Arrogance appeals to me

29 || Cardiac Surgeon || Not a people person

[doc-klein-blog]

Tirades

And go!

After dealing with Kingsman’s drunk would-be-almost confessions, a hungover Chloe, a pissed off then naive Kingsman, the even more insufferable elder Kingsmans, a crying and possibly endangered patient, and then goddamn Kingsman again, Justin just wanted to go home, drink a few beers and pass out watching shitty television reruns. The longest consult of his career, almost two hours of a woman being terrified over her otherwise perfectly healthy husband needing a small stint, did not help matters any. He didn’t have any consults for the rest of the day, but he knew Bob would chew him out for leaving early, regardless of the fact that his patients were fine, so he flicked the lights off and laid down on the couch that was often neglected during time of rushing between patient’s rooms or rushing out of the hospital when he could leave.

Of course he’d only just shut his eyes when the door swung open, bouncing loudly off of the wall, and the blinding light came back on. “Well, fuck you too,” Justin mumbled, rolling over to face the back of the couch, in an attempt that he knew would be ignored, to try and silently tell her to leave him alone.

“Sorry not my type,” came what had become her automatic response since the first time he’d drunkenly yelled the words at her back in college after they had crashed a particularly boisterous frat party, during which she’d managed to cockblock him at least three times. Or at least, she’d told him that she had, for his own good. He couldn’t remember anything past the fourth game of beer pong. Or fifth, maybe. He hoped that would be the end of it, and she would just leave, but an insistent hand was tugging at his shoulder trying to get him to roll back over.

“Goddamnit, Chloe. Just let me sleep. I’m tired of dealing with people’s shit today,” he snapped at her.

“Yeah well, there’s more shit going on to deal with, so get up,” Chloe snapped back at him.

“Why?” He demanded petulantly, looking over his shoulder to glare at her.

“Because someone needs to go fuck some sense into the good doc, and I’m missing a vital body part.”

Justin rolled his eyes and returned to his attempted sleep position on the couch. “He’s getting married, get over it,” he mumbled, the words tasting strange even as they came off his tongue. Kingsman, married. The same guy, the only guy since his college boyfriend, that had spent more than one night in his bed. That Chloe had attached herself to and befriended, that Justin even found himself—not caring for, just being protective over. The same way that he was protective over his hospital. It wasn’t Justin’s fault that Kingsman’s parents had the kid whipped, but he damn sure wasn’t going to let his patients of his hospital suffer because of it. If they wanted to threaten his patient, or take one of the few competent doctors in the hospital away, they’d have to deal with him first.

“No, he’s not. We have to stop it. You didn’t hear how this guy talked, oh my god. He’s insufferable,” Chloe whined.

“Sounds like someone else you enjoy complaining about,” Justin said, earning a sharp swat on the back of his shoulder.

“Not like your kind of insufferable,” she said. “You’re insufferable, but it’s okay, because you’re brilliant and you save lives. Even if you’re not nice to people, you keep them alive. He’s just— horrible. He thinks he’s like, god’s gift to the world or something.”

“Also sounds familiar,” Justin noted.

“Justin, will you please be serious?”

Finally sitting up, Justin turned to face her, hands rising as if he was going to make a point, then just dropping to his knees. “What do you want from me? This isn’t some stupid rom-com, alright? I’m not going to go running after an idiot doctor that fucking agreed to an arranged marriage. I don’t care, Chloe. He can do whatever he wants. And you just—You have to let him. He’s a doctor. He’s not your child. What Kingsman wants to do, he can do. As for me, I just want to take a nap, make my rounds tonight, then go home. I want to drink a beer, and watch whatever movie or stupid reruns you want to watch, if you decide to join me. But that’s it. No complaining about the dumbass doc, or his matador fiancé. Can’t you just let this go?”

Chloe pressed her lips together, and he knew she wasn’t going to let it go, but she nodded anyway. “I will let it go for tonight.” He could tell she wanted to say something else. She was biting her lip in a way that he’d told her once in college made her look like she was holding back literal word vomit. That was fine with him. He’d have to listen to all of her rants, her anger at him and at Kingsman later. But he didn’t want to now. It was just too…weird. For the five hundred and thirty seventh time that day, his brain decided to unhelpfully replay Kingsman’s drunken words from the beach about missing him. Not just the sex, but actually him. Followed by him telling Justin the next morning—this morning? fuck, it had been a long day—that Justin had successfully ruined other men and sex for him for the rest of his married life. Which some small part of Justin took pride in, but the larger part of him just wanted to bleach the last twelve hours from his brain. With any luck, Chloe would bring enough alcohol to his place tonight that he could make a spectacular effort at accomplishing that.

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

It only hit Harris as they argued that for as educated and rational as he could be now - especially in the medical field - he had an entirely distorted view of what was ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ … there was just ‘shit you did as told’ and ‘shit you pretend not to see’. Legality served as much purpose in his family as kindness did to Justin’s surgical skills. He wasn’t going to waste time telling a nurse ‘please’ and his parents didn’t care to go through proper channels when their own were quicker, more effective, and dependable. Arguing with someone who was stoutly moral and tortuously rigid wasn’t going to get anywhere. So he fell silent but it was too late. Justin’s wrath had already been provoked and he had no problems laying into every one of Harris’ most vulnerable spots. Instinctively fear curled deep in his stomach as Justin threatened going to the police on his own without Harris’ cooperation because he’d seen what happened to those that tried. And Justin may have an empty loft (with some of his things still probably lingering somewhere forgotten) and a dismal personality but he saved lives. Every day. The world would be worse off without him in it. He couldn’t put himself in that kind of danger for him and Ellie when he didn’t even like him or Ellie. 

Harris did have every intention of storming the fuck out, hot with dueling shame and anger but he couldn’t let Justin’s stupidity have that kind of fallout for him. Not on his conscience. So he dialed the non-emergency number for the local pd and explained briefly what had happened and what options he had. They seemed confident they could get a restraining order and offered to meet him at the hospital to fill out the paperwork and get started on it right away. Thirty or so grueling moments later after he’d laid out as much evidence as he’d been able to procure with only his phone they were interrupted by the man himself. Belatedly, Harris realized he’d never moved and refused to look at the reasons why. They were probably related to why he was still in Justin’s shirt but that was neither here nor there. Inside and out he hurt and given Chloe’s head was in a toilet and his sister was bedridden, this was the only other place he could turn. The knowledge smarted but he was able to smother it as they all turned shuttered looks his way. Almost unanimously three pairs of eyebrows raised before Harris’ face went white. “They were here?” he breathed out, fingers automatically clenching as he half-rose before one of the police held up a hand to halt him. Searching Justin’s face for a long moment he decided there was no urgency to Justin’s movements and if Ellie or the babies were in any kind of distress, he wouldn’t be here. So he sank back down and motioned towards the police officer turning towards Justin with his pen poised. “ They’re here taking what they need to file a restraining order against them. Your witness to anything … uh, suspicious would probably help immensely. There’s not much of a paper trail where veiled threats are concerned, but a hospital record would carry some weight.” He felt too small to be in the hospital. Normally this was his jungle - there were predators and dangerous, but most of the time, he was just completely in his element and comfortable. Now he felt like both an imposter and a young kid - nothing like a confident doctor in his prime. Quietly, he rehashed and clarified and answered the same questions a few more times before they were beginning to gather their things and he was able to walk them out the door and take a long moment to just breathe. Hopefully whatever blowback occurred from this would occur to him and him alone. He’d tried to keep Justin and Ellie out of it as much as possible.

Justin’s eyes narrowed, half in suspicion, half in confusion. “Of course they were here,” he snapped at Kingsman, before looking back at the officers. “I thought that’s why you were here. They were all pissed, talking about lawyers and cops when I had security take them out of Mrs. Lacey’s room. If they didn’t call you,” he broke off, eyes turning back to Kingsman, and his gaze must’ve been dangerously close to looking impressed at the doctor’s actions when he explained the actual reason for the officers’ presence. He paused, trying to scrape back to the words he’d heard that had driven him to force his way into his patient’s room, but it had all happened quickly.

“They didn’t do anything, if that’s the kind of proof you want,” he stated with a shrug. “I checked her over myself when they were gone, and she says they didn’t touch her or any of the medical equipment in the room. She can give you a better account of any threats levelled against her. I came in at the tail end of whatever was going on. I heard her father say something about shipping her kids off to an international boarding school, and Mrs. Lacey told them to get out, or she’d scream loud enough for the entire hospital to come running. Then her mother told her to, ‘keep a tighter leash on that tongue,’ were her exact words if memory serves. I interrupted then and had them escorted out.”

He did his best to answer the questions they had with as little sarcasm and impatience as he could manage. If it would do anything to keep his patient safe, he’d manage to play nice for the duration of the interrogation. “For what it’s worth, until the restraining order is approved by a judge, or your captain, or whoever, they won’t be allowed near her. I’m her attending, and as long as she’s under my care, I have the right within this hospital to ban anyone that I see as a threat to her health and wellbeing.” Within reason of course, part of which stretched to, she had to agree with him on the ban, but he doubted she’d be changing her tune on her parents any time soon. He turned towards his desk, wearily looking forward to taking break after the adrenaline of the morning had worn off, and waved a dismissive hand when the officers asked if he had anything else to add. He’d racked his brain for more information than the two minute exchange with the Kingsmans had contained, besides it wasn’t like they should be lacking for evidence. They had more than enough to do something already.

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

Ellie had been so incensed by her parents presence on the heels of what they’d done to Harris, she hadn’t even fully considered what threat there was against her now. It didn’t hit her until Justin started asking probing questions and then panic hit, making her reach for her belly like that’d protect her babies, but just shook her head. “No. Daddy sat there, he didn’t - the machines are all on this side. Mama just played with my hair. I don’t think - they’re not really the type to get their hands dirty.” Not when money could make it someone else’s problem. Shaking off the momentary panic, she cooperated fully with Justin’s instructions until he’d given her a clean bill of health again and she could start breathing again. “No, I feel fine. Not any worse than usual.”

Turning her concern back to Harris had him quipping out a dry remark about how he sleeps just fine…after he’d been worn out and it allowed the first smile since she’d first seen her brother today pop out. “You are trouble, Dr. Klein.” she teased with a tsk, tsk. But she was glad Harris had him in his corner, even if he’d deny up and down and until he was blue in the face that he was in any corner - especially not Harris’. It was almost like watching a playground crush where the boy liked the girl he picked on most - when shoving her meant ‘hey i like you’.

Her heart hurt a little as Justin clarified his experiences with dealing with such individuals as being just part of his job. Banned? “You got them banned?” she asked barely daring to hope. “For like a week, or a month?” It seemed impossible to wrap her head around and while she knew it was not really safe — it’d be more secure than she’d felt in a very very long time.

If she thought he’d react well to it, she’d reach out as he talked about how he was all alone - link their fingers - physically remind him that he wasn’t alone anymore. Whatever his relationship with Harris - co-worker, friends, frenemies, lovers — Justin’d somehow barreled into their lives and the moment he took it upon himself to stand up for Harris, got brought into their family as far as she was concerned. He wasn’t alone anymore. For whatever good they could bring that might act as a bit of a counterweight against the bad.

“I wish it was that easy.” Ellie said wistfully. “I’d do it right now if I could.”

Fatigue seemed to descend on her like a blanket now that her big morning was wrapping up and she sank back into the pillows as she took the paper Justin presented her. “Thank you, Dr. Klein. I know this goes above and beyond. But I’ll be happy to fill out a survey or something to who was it? Bob? What a terrible name for the head of a hospital, but I’ll give you a positive review you can point to whenever you get shit for your terrible bedside manner, if you’d like.” She was mostly just teasing, but did feel indebted to him in so many ways now. It was an uncomfortable position for her to be in, but she focused on the list - Harris, Cohen, Lily, Heather, Chloe, Dr. Klein, their lawyer, her assistant, and a few models names she may have to bring here to properly fit and adjust before the shows she was missing. “I think that’s it. Thank you, again. When Harris wakes up, can you send him back here, please?”

The shocked response to his questions wasn’t exactly what Justin had been anticipating. She did know what ‘threat’ meant, right? And why her brother was so worried about her? Did she honestly think that anything less than a threat to her physical health would convince Kingsman to marry some idiot he’d just met? But she at least answered his questions, even if her voice shook a bit as she spoke. “Alright,” he conceded. He almost wanted to make up something that they’d tampered with so that he could convince Bob to actually ban them from the hospital. But he wasn’t sure if Ellie would go along with the lie, or if she was a good liar at all. His money would be on not.

He couldn’t help the amused half smile that tugged at his lips at the words, though. “So I’ve been told,” he said simply. He was beginning to like the woman in spite of himself. Rather, he had for a while, but admitting it was something he was reluctant to do. She had a certain air about her though, that made his practiced, disinterested facade difficult to maintain. She sounded so much more hopeful than someone probably should, having been told their parents were banned from seeing them. Justin frowned, shaking his head a bit guiltily. “No. Unfortunately I can’t ban them from the premises. I can have them kicked off when I find them to be a threat to my patient, and I can ban them from your room for as long as you’re under my care. But actually banning them from the hospital all together is Bob’s call. I’ll talk to him. If I can get you and your brother to talk to him as well, we might be able to get them banned. Just do me a favor, if I bring him in here to talk about that, try to muster up a few tears. The man’s got a bleeding heart, he can’t stand to see a woman cry. He’d ban the Queen of England if a woman cried and asked him to.”

Justin half smiled again and shook his head. “As much as Bob would love to get another comment saying, ‘He’s an asshole, but he saved my life,’ it might make the less competent doctors here jealous. You should tell him that he should consider a name change, though. I might just start calling him Todd. or Doug.” He had a odd, confused thought of, why the hell was he just hanging around, joking with a patient about his boss’s name, but dismissed it in favor of taking the list and reviewing it.

He smirked, but didn’t comment on the fact that she’d forgotten her OB/GYN’s name. He couldn’t ban the doctor from seeing his own patient anyway, so it wasn’t relevant, just an amusing side note. As he reached names that he didn’t recognize, his mind replayed her words that her parents didn’t like to get their hands dirty. “There’s no one on this list that you think your parents could buy off, right?” he asked bluntly. But if she was certain, he probably shouldn’t argue. Or he should. He didn’t trust the couple that had just been escorted from her room. Satisfied that she trusted the loyalty of everyone left on the list, Justin excused himself with the promise of sending Kingsman to her bedside when he ‘woke up.’

In the interest of at least pretending that her brother had gotten five minutes of sleep, he stopped by an admin office to make several copies of the list, after he’d scribbled Ellie’s name and room number at the top, along with ‘approved visitors.’ He tucked the original in his pocket, and Took the stack of copies to the security office. Steve and his protege looked like they’d just returned, and were already wary when they saw him in the door. “Everything go alright?”

“They weren’t happy, but didn’t really expect them to be. There was talk of lawyers and the usual bullshit. Got something for me?” Steve added, eyes dropping to the papers. Justin held them out for him to take and scan over. “Approved visitors?” He read off, raising his eyebrows at Justin.

“Anyone else wants to see her, they need my direct approval. Not the patient’s. I’ll check with her, but I don’t want any guilt-ridden agreements to visitors she doesn’t want, but who can hear her answer out the door and she doesn’t want to offend. Also, I want one of your guards n her floor at all times. Not stationed outside of her room, this isn’t a quarantine, and I don’t want rumors going around. Just make sure each of your guards has a copy of this list, and no one that’s not on the list, except for her assigned doctors and nurses are allowed in without my approval.”

He didn’t wait for a response, but he distinctly heard angry muttering about overtime, and Steve’s protege saying that he wasn’t staying late, before the door shut behind Justin. He wondered vaguely if Kingsman would still be in his office. But a quick detour by Kingsman’s office proved that he wasn’t there, so he continued on to his own office. As he approached, he heard voices that were decidedly not the younger doctor’s, though.

“Who the hell—“ he broke off as he pushed the door roughly open and saw who was inside. Kingsman was there, but he wasn’t alone. “Why are there police officers in my office?” He demanded, glaring at Kingsman before turning to address the two uniformed men. “If this is about kicking my patient’s parents out of the hospital, I was fully within my rights to do so, and will again if they set foot in my hospital.”

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

Other than right after her surgery, Ellie’d never expected to feel relief when seeing Dr. Klein’s face. But right now she could have kissed his cheek. She moved her hand away from the panic button, confident now that Dr. Klein had things handled. She tried to broadcast both, ‘I’m fine,’ and ‘Please help’ at the same time which probably just confused him and where the hell was her brother? She wanted both to prevent him from coming in here and have him here where she could keep him safe. A few seconds went by without his hurried footsteps rushing in so he must not know yet and Dr. Klein just had impeccable timing. And also a truly impressive way with words.

‘Well-adjusted and competent’ made both her eyebrows raise inappropriately because he’d never said so much as a somewhat flattering thing about her or her brother before but it was nice to find out that somewhere deep deep down he did know their worth. He knew Harris’ worth and that was more than just about everyone in Harris’ life sans her family could say. 

Her breath held when Dr. Klein not only effortlessly seemed to play their game but manage to best them at it. It didn’t even bother her that Mother dearest threw a withering glare that had ‘this is not over’ clearly communicated. And ever the grown-up, Ellie just made a face back until they were gone but instantly felt some of that brave facade fail once the door was shut and she could hear their voices getting fainter and fainter until they were gone.

Shutting her eyes briefly, she fought the impulse to cry and just shook her hair out of her face as an excuse to do something with herself before offering a shaky smile up towards Dr. Klein. “Thank you. I was about to hit the panic button but Heather’s so sweet and the semi-competent-not-Chloe nurse isn’t much bigger than I am and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt or uh, verbally lashed undeservedly.”

Glancing towards the door again, she couldn’t help but nervously shift in her bed a little. “Where’s my brother? Did you get him to sleep? I used to tease him and say I was convinced he was a robot who didn’t need sleep to function. Actually, in hindsight, he never corrected me. He may very well be a robot.” 

Bringing a hand up to cover her mouth, she let out a nervous giggle and tried to shake the adrenaline now pounding through her system off. “Sorry. Sorry. I get chatty when I’m - after- well, whatever. I’m chatty. You know where the door is if you don’t want to hear it.”

Keeping silent while Justin checked out her monitors and heart and stuff was beyond difficult and the words sort of busted out as soon as the stethoscope was pulled away from her chest.

“It’s sweet. What you said about us. I don’t know if that was just to slap them with things they don’t wanna hear or if it was honest, but don’t tell me. I’d like to hold on to my beliefs and just - there hasn’t been a lot of people who’d stood up for Harris like that in his life. I’m not sure if you’re a posh guy by birth or just understand how the posh like to play, but the Kingsman name is … well, it’s on par with the Hilton’s really. Higher class my Mother would tell you but that’s a boldface lie. The whole hotel / resorts thing is just a front, really. Offshore accounts, money laundering, tax evasion, they’re classic mob-family with a better brain for business. As much as our teachers, our friend’s families, guidance counselors would have liked better for us – those are odds no one wants to stand against. Help us or protect their family - it’s not a choice and we can’t fault them for that. I just wanted you to know what you’re doing. What standing up to them entails so just - keep an eye around you, aright? They may try to retaliate but this was pretty mild so they’ll probably ignore it in favor of rushing the wedding before Harris or I can ruin things for them. Pity my mother couldn’t have more children and that she has Daddy too whipped to divorce her or try his luck elsewhere. We’re all that’s left of the family business. One of us has to survive long enough to take over and pass it to our own kids. Give you one guess who they think that’s gonna be.”

Pausing to finally take a breath and reach for her phone to text the codeword to Cohen, she hesitated over another contact. “Do you know of any personal security firms down here that you trust? Most of our northern contacts have been corrupted by now and I’d just - I’ll feel better knowing someone’s watching over Harris for awhile.” 

Justin was almost wishing they wouldn’t leave without a fight. They seemed like the type, and he was somehow certain that even though they left the room without more than a couple death glares that he was proud to have earned, it wouldn’t be the last time he heard from them. He made a mental note to stop by Bob’s office after he checked on his patient, just to give him a heads up about the expensive, high profile law firms that would likely be calling him.

Turning back to Ellie, he forced himself to take a breath and let his features relax slightly. As much as he didn’t have a problem with berating and snapping at patients, this one hadn’t earned it, and she’d already dealt with enough of it by the sounds of what was going on when he’d arrived. “Did either of them touch you or any of the machines, IV bag, anything?” It wasn’t a question he normally had to ask after family visitations, but he wouldn’t put anything past the two people that just left. “ Do you feel alright? Lightheaded or dizzy? Any shortness of breath, or spots in your vision? Stare straight ahead,” he added, pulling a pen light from his pocket and checking her pupils. he checked her blood pressure and heart rate on the machine next. Elevated, but not unexpectedly so, and it was steadily dropping. He folded the blanket down over her legs so he could press the end of the stethoscope against her stomach, moving it around until he could hear the heartbeat of one of the babies. After a minute, he moved it around again until he found a distinct, second heartbeat. He moved it up t her chest to check her lungs next, before he was finally satisfied that she was alright, at least physically, after the encounter.

He picked up her chart and scanned over it, listening as she rambled on. He bit back telling her that heather had bene right outside the door, had known everything that was going on, and chose to not to come in. Tried to keep him from coming it. If she’d received the panic call, he doubted she would’ve done anything more than call someone else. But if Ellie thought she’d been protecting the nurse, then she was free to believe that particular lie. “He does sleep. When he’s been sufficiently worn out,” Justin said dryly, not quite able to reach the offhanded tone that his inappropriate comments about her brother usually took. He was still on edge, whether waiting for a fight or hoping for one, he wasn’t entirely sure.

“No, I’m not terribly familiar with the posh society, but I am very familiar with the people who like to use threats and big words in an attempt to convince me that twenty minutes on google made them a better doctor than years of med school made me. I typically find threats to throw back at them, generally with a bit more medical jargon that they won’t understand, but yours gave me outright threats that made it much easier to get them banned from my hospital.” He looked up from the chart to size her up, before huffing out a short laugh and returning her chart to its place at the end of her bed. “Don’t worry about me. If your parents want to come after me, they have to come directly to me. There’s nobody they can use to blackmail me. My recommendation? Shred the family  business from the inside out, as soon as you get the big title.”

Justin hesitated when she started asking about private security firms. He shouldn’t be surprised that she saw it as necessary, but the fact that she asked him, that she trusted his recommendation, was both uncomfortable and probably questionable. He snapped at her, had snapped at Lily, her brother was angry at him more often than not, and yet she was trusting him to make sure she and her family were kept safe? “I’ll make some calls,” he said finally. He considered for a moment what to do about her, it wasn’t like he could have a police officer outside of her room when there hadn’t technically been a crime. After a moment, he handed her a notepad and a pen. “Make a list of anyone you want to be allowed to see you. One of the security guards will be stationed on this floor, and any name that’s not on this list will need my direct approval before they’re allowed in your room.”

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

In hindsight, maybe she shouldn’t have pushed Harris’ into another man’s arms. He was all honorable and proper and a gentlemen in a time where it was no longer popular to be so. In a way, she’d always wanted to be a shield between him and the awful parts of the world, but they always had a way of sneaking past her. That’s all she’d meant by telling him to go back to an office with Dr. Klein. To just grab on to the last moments of happiness he could with both hands for as long as he could – it’d been many many years since she’d seen her brother smile and flush like he had when Dr. Klein was present. Still, she knew the family that haunted his steps, that layered everything they did with danger and blood money. She and Harris had had a dozen talks about what to do when she found out she was pregnant, if it was responsible to even bring another child into their family, but in the end it’d been one of the best decisions of her life. She’d never regretted having Lily but now - as two unwelcome faces strolled into her hospital room - she did fear for her safety. Cautiously, she slipped the control under her sheets, finger poised over the emergency panic button as she pasted a smile onto her face. “I hear you two had quite a night.” She said softly. “When I pressured him to go – it was for my sake. For our foundation. I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore that you can find new and improved ways to take something good and twist it for your own gains. But both of you get out, right now.”

Her mother huffed and her father pretended like she’d said nothing as he took up the chair next to the bed and her mother on it, reaching for her hand and brushing aside some of her hair. “Wow, how far along you are, dear. You look like you’re about to pop any moment!” Ellie resisted the urge to glare at her and instead just ignored the comment as she turned her puppy eyes on her father. “Daddy.” 

“Hello, darling. You gave us such a scare calling us from the hospital and with heart problems! You’re much too young for this. Let us take you back to New York, we know excellent doctors there that could fix you up in a jif.”

“This is Mayo Clinic, Daddy. It’s the top hospital network in the nation. I can’t get better care anywhere else. I’m in good hands. Dr. Klein is very…very talented.” 

“I don’t like it. You being so far away.”

“I don’t like that you forgot you had a son until you needed a boy to marry off.”

Fuming, she turned a cold glare on her mother, knowing the idea would have never occurred to her father, but the woman was just checking her nails and flicking a bored glance up at Ellie. “Oh, do hush with the dramatics. You know as well as we do that Harris would never have amounted to anything and now he’ll have a respectable title and a proper husband. If said husband fathers a bastard or two, they’ll even have a company legacy to hand down. Isn’t that lovely?”

“I know this means nothing to you – but he was happy here. He had someone he was interested in, he was smiling, laughing – oh that’s right. You two weren’t around for the years he’d forgotten how to do either.” 

“Honey, I have to agree with your Mother here. You’re getting a tad dramatic. There’s no need for all this talk. What’s done is done. Your brother’s future is set and your own is safe. If you really wish to carry on with all this, thank your brother and be done with it. Now let’s talk about the baby. Is it a boy or a girl? Are you thinking about domestic boarding schools or international? International really is the way we ought to have gone with you two.” 

“Get out.” Ellie demanded again. “I swear, I’ll start screaming and this whole room will be flooded with people and I’ll encourage them to go to the press with it.”

“This pregnancy has your emotions running all amok, aren’t they? It’s very unbecoming of a lady. You should keep a tighter leash on that tongue, dear daughter.” her mother reprimanded. 

Tears prickling her eyes - she fought her sense of self-preservation and started to build up the courage to hit the button but the door was already opening and oh. Oh, no. Dr. Klein looked…livid. 

“Mom, Dad. This is Dr. Klein. It looks like he needs the room so if you two would just – “

“Nonsense, Elliana. We’d love to meet the man responsible for saving your life. We do owe you much gratitude, sir. How’s a check for $250,000? Shall I make it out to the cardiology wing or just you?”

This was insane. The entire fucking thing was insane, and no one else seemed to understand that. Kingsman and his sister just went along as if this was just another day, and what fucked up kind of lives had they led to lead them to the conclusion that this was fucking normal? Not just normal, but acceptable? He didn’t stay to hear if Kingsman said anything else, tried to defend anything because he fucking couldn’t. There was no way to defend agreeing to this, threats be damned. If the world really worked like that, in normal people’s lives, the fucking planet would be run by mafia gang leaders.

Justin stopped in the security office, asked for the head of security and pulled up the picture son his phone. “Hey, Steve, can you do me a favor? If these people come into the hospital, call me, okay? And don’t let them in room 308.”

Steve started to nod as he took the phone, “No problem, Dr. Klein, I’ll let you know if—“ he broke off, lips pressing together tightly.

“What?” Justin demanded. “God, don’t tell me you recognize them.”

He nodded, handing the phone back and moving to stand behind one of the guards at the security desk. “I saw them, just a few minutes ago actually. Go to the camera in the east hallway, third floor. There,” he pointed as the guard rewound the tape.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Justin spat. “Both of you, with me.”

He stormed out of the office and downs he hall, forgoing the trouble of waiting for the elevators and taking the stairs two at a time up to the third floor. He heard voices from the hallway as soon as he made it to the door. “—brother’s future is set and your own is safe.” He put a hand on the door, but fingers wrapped around his wrist before he could push it open. His glare snapped the to the nurse— Kinsman’s nurse of all fucking people. Shaking her head, eyes wide with panic.

“You’re fine with this?” He hissed at her. “You can’t stop me from going in there.”

“—International really is the way we ought to have gone with you two.”

Then Ellie was talking about screaming and bringing the entire hospital running, and it was too far. “Wait to come in until I tell you,” he muttered over his shoulder to Steve and the guard whose name he couldn’t be bothered to recall. He started to push the door, but Heather pulled on his arm, earning a hardened glare. “Look, I’m glad you finally decided to grow a backbone around men, but go test it out on someone else.”

Something about unbecoming of a lady slipped through the crack in the door, and if he hadn’t been so pissed, he would’ve offered to introduce them to Chloe. He ripped his arm out of Heather’s grasp and pushed the door open, eyes scanning first over his patient before locking a murderous stare onto her so-called parents.

The man actually had the balls to offer him a check, after blackmailing Kingsman and threatening Ellie. “If I thought that a quarter of a million would even put a dent in your wallet, I would ask for it just so I can burn it. It’s a miracle that your children have turned out to be as well-adjusted and competent as they are. You know what I want? Your ass out of my hospital. Right fucking now. And if you want to make a complaint, here,” he paused to pull out a small notepad and wrote down Bob’s name and contact information, shoving it roughly into the man’s hand. “Please, please call the chief of staff and complain about the big bad doctor kicking you out of your daughter’s room. It would make my day. Because then I get to tell him why. How you threatened a patient and blackmailed one of the best doctors in this hospital. You think I’m bad? You don’t want to see him after you’ve threatened a patient and his precious Dr. Kingsman. Steve!”

The head of security and shorter guard  pushed their way into the room. “Please escort Mr. and Mrs. Kingsman off of the premises. Unless they would like to stop by and see Dr. Bob. That’s fine. If they’d prefer to be dragged out of the hospital by an angry old man, who am I to keep them from that?”

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

People do get put into arranged marriages all over the world, Mr. I-only-speak-facts. It was the track my life was always going to take before I got disowned. You think Ellie and Cohen met by chance? A pro-athlete wasn’t their first choice, but it was her choice out of the suitors given to her and she was always the favorite. They couldn’t afford to lose their only child so they allowed it. Also do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up, please. I appreciate you looking out for your patient and yeah, it’s your job, we’re not special, I got all that. But what you don’t understand is that time means nothing to my parents. They were happy to let me disappear for over a decade until they needed a gay man to auction off and now they’re back. Their threat didn’t have a time limit. It could have been tomorrow, it could be a year from now, it could be on the new babies’ graduation day - at some point she’d not be your patient anymore and she wouldn’t be safe. You also can’t have Cohen and Lily move in here and they’re in danger too, okay? So take coward out of your mouth and shove it up your ass because they’re all I have. I will do anything to keep them safe and maybe that makes me a fool and maybe that makes me naive, but I’m not a coward. 

Not in the fucking US, they’re not supposed to happen. Forcing someone into a marriage against their will is illegal. Blackmailing someone into getting married against their will is illegal. These are the kinds of things that are taken to the police, for the good of everyone involved. Do you think that’s good for your sister, huh? Do you think she’ll be so proud and thrilled that you sacrificed your future, your happiness, because they threatened her and Lily and Cohen? If you’re too scared to stand up to them, fine. Don’t go to the police. Don’t get a fucking restraining order. But if I hear a single threat out of their mouths towards Ellie or her family, I will. If they’re all you have, then fight for them. Don’t let your batshit crazy parents use them to manipulate you. That’s not caring about them or protecting them. That’s burdening them with the guilt of every complaint, every unhappy moment, every miserable result of this marriage that you have to endure for the rest of your life. So do whatever you want. Sit in here, sleep, be miserable, I don’t care. But I’m going to go and actually try to do something. Starting with making sure the head of security knows not to let your disgusting excuses for parents anywhere near my patient.

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

You think this is a hoax? That what? I’m bored? Or that the girls convinced me of some needlessly dramatic convoluted way of trying to spark some jealousy in you? Sorry. You can yell and belittle me all you want but that doesn’t change what happened. And frankly, I’m not sure why you keep asking like the answer is going to magically change. Chloe’s story matched mine, didn’t it? Actually, pull your computer up. There was press there before, during, after - I’m sure there’s interviews about it. Hell, my parents probably spent all night gushing about it. The Italian matador’s dad probably did the same in the Italian tabloids. Go ahead and check, I’ll wait. 

No, not bored. Just stupidly drunk. People don’t get engaged to someone they just met. People don’t get sucked into arranged fucking marriages, alright? Fine, I’ll look it up...Are your parents possessed or something? ‘Love at first sight is a beautiful thing to witness. It was like the angels themselves smiled down on those boys.’ So they definitely missed the part where you tried to give yourself alcohol poisoning, right? Again, how the fuck did you agree to this? I don’t care what they say, or who they’re blackmailing. They won’t get close enough to hurt my patient, I don’t care how well connected they are. But you’re just going to roll over and give up because they said so? You know what? You deserve the idiot Italian matador. You’re a fucking coward.

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

I’m not drunk anymore. Heather had a med student practice how to do IV’s, see? I’m all hydrated now. {Oh, no. Dr. Klein, he’s all yours for some uh, ‘sleeping it off’} I hate you. {What a sweet dear brother you are. You love me. But really, go sleep it off on the nice doc’s couch, H. Just tell me the details later. It’ll be like bachelor party rules. Won’t leave the hospital!} There will be no details!! I’m not tired. Jesus. You two should not be allowed to team up. Ever. But fine, whatever. Lead the way to an office. 

Let’s go, my office is closer. If you’re not drunk, then please tell me you weren’t rambling more dumbass shit about your supposed Italian matador fiancé to my patient? You’ve really got Chloe convinced too. She kept going on about this guy that picked your face out of a book, and some conspiracy your family has that involves threatening your sister. My patient, I should add. And anyone that comes in here to do any harm to her is getting kicked out on their ass. I don’t care if they’re family, friends, or the fucking pope. So either give up this stupid prank, or give me one goddamn reason why I should believe that this shit is in any way plausible. 

[doc-klein-blog]

Morning. How’s my patient doing? Good? Great. Kingsman, it’s been my experience that having drunks rambling nonsense at my patients tends to stress them out when they should be resting, so why don’t you come with me? Sleep it off on the couch in your office, maybe, or the couch in mine if you’d be less likely to argue with that. Come on, get up. As Chloe felt it necessary to drink herself into oblivion with your brother last night, one of the less competent nurses will be in to check your vitals in a few minutes, Mrs. Lacey.

[doc-klein-blog]

nurse-sanders:

Yes! Ow. His parents- fuck, Just, his parents are insane, like Batman villain insane- and they blackmailed him into marrying this guy that was just like, “I see book and pick your face.” And they threatened Ellie! They actually threatened their own daughter to make Harris marry this guy. And Harris is just gonna do it cause he has some self-sacrificial mindset and thinks he wasn’t gonna get better than an arranged marriage anyway, so this is a step up from dying alone or whatever. I can’t make this shit up if I tried. And you- fuck, give me some more water. Ok, you have to fix this. Cause I don’t give a shit what you say, you do care. You don’t keep people around for as long as you kept him around. You care about him, and you care about his sister. And Lily. So just- stop, ok? Stop being a dick and just do something. Fix this, before it gets worse, and he actually gets fucking married to this creep, and you just have to sit there and watch and be miserable.

I see book and pick your face? Who’s he marrying, a three year old? Nothing’s going to happen to his sister. She’s my patient, and anyone that comes in the hospital with the intent to harm her is getting kicked out on their ass. If security isn’t fast enough I’ll do it myself. Kingsman is an idiot, self-sacrificial or not, it’s his problem, not mine. Fuck off, Chloe. I’m not fixing anything. It’s not my mess to clean up. Kingsman is the dumbass that agreed to marry an Italian matador with the IQ level of a three year old. Not my fucking problem. And my misery or lack thereof is unaffected by the marital status of your favorite brain surgeon, so don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You might not be though. I got one of the idiot surgical nurses to come in and cover for you in the OR this morning, don’t worry. Just take some pain killers and go back to sleep for a few hours.

[doc-klein-blog]

nurse-sanders:

Oh my god. I’m not gonna puke on the floor. I haven’t done that since med school. Whatever. But they are a thing! Or like, blackmail’s a thing anyway, so close enough. Stop acting like you don’t care, ok? And stop yelling, my head hurts. You totally care. And if it turns into a shitstorm, you’re gonna care, and you’re gonna help, so just- wait, when was the rambling about missing you part? And who’s two-strike boy?

He’s being blackmailed into an arranged marriage. Just tell me which stupid soap opera shit you were drunkenly watching last night and we can clear the entire thing up. Why would I care? He was a one night stand that lasted a few months too long. Last night, he was rambling some sappy bullshit about missing me, and not just the sex even though he then complained about his sex life being shit. It was a bunch of sappy, drunk crap that I’d really rather forget about. He thought he was hallucinating seeing me anyway, so that’s how fucking plastered he was, and you expect me to believe that he remembered last night well enough to know that he got engaged. Either you’re still drunk or I need to be, to deal with this shit right now. I don’t know, I was hoping you could tell me. Just something else that made it into his idiotic drunk rambling. 

[doc-klein-blog]

nurse-sanders:

Thanks. But like, no Im not even joking, ok? This is like, May Fucking Day shit. Where’s the bathroom? Turn the lights off, asshole. Your idiot self let him go and get fucking engaged. Like actually engaged, ok? Like arranged marriage by psycho parents and fucked his beau in the bathroom engaged. And you need to fix it. 

You know where the bathroom is. Just don’t puke on my floor again. I’m not cleaning it up. It’s not my fault he went and got himself engaged! Hell, at least now I know it’s a joke. In case you forgot Chloe, arranged marriages aren’t a thing anymore. For at least a couple hundred years or something. I’m not fixing anything. He wants to go and fuck up his life, he can do that. I don’t fucking care. He can go on and ramble about missing me and about how shitty his sex life is all he wants. Or ramble about whoever two-strike boy is or any other bullshit nonsense he wants to come up with. I don’t care. It’s his fucking problem. I’m just gonna sit back and watch the shitstorm with some fucking popcorn. 

[doc-klein-blog]

nurse-sanders:

No. Yes. Fuck, why’s the room not…. staying in place… 

No. Honey, you’re not getting off that easy. Here’s some water, now start talking. What the hell kind of fancy ass party did you two go two, and what happened?

[doc-klein-blog]

Any chance you remember enough about last night to fill me in? Because Kingsman thinks he’s engaged. To an Italian matador.

[drxharris-blog]

Unexpected

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

Family drama didn’t quite seem like big enough words for how thoroughly they’d flipped and fucked his life up. So he ignored Justin’s dismissal and just pushed on until the bombshell left his lips and promptly set off Hurricane Justin. Curling back over the table, he tried to shield what was left of his heart as securely as possible, but Justin had a knack for finding the cracks and shattering his defenses. The quips about fucks not engagements and his weird level of attachment were his weapons of choice this time and it worked to leave him open and vulnerable to the rest of the attack.

Though not completely unarmed himself. “You know, since we’re being simultaneously friendly and cruel here, let me just put out there that half your problem is putting more stock in your own fucking assumptions than any kind of logic or fact presented to you.” He bit his tongue there, let Justin rant on about soaps of all fucking things though it did make him half-heartedly interested in asking Chloe just when she got Justin to drunkenly watch soaps and what the hell happened once she did.

Sitting back up, he drank what was left of his coffee, pushed carefully up to feet and slowly made his way to the sink to wash the mug and set it on the drainer to dry before turning to face Justin fully. “I do owe you one. And I owe you a thank you for not just grabbing Chloe and leaving me on the beach. And for staying to make sure I didn’t die. So, thank you.”

Pausing to think about what he really wanted to say and what outcome his saying them would bring made him really just wish he wasn’t still kinda drunk ‘cause he was definitely about to make some horrible life decisions. “You’re a dick. And you take pride in that. And for some fucking reason - most likely I am missing vital brain cells of some sort - I’m used to that. Endeared by it a good portion of the time, even. So - truce, alright? I’m done with things being weird in the OR and out. You and I make a damn good team together even when we aren’t fucking. And given we both have all of two friends who are friends with each other, we’re not going to be able to avoid each other. So…we’re cool, ok?” And I miss you. But at least that one he could hold back.

“Also you’re wrong. Chloe will be happy to fill you in on all the details once she’s conscious again, though you probably should have some type of alcohol on hand once she gets going. The brief things she may not remember - his name is Markos. He’s Italian, not Spanish. I think. And I fucked him in the bathroom before I knew he had ulterior motives or like his name. And absolutely fuck you for ruining other men for me ‘cause it kinda sucked and now i’m going to have sucky sex for the entirety of my married life. Fantastic.”

Subconsciously sighing and swaying a little closer, he shook it off and started out towards the living room and his pants so he could hopefully go break the news to his sister before one of his parents did for him and he just got the angry bits of it. Though, drunk-Harris got control of the wheel again, having him catch the door-frame and glance back. “Though, for the record- I’m not sorry for getting weirdly attached to you. As much as you try to resist it and shun it even, you deserve to have people who care about you, people who watch your back, so yeah.” Smiling a little at vague memories, he just shrugged and turned back scanning the floor for his pants. “When Chloe’s ready to go on a rampage, I’ll be at the hospital.”

Not one word that Kingsman uttered made any kind of logical sense, so it was a true credit to Justin that he didn’t bust out laughing at the doctor’s criticism of him. “Not putting stock in logic or facts, huh? How’s this for a fact: You left the hospital exactly,” he paused to check his phone. “Nine hours ago, single, and from what I’ve gathered by your attitude towards me, and Chloe’s continued annoyance with me, still pissed at me over fucking some other guy, and now you’re engaged. There is no logic in that. At all. So yeah, I’m going with my assumption that you were incredibly drunk and don’t remember it correctly. Cause that makes more logical sense.” Also because this shit was fucking insane. He wasn’t engaged. He couldn’t be engaged. Justin’s mind unhelpfully played over Kingsman’s words from the night before. Missing him, more than the sex, but actually him. And who the fuck actually missed him? Most people couldn’t even tolerate him, much less actually enjoy his company enough to miss him. Hell, Chloe could only even handle him in portioned doses; she’d said so herself the year after she finished her residency, when he still had a year left, and he’d asked if she wanted to get a two bedroom place together to save on rent. So why the fuck did Kingsman feel the need to drunkenly explode feelings shit all over him, then decide he was engaged?

“You’re right. I am a dick, and yes, I do take pride in that. I’m also a doctor. I’m not going to leave someone as completely wasted as you were, on the beach to pass out in their own puke. Or to drunkenly stumble into the water and drown.” And honestly, some part of Justin was offended that Kingsman even believed he was capable of that. Snapping at someone for being an idiot, trying to get them fired for misdiagnosing patients, kicking people out of his OR, those were all, arguably cruel, but they weren’t akin to leaving someone in a situation where they could very clearly be a danger to themselves. He just sneered at the statement that Kingsman found his attitude endearing. He could find it whatever he fucking wanted. It didn’t make a damn bit of difference to Justin. Hell, it’d be a lot fucking easier if he found it as detestable and off-putting at everyone else in the hospital.

Except there the idiot doctor went again, deciding that being pissed at Justin meant running towards him instead of away from him. Even as Justin wanted to scream at him—and seeing the look on his face being yelled at with the raging headache he must have would be endlessly satisfying—instead, he just found himself nodding. He waved his hand dismissively. “Sure, whatever. Though, I have to disagree; we don’t know if we make a good team when we’re not fucking, because we’ve been consistently fucking, pretty much since you got to the hospital. Guess it’ll be a fun experiment, though.” Or an absolutely unbearable one that would end with them fucking in the supply closet again. Not that Justin was opposed to that outcome.

There was something painful, almost angry in his stomach as Kingsman kept talking. About Italian Markos that he fucked in the bathroom. Until the doctor decided to curse him for ruining sex, and Justin couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Now now, don’t be too hasty,” he said with a smirk. He couldn’t resist. Not that he really tried, but the doctor and left himself wide open for the comment. “Married life doesn’t have to equal bad sex. Hell, I hear married couples don’t even have sex. They all go elsewhere. That standing invitation to my bed? It was never rescinded, doc, you just stopped accepting it.” Chloe would kick his ass if she could hear him, but the temptation was just there, and it wouldn’t be such a horrible arrangement. Kingsman wouldn’t be able to get upset with him for fucking other guys when he was literally married to one, and he wouldn’t be forced to endure horrible sex. Justin was basically doing charity work.

Kingsman just had to go and act all sentimental and shit again though, and Justin rolled his eyes, picking up his coffee again to avoid having to answer. He just flipped his middle finger up at the younger doc as he rambled on. He had people that cared about him. Moments at a time, and that was all he needed. He had people that cared about him for as long as he could satisfy them, and people that adored him for the rest of the lives that he gave back to them. And he had Chloe. And Kingsman could just go fuck himself if he thought Justin needed more than that, and especially if he thought he knew anything better than Justin did. Checking his phone after Kingsman left, Justin cursed and ran to jump in the shower. He had just under and hour to get to the hospital and scrubbed in for surgery.

[drxharris-blog]

Unexpected

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

Harris wasn’t entirely sure if Justin’s seemingly booming voice or the cruelly flicked on light were the worse of the two evils but he burned a little with resigned anger all the same. Of course Justin’d be a dick about a hangover and where the hell was he and why was Justin here? Were they talking again? Helpfully, Justin provided not just clothing, but information as well, and he was able to put together enough to safely conclude they were at Chloe’s. Probably. The why’s and how’s were still a bit blurry. But at least he’d managed to catch the shirt though granted, he needed a few more minutes to wait the dizziness and nausea out enough before attempting to move. Curiously, he glanced up from his coffee at the casual comment and no…they didn’t? They wouldn’t…oh, okay. Phew. Not Justin’s handiwork decorating his body then.

“Matador.” he repeated, turning away to close his eyes against the light of the fridge. “Sounds close but wrong. I remember….a lot of alcohol. A lot of stupid flash photography. My charming-as-ever relations…oh. Oh fuck.”

There was a 90% chance he was about to puke right now and none of it had to do with the alcohol still burning its way through his system. Maybe he was remembering wrong. Maybe that whole bit - maybe that was just the alcohol speaking.

Dropping his head to the table in a feeble attempt to hide from reality, he ignored Justin’s clanking around and inwardly freaked about what the fuck he was going to do. He was sitting half-naked in Chloe’s kitchen with his kind-of-sorta-ex in said ex’s shirt (‘cause let’s be real, Chloe was about the only person in their group even smaller -though taller - than he was) about to casually disclose a whole oh btw I’m engaged LOL on him. Like, having an overnight bag at his house wasn’t pushing the envelope nearly too much as it was.

Turning his head just enough to be understood when he talked was as far as he got before he chickened out and decided on taking a few settling breaths instead. This was all about to blow up in his face and it sucked ‘cause this was the most cordial Justin’d been since he decided fucking around with desperate twinks was a good idea. And Harris hadn’t been lying when he’d announced oh-so-embarrasingly-frequently last night that he’d missed Justin and his version of what friendship was.

“The details are a bit hazy but uh, you don’t have food in your mouth or like a scalding beverage right? Good. ‘Cause there’s a significant chance that I may possibly have gotten engaged last night. Before the heavy drinking.”

Sitting up with a miserable noise, he ran a hand through his mussed hair a few times, more to comfort himself than any actual attempt to fix it.

“And by engaged, I mean, well, traded for as part of a business arrangement merger thing by Daddy dearest. And when I say ‘may’ I really mean ‘blackmailed’. Quite a fucking party you missed. If the foggy memories serve correctly- Chloe took it really really badly. Like, talked her down from homicide bad. Yep. How was your night?”

Was it too early to start drinking again?

Justin couldn’t help but get a cruel sense of satisfaction from the angry look he earned from Harris for speaking too loud and turning the light on. He earned that hangover, and Justin was going to make sure he was miserable for as long as he was present for it. He huffed in half amusement, half annoyance at Kingsman’s apparent confusion over whether or not a matador was involved in last night’s adventures. “The ‘lot of alcohol’ part was pretty obvious,” he deadpanned. He tore open the top of the yogurt before digging through one of the drawers for a spoon. “If your drunken escapades were because of some stupid family drama, please spare me.” He’d had enough of their family, between the sister that couldn’t stand him but was forced to anyway, her husband that Justin had only met briefly in passing, though he seemed alright (must’ve been a side effect of being the only non-blood relation) and a small child that still insisted on calling him uncle, no matter how many times he tried to point out that she needed to learn how family trees worked.  

“Hangover’s are a bitch, aren’t they?” Justin asked in a too loud voice. His eyes flicked back to Chloe’s door, half expecting to hear her throw something at the door if she happened to hear him, though he hadn’t been lying about her sleeping like the dead after a long night of drinking. He bit back another smart-ass comment about the hazy details—cause no shit, Justin was surprised he remembered even hazy memories—when Kingsman asked if he had food in his mouth or was holding a scalding beverage. “No, you’re safe from spit-takes,” he said in a bored tone, making a show of setting down the yogurt and holding up his palms in feigned innocence. When Harris actually finished his statement though, Justin just stared blankly at him. Engaged? He wasn’t engaged.

“I think you need to review the definition of engaged. Getting fucked is not the same as getting engaged.” He paused to try and take a breath, keep his voice form shaking, even though he wasn’t sure Kingsman would notice at the moment. But he just took a moment to shrug, acting like he was considering the thought before speaking again in an even, disinterested tone. “Though your confusing the two would explain a lot. Like your weird level of attachment to people you’ve fucked.” Engaged. How was he fucking engaged?

Except that even as Justin was just trying to wrap his head around the idea— an idea which had to be a stupid, drunk misunderstanding— Kingsman just kept talking. “Your dad blackmailed you into marriage,” Justin deadpanned. “That’s not a thing. I think Chloe just made you watch one of those stupid soaps— she records them and watches them when she needs a laugh. And I’ll admit, they are hilarious when you’re drunk. But you’re an idiot, Kingsman. You’re not actually engaged. And you’re definitely not engaged to a matador.” This was fucking ridiculous. Not even the idea that Kingsman thought he was engaged, but that Justin was pissed about it. What the hell did it matter if he was engaged? He wasn’t, but so what if he was? Good riddance.

Justin huffed out a humorless laugh, picking up his coffee and taking a drink before setting an annoyed glare at the doctor. “How was my night? My fucking night? Let’s see, after I left your sister’s room, I got called in on three different cases, didn’t leave the hospital until almost midnight, and before I could make it over to the bar to find a quick, halfway decent fuck, Chloe called me because you two dumbasses were trying to give yourselves alcohol poisoning on a goddamn beach. Then I had to drag your half-conscious bodies to the car, and up to her fucking apartment, and because I’m a doctor that takes my hippocratic oath seriously, I was obligated to stay so you both didn’t drown in your own puke. So yeah, my night was fan-fucking-tastic.”

[drxharris-blog]

Unexpected

[doc-klein-blog]

drxharris:

Harris was sad and cold now that he still had Justin on the brain and no Justin to cuddle. Chloe was a good stand-in though and he easily tipped over to be the one laying on her shoulder now as she chided him for not yelling Marco and well, forgive him for wanting to keep that name off his lips a little bit longer. “Fucking Markos.” he repeated darkly, eyes trying to close but then the car would spin in the not good way and he’d have to fight them open and breathe carefully. Chloe kept up a thankfully distracting chatter and he made it to the car stopping without incident.

Point for him.

Shadow-Justin man was strong. Like really strong and he made absolutely no effort to hide his awe as he easily half-carried and half-drug them up to Chloe’s apartment. Wait, why was he at Chloe’s apartment? Then again, he could stay here with Chloe or try to survive his hangover alone and what fun would that be? Misery loved company so he sat when he told to sat and only moved to swing his legs and then curl up with a pillow when he got too cold and slightly bored while waiting.

Footsteps sounded eventually and he raised heavy sleepy eyes to the mystery Justin-esque man and took the drink offered. “‘hank you.” Heavily, he began patting himself as the other busied himself with the couch knowing he came prepared and finally found the little vial of pain relievers. Popping two now he drank as much water as he felt he could reasonably stomach at the moment before needing to set it down to sip at it later. Chances were he’d stare at the ceiling for awhile, drift off, bolt awake to puke, and doze on and off again on the bathroom floor for awhile. Joy.

Curiously, he looked at the other as he rambled on about remembering or not and just shrugged, kicking his feet again as he fought back a yawn. “M’llowed to get up yet? Gotta pee.” Stumbling unsteadily upwards once he was given the okay, he somehow managed to finish his business, sorta brush his teeth without any incident, and even return to Shadow-Justin successfully in nothing but his black boxer briefs and the smattering of red and purpling marks Marko’d left behind.

“‘hank you, Shadow-Justin.” he mumbled blearily, tempted to just flop onto the bed and never move again, but managed to carefully lower himself down and set his phone next to the bed. So far so good. Tipping over, he couldn’t help but let out off as soft sigh ‘cause as foreign as this felt — it was still more comfortable than his lonely stretch of bed waiting for him in his dark apartment.

—————-

Way, way too early thanks to his doctor schedule his body was up and actively - possibly even gleefully - punishing him for the night before. Dry-swallowing more pain relievers, he gave them a bit of time to start working before beginning the slow painful process of getting himself upright and into the wonderful room of the house that held the coffee pot. And possibly toast.

Logically, he knew he should be pounding water but he wasn’t entirely sure where he was or why he was there and given how sore he was in ways unrelated to his hangover - he definitely had a wild night.

And this was not Justin’s apartment.

Something about that managed to make him feel even shittier and he decided to not forage for toast and just managed to whip together a pot of coffee and feel the first dangerous trudges of emotions start to hell up.

He was sad. But like sad sad.

Everything hurt and it was hard to breathe and he needed his sister like…hours ago.

There were vague memories past the throbbing in his head and rolling nausea of a party and a guy and an engagement announcement.

Did they crash an engagement party after?

Maybe he should lay back down and sleep more ‘cause he wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t still drunk, but footsteps made him reluctantly look up and squint into the semi-darkness.

Justin just hummed his assent to Kingsman leaving to go to the bathroom, and seriously debated just going and passing out in Chloe’s bed before he got back. But knowing his luck at this point, Kingsman would probably pass out in the bathroom, and Justin would be blamed for him not actually making it into bed. Except that the universe wouldn’t even grant that kindness to him tonight, apparently. Because instead of him just getting blamed for Kingsman being a drunken dumbass, said dumbass wandered back into the living room in only black boxer briefs, and Justin definitely didn’t stop breathing for a moment. At all. The itch in his fingers to reach out and touch was nothing more than a conditioned response to every other time that he’d seen the doctor in such a state of undress. Or a state of full dress. Whatever.

What caught his eye though, were the marks that littered Kingsman’s body. Unmistakable marks on his neck that looked similar to ones Justin had left before he’d been reprimanded for it, but also others. Marks on his shoulder and hip that could’ve almost been— no, definitely were— handprints. That definitely tamped down the instinct to reach out and touch, kiss or do fucking anything. Justin tore his eyes away when the doctor landed heavily on he bed with a satisfied sigh, and just huffed out a humorless laugh when he thanked Shadow-Justin. Still drunkenly believing he was a hallucination, then. Excellent. Maybe he would slip out when Justin snuck out to get Chloe’s hangover breakfast in the morning and never be the wiser that Justin was there.

He really should’ve known better than to have the much faith in the universe, though. When he woke up, Chloe was curled against the other edge of the bed in a fetal position, and someone was clearly moving around outside the door. Justin debated staying in the bed for a while until Kingsman decided to leave, but there wasn’t any guarantee that he would, and Chloe would want some kind of hangover food when she woke up. So Justin pulled himself out of bed, looking around at Chloe’s mess of a bedroom. He was still in just the scrub pants that he’d slept in, but didn’t feel like searching for a shirt. As soon as the thought crossed his mind though, he remembered Kingsman hadn’t been wearing one last night, and too many unbidden flashes of skin and marks and bruises that he didn’t want to see in the daylight flicked through his mind. So Justin searched through Chloe’s pyjama drawer wear he knew some of his shirts that had ‘disappeared’ inevitably ended up, and pulled out the first one of his that he found.

Justin pushed open the door, immediately reaching out to flip the light switch, hoping with some kind of sick pettiness that it blinded Kingsman momentarily. “Don’t worry about being quiet. She sleeps like the dead when she’s hungover,” he commented, tossing the shirt at Kingsman. “And she keeps it like the fucking antarctic in here.” It was a lie, illustrated by his own bare chest, but he hoped the doctor wouldn’t argue. His eyes still raked over Kingsman’s chest before he pulled it on though. “Wild night,” he commented, drawing his eyes back to the doctor’s. “What the hell happened at your fancy ass party, anyway? You get into a fight with a matador?” He made his way over the fridge, digging through to see if he could find something to scrape together for Chloe so he didn’t actually have to go somewhere and drive back. There were at least some egg and cheese croissant things in the freezer that he could microwave, so that would have to suffice. He pulled down a mug and poured a cup of the coffee Kingsman had made, and to his credit, did a fairly good job of not freezing in place and staring when he turned back around. He just kind of glanced down the shirt Kingsman had pulled on, inwardly cursed the small part of his mind that mused over the thought of seeing the younger doctor in his clothes again, and turned back to the fridge to grab one of the yogurts out, just to have something else to do and focus on. Fucking the fucking universe, and all the bad karma he’d racked up.