Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 6
Night at the bar continues...
A few known faces from the hospital stopped by his table to exchange greetings. He was popular among the nurses, even though the word on the street was the young resident didn't so much as flirt with the opposite sex since he hurriedly tied the knot last year.
He smiled mechanically and fist bumped with fellow residents, but politely refused to join them for a blow out at one of their homes.
He continued to wash down the drinks, ignoring the internal warning bells that told him that he would be in no shape to get up for Ella when she woke up at night, or for work the next day. For once he didn't want to care. For once he didn't want to be the responsible parent. Didn't he deserve to be spoiled a little too? Hadn't he sacrificed enough?
Carmen wasn't the only one whose plans got unexpectedly crumpled by Ella's arrival. He gave up his dreams too. When would it be his turn to vent and complain?
He gave up on the prestigious residency at Lenox Hill, rarely offered to someone in such an early stage of their career, the day he signed their marriage license. Born and raised in New Jersey, Carmen had had enough of New England's charm and categorically refused to move back to the east coast. He didn't complain or push her to change her mind. Appeasing Carmen and ensuring her life was impacted as little as possible by their marriage and Ella's birth was higher up on his priority list.
Not that it seemed to amount to much. Nothing did. No matter what he did, it proved to be the wrong move. Sitting at the dark corner of the bar, looking for the answers to his woes at the bottom of the bottle, he had to question the merit of his decisions since the day Carmen came to him a year ago to borrow eight hundred dollars.
Part of him wished he had just handed her the cash without asking any questions.
Part of him wanted to slit his own throat for even considering such blasphemy.
AN: Check out the stories by the warrior ficsters of Drabble War. They are all complete.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.