Happiness from a Storm
The meal was wonderful, the company convivial, but as they were finishing their dessert, Sebastian became aware of something. Despite the fact that it was a Sunday night, when Sardi's was usually busy and every table was in high demand, they were now the only people in the corner. He shook his head, and put it down to the season. With his plate now clear, all he could do was sit and wait for one of his fellow diners to rise to their feet and suggest that they should move on. His hunch that the person in question would be Bette was correct, and as soon as she got to her feet, he rose to join her. As she made her way towards the main part of the restaurant, she stopped, and said quietly, "Darling boy, I hope that you don't mind, but I asked a few people if they would join us after dinner…"
Sebastian looked at her for a moment, and then, as she started to move again, he asked, "When you say a few…" He got no further as he had now turned the corner, and looking ahead he could only stare. He saw Jenny first; his first female co-star, and then he noticed Laurie Metcalfe… In fact, pretty much everyone that he had acted alongside on Broadway was gathered in the main body of the restaurant, along with a few famous people that he had not acted with. Looking round, he saw Mel Brooks sitting alongside Megan Mullally in one corner, and he nodded at the man that had given him the chance to shine in Young Frankenstein. Of course, Russell was there, and he was glancing over at the corner Mel and Megan were sitting in furtively, the expression on his face directed towards Sebastian being one that screamed, in no uncertain terms, introduce me to them now, please!
He smiled to see Cooper, Mason, Adam and Marley as well, fresh from their own Sunday performance. It would be the first of them that would start the applause, which was taken up by every other person in the room, all rising to their feet. Sebastian did not cry at his second standing ovation of the day. He knew that it was recognition from his peers for all the work he had done, for bringing alive so many diverse characters. He was more than happy to just bask in that admiration for a while…
It would be nearly midnight before Sebastian and Dave would arrive home. There had been so many people that they had to talk to, others to introduce to each other for the first time. To everyone's surprise, the party had been gatecrashed by Daniel Radcliffe, but nobody objected, as he had brought Rupert and Emma with him, and the presence of the three of them added to the delight of the evening. There were, of course, a group of photographers on hand, both Sardi's own, plus those from Variety and Vogue, not to mention a reporter from Playbill. Sebastian had done his best to ensure that he talked to everyone, even if only for a few minutes, as all of them had in some way turned a boy from Dalton Academy into a Broadway star, recognised by royalty.
It was only as the night was drawing to a close that Sebastian finally noticed a new addition had been made to the wall of drawings of the great and good, and to his shock he realised that it was the sketch that Jeff had shown of him back in his first private exhibition, so long ago now; he had drawn him as Elder Price, carrying his book in one hand, and a sign behind him pointing to Oklahoma…
As if she knew what was going through his mind, he suddenly found Bette at his side. "I might have casually mentioned to him that we really needed a new portrait of you for the wall of fame here, and he offered up this image. It is not the original, but a very faithful copy that he made for us. I particularly love the little Warbler pin beside the name badge…"
Sebastian looked at the sketch again, and noticed it for the first time. "I have to admit that I didn't see that at first actually…and now that I look, is that not a tiny crown on top of his head, a representation of the Prince of Denmark, perhaps?"
Bette suddenly looked again, and chuckled. "Well, I never, so it is! Young Mr Sterling-Duval is certainly a talented artist…"
On reaching home, Sebastian headed for the den, where his Tony Awards were lined up on the mantle, the walls decorated with framed posters from all of his shows, his name at the top of the bill. There were cast photos too, plus one official one of him taken alongside Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the National Theatre in London. There were so many memories in all that was on display, but his eyes moved to the oldest of them all. It was framed as well, his copy of the special Book of Mormon playbill that had been printed for the night that he and the Warblers had saved the day…
"There will be other playbills to join these in time, other posters too. They might not be so grand at first, but eventually there will be another Broadway one, from the show in which you make your triumphant return, knocking Broadway right on its ear…"
Sebastian chuckled as Dave hugged him from behind, after quoting the line from The Producers. "I doubt that Prisoners of Love will ever reach Broadway for real, but it is a nice idea…even if it never happens to come true. The stage is a fickle mistress, and she might not be as forgiving of my desertion of her as we might hope…"
"Then the theatrical world would be even madder than I sometimes think it is!" said Dave, which made Sebastian laugh again. They said no more, heading up to bed, but as they closed the door to the den that night, it felt as if they were bringing down the curtain on Act One of their married life. What would follow in Act Two was as yet undecided, but as long as they had each other, they were both sure to weather whatever life's storms brought along…
On the day that followed, the skies over New York did darken, but it was with snow clouds. At first there were just a few light flurries, but by the time that Jeff went to fetch Wes and Evie from school, it had become much heavier, and the street lighting had come on early, so dark was the afternoon. Wes and Evie were cautioned by Jeff to walk more slowly than usual, as the sidewalks were becoming slippery, and it was a relief to reach home safely. Drew had been waiting for his daughter outside the front door to Niff's place, and they did not linger, carrying on the short distance left with infinite care…
Inside, Jeff made tea to warm himself and his son up, then set to work in preparing for that evening's meal, a hearty stew with vegetables. He had barely started doing so when he heard the front door opening upstairs, and Nick calling out to them both. Jeff glanced at the clock, shocked at just how early his husband had arrived home. He came down the stairs, getting a hug from Wes, then kissing his husband on the cheek.
"You are home very early today, Nicky… Is everything okay?" asked Jeff, worried for a moment that his husband had lost his job.
"I was sent home; everyone in the building that wasn't completely essential was. There has been a weather warning for an ice storm; that is highly unusual in the city, but when it does hit, then things are really bad. It can disrupt the power supply, shut the subway, and turn every outside surface into an ice rink in minutes. Anyway, I am going to head up to my study, and finish what I was working on before we were told to leave. We can have dinner at the usual time, but if you get a chance, you might want to look out the flashlights and the candles, just in case."
Jeff nodded, mentally recalling where they had been stored. "Okay, I will see you then. I just hope that everyone else we know manages to get home safe and sound…"
The storm naturally hit the city dead on the worst possible time, when it would be the most disruptive, on the stroke of 5pm. Somehow Long Island, at least beyond the city, seemed to miss the attentions of the storm, so the LIRR was able to keep functioning. The Metro North was not as lucky, and the passengers there suffered as the trains began to fail, as first the tracks themselves became coated with ice, making traction hard, and then the overhead power lines became coated with ice, which lead to sparks, and then shorts as electricity arced from line to line. Those subway services that ran out in the open would also suffer the same fate, and the buses struggled as even the busiest thoroughfares turned icy, leaving them stuck in a welter of skidding cars, cabs and trucks…
Grace had taken heed of the weather warning, and had reached home in good time, as had Flint, Ethan and even Beats, as he could work just as easily from home to help with the problems as he would sitting in an office. Tina, however, ended up being caught in the first few minutes of the storm proper, and would navigate the sidewalk along the street by clutching tightly to the railings in front of the houses, then literally crawling up the steps to her front door. Mike was waiting at the door, and sent her directly for a hot shower the moment he had her safely inside.
By then, the television was urging people to stay off the streets, to remain where they were, as the storm was likely to be short lived, and would dissipate, in the city at least, in less than an hour. After that, temperatures would begin to rise, and by the time the morning commute began in earnest, the freeze would have been reversed entirely. That was of course of little comfort to those already en route to their homes, or to the staff in all of the city's emergency rooms, who knew exactly what they could expect to have over the next few hours; a steady stream of people being brought in with fractured bones. Among the staff on duty that night was Roderick, who was shadowing a senior ER nurse. He had been tasked to help collect all of the supplies they would need more of when the anticipated rush came. Sure enough, no sooner had he returned than the first patient arrived, clutching at their wrist…
It was 45 minutes later when Roderick headed out into the waiting area to call in the next patient, and saw a face that was familiar to him from the photograph that Santana had posted on Facebook last month of herself, Brittany, young Skylar, and his aunt and uncle. Sure enough, he checked on the list, and saw the name of the next patient was Hilary Loomis, reported to have possible fractures of her arm and wrist. He headed over to her, and escorted her into the treatment area. The senior nurse examined her, then sent her for x-rays to check the diagnosis. Roderick was tasked with taking her to the relevant department, and at the head nurse's instruction, he did so pushing his patient along in a wheelchair. There was a queue when they got there, not surprisingly, so to pass the time, Roderick asked her what had happened.
"It is entirely my own fault; I was busy with work, and so obsessed with it that I didn't hear the warning about the storm. None of my colleagues bothered to warn me about it either, as it happens, so that will be an interesting conversation! I left my office, headed out of the main door, stepped onto the sidewalk, and a moment later I was flying. Of course, the natural reaction is to put out a hand to safe yourself, which stupidly I did - and here we are…" said Hilary, wryly.
"First off, it is not a stupid reaction; I mean, if it was, then you would find yourself in some very good company tonight, trust me. As for your colleagues, well maybe we need to have a word with Santana, see if she can point out to the folks at NYU that as far as she is concerned, you have the same level of protection from her as Brittany does…" Roderick stopped then as Hilary looked at him quizzically. "My name is Roderick, I went to McKinley back in Lima, and am a close friend of Mason and Jane. I was a friend to your late brother too. New York might be a massive metropolis, but at times, it is also a village. Anyway, it's your turn for an x-ray, so let's get them done…"
Roderick would, of course, not be able to stay at Hilary's side for the entire duration of her time in the hospital, as there were dozens of other patients to attend to, but somehow fate seemed to keep directing him back to her side. He was glad of that, as many of the other people that he was dealing with were not nearly as calm and placid as she was. He was struck by one woman in particular, dressed in the most expensive of designer clothing, who had done much the same as Hilary. She had been screaming as she was brought in, then had demanded to see someone at once, which given how busy the place was, was just not possible. That was the moment that she began to mutter threats, asking the staff if they wanted her to call her friends in Congress, and on the City Council. Such blatant stunts did not win her any sympathy, and she ended up being left to wait a little longer…
Roderick had offered to be the one that dealt with her, but the head nurse had thanked him for the offer, but pointed out that one of the other trainee staff had been with her, and had already been informed that she was not prepared to be fobbed off with a trainee. As Roderick saw Hilary being brought back from her x-rays, the lady was finally wheeled off for her own, screaming and cursing as she was pushed out of the department. "What on earth was wrong with her," she whispered to Roderick when he approached her, startled by the amount of noise she had been making.
"We aren't certain yet," Roderick said quietly in reply, "but it does seem to be accompanied by a severe dose of uptown privilege." That made Hilary smile as she watched Roderick cast his eye quickly over the notes that had come with her x-rays. He looked at her sadly, and said, "Ouch! So you have a broken left forearm and a fractured wrist on the same arm too! I hope that you write with your right hand…"
"Yes, I do, thankfully," said Hilary. "Can I also say that the painkillers seem to have kicked in marvellously, so I no longer wish to scream and bawl constantly, unlike some people…"
"Well, that is a bonus!" said Roderick, noting that Hilary seemed to be grinning now. "Right, so we will organise someone to get your arm in plaster ASAP, and get your wrist properly strapped up. In the meantime, is there anyone that you would like me to call, to let them know what has happened?"
Hilary was quiet for a moment, then said, "I guess that we need to tell my brother, Barnaby, but emphasise that he is not to come down here. The last thing I want is for him to end up in the same boat!" Roderick nodded, and after obtaining the number from Hilary, he headed off to make the call…
In the end, Roderick would be back to assist with the plastering of Hilary's arm. He passed on a message from her brother, who was full of sympathy, and felt that he ought to be there, but one look outside had shown him it was chaos. There were cars sliding across the street rather than driving along them, and the only pedestrian that he had seen was on skis. He promised therefore to stay safely at home until the chaotic scenes were over with.
"It sounds atrocious out there," Hilary exclaimed when Roderick finished passing on her brother's words.
"It is, but it is even worse out in the boroughs, and even up in Harlem. The subway is only running where it is entirely in a tunnel, and the Metro North is at a complete stand. On top of that, there have been power blackouts across the city, even down at this end of town."
Hilary nodded, then asked, "So you will still be extremely busy then?"
"Thankfully, things do seem to be getting quieter; people are now much more likely to just be staying inside, wherever they are. There is a quasi unofficial travel ban in place right now, and between us…" He paused, looking at the other nurse who was doing the plastering, who just smiled, and nodded to him to go on. "Let's just say that a certain someone nearly screamed the building down when she found out that there were no limo services, no yellow cabs, not even an Uber to take her home. By the way, despite all of that noise, it turns out she has only sprained her ankle. The only thing she has broken is two of her expensively manicured nails…"
Hilary laughed out loud then, and she laughed even more when the other nurse added in a deadpan tone, "Now, that isn't true; she also snapped off the heel on one of her Manolo Blahnik stiletto shoes. She is apparently threatening to sue the city for making the kerbs so hard…" As she laughed, the two nurses carried on with their work, and in no time, the plaster and strapping was in place. That task done, Roderick offered to fetch Hilary something to eat from the hospital canteen…
Roderick was told that he could take his break at the same time, and so he offered to keep Hilary company when he returned with her requested coffee and sandwiches. She agreed, glad of the company, and he showed her to a quiet spot that was hidden away from the sight of most of the public. It had windows, so she was finally able to see what was happening outside. The rain had stopped, but the weather had already done its worst. Icicles hung from the street lamps that she could see, as well as the overhangs of the buildings nearby. The ground surfaces all shone with the coating of ice that glazed them, turning what were normally safe walking surfaces into treacherous routes. "Beautiful, but deadly," Hilary whispered, and beside her, Roderick couldn't help but agree.
It was then that they really began to talk, Roderick asking Hilary about her work first, and then she did the same, interested in the series of events that had lead the young man beside her into making his career change. "The thing is that I know I made the right choice every time that my actions help someone to get well; when I help to fix them, if you like… Don't get me wrong, I am still passionate about my writing, and the fact that I have a journal column to produce every month really helps to satisfy that other need in me…"
"It can't be an easy job to do though; there have to be hard moments too."
"Yes, there are, but I think that is the truth about any job that we do. The downside of this career, if there is one, is the working hours. They don't exactly leave you much time for a personal life, but I am getting used to living with that!"
"You really shouldn't have to though. You are a lovely guy, and you deserve someone special as much as everyone else."
"Well, if you happen to know of a young lady that might be in the market," Roderick replied jokingly.
"Actually, I do know someone, as it happens - me!" said Hilary, suddenly feeling quite bold…
Roderick could only look at Hilary in surprise at first, so unexpected was her response to his light-hearted remark. However, now that he was looking at her more closely, he realised that she was a very attractive young woman indeed; smart in both appearance and brain, and able to sustain a good intellectual conversation. He was deeply aware that staying silent for too long could appear to be rude, so he smiled, and said softly, "I am certain that you could find someone much more eligible than me if you were needing a date. A beautiful young lady like yourself could have her pick of the men…"
"Sadly, that could not be further from the case," responded Hilary with a sigh. "So many young men these days are intimidated if a girl has a brain, and the ones that aren't tend to be obsessed with other things, or so I've found. I could have my pick of Dungeons and Dragons fanatics, or sci-fi geeks, but that isn't what I want. I want a man that likes music, isn't afraid to demonstrate his feelings and emotions, and has a gentle, kind, caring nature. I know that we have only just met properly, but all that you have done for me today… most of that wasn't just because it was your job. You did it because you care about me as a fellow human being, and not just because I am your current patient…"
Roderick could feel the colour rising in his cheeks once more, and he replied, "I guess that I have always just taken the attitude that you should treat people the way that you would wish to be treated - that is all… I would be flattered to take you out on a date, but there is one issue. I'm afraid that all of this might just be the painkillers talking; the medication that we gave you is pretty strong, and when they wear off… well, you might not feel the same. So, here is what I am going to do. I am going to give you a note of my telephone number. If you still feel the same way in say, 48 hours time, when the drugs will have truly worn off, then call me, and we can talk; sort something out…"
Hilary nodded, then said, "I am 99% certain that it isn't the drugs, but I will agree to that, if it makes you feel happier." She smiled then, and Roderick could not help but return her grin…
When his shift came to its end the following morning, Roderick was relieved to discover that the warmer air from the south had won the battle of the weather over the city, and the majority of the ice that had coated the city was gone, only remnants of it remaining in the most shaded and sheltered corners. Hilary was long gone by then of course, taken away in a cab to her aunt's home, at the latter's insistence. She was quite happy to let her self be fussed over for a while, enjoying the proper motherly attentions that her aunt gave her, something that neither she or her brother had ever received from their own mother…
Barnaby would arrive at lunchtime the next day, having taken an extended lunch break just to come and see her. She wasn't given much option other than to let him sign the bulky plaster cast on her arm. Alone, she confided in him who her nurse had been, and he had laughed at the whole village analogy. "I have heard that he is a nice guy, but a bit of a loner," was his next response to his sister.
"I don't know about the loner bit, but he was definitely one of the kindest human beings I have ever come across; he also loves his job, because it makes him happy. He managed to find a new career to love when the one that he had planned for himself proved to be impossible to sustain. That takes a lot of courage."
"True, and nursing is not a job I think I could ever do," Barnaby replied, before he changed the subject…
Roderick's run of night shifts would come to an end the following morning, and he was lucky enough to have the remainder of the week off, before returning to day shifts on Monday, although his days would be a mix of lectures, tutorials and actual working shifts. He took a quick nap on reaching home, then was back up to concentrate on writing his essay for class next week by the afternoon. With that done, he then started on his next column for the nursing journal; by the time it came for him to return to bed for a night's sleep, he had that submission ready, save for a quick read over for mistakes the following morning, when his mind was fresher…
He would do that as he ate his breakfast on Thursday, and then, content with it, he e-mailed it to the editor. It was then that his phone began to ring, an unknown number coming up on the display. He frowned, and mentally prepared his best madman voice for speaking after his initial cautious hello. He did not need it though, as to his delight, the voice that he heard was that of Hilary. "So it has been over 48 hours, the medication is well and truly worn off, and I would still like it very much if you would consider going out on a date with me, if that is something you might like, of course. I think that the drugs might have made me bold enough to speak up, but I am glad about that…"
"Well, it would be nice to see you again, that much I have to admit…"
"Why don't you come up to my aunt's place this morning for a coffee? She is out, so I am home alone…" Hilary paused, then chuckled. "Okay, so that sounded a little bit like a proposition, but it really is only for coffee and a chat about where we might go from here. If nothing else, you can append your name to my cast…"
"Well, as it happens, my diary is free this morning, so yes, I could head up. When would suit you best?"
"Come as soon as you can, and that way we can chat for longer," replied Hilary. With that settled, she gave Roderick her aunt's address, and the directions from the nearest stop on the subway. Roderick rang off, then realised that he would need to go and change. The clothes that he had put on that morning were nowhere near smart enough for a first date…
That first coffee date with Hilary went very well, and they made plans to meet up again later that week. Both of them agreed that they would keep their budding relationship to themselves for now, until they saw exactly where things were heading. They also agreed not to meet the following day, leaving it to Saturday instead; given the date of the Friday, they knew that the world would be swamped with romance; it was the same every Valentine's Day. Hilary also planned to head back to work in any case…
Roderick was not able in the end to resist the temptation, and when Hilary stepped into her office the following morning, it was to find a card on her desk. It was not signed, and was accompanied by a bunch of beautiful spring flowers. She knew at once who had sent it, and it made her smile. She was more convinced by his gesture that she had found a man that finally understood her and could cope with all of her little idiosyncrasies. She made a phone call, and an hour later Roderick found himself blushing as a bunch of flowers was delivered to his front door, just as Cooper headed out of the house.
Elsewhere that Friday there were flowers and chocolates too, sweet little notes and those romantic touches that can melt even the coldest of hearts. The exception to that general rule of romantic gifts was Barnaby, who received something from Clyde and Audra that made him blush from head to toe, but also made him feel so wonderful. He loved the fact that it came with an instruction to be sure to be wearing it when he went to their place for dinner that evening…