilling, elating..." She finally said. Both men drew back frowning.
"Don't push it, we'll know in 40 minutes." Morris reminded her.
"Exactly. Happy waiting! See you when I'm finished." Abby smiled and turned on her heels.
"I can't believe, she didn't say a thing." Morris sat down next to Frank and went through his files sighing.
"I'd say it's Kovac." Frank predicted. "He was in too good a mood last night for having lost to Clemente."
"Yeah, he had a good day yesterday." The chief resident agreed.
"He definitely got lucky." Frank laughed at his little joke and winked at Neela and Chuny. Morris looked up from his files.
"Becoming chief has nothing to do with luck." He explained with passion. "It's skills, hard word and dedication."
"He wasn't talking about becoming chief." Chuny explained.
"About what then?" Morris frowned and looked at both women questioningly.
"Morris, you're really clueless sometimes." Neela noted. "I'll go help Abby, this report can wait."
"What?" He asked her, as she left waving her hand in his direction. Chuny shook her head and followed the young doctor. Frank just smirked but remained silent. "Why isn't anybody telling me a thing?"