This silly little drabble was inspired by Behind closed Doors by wreckofherheart (good story, that one). Piper is trying to do the right thing even as her authority is being mocked.
PS: I want to thank those who reviewed and/or left kind words :-) it really made my day and I am glad you enjoyed the stories. I have a couple of weeks off work and I hope to finish a few of the other stories I've started. Coming up with ideas is super easy and a lot of times distracting, as I would get a new idea whilst in the middle of trying to put the finishing touches on something. This one was 80% done for a good while so I thought it was high time I finished it.
PS2: Some of you really liked this one :-p I most certainly did not imagine this being continued but I'm not one to back down from a challenge, so I am going to try something. Might take a bit, I have some ideas but gelling them together is the trick, especially when you're in a different headspace. As for more silly stories, yes, there is another one currently in the works.
She had hated her rotation in Psychiatry with a fiery passion but there was one thing she remembered from that exhausting, unrewarding stint: the importance of emotional support. Nichols' notes had Marka Nichols, mother listed, but that had been crossed out and someone had unhelpfully added an unreadable scribble instead. Suffice it to say, it had been almost a week since Nichols' next of kin was contacted but no one had showed up yet.
Piper ran a hand through her messy hair. She was dying for a coffee and that wasn't good, she knew, because it was only 11am and she had had three – or was it four? – already. Instead, she took a deep breath and went to see Nichols. There were two possibilities: either Nichols was in a catatonic state due to weakness, or she would be gunning Piper with relentless innuendo-laced banter, in a clear effort of covering her inner emptiness. While Piper was usually flattered by attention (any kind of attention, if she was painfully honest), right now all she wanted was to go home and get some sleep.
To her surprise, the wild haired woman wasn't alone this time. Piper stopped in her tracks, watching the scene. Nichols was laughing loudly, engaged in what looked like a card game with a long haired brunette in a leather jacket that had seen better days.
"Uno, motherfucker!" Nichols shouted, with more energy than Piper imagined someone who had been in IC just a day ago could muster.
"Fuckin' cheater," her companion retorted in a low tone that held an unmistakable smile and pricked Piper's ears.
"Don't be a sore loser, Vause. How can anyone cheat at Uno?"
"You're probably hiding two full decks in that bird nest you call hair."
The women laughed. Relieved, Piper was about to turn around and get that much wished for cup of coffee when Nichols noticed her.
"Dr Chapman, my savior this week! Care to join us for a game of Uno which I will inevitably win due to whatever I'm hiding inside my mane?" Her visitor playfully slapped her shoulder. "Ow, go easy on me, I've just crawled back from the grave."
Piper cleared her throat, with a serious look on her face, but approached Nichols' bed. She picked up the chart. Her vitals looked pretty good, considering.
"Miss Nichols, you should take it easy for the next few days."
"I so am. What's more relaxing than playing a kids' card game with an old friend? Why not join us in this rejuvenating endeavor, seeing as how you look like death warmed over yourself, no offence there, Dr Chapman? It takes one to know one, you know."
Piper tried to give Nichols a stern look. She was normally careful to assert her authority but right now she was this close to not giving a fuck. Would another coffee, now that I've checked up on Nichols, be such a terrible idea? Used to be, more than a couple of "hospital grade" coffees would send her pulse flying for half the day but after however many back to back 12 hour shifts she'd recently been pulling, three barely kicked her into gear enough to move between bays. She put the chart back with a sigh and turned to Nichols' visitor.
"Oh, yea, Dr Chapman, meet Alex Vause, my next of kin."
So that's who this was. She critically pursed her lips, giving the woman a sterner once over than she'd managed with Nichols earlier. The company we keep, she mused inwardly, involuntarily shaking her head. With her battered leather jacket, faded jeans and dusty boots, the brunette looked like she had just rolled out of some seedy bar somewhere. Yep, no doubt about it, Piper congratulated herself as her nose caught a whiff of alcohol and… something smokable, she couldn't name it just now. It's not even noon. Is there any surprise Nichols had keeled over?
Unfazed by the scrutiny, the brunette smirked at Piper and flicked Nichols' nose.
"Stop this next of kin bullshit, Nicky."
"What can I do if Marka never answers my phone calls? You, at least, I can trust will show up within the calendar month. Most of the time. If there's no new hottie in your general vicinity, which, most of the time, isn't even in this hemisphere."
Piper cleared her throat again. The easy camaraderie between the two was starting to grate and she couldn't tell just why. Perhaps because she had not spoken to anyone outside the hospital in… how long had it been? Two weeks? Longer? Did she still have a next of kin? Even one who'd show up just at the tail end of the funeral?
"It's really good to see you have some moral support, Miss Nichols," she spoke in a professional voice. "Though, where addiction is involved, reliability of support is essential," Piper directed this at Alex.
Alex arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, grinning.
"Do you find addiction amusing… Alex?"
"I find you amusing," Alex made a show of lifting her glasses and reading Piper's badge,"… Piper. So stern. You look stressed. Are you stressed, Piper? Because I could totally help you with that," she finished in a soft, caressing whisper.
Piper was so taken aback, she just stood there. At length, she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. The brunette sat unperturbed next to Nichols' bed, smirking smugly, her eyes obviously daring Piper to do something, anything. Normally, Piper managed to remember, her standing position would give her a psychological advantage. Not in this case. The woman clearly didn't give a shit about her position or authority. Piper felt incipient anger coil within her gut. Nichols' loud laughter broke the spell.
"Vause, you are not putting the moves on my good doctor! Have the decency to wait until I'm wheeled out of this ward first, you fuckin' dawg."
"What moves?" Alex chuckled at Nicky, her hands up in mock surrender. Turning to Piper, she fished something out of her front jacket pocket and handed it to her with a completely serious face. "Here, you'll thank me later."
Piper looked at Alex's outstretched hand. A small yellow pill with a duck stamp on it lay innocently among the lines in Alex's palm.
Nicky burst into laughter again and soon a cough almost choked her.
"Stop it, you! She's a doctor, she has full access to benzos," she managed between coughs, fanning herself with a magazine.
"Is… is that what I think it is?" Piper finally found her voice. It was a bit croaky but the underlining texture was the righteous anger of a law abiding citizen.
"I don't know the extent of your pharmaceutical knowledge, Piper," Alex continued, that unnerving smirk having returned, "so I have no idea what you think it is. Three guesses? You are a doctor, after all."
"After all," Nicky chuckled. She was thoroughly enjoying this show.
Piper closed Alex's still outstretched hand and pushed it away from her with more force than needed, causing Alex to slightly lose her balance. The touch gave Piper a jolt of something, but she ignored it, fully angry now.
"You realize I should turn you in to hospital security for this?" she hissed in a high pitched whisper.
Alex nodded. "But you won't," she answered also in a whisper – of the seductive kind that had earlier short-circuited Piper. Only this time the good doctor had her defenses up and fired right back, armed with a full armory of self righteousness.
"No, I won't. But I am going to ask you to leave. Right now. Miss Nichols, who is recovering from a drug overdose, needs her rest."
To her surprise, Alex relented. She lifted her fingers in mock salute to Nichols and leisurely walked out of the room, boots clicking playfully along the cement floor. Piper audibly exhaled, her brows knitted.
"You'll see, she's better without an audience," Nichols quipped, watching Piper's frown with interest. She looked even more tired than before.
"I'll see?"
"She'll be back. She clearly likes you."
Piper scoffed and turned to leave.
"Oh, come on now, Dr Chapman. You like her too," Nichols chuckled.
Piper pinned Nichols with her eyes, indignation written all over her face.
"Me? No way in hell, Nichols. No way in hell."
"Famous last words," Nicky mumbled amused, picking up the nudie mag her next of kin had brought her.