Ex Again
Fandom: The Resident (TV 2018) Summary: Marshall showing up at the hospital can only mean one thing, and Conrad is already dreading it. Warnings: Mentions of divorce and negligent parents Word Count: 1,038 Ship(s): Marshall Winthrop/Randolph Bell & Conrad Hawkins
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The laughter and smile immediately died upon Conrad’s lips when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name from further down the hall. Usually when someone called for him within the walls of the hospital, it was a nurse asking for his help with something or a resident that had been tasked with shadowing him for the day. Sometimes it was a patient that had gotten too friendly with him and needed to be escorted back to their room or a family member that needed a firm hand.
This was something that he had never expected to see within the walls of Chastain. That immediately made fire erupt inside of his gut and crawl up his throat into words so vicious that he was surprised they hadn’t found a way to cut into flesh. “What are you doing here, Dad?”
“Dad?” Devon asked quietly as he glanced over to Nic. The blond gave a small shrug and shake of her head to tell him that he needed to be quiet while they dealt with whatever was going on.
“Suddenly a father can’t come and visit his son?” the man asked. He had Conrad’s same pale red hair, though he was balding due to his advanced age, and their facial structures screamed the parental relationship to anyone that hadn’t heard their previously exchanged words.
“You’re not here to visit me. You’re here because you have business or something,” Conrad replied. His words were biting, like the coldest winter days tearing with whipping winds at the cheek and nose of the unlucky soul who got caught in it.
Marshall sighed. “Believe it or not, Conrad, but I do care about you. I know that things have been tense between us since you enrolled in the military, but I do care for you. I came to check on you and make sure that things were going well.”
“I don’t believe you,” Conrad muttered. His father had turned and began walking down the hall towards the balcony that overlooked the expansive lobby of the hospital. Conrad followed after him naturally, the instincts and training that had followed him from childhood always kicking in when he was in this kind of a situation.
“I’m glad that I came when I did, of course. I expected that the hospital would be struggling after the whole Lane Hunter affair, but when I heard that you father was the one that was running it I knew that he was going to be driving it towards the ground. If you want to keep your job then I should invest and turn this place around,” Marshall spoke as if Conrad hadn’t said anything.
The younger man rolled his eyes so hard that he could feel the tendons in his head ache with the motion. He turned back towards his friends and waved for them to continue on to the cafeteria where they had been heading before this had all started. He trailed slowly behind his father as Marshall rambled on and on about what changes he was going to institute and what Randolph should have been doing in his place at the head of the board and as CEO. Conrad knew just enough from his time in Marshall’s care to know that his father was right about some things and woefully unaware of how the hospital ran about others.
They stopped when they got to the edge of the balcony that overlooked the grand foyer and Marshall turned towards his son. “I know that we’ve had our differences in the past and that was why you went running back to your father instead of coming back home to the empire that I built for you, but I promise that I’m going to turn this into something good for you as well. I’ll make this hospital something to be proud of and ensure that you and your friends have a job for as long as you want.”
“That’s it?” Conrad exploded. The anger had been swirling around inside of him for a long while as Marshall talked at him. It was impossible to keep it all down and silent when he was dealing with his own father, he used that control instead with his particularly difficult patients. “You come all this fucking way to just mess up my life again? Not even a ‘I missed you, son’ or ‘I love you, son’ or ‘I promise not to fuck your dad and get back together with him for the fourth time, son’.”
Marshall gaped at him for a moment, “Hush, Conrad! We’re in public and any number of these people could run to the tabliods.”
“You two have blatant fights in public while getting your third divorce, I don’t think that a single person would have to actually go to a tabloid to dish them out that bit of information,” Conrad grouched. He scrubbed his face with both of his hands before he settled them down onto his hips.
“I wouldn’t want to take the risk,” Marshall replied as he tugged his suit jacket back over his broad shoulders and down on his wrists. “I’ll see you at six tonight for dinner and we can discuss this in a more private place.”
Conrad opened his mouth to begin arguing with his father before he realized the implications of what Marshall had just said.
“Discuss what further, you moving back to Georgia and buying the hospital I work at like a graduation present?” He was practically on his knees and begging with both hands clasped together for that to be what his father was talking about. His stomach sunk lower and lower in the depths of nothing as he realized that was not, in fact, what Marshall had been talking about. “You and Dad are back together, aren’t you? Fuck, this is where I work! My friends and partner is here, I don’t want to have to deal with a repat of being a child again!”
Marshall waved his hand dismissively at the doctor while he walked back towards the offices part of the hospital and away from where he had confronted Conrad. “I assure you that this will be no such thing. It’ll be different on this go around.”
