Chapter 2/3
Dr. Glassman paced up and down the conference room. If he'd had hair on the top of his head, it would have been standing on end from him running his hands across it. First thing in the morning, he had gathered Dr. Melendez, hospital attorney Jessica Preston, surgeon and board member Marcus Andrews, and chairwoman Allegra Aoki. They were all sitting around the table, silently watching the pacing hospital president.
He thought that he would have been able to find and convince Shaun to come back on his own, but Shaun was ignoring his attempts at contact. Half a dozen texts and three calls had gone unanswered. The only thing reassuring Dr. Glassman that Shaun was probably okay was that the first and third calls had gone directly to voicemail whereas the second hadn't, indicating that Shaun's phone had likely been turned off and on.
Since Shaun wasn't answering, and Dr. Glassman had no idea where he had gone, he feared that he had no choice but to tell the rest of the hospital administration. In his worried state, any lies he would have tried to tell them wouldn't have been convincing.
"No, I don't know where he went," Dr. Glassman muttered for the ump-teenth time in the ten minutes that had passed since he'd told the group what had happened even though no one else had said anything since the last time he'd said it. Actually, no one had said much of anything. None of them wanted to be the first to voice that perhaps their concerns over hiring Shaun might have been founded after all.
Finally, Allegra shoved back her chair and stood up. "Dr. Glassman," she said firmly, "I insist that you locate your doctor or he will no longer be employed here!"
Jessica spoke up, "Sit down please. I think before anyone gets fired we should find out what exactly happened, and hear what happened from Shaun as well." She eyed Dr. Glassman, who had opened his mouth to protest.
He protested anyways. "I told you what happened. Shaun got mad and hit me. But it was partially my fault because I was pushing him too much to do something he didn't want to. How many times do I have to explain this?"
"You've already told us, and repeating it isn't going to help," Dr. Andrews chimed in. "Now, who has any idea where Shaun might have gone? Or knows anyone who he might have reached out to?"
Dr. Glassman threw his hands in the air before crossing to his empty chair and crossing his arms on the back of it, leaning slightly forward and bowing his head for a moment. Then he looked up and said, "I have no idea. Unless he is heading back to his old home, but I don't know what he'd do there."
"I don't know what he does when he's not here," Dr. Melendez contributed with a shrug.
Dr. Andrews stood up from the table. "I think we've established as much as we can right now. We all have other work we need to do. The hospital isn't going to run itself. If anyone needs anything of someone else on this matter, we'll let you know."
After leaving the conference room, Dr. Glassman tracked down Claire. "Dr. Brown," he began in a quiet voice, "could I have a word?"
Nodding and furrowing her eyebrows slightly in wondering what was going on, Claire followed him to an empty corner of the ER, and Dr. Glassman partially drew the curtain shut around the empty bed next to them.
"Dr. Brown, you seem to get along best with Dr. Murphy. Where do you think he might have gone?"
"I don't know, sir. You know him better than any of us," Claire replied as her eyes grew wide. "Shaun is gone?"
"Shaun and I haven't exactly been on… good terms lately. Yesterday, we got in an argument, he- he hit me and ran out. I've tried to contact him, but he hasn't replied or returned my calls. And to be honest, I'm at a loss. I have no idea where he would have gone. That's why I came to you."
Claire thought for a moment. "His neighbor. She flirts with him, and Shaun asked me to teach him about flirting."
Dr. Glassman nodded, remembering Shaun's enthusiasm at turning flirting into a science. "What else do you know about their relationship?" he asked.
"Not much. He lent her some batteries, she was flirting with him, and I think he likes her too, although I don't think he knows it yet."
"Would you do me a favor? Go to her apartment and see if she's seen him?" Dr. Glassman held up a hand as Claire opened her mouth, assuming correctly that she was going to ask why he couldn't do it. "If she can help you find him, Shaun will be more willing to talk to you than me."
Claire nodded in understanding.
"Good. I'll give you the address." Dr. Glassman took a notepad and pen out of his pocket and quickly wrote Shaun's address. "I know you're working late tonight, but if you could stop by first thing in the morning?"
As Claire took the paper, she nodded again.
Shaun spent most of the day in Lea's apartment while she was at work. He wasn't bored, exactly, but he also didn't know what to do with so much time to himself. His stack of medical journals were certainly interesting, and he found how completely uninteresting daytime television was.
For lunch, he opened Lea's fridge. In addition to assorted condiments, there was a partial loaf of bread, some mil, a few leaves of pathetic looking lettuce, a yogurt, sliced cheese, a couple eggs, and a Chinese takeout carton.
As much as he didn't want to return to his own apartment for the slightest thing since that would be like admitting defeat and giving in to Dr. Glassman, but he really wanted something to eat and nothing in Lea's fridge looked particularly appetizing.
So, reluctantly, Shaun took his apartment key and went down the hall to his apartment, unlocked the door, and grabbed some food and returned to Lea's apartment as quickly as possible.
When Lea came home that evening, she fixed the chicken that had been in the freezer.
"Do you always eat frozen food?" Shaun asked her.
"No, and I try not to very often," Lea replied. "But I haven't made it shopping this week and I'd challenge even the best cook to make a decent meal out of the stuff that's currently in the fridge." She pointed her thumb at the refrigerator behind her.
Shaun nodded and said, "I saw it earlier. I decided that none of it was very edible. You need better grocery shopping habits, and maybe better time management, as well."
Lea halfway smiled as she nodded, and then they continued to eat.
Then Lea said, "You know, you're so much easier to get along with than Brandon ever was. If he found my fridge like it is now, he'd just rant and spend five minutes shouting in order to say the same thing that you just did in a much shorter and nicer - albeit bluntly - manner. So - and I know I've said this before, but thank you once again for being so honest with me."
Shaun smiled a little and looked down at his food.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Lea practically exclaimed.
Shaun jumped.
"Sorry. Maybe the actual idea isn't quite that exciting, but it might be a good one anyways. Let me know what you think. Here goes. What do you say if we go out for dinner sometime soon? Sort of like a date?" Then she added hastily, "Of course, it doesn't have to be a date. It can just be two friends having a meal consisting of better food than what I've currently got here. Or we don't have to do it at all, if you don't want to. But I figured that it couldn't hurt to ask." Lea paused and shrugged.
Slowly, Shaun replied, "I- I would like that."
Lea smiled. "Good. This might be the best date - or whatever you want to call it - that I've ever gone on.
"And why is that?"
"On dates, men tend to flatter women, tell them all sorts of things that the girl wants to hear. But then they never ask her on a second date. They ignore her. It's like they don't have the courage to tell her that they didn't actually like her and were just being polite. Somehow I don't think that you'd do that to a girl.
Shaun shook his head.
"So… When do you want to do it? Maybe it depends on when you decide to go back to work."
"I don't even know if I'll go back," Shaun stated. "No one but Dr. Glassman wanted me there, and now I'm not even sure if he does."
"Well, let's assume that you'll go back. And you sometimes work late." Lea shrugged and explained herself, "I stay up late. Sometimes I hear you come home. Anyways, since I don't know your schedule and you don't know your schedule, let's say tomorrow night? Unless you're planning on going back to the hospital tomorrow?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Great. It's a date, then. Or whatever you want to call it."
Smiling, Shaun repeated, "A date."
