Disjunction

A/N: From this prompt that ironinkpen on Tumblr posted (for the link check out my AO3 or Tumblr): "A toddler broke your nose and I may or may not have snapped my thumb during a very intense game of Mario Kart and now we're both sitting next to each other in the hospital waiting room" AU

Marlene loved her job...really she did! Daycare meant something to her! She remembered the day her mum had needed to go back to work and walking into the daycare, feeling terrified. It was that feeling and a deep love of early childhood psychology that lead her to be a child psychologist running a daycare, paving the way for what daycare centers should be doing in order to truly care for their charges and not simply supervise them.

But on days like today, Marlene wished she had eyes in the back of her head. Poor Liam didn't mean for the ball to hit her. He was big for a four-year-old and didn't know his own strength. Hence when the ball hit her face, Marlene heard the crushing sound of cartilage and bone colliding and felt hot blood running down her face along with a searing pain that had momentarily blinded her.

After calming Liam and ensuring that he knew she was fine. She turned him over to Emmeline, called Mary to come to take her place, and hitched an Uber to the ER.

"I'm sorry dear, but it's going to be a bit of a wait," the receptionist said in an overly sweet voice.

Marlene fought the urge to nod and kept the cold damp towel pressed against her nose "I expected it would be. Thank you."

Slowly she moved to sit down in a slightly less crowded part of the waiting room, but a bout of nausea hit and she quickly sat in the closest available seat instead.

"Sorry," she apologized to the man she plopped down next to. "Just give me a moment and I'll move."

"Broken nose?" He asked as she closed her eyes and brought her head down to her legs.

"Yep," she took a deep breath and tried to relax. The darkness seemed to be helping, along with forcing most of the blood to the towel rather than her stomach. "I'm sorry, but I've lied to you. I'm not going to be moving until they call me back."

The man chuckled, "That's alright, I don't mind company."

Marlene sighed as her nausea slowly began to subside. She felt mildly awkward sitting next to this man she didn't know while folded in half in her chair. So she did the first thing that came to mind, she started talking.

"Why are you here if you don't mind my asking?"

"I'm pretty sure I've broken my thumb."

"That's unfortunate," Marlene took another deep breath trying to focus on the conversation to distract her from the pain and nausea. The poor bloke probably wished she'd shut up, but she needed anything to keep from losing her lunch all over the waiting room.

"Not nearly as unfortunate as your broken nose," He sounded like he was smiling.

"Yes, well, I'm in much better shape than the poor thing who broke it."

"Got in a bit of a tussle did you?" He laughed, and Marlene smiled at the sound of it.

"No, it was a little boy and a ball. He's got quite the arm."

"Wait, are you saying a little boy broke your nose?"

"A four-year-old, yes, by throwing a ball. He was so distraught the poor thing." Marlene hoped Emmeline had been able to help Liam through the scare. Emmeline had done her doctoral program with her, she was brilliant, but Marlene still worried.

The man laughed, "Well now I've heard it all."

"Oh please," Marlene huffed, "how did you break your thumb? Fighting lions, I suppose?"

The man laughed harder, "Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"Probably not," Marlene wanted to glare at him, but that would have required sitting up and she wasn't prepared to do that yet.

His laughter slowed as he spoke again. "What if I told you I'm a witch and I fell off my broom?"

"Nope," Marlene rolled her eyes before realizing that not only could he not see it, but her eyes were still closed.

"That's good; I wouldn't be inclined to believe me either."

Marlene laughed but quickly regretted the decision as it made her head pound.

"Alright, I suppose since you had your nose broken by a little boy I can tell you that my thumb snapped while playing Mario Kart."

Marlene almost sat up to stare at him. "You, you broke your thumb playing a video game?"

"No," he sighed, "I broke it because I jumped my mate when he pulled a cheap move and didn't think to set the controller down."

Marlene chuckled, finding that didn't hurt her head as much as laughing did.

"Boss was furious," the man chuckled with her.

"Wait, there are video games at your office?"

"Yep."

"What exactly do you do that they provide video games at your office?" Marlene was suddenly curious what the man looked like. She hadn't taken the time to look at him when she fell into the chair next to him, fearing she might vomit everywhere.

"I'm a satellite network technician," his voice was starting to sound soothing - like it could lull her to sleep. "We have really long periods of downtime and so there's a ton of stuff for us to fill time with. We also have long runs of insanity. I've gone four weeks straight without having the time to even play a round of ping pong."

Marlene smiled, she could listen to him talk all day.

"Now that you know my embarrassing story," the man continued, "what's your line of work that puts you at risk of being hit in the face by a four-year-old?"

"It was his ball," Marlene corrected, "and I'm the co-owner of a daycare."

"That's pretty amazing," Marlene was sure he was smiling now, "my surrogate mum ran a little daycare for years before my best mate was born. She loves little kids."

Marlene realized her nausea had finally subsided, and while her head and face hurt, she really wanted to see this man. Slowly and carefully, she brought herself upright and turned to look at the man.

She was both pleased and mortified.

Pleased because he was attractive, immensely attractive.

Mortified because she was instantly aware of what she looked like.

"Whoa there," the man put his good hand on her arm. "Take it easy, I've broken my nose before, don't move too quickly or you'll end up passing out."

"Thanks," Marlene cursed her curiosity. Why couldn't she have met this man a week ago, or in six weeks when her face would probably look normal again?

"I'm always one to help a beautiful woman," he winked at her and Marlene wondered if he'd still call beautiful if she pulled the blood-soaked towel from her face.

"I'm Marlene. I'd shake your hand but mine are stained red and..."

"I've had worse end up on my hands, believe me." He chuckled. "I'm..."

The door to the waiting room opened and a board looking MA stepped out. "Sirius," he called out.

The man looked like he might murder the MA, but he stood.

"That's me," Sirius looked torn as he looked down at her. "Are you going to be alright?"

Marlene ignored the feeling of disappointment in her chest. "Yeah," she smiled before realizing her mouth was covered by the towel and her arm. "Go on, and make sure they check you for lion rabies."

Sirius laughed and his smile lit up the whole room. Marlene fought the urge to touch him.

"Take care of yourself, Marlene."

"You too, Sirius."

And then he was gone.

Marlene sighed and allowed the disappointment to run through her. It was normal to feel this way. She was attracted to Sirius in a situation where she felt unattractive. And the time constraint on their interactions had not allowed for things to move anywhere - if he had even intended for that. She was also in physical pain. It was natural to be upset right now.

Marlene breathed deeply finding that the taste of blood was significantly less now than it had been when she first arrived at the ER. Everything would be fine. Once she felt better physically she would be able to laugh at this whole situation. She'd diffuse the disappointment and embarrassment with humor and she and Emmeline would tell the story frequently when they went out with their friends.

And for the moment, Marlene chose to distract herself by listening to the next podcast in her queue.

Finally, she was called back by the same bored looking MA. She didn't see any signs of Sirius. He must have been discharged already.

Dr. Dodge was a kindly old gentleman and set her nose back into place. Marlene never wanted to experience that procedure again, thank you very much. But with her nose splinted and prescriptions in hand, Marlene headed toward the exit to request an Uber to take her home. She'd have to get her car from the daycare another day, Dr. Dodge told her not to drive today because of the anesthetic he'd used to set her nose.

Marlene stepped out into the early evening air looking down at her phone when a voice startled her.

"You look much better without the towel covering half your face."

She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "Have you only now been discharged?"

Sirius shrugged, "Could I offer you a ride home? I'm not on any pain meds so I've got the go-ahead to drive, and I drove myself here."

"Not even to set your thumb?"

"Turned out it wasn't snapped, just overextended. Still need a splint," he held up his hand, "but I'm fine."

Marlene bit her lip, "I have some prescriptions I need to pick up."

"And I'd like to buy you dinner," Sirius smirked. "We'll make an evening of it."

Marlene felt all of the earlier disappointment and embarrassment evaporate from her chest only to be replaced by butterflies in her stomach and a stupid smile on her face.

"That sounds lovely."

Sirius stepped up and took her arm, smiling down at her and making Marlene's knees feel weak.

"I think so too."