someone please write a fic of Mel and Frank on Halloween where Mel comes in dressed as Rapunzel and Frank comes in dressed as a 19th century soldier but his jacket gets messed up like someone throws up on it or he spills something on it and he takes off his soldier jacket so he’s just left in the vest, shirt, trousers and boots and he ends up looking like Flynn Rider. People keep mistaking them for a couples costume and when a little girl comes in upset for whatever reason and when the little girl sees Mel and Frank she gets really excited to see “a real life princess and prince” and so to cheer her up the dance together. Mel’s embarrassed, Frank is falling in love and the rest of the Pitt Staff are making bets of when they’ll finally get together.
I’ve had this idea ratterling around in my head for a few weeks and I haven’t seen anything like it yet. I wish I could write it myself but I’m an awful writer.
Dressing up for Halloween in the workplace is generally, unless you work with children, frowned upon. Even more so in healthcare and even more so in the ED. However, there are some nurses and a hand full of doctors who don't let hospital bureaucracy (and lowkey infection prevention) in the way of their whimsy.
Frank walked into the ED a bit late, as he wanted to see his kids off to school in their costumes, still wearing his own costume. He was dressed as Thomas Jefferson, cravat and all. The kids loved it, having been taken to the Fort Pitt museum earlier in the year, followed by a trip to Colonial Williamsburg on one of Franks weekends. Abby was less impressed, rolling her eyes, as he never wanted to dress up and do couples costumes with her when they were married.
He smiled to himself when he saw Princess with a pink nose and whiskers painted on her cheeks, and if he had to bet, he would put his money on her and Perlah decorating the nursing station for the holiday.
"Where do you think you're going?" Dana stopped him on the way to the lockers. She was wearing her same grey scrubs, not an ounce of Halloween spirit in sight. "Mel could use your help in South fifteen." She said pushing a stethoscope into his hands. "Your punishment for missing rounds this morning - you get to treat patients looking like...George Washington?" She made a face at his hat.
"Close," He said. " Thomas Jefferson." He took the stethoscope from her and place his hat on her head with a grin.
Mckay did a double take when she passed him as he pinned his badge to his vest, coat ditched at the nursing station next to Santos who was charting (she was now gaping at the second biggest nerd she has seen today).
Cassie, who was wearing an orange long sleeve under her black scrub top, leaned over the counter across from Santos conspiratorially.
"Is he supposed to be-"
"God I hope so." Santos said, watching him duck into South Fifteen. "I have $100 on before the new year."
"Do you think the divorce has been finalized?" Cassie sighed. "I had $50 on within 4 months."
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
"Hi there, I'm Doctor Langdon, I'll be assisting today." Frank said, immediately reaching for a pair of gloves. He didn't look up right away but when he did, he could have sworn his brain short circuited. Because Mel was stood at the side of the patients bed, clutching a tablet to her chest- only she had the most delicious flush on her cheeks, her eyes were wide with shock and her lips had fallen open the perfect amount for Franks lips to fit perfectly with hers (he was pretty sure anyway or, as sure as you can be without testing your hypothesis).
Her hair was tied back into her usual braid but there were flower clips all throughout. She was wearing a purple dress and there was a bright green chameleon plushie hanging from her shoulder almost like a purse.
The part of Franks brain that still worked wondered if there was candy in it.
The patient appeared to be a young girl with her mother at her bedside. The poor girl’s eyes were red and swollen and her cheeks were stained with tears, snot dripping from her tiny nose.
"Are you Flynn Rider?" The little girl looked at him with wide eyes.
"Uh Yes!" Mel responded for him (which was for the best really since Franks brain had yet to remember how to form words).
"Gianna, this is my friend Flynn, he's here to help me make you feel better okay?" Mel asked the patient. Gianna nodded timidly and looked at her mom who seemed like she was regretting bringing her child to this hospital. "Now we need to run some tests, so I'm going to send in a- uh undercover fairy!" And just when Frank thought this would make her feel better, her face fell.
"Rapunzel doesn't know any fairy's." Gianna deadpanned, squinting her eyes at Mel.
Tough crowd.
"Of course she does honey!" Gianna's mom tried to help, clearly used to her daughter being suspicious of random princesses.
"Its true, I do!" Mel nodded. "Just remember she's undercover so she won't be in her true form, she'll look just like a regular nurse okay?"
Gianna's face softened again and she sniffled as if she'd never accused Mel of lying about knowing faires.
Frank's brain had now moved on from Mel to the gall of this six year old, in fact, he was still in disbelief by the time they made it out to the hallway.
"Wow." Mel chuckled.
"I know, do you think I'm going to have to deal with that when Penny is her age?" He took his gloves off and threw them in the closest trash bin, following up with hand sanitizer on instinct.
"Uh Dr Langdon..."
"Because Tanner isn't quite that defensive but he's-"
"Dr Langdon!" Mel cut him off. He tilted his head at her in lieu of asking her what was wrong, causing a strand of his hair to fall into his face. Mel clutched the tablet a little bit tighter to stop herself from brushing it back for him.
She cleared her throat and tilted her head in the direction of the nursing station. And when Frank turned his head, most of their coworkers who were absolutely watching them, immediately pretended they weren't and dispersed.
'Weird' he thought to himself. 'What was that about?'
"Nice costume by the way." He told Mel in the most non-chalant way he could muster before playing it cool and walking away. Mel thought he looked very cool and non-chalant. Whitaker wanted to gag.
Frank kept his costume on for the rest of the shift. He said it was because he looked good in it (Garcia called him Anthony Bridgerton every time she saw him, which he didn't really understand, but assumed it was part of the banter they shared), what he wouldn't say however is that this was the most comraderie he's felt with his co-workers since coming back. People that were awkward around him or avoiding him were now poking fun and joking around with him. It was nice, he missed it.
Keeping his costume on had nothing to do with the fact that he was matching with Mel.
In fact he absolutely did not remove his cravat and undo a few buttons on his vest after he looked up a picture of Flynn rider. No Sir. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he kept his sleeves rolled up after a trauma.
And when the time came to discharge little Gianna with some anti-nausea meds. Frank did a pretty good job at redeeming himself as a professional doctor until the moment Gianna asked Frank if him and Mel were in love - then he was stuttering his way through explaining the medication.
Bonus:
Samara was finishing her carting before she headed home for the night. She could hear some of the guys talking about going to a Halloween party after shift but nothing sounded better to her than curling up with a tea and watching Halloween classics.
"Nice ears Mohan." Dr Abbott said when he spotted her at the nursing station. Samira flushed and tried to smoothly remove the headband from her hair- she was unsuccessful of course because no one's hair was perfectly kept after a twelve hour shift. Maybe there was one thing that sounded better than her plans.
"Thanks," She cringed, finally freeing a the plastic from a particularly stubborn tangle. "They started off as part of Princess' costume but they made their way around. I think everyone's worn them at some point."
"Whats up with those two?" Jack asked, nodding his head toward Mel and Langdon across the ED.
"Mel came dressed as Rapunzel and I think Langdon came as a pirate or something but he ended up looking like Flynn Rider and-"
Samira paused when she saw the blank look on Jacks face.
"Rapunzels love interest?" She suggested helpfully. "Couples costumes not your thing Dr Abbot?" She joked.
Jacks eye flickered to the cat ears now abandoned on the desk. "What would I even be, a mouse?" Samira froze and Jack smirked. “Are you betting on them?” He asked turning back to the duo making eyes at each other in the workplace.
“No!” She said sharply. “I don’t gossip about my co-workers personal lives-“
“You already lost didn’t you?”
“I’m a doctor not a psychic!”
“Maybe that’s what you can be next year?” Jack suggested, jokingly. Samira smirked and turned to Jack.
“And you,” She placed the cat ears perfectly on his head, “can be a cat this year.”
(Jack also worse the cat ear for his entire shift and blushed whenever someone brought it up but never took them off. And in the morning he hung the cat ears in his locker like a trophy.)
