Lauren found herself starting off the new month the same way she had ended the previous one, with her head on her a hard surface. Before the sheer exhaustion of endless days filled with patients eager to find new ways of harming themselves with mundane tasks finally overtook her. Skipping meals, not sleeping, ignoring any regulated exercise routine, it was bound to cause a problem eventually.
Tonight though it was more about enjoying a moment to herself. Despite the constant worrying that something was going to go wrong, like another budget fiasco, Lauren had found an enthusiasm at the end of each day to return for the next. Something had changed in the environment and it wasn't just fewer patients threatening to sue the doctors and fewer doctors threatening to quit either.
Still, being able to shut the door, put her head down and close her eyes for a while was not an opportunity she was going to pass up. As her phone made an obnoxious buzzing sound against the wooden desk the thought of shoving the noisy device into one of the drawers crossed her mind, only to fade as the sound no longer harassed her. Peaceful silence was a rare event in the ER and whatever the phone call was would only serve to disrupt that. For now, all that mattered was that nothing mattered. She had no patient that had ended up with a steel pipe shoved through their leg, or ignored the cough until blood start coming up, and even the papers that still covered her desk would only take a few minutes to file away. Her thoughts then turned to Bo and how close they were getting, literally at times like this morning.
In their time spent together over the recent weeks Lauren had gotten to know the brunette better but all of it felt like she had just skimmed the surface of an ocean. Humans, by their very nature, are complex creatures but Bo seemed genuinely more complicated than most and it was hard to deny a certain fascination with that complexity. Rarely had she met someone that seemed like they could move through a crowd of people without ever noticing anyone was around them at all yet there were few times when someone had shown her such kindness during just random moments in her life. Why firmly believing most people are good people they are not all that considerate except for that moment when they find out about her brother, when she lost a patient, after she saved a patient or if they want a favor. With Bo there did not seem to be anything of a motive, just a genuine interest to help.
Anytime she tried to offer thanks, and to make things even, the younger doctor gained the lead over her with another thoughtful gesture. Even buying lunch for them was a gift the younger doctor could not accept as by the time Lauren returned to work on Tuesday morning a mysterious benefactor had put the lunch total on her cafeteria account.
It was not that people had never bought her breakfast before, mostly they seemed to believe it would help them get time off, or a better shift, but they had never done it without being in the same room and letting her know first. There was a certain charm to the whole thing that made her smile; despite an odd disappointment that the brunette wasn't standing there, ready to take credit with some smart remark.
When a knock on her office door interrupted her thoughts on the recent events she could not even respond before the bright lights of the ER flooded her office. Lowering her head to the desk, hoping to block out the offensive attack on her senses, the door quickly closed again but it was too late to avoid the damage.
"Lauren?" The blonde had not moved her head off the desk, or said anything. Bo figured those smiling brown eyes would greet her as the woman poured over paper work but after she opened the door nothing happened and suddenly concern was not a strong enough word for what was coursing through her veins. After an ungodly wait, she finally saw Lauren lift up her head, though that did not make breathing any easier.
Fully intent to remind whomever it was that it was rude to enter without being welcomed Lauren instead found that upon seeing the familiar brunette hair, and unmistakable confidence, the only thing she really could have been happier to see was dinner and a glass of wine. She had expected to see more of Bo after their day together but they rarely seemed to spend time in the same place and passing each other in the hallways why running to help a patient did not seem like a great time to chat. It was nice to have a visitor seeing as Kenzi left in a hurry after being caught up in the chaos of a busy OR. Not that it made a real difference to her schedule. "Sorry. I was just resting for a few minutes why things were quiet."
"And yet you're at your desk, which implies intent to keep working, instead of lying on the couch, which would suggest your plans involve sleeping." As if to prove a point, the uninvited brunette walked over to the couch and collapsed on it. It wasn't the world's greatest couch, but Bo already had some fond memories of it.
"Yes. How foolish of me not to ignore my responsibilities when obviously the hospital put a couch in my office because they wanted patient files updated a month after a patient leaves us." Lauren had come to recognize that the younger doctor wasn't just a pretty face, but she was smart, kind to others, and very resourceful. Unfortunately none of those traits transferred to doing her own paperwork.
"I am sure no one is going to die if you do not confirm that they suffered a broken leg in the next twelve hours." Honestly it wasn't like she didn't chart down the important things so a nurse didn't accidentally kill one of her patients, but filling out paperwork that said everything worked out and no one had accidentally killed anyone just sounded stupid and Bo hated doing it.
"Kenzi, is that you? I would have sworn Doctor McCorrigan walked in here." Lauren hadn't made it a point to introduce the two women, partly because it seemed weird to present Bo to her best friend as if they were dating but mainly because there was only so much sarcasm she could tolerate.
"Laugh it up blondie but I am the one that is going to sleep on your couch why you are sitting in an uncomfortable office chair. If you're nice though I'll make room and we can share." Bo felt the world outside the office slipping away and the cushions supported her tired muscles. A pretty blonde to wrap her arms around though would top things off nicely.
"Go find a room in the clinic to sleep in like a normal ER doctor, or, better yet, go get coffee and find a patient to treat. It is a hospital so I am sure there is at least one sick person to keep you occupied until your shift is over." Honestly it was as if she had somehow managed to make friends with Kenzi's long-lost, older, stunningly beautiful, sister and Lauren wasn't sure where she would fit in if the two of them hit if off.
"My shift is over and I prefer your office to a clinic room." Well, technically she preferred Lauren's company compared to anything else the hospital had to offer, but Bo wasn't one to split hairs.
"Oh and why is that?" Lauren tried not to panic. Bo wasn't going to say anything ridiculous like she was in love with her. She was just being nice.
"Probably because Hale told me no one was to work past their shift tonight. Instead, we are all supposed to go home as scheduled. There was something about the second shift actually showing up on time and swapping clinics hours for help in the ER or something." Bo did notice that the other woman seemed more on edge than usual, but the warmth of the couch was distracting her.
"No. Why is my office better than a clinic room if you are just going to crash somewhere?" Lauren was still multitasking through the conversation, as the stack of files had get finished despite the obvious attempts to bring an end to the organizing. Bo's idea of multitasking on the other hand extended seemed involve talking and trying to get in the ideal spot on the couch.
Watching out of the corner of her eye the department head continued to try to figure out if Bo had a purpose for showing up when the words registered. "Wait. Hale is sending everyone home on time and you did not start our conversation with that fact?"
Bo did not give an immediate response but Lauren's serious tone, about what seemed to her like a minor issue, made her smile. "Well I meant to but I'm tired from walking over here and opening the door. Besides I am telling you now."
"Then you will be especially tired when you have to walk out of here since there is no way I am letting you sleep in office." It was not a matter of trust but compassion that made Lauren want to make sure the brunette would not be lingering around afterwards. The couch seemed comfortable for the first few hours but she knew from experience it would not be such a good idea by the morning. "And did he say this before, or after, the six car pileup resulted in minimal injuries?"
"It was a few minutes after. A nurse started walking towards his office at that point and he did not stick around to go over the details. I have never seen a man run that fast in a suit without being chased by the police for robbing a tailor." Bo had met the charming pharmaceutical heir in med school when he was rebelling against his family by actually going into the medical field. It still ranked as one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard, but they got along and he didn't ask why she wanted to move and work at the hospital after things with Dyson fall apart.
Missing Bo's joke about their boss and ignoring the thought that going home early did not sound as appealing as curling up on the couch with Bo, Lauren mulled the two ideas over a few times. Neither seemed like the best solution for the ER, given what usually happened five minutes after everyone decided to take a break, though if the shift doctors were actually showing up than there was no real reason to stay.
"If you want to get something to eat I know a place that has the best pasta in the city, assuming you have never had pasta anywhere else in the city." Bo wasn't sure what she had just said, or why, but she could feel her heart stop as she waited for a response.
"As tempting as that is, I think I'll let you get home. I am going to call Kenzi and tell her if she stops hiding out in the longue playing video games why pretending to still be in surgery there is a meal in it for her. We haven't had a lot of time together and it seems a lot of that is because of my time in the ER." Looking over at the brunette Lauren relaxed upon seeing that same half a smile there that had been present since the woman walked in. Just the thought of disappointing Bo felt unsettling. She was hoping her tiny roommate might prove useful in helping her figure out just what she should do about her coworker.
"Sounds like a plan. We can find some other time to get dinner when cracked skulls from a couple having too much fun have not been preventing seeing the inside of your apartment. Don't let Kenzi get in the way of doing some headboard banging of your own either though." Bo smirked at Lauren as she got up to leave. The woman flustered so easily about sex that she had to take advantage of it. It's not as if she wasn't being sincere. Hell she was practically volunteering.
A completely red look spread throughout her cheeks as the increased blood brought the definite feeling that the room had gotten several degrees warmer suddenly. By the time she was recovering well enough to look at the brunette again all she saw was a door nearly shut. It seemed that even after embarrassing her, the mysterious woman was not beyond redeeming that with the considerate act of leaving her to her own personal affairs, but Lauren wasn't going to let her get away with it again. "How about the three of us go out to dinner next week? You and Kenzi could finally mock me at the same time and it would save me from having to repeat all the stupid jokes you make." The first time she had done was harmless enough, just venting to Kenzi about a challenging patient, but slowly something Bo had said, or done, seemed to be more and more relevant to her own day.
"Sure. Sounds fun." With that Bo closed the door. To anyone walking by she must look like a complete idiot. Between the stupid grin on her face and holding on to doorknob to the office for dear life, they might even her mistake her for someone who had skipped their medication that day. It was an odd feeling, having her offer declined by Lauren only to get something different in return. Not good, or bad, but different. Pulling her phone out with one hand Bo noted three missed calls before ignoring them all and looking at the most recently dialed numbers. At the top of the list was Lauren's number, the same number she had tried to call minutes earlier.
All Lauren had to do was answer her phone, than she could have continued to the exit without both ignoring Hale's request that Lauren get everyone, including herself, to clock out on time for once or feeling like a bitch for leaving Lauren working in her office without any idea she could go home. If it had just been a phone call than she would have never made the offer she wouldn't have a weird, maybe, sort of, with a third wheel, date thing.
Letting go with the doorknob and moving towards the exit seemed like a reasonable thing to do under the circumstances but she wasn't ready to call it quits. Fortunately her car was in the parking lot and that meant that within a few minutes she could be at a favorite watering hole, miles from the hospital. Tonight she was going to celebrate.
Lauren took her time to finish the papers and properly get the ER in order after Bo left. She had put aside her personal excitement during the tasks, but as soon as she dialed one on her speed dial and waited for the Kezni to pick up it came back. Still smiling to herself like an idiot, she did her best to sound normal at least when she heard a familiar fake accent come through.
Apologies to everyone for missing the mid-week update on this. Hopefully the wait was bearable compared to the content. Unfortunately my job hit a high point of insanity and low point on paying me to put up with it just as I needed to deal with a death in the family (not immediate, but still difficult) and of course voting for doccubus in the Zimbio poll! I'll try to sneak in an extra update next week and Sunday will be your regularly scheduled chapter.