He went to brush his hair back from his face, exhaustion and frustration weighing heavy on his mind, but stopped with his hand in mid air to pull off the latex glove with which it was clad, before completing the movement.
His shift had ended thirty minutes ago, his late arrival already made up for, but he still had two patients that the chief refused to allow him to hand over. He grabbed a clean set of gloves from a supply cart and snapped them on, walking quickly along the corridor towards the administration desk. He needed to collect the lab results for his next patient and hopefully catch a few minutes break whilst doing so.
It was typical of his day that Dr Weaver was also at the desk when he arrived, looking slightly annoyed and presumably on hold, judging by the phone she had clamped between her ear and shoulder. She glanced up when he reached for a chart, the irritated expression fading, being replaced by actual warmth, reminding Dave why he had nicknamed her "Chief" as well as "Festus".
She smiled slightly, lips parting in preparation for speech, when the phone she held flared to life and her attention was snatched away, her hand scribbling information onto a pad she had at the ready. He'd flashed a smile in her general direction and was already a few paces away when the phone clattered into its cradle and his name was called out.
"Malucci"
He turned, noted that the warmth was still present, but also saw a sheepish look that had previously been hidden by irritation.
"Yeah?" He inquired, eyes squinting in the afternoon light, brow wrinkled in thought.
"There's, some⦠they arrived about twenty minutes ago, said not to disturb you, that they'd wait, I meant to tell you but." She trailed off, her hand waving in the vague direction of the phone, and Dave, not unfamiliar with the hell of switchboard holding systems, understood the problem.
"Yeah, it's okay, thanks. They in chairs?"
"I directed them to the lounge"
He shifted on his feet, hands fidgeting with the chart he held, catching his thumb on a sharp edge and reminding him of its presence, of the patients he had left.
"I...um, I gotta deal with these two cases, could... would you tell them I'll be with them soon?"
"Dave, give the charts to Chen, your shift finished awhile ago and you've actually worked hard all day."
The look of surprise on Jing Mai's face was mirrored on Dave's, and he nearly fumbled the rundown of the patients' conditions as he transferred them into the other doctor's care.
"Sorry" He said, sounding anything but, a wide smile spread over his face as he made to follow Weaver, "I've got someone waiting."
"Don't tell me, a beautiful girl, you no doubt picked up in a bar last night" Chen's sarcastic voice called after him.
"Beautiful yes," Was Dave's rejoinder, "but don't let him hear you call him a girl."
Silence reigned in Dave's wake. The admin desk staring at his rapidly departing back, until the silence was finally broken by Haleh
"Did that boy just say what I think he said," and at the chorus of nods and murmured agreement added, "now this I got to see"
She wasn't the only person suddenly heading in the direction of the lounge.
