"We met not long after I started working at the city hospital" Leanora said with a sigh, standing from the gurney and making her way over to the far wall. She pressed on the concealed panel and it sprung open, revealing a row of vials filled with poisonous samples and a tall decanter bottle filled with an auburn coloured liquid, "I'm going to need a drink to talk about this" she added, lifting the bottle and a glass out of the hidden cupboard.
Jane quirked an eyebrow at her, "Is it safe to keep all of those together in there?",
Lea looked between her captain and the cupboard before shrugging, "The vials are hermetically sealed" she said with a frown, "There's probably nothing potent enough in there to get through that",
That seemed to be enough to convince the blonde, "Pour me one then"
The doctor rolled her eyes but plucked out another glass all the same, bringing everything back over to the hospital bed.
She opened the decanter and breathed deep the rich scent that sprung from it, it was a miasma of sweet distilled grains and the burn of strong alcohol. Leanora half filled the two crystal cut glasses and handed one to Jane, sitting back on the bed as she went,
The captain took a long sip of the drink, and hissed once she had swallowed it, letting it drip down her throat, "So what was he? A porter? Worked in the canteen?" she suggested.
The brunette almost laughed and shook her head, "No, he didn't work at the hospital" she said, sipping from her own glass, "He was a research analyst",
Jane's eyes widened, "What the hell is a research analyst?",
"Believe me, it's very boring" she said shaking her head, "We actually met at a party. A very rich patient who I had treated had also hired Virgil to do research for his company"
0o0o0
In a usual situation, it would probably have been considered unprofessional- a doctor going to their patients' home for a party. On this occasion however, Leanora had been encouraged to go, and by the head of the department no less.
It turned out that the patient in question was not only very rich, but he was also considering putting a good percentage of his wealth back into the hospital to show his gratitude for them 'saving his life'.
Lea attending the function would therefore be a sign of good faith. She wasn't sure how she'd inadvertently become the department figurehead for the event though, plenty of other doctors had treated the millionaire too.
Either way, there was no getting out of it now, she'd given her name to the building door man, he'd ticked her off of the guest list, and directed her to the private elevator up to the penthouse.
Lea slid another tough metal hairclip into place by her ear and tucked the rest of her hair away, allowing just one side of her bobbed hair to frame her face. She winced at her reflection in the shiny, but warped metal wall of the elevator- didn't most places like this usually have actual mirrors in the elevators?
The doctor sighed and turned back towards the door that would soon be opening, she couldn't even begin to imagine what she was faced with when they did.
Leanora hated the term 'country bumpkin', but at seeing the penthouse, and the people bustling within it, she felt entirely out of place and more than deserving of the label. This was how little girls from the deep south imagined city living, beautiful people in beautiful dresses and suits, drinking champagne from crystal flutes, canopy's from silver platters, all laughing and talking within a huge and immaculate apartment, filled with obscure modern art and integrated readout displays that controlled every automated system in the place, from the lighting and temperature, to the robotic beds that dressed themselves.
It only dawned on Lea that she didn't know a single person at the party as she stepped out of the elevator and joined them, the doors sliding shut silently behind her. As she collected a glass of champagne and weaved though the walls of other guests, she also began to come to a realisation that even their host seemed absent from the party.
That certainly played against her plan to simply show her face, say hello to him and then leave before being roped into anything else.
Lea mulled about for a good twenty minutes, avoiding eye contact and generally trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.
She was utterly baffled by the fact that everyone seemed to know each other; everyone had someone to talk to and that of course just made her feel all the more out of place. She sighed and sipped from her champagne, grimacing at the feeling of bubbles bursting at the top of her throat,
After a few minutes of staying put in an awkward stance, Lea finally saw an empty stool beside the breakfast bar and took the initiative to sit on it,
She hadn't been sat for thirty seconds when a voice spoke clearly and loudly through the chatter of the party, obviously directed at her,
"Come here often?"
0o0o0
"Wait, wait, wait. He didn't try that old line on you, did he?" Jane asked, interjecting into the Doctor's story; she was giving her a very sceptical look, "And you married this man?"
"Don't interrupt, if you want me to tell you what happened, then let me talk", she replied, rolling her eyes,
"Fine, fine, go on" the Captain said shaking her head.
0o0o0
"Come here often?"
Leanora turned and arched a single brow at the man she found before her.
He was giving her a huge smirk, one of his eyebrows raised at her in return, although in a rather more suggestive manner than her own expression. He had dark brown hair scooped away from his forehead and bright green eyes, his cheek bones were high and his jaw was narrow and clean shaven. Finally, he was dressed in a pale grey shirt and a cheap blazer which couldn't quite be considered black in colour.
"You didn't really just try that old line, did you?" she asked, raising her drink to her lips once more and taking a sip,
He laughed awkwardly and brought a hand up to scratch at the back of his head, his suave persona dissolving quickly, "Yeah, I don't know why I thought that would work" he said shaking his head, "You're clearly a lot smarter than that",
Lea rolled her eyes and took another gulp of her drink.
He was trying too hard, but the fact he was trying at all was kind of sweet, she couldn't help but think,
"Okay, okay, sorry" he replied, his chuckle now becoming a little weaker and his cheeks starting to glow red, "What's your name?"
She blinked and finally took the glass away from her mouth- he certainly was persistent,
"Lea"
A huge smile once again broke over his face, "Lea? I'm Virgil" he said offering her a hand.
They joined hands briefly in greeting, only to separate quickly when Virgil's sweaty palms became evident, and he nervously pulled away from her grip,
Lea couldn't help but smirk, "So what do you do Virgil?" she asked with a sigh, coming to the conclusion that meaningless conversation would at least put him at ease,
The man's blush darkened however, "I'm err, I'm a research analyst"
"Oh", she had treated a couple of those in her day and knew for a fact that it was an extremely boring job; that fact was probably displayed as clear as day on her face and Virgil was starting to look more and more nervous the longer she remained quiet.
Lea coughed and readjusted her position on the seat, "How about we talk about something more interesting? I mean work, who really wants to talk about that?"
The man laughed and nodded, looking relieved by the statement; he must have known that he had a boring job too.
The doctor felt a little guilty saying what she had, she actually quite liked her job and didn't really mind talking about it, even with all of its stress and dismemberment, she'd worked hard to get where she was and more often than not, the good she did far outweighed the depressing implications of the vocation.
"So, what brings you to the party then?" Virgil asked, leaning on the breakfast bar and once more flashing a bright, if not still slightly nervous smile,
Lea blinked before laughter bubbled up from her chest; she wasn't sure if it was what she'd had to drink (although it wasn't very much), or that she had a particular perchance for irony, but suddenly nothing seemed more hilarious than that question,
"What? What is it?" he asked, laughing along, although he wasn't sure why,
"Nothing, it's really nothing" she replied, fanning her warm face with her hand, "I really don't know what was so funny"
0o0o0
"That's got to be, without a doubt, one of the most boring meet cutes I've ever heard" Jane said, speaking slowly as she stared over at her companion,
Lea rolled her eyes and shot a cool stare right back at her, "I never said it was going to be a good story, not even a very interesting one, besides you were the one who wanted so much to hear it",
The Captain frowned and downed the rest of her drink, grimacing as she swallowed it, "I guess" she said, placing the empty glass down beside her on the gurney, "From the sounds of it, he's about as boring you said he was, and awkward too", she sighed and lay back, looking up at the ceiling, "I hate awkward people",
Lea made a noise of agreement, "He was boring, like I said-", she moved to take up the decanter once more, "-but the awkwardness caused it's problems too of course. At first it was kind of charming, you know?" she filled her glass a little more enthusiastically than she had meant to, and then turned to refill Jane's drink , "But after we dated for a few months and we moved in together, the charming awkwardness turned into a sort of, blasé awkwardness if you will?"
"Eugh Bones, small words remember?" the blonde said, wincing,
"He used to be awkward because he didn't know what to say, I think. When we had just started dating, he didn't know what to talk about, so he was always kind of nervous?" Lea once more settled and placed the stopper back in the decanter, "But after a while, even once we knew each other better, he was still awkward" she cocked her head to the side and licked her lips thoughtfully, "I've had a while to think about it, and I would guess that he was so awkward because he didn't really care, he just said things he thought I wanted to hear"
The Captain grimaced, suddenly regretting asking to hear the story in the first place, "Ahh yeah- I can imagine that that was worse"
The brunette sighed and lay down on the gurney once more, "Yeah, and some days were much worse for it than others"
0o0o0
Lea lumbered into the apartment, lethargy gripping her as she nudged the door closed with her heal; it slammed shut louder than she had intended, and she winced at the noise, a headache starting to bloom across her brow.
"Lea?" Virgil asked, his voice carrying from the living room,
The doctor breathed in deep through the nose, slipping her heavy winter coat off of her shoulders, "Yeah, it's me" she said as she hanged it,
"How was work?"
At the question she closed her eyes tightly and paused, bloody memories of the day and indeed the previous evening rising to the forefront,
Thirty-six hours earlier there had been a huge explosion in the city centre, and Lea who had already been on shift for eight hours, was pulled into the crazed whirlwind of intense treatment that passed through the hospital. She imagined that it was probably her longest shift of all time, standing at almost forty-two hours.
She had called home the first chance she had been able to of course,
Virgil had already guessed that she would be home late, having seen the news not an hour before, and as such the conversation didn't last long,
Steeling herself, Lea finally shifted from where she was stood in the hallway and stepped into the living room.
Her boyfriend was sitting on the couch, his eyes trained on the television; he looked up as she entered the room however, a small smile finding his face,
"Work was-" she paused again, trying to find the right word, "-bad"
It was simple one-word answer, yes, maybe even a little plain, but also effective so she thought.
Virgil winced, "Did more patients die?" he asked,
The brunette wanted to believe that he was that naïve, that he was wet enough behind the ears to think that that was an appropriate question.
Of course people had died, that's what happened in disasters like this,
Lea bit her tongue and nodded, "Yeah" she answered, unbuttoning the collar of her blouse,
"Oh…" the man replied, trailing off and awkwardly shifting his gaze away from her, "Well- well I'm sure it wasn't your fault" he concluded, once more looking up at her and offering what she determined he must have thought was a reassuring look,
The doctor stared down at him, her hands clenching into firsts at her sides, "I'm going to bed" she then said softly, turning from the room,
"Hmm?" Virgil said, sitting up quickly from the couch and watching her go, "Shall I come with you?"
"No" her answer came immediately; it was probably too quick of a reply she thought briefly, not that she was in the mood to particularly care, "No, I need to catch up on some sleep, alone"