seen from Türkiye
seen from Norway
seen from Germany
seen from Ireland
seen from Türkiye
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Italy
seen from Germany
seen from Russia
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Italy
seen from Italy
seen from United Kingdom
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seen from Serbia
basically becca was being a shitty sister to mel and trinity saw an opening it’s so simple 🥰 bye becca!
officially a mentos fan
I love all the new Mentos content we're getting because of the finale. I've been praying for days like these since season 1 🗣‼️
Happy (Late) Girlfriend day to the love of my life 🤍
I love you @trinthesaint
Un Pis-Aller.
Yay I managed to upload this! Woohoo!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/80510271/chapters/211429846
-------
A move of last resort. Trinity forces herself to ask Frank for help.
------
Mel who was sitting on the ground, shaking, face hidden in her legs.
Trinity knew three things instantly:
1. Mel was having a panic attack, possibly in a shut down.
2. She and Robby were completely out of their depth.
3. Only one person could help.
Fuck.
Chapter 6
pairing: Mel King x Frank Langdon
summary: Trinity convinces Mel to join a dating app. What neither of them could have prepared for was Mel matching with Dr. Langdon.
no warning, it's fluff and angst.
also on AO3 if you'd rather read it there.
read chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5
Langdon had sent Mel a photo of his red bull the next morning. It was a photo of the inside of his locker. The photo was followed by a text that read, ‘worth the lack of sleep.’
She replied, ‘because your team won?’ She felt comfortable teasing him a bit more. It was fun.
‘You know that’s not why at all.’
That was all she’d heard from him until that evening. Becca and Mel played Ticket to Ride. Becca had won every time. Mel told herself it was because she was distracted, but the truth was Mel sucked at that game. Multiple times throughout the evening Mel thought about telling Becca about Frank. Becca knew Langdon, not only because Mel spoke about him, but Becca had met him a few months ago at the hospital. Mel couldn’t figure out why she was still so hesitant to tell Becca. She thought Santos would be the worst to tell.
Becca and Mel had gone there separate ways for the evening. Mel was reading when her phone started to ring. Frank was calling her. “Hello?”
“It is good to hear your voice.” Mel blushed and slid further under her covers.
She kept her voice low, “rough day?”
“Only because you weren’t here. Otherwise it was actually not too bad.” Mel could hear Langdon yawn.
“I’m back in tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” A beat passed between them, “I saw you’re off again on Thursday. Would you like to get dinner after shift on Wednesday?”
Mel couldn’t stop from smiling if she tried, “We don’t always have to go out when I have a day off."
“I know, but on my days off I have Penny and Tanner. Not that I don’t want you to meet them, but not yet.”
Mel hadn’t thought of that. She’d heard so much about them and seen photos it felt like she did know them. “When you’re ready. Until then I’ll have to be okay with your red bull addiction.” The word left her mouth before she really thought about it. “Not like that, it was a joke.”
“I know, Mel.” He laughed, “I have an addictive personality.”
“How is all of that going?”
He let out a sigh, she liked hearing his voice in her ear as he spoke, “I take everything day by day. I have a long road ahead, but I was given a second chance and I don’t plan to waste it.”
“I think it’s really admirable what you’re doing.”
Langdon scoffed, “I wish everyone saw it that way.”
“How do you see it?”
“Penance.”
It felt like the air had been sucked from the room. “It’s not an easy thing.”
“Mel,” his voice sounded blue, "there's something you don’t know.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“No,” he was almost too quiet to hear, “but I think I should.” Mel waited for him to speak. She could hear him take a deep breath. The phone pressed hard against her ear. “I was skimming from the hospital. Taking meds from patients.”
Mel didn’t speak.
“Mel?”
“I was waiting for you to finish.”
“I am finished.” He sounded confused.
Mel laughed softly, “where else would you have got them from?”
“What I did was wrong”
“Yes,” Mel nodded, “but you know that. You’re doing everything you need to do to get better and to be a better doctor.”
“Where did you come from, Mel?”
“I worked at the VA before here, but you already know that.”
He laughed, “I’m glad you’re here now.”
~~~
The first day they worked together after their date, Mel should have been more prepared. She’d spent weeks pretending Frank wasn’t Langdon, that now, she was even more unsure how she should act.
Trinity was at the lockers when Mel arrived. She was talking with Dennis, “because I said so.”
“Now, you really sound like my mother.” Dennis groaned, he shut his locker and walked away.
“What was that about?” Mel asked, she opened her locker and put her bag inside.
“I didn’t like where he put the bowls back.” Santos grumbled, then she leaned in conspiratorially, “have you seen him yet?”
“I don’t want to talk about it here.” Mel whispered back.
“Melatonin, I saw how you reacted the other night. Do you really think you’ll be able to act normal?”
“Hello Dr. Santos. Mel.” Langdon said, Mel jumped a foot in the air.
“I rest my case.” Santos said shutting her locker, she turned to Dr. Langdon, “you hurt her, I ruin your life. For real this time.” Frank looked away from Mel to study Santos. “Deal?” She asked, putting her hand out for a shake.
“I don’t feel comfortable with that.” Mel said, pushing Santos’ hand back down.
Trinity rolls her eyes, “Fine. Don’t hurt her.” Santos’ pointed a finger at his chest.
“Can we not do this here?” Mel asked.
“I think I prefer Dr. Santos giving me this talk to Becca doing it.” Frank said. He smiled at Mel and his hand brushed hers before he bent down to open his locker.
Santos was smiling, “can I please be there when Becca finds out?”
Frank looked up at Mel, “you haven’t told Becca?”
Mel suddenly felt hot, “I said I don’t want to ask about it here.” She shut her locker and stalked off.
“You’ve upset her already.” Those were Santos’ parting words to Langdon.
Mel knew Langdon was trying to get her attention. He’d been looking at her all day. Every time she would look at him, his eyes were already waiting for her. He hadn’t tried to start up the conversation with her again, but she knew it wasn’t over.
They’d been on one date. It was a great date, but it was still only one. She wasn’t ready for the entirety of the ED to know about it yet. As Santos pointed out, she had yet to tell Becca.
In the car ride over to Becca’s facility Mel decided she was going to tell Becca about her date with Dr. Langdon. Mel had read somewhere online that hard conversations were better done in the car.
Becca told Mel about her day, and about a new girl that had just stared going. Then Becca asked Mel how her day went.
“I actually wanted to tell you something.”
“What?” Becca asked, Mel could feel Becca looking at her.
“I went on a date with Dr. Langdon.”
“You said you didn’t want to date people from work.”
“You’re right, I did. I changed my mind.”
“Is he your boyfriend?”
“No,” Mel shook her head, “we’ve gone out once, but he’s asked me out again.”
“You should ask him.”
“How did you ask Adam?” Mel realized she’d never asked Becca. Mel hadn’t asked Becca much about Adam. At first it was because she was angry, but after that it was because Mel didn’t know how. She and Becca had never talked about boys. Or dating. Mel looked over to Becca. She was telling Mel a story. She was smiling and animated. Mel vowed to keep asking Becca about Adam. She hoped Becca would do the same.
~~~
Her phone rang on her nightstand. Mel sprinted across her room to grab it. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mel.” It was so nice hearing Frank say her name. “How was your night?”
“I told Becca.” Mel blurted out, “I don’t want you thinking I was hiding it.”
Frank laughed, “it’s okay. I knew you’d tell her when it felt right.”
It hadn’t felt right at first, but by the time they got home Mel knew she’d made the right decision. “I am also sorry about Trinity.”
“I’m glad you two are friends. She’s very protective of you. She whispered threats as she walked by me all day.”
“Oh no.” Mel groaned.
“No, you see. I decided to see how many she could think of. I would take the long way just to walk by her again. At one point she threatened to throw me in the lions den at the zoo.” He laughed.
“You don’t hate her? For everything.”
He sighed, “I did, for a long time. Part of recovery is taking responsibility for your actions. I’m glad to be in recovery. If Santos hadn’t stopped me when she did, I don’t know what my life would look like. And uh.”
“What?” Mel turned the lights off in her room and just listened to his voice.
“I think Santos got under my skin that first day because we’re a lot alike. I think it’s easy to hate people that remind you of yourself.”
“A lot of the things I love about both of you are the same. Uh, I mean” Mel stumbled, “you both mean a lot to me.”
“We know. You mean a lot to both of us."
~~~
Trinity took Mel into the restroom after work. She did Mel’s hair again despite Mel protecting that Frank saw what she looked like all day. Then Santos had Mel put on the outfit she’d picked the night before. It was a longer pink dress that went down to Mel's knees. “You’re still sharing your location?”
“Trinity!”
“That’s not a yes.”
“Yes,” Mel rolled her eyes, a habit she’d picked up from Santos. “We still share locations. I will text you when I get home.”
Santos seemed satisfied. Mel watched as Trinity packed up. She was biting her lip. Mel could see there was something Santos wasn’t saying. Mel asked what was wrong. Trinity turned to look at Mel, worry pulled in Mel’s stomach. “I’m trying to be very supportive. Your friendship means a lot to me, Mel. Langdon and I have our issues, and I am trying. I really am.”
“I know you are. I can see it.” Mel touched Santos' shoulder. Trinity looked at Mel’s hand. They didn’t touch much.
“We’ve never talked about that day.” Santos' eyes turned to the floor. “I haven’t wanted to talk about it. I think I thought you might take his side.”
Mel shook her head, “no, Trinity. There aren't any sides. What Frank did was wrong, and inexcusable. But, he’s done a lot of work since then. I think that deserves some recognition.” Then Mel reached for Trinity’s hands and held them, “I know what you did wasn’t easy. I wish I could have been there for you more during all of it. I appreciate you trying.”
Trinity rolled her eyes trying to keep tears from spilling over. “Like I had a choice! You should see the way you light up when you talk about him.”
Mel squeezes Trinity’s hand, “you know you’re not losing me, either way.” Mel smiled, “Trinity you’re my best friend.”
“What about Becca?” Now Trinity was crying.
Mel tilted her head to the side, “she’s my sister. Sure, I would have told you she's best friend, but you’re my first best friend that isn’t my twin.”
Santos laughed, “great I get an asterisk next to my name.” Mel threw her head back and laughed. “You’re my best friend too, Mel.”
CHAPTER 3
summary: Trinity convinces Mel to join a dating app. What neither of them could have prepared for was Mel matching with Dr. Langdon.
no warning, it's fluff and angst.
also on AO3 if you'd rather read it there.
read chapter 1, chapter 2
Mel was tired. She’d stayed up late messaging Frank and Sean. Sean was actually really funny. He was clear and honest in his messages. They talked about books and what Karaoke songs are the best. He even recommended a few for her to try next time she went. Mel found herself smiling when he messaged her, more than she thought she might.
“Woah, I didn’t think you drank caffeine?” Dennis said sliding in next to Mel to look at the board.
“I don’t, but I had a late night, so I thought this might help.” She held up the red bull in her hands. She’d seen Dr. Langdon drink them sometimes, but she could feel her hands shaking a bit, maybe she’d had enough. “Do you want the rest?” She offered it to Dennis.
“I’m okay, but I think Dr. Langdon likes them.” Mel ignored this and threw the drink in the trash. Mel offered him a closed lip smile and took another glance at the board to confirm which room she was going to.
Mel and Dr. Langdon got to the room at the same time. He smiled at her, it was a normal smile, not a knowing one. Mel studied him a moment too long. “I didn’t know you’d already grabbed this one. I’ll go find another.”
“That’s okay, we can do this one together, it’s a good teaching one.” He didn’t let her respond, he held his arm out to signal for her to go in first and she did. “Hello, I’m Dr. Langdon and this is Dr. King. What brings you in, this morning,” Langdon looked down at the tablet in his hands, “Andrew?”
Mel wasn’t trying to avoid Langdon after the first patient this morning. She was simply trying to get to as many patients as possible. It just so happened that she didn’t end up working with Langdon a ton, and if they did it was always on larger cases with multiple doctors.
The shift was over and Mel was sitting with Santos trying to catch up on charts. Dr. Langdon approached them, he tapped lightly on the desk Mel was sitting at. Both women looked up at him. “Hope you don’t have too much charting.”
“No, we shouldn’t be too long.” Mel answered, her voice higher than her usual register.
“Good, any plans for tonight?”
Santos rolled her eyes, “we’re going out, and no you can’t come.”
“Trinity!” Mel chastised.
Langdon just laughed, “wasn’t asking. I have the kids tonight.”
Trinity looked annoyed, “I wasn’t asking.”
“Trinity!” Mel said again and looked up at Langdon, “we’re going to Karaoke.”
“Don’t tell him that!” Santos said, slapping her hand across Mel's mouth. “We don’t tell people that.”
Mel pulled Trinity’s hand off of her mouth, “you told Dennis, and McKay.”
“Fine, don’t tell him!”
Now, Mel was getting annoyed. “Ignore her.” She said, turning back to her charting. “Hope you have a nice night with your kids.”
“Thank you, Mel. I hope you have fun at Karaoke.”
It was a Friday night and the bar was crowded, “I’ll get us drinks, you find a table.” Santos shouted and headed off towards the bar. Mel squeezed through the crowded room, she spotted an empty booth in the back. Mel waved down Santos who was walking through the crowd with the drinks above her head. She looked a little silly doing it, but Mel didn’t comment when she arrived.
Trinity placed a blue drink in front of her, “what is that?”
“That,” Trinity said, pointing at the glass, “is a Hurricane Surprise according to the bartender.”
“Is it alcoholic?”
“It is! I promise to only buy you one. If you want more after that, it’s all up to you.”
Santos knew that Mel only liked to drink if she knew Becca would be staying the night at Adams, and of course she was. Mel took a sip, it was sweet and she could barely taste the alcohol. “It’s good.”
Santos smiled. “I’m going to go sign us up, want me to pick the song?”
“No, I actually want to try Sweet Caroline.”
Trinity gave Mel an odd look, “you do? Why?”
Mel swallowed the sip she’d taken, “one of the dating app guys said it was his favorite karaoke song and I said I would try it.” Mel had never seen Santos smile like that, it kind of freaked her out.
“I will be right back!” Mel watched her slip through the crowd towards the stage.
Mel had finished half the drink by the time Trinity made it back to their booth. “It could be a while, it's a little busy tonight. Remind me next time we don’t like to go out on weekends.” Mel nodded and took another sip, “Whoa, Mel, slow down.” Trinity took the drink from her hands, “just because you can’t taste the alcohol doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
“Sorry, it’s good.” Santos laughed.
Sweet Caroline had been a great pick for a karaoke song. The entire bar sang along to the ‘Ba Ba Ba’s’ when she and Trinity had gone up to sing. “Tell that man he gets to pick all our karaoke songs, that was so fun!”
“His name is Sean.” Mel said slurring a little bit, she’d had two of those drinks now and knew it was probably time to take a break. She hadn’t eaten a ton that day and she was a bit of a light weight.
“Sean,” Trinity sang, “do you think you’ll talk to him more?”
Mel nodded, “he’s one the easier conversations I’ve had.” Mel sipped her drink only to hear the devastating sound of hitting the bottom of the glass.
“That’s good, how many people are you talking to?” It was an innocent question, but it felt like a trap none the less.
“A few, most of the messages just end up being men who want to ‘hook up’.” Mel used her fingers for air quotes.
“Ugh, don’t remind me. That is unfortunately one thing that transcends gender. I texted Garcia last week.”
Mel's eyes widened as she looked at Trinity instead of towards the stage, “What did she say?”
“Nothing. She didn’t even reply. Then when I tried talking to her at work she shut me down. I think I need to move on. You know, sleep with someone else to get her out of my head.”
“Does that work?” Mel asked, taking another sip that didn’t have any drink left in it.
“No,” Trinity said defeated, “I don’t know why I am so hung up on her. Is it because she’s a surgeon?”
“That might be part of it, they are quite the presence.”
“Do you like any of the surgeons?” Trinity wiggled her eyebrows, “oh god, don’t tell me you have a thing for the Shark.”
Mel laughed, “no, I do not have a thing for Park the Shark.”
“Oh no, it’s an Attending! Dr. Abbott? Dr. Chen? Please tell me it’s not Robby.”
“No,” Mel laughed, “No. I don’t have a crush on the Attendings.”
“Boo, it’s more fun when I know who you’re talking about. I’m sure Sean is great. Wait, do you have a photo of him?”
Mel did, and Trinity knew this. Mel should grab her phone and show Trinity his profile. It would be fine, Trinity wouldn’t even need to see the messages. Mel couldn’t think of a good enough excuse not to show Trinity, so she reached into her bag and opened her phone. Mel clicked until Sean’s profile was open for Trinity to see.
She watched Santos smile as she read and scrolled, “oh he’s cute, and he has great taste in music. Are you going to meet him?”
Mel hadn’t thought that far ahead, and Sean hadn’t mentioned it. “I think I’ll wait and decide when he asks.”
Trinity pointed at Mel, “that’s not a no.” Then she handed Mel her phone back and Mel’s entire body relaxed.
~~~
Her bed was warm and cozy when she crawled into it that night. Her body was buzzed a little from the alcohol. Dennis had picked them up and drove them home. Mel took the bus to work that morning and was thankful for the planning ahead. She closed her eyes, her phone sat on the charger. Then it pinged. That odd chime the app makes when you get a message. Why couldn’t they have made it a normal sound.
Mel grabbed her phone, it was from Sean. ‘How did karaoke go?’
Mel smiled, ‘it went well, Sweet Caroline was a fan favorite. My friend says you have to pick all of our songs from now on.’
‘The pressure. I’m glad to hear it went well. I just got back from a concert with some friends. They had an extra ticket.’
‘It’s been years since I went to a concert.’
‘What was the last one you went to?’
‘I saw Kelly Clarkson 7 years ago.’
‘I bet she was great live. Amazing voice.’
‘She was,’ Mel messaged with Sean a little bit longer, but her eyes grew tired and they said goodnight. She closed out of the messages with him and saw she had two other unread messages, one from a new match asking what kind of Boba she liked. And then one from Frank.
Mel couldn’t stop her fingers if she wanted to. She tapped on their chat and read, ‘you might be right about the bath toys, they were a hit tonight.’ Mel smiled.
‘Everything is more fun with toys.’ Mel sent the message and then cringed. She really needed to reread things before she sent them.
A message popped up instantly, ‘did you have a good night?’
Mel smiled, she turned over in bed, the phone the only source of light in the room. ‘I did, we sang Sweet Caroline and they loved it.’
‘That is a great karaoke song. It always reminds me of hockey games.’
‘Why?’
‘They play it at almost every game, and the entire arena ba ba ba’s along.’
‘I’ve never been to a hockey game.’ Mel wrote. She’d seen Langdon wear different hockey memorabilia, but she didn’t know he went to the games. Her dad used to watch soccer on the TV, but she can’t remember if he ever went to a game.
It takes a while longer for the next message to come through, for a moment Mel thinks he’s fallen asleep. ‘You live in Pittsburg, we will need to rectify this.’
Mel read the message a few times before replying, ‘I’d like that.’
~~~
Mel knew that Langdon had the day off, and she also knew that he took his kids to the aquarium. Mel also had the day off, and was spending it catching up on chores. She washed all the sheets in the apartment, finished her laundry, cleaned the kitchen and organized the pantry. Becca would be dropped off in another hour.
She flopped onto the couch, feeling rather productive. She had six notifications waiting for her. Two emails and four from the dating app. She opened it and saw that Sean had messaged her again, and two replies from new marches, and then Frank. She wasn’t expecting that. ‘Did you know squids have blue blood? They have to be aliens.’
Mel smiled, ‘definitely aliens.’
The reply didn’t come right away, and she didn’t expect it to. She was content with the knowledge that while out he thought of her.
Becca was home and working on a puzzle in her room, and was to not be disturbed, unless Mel had dinner. Mel was making spaghetti and listening to her audiobook. It was some romance book she’d got from the library.
Her book paused and the computer voice in her phone informed her she had a new message in her dating app.
Mel opened the app right away, it was from Frank. ‘Can I ask a more personal question?’
Mel’s stomach dropped. What question needed this kind of preamble? ‘Sure.’ She wrote back before she could over think it.
The message came pretty quickly, ‘why are you on this app?’
‘My friend set it up for me.’ Mel replied easily.
‘Right, but you’re using it. Let me rephrase, what are you hoping to get out of this app?’
Mel thought about it for a moment. Santos said it would be a good confidence boost. Good practice. Mel had thought about not using it, but it was surprisingly addictive. ‘My friend thought I could use the practice.’
‘Practice?’
Mel groaned, was he really going to make her spell it out. ‘Like flirting and stuff.’
‘Do you feel like you need practice?’ Mel could feel her eyes watering. Maybe this wasn’t her Langdon, maybe someone was playing an elaborate prank on her because Langdon, her Langdon wouldn’t ask her that. Her Langdon knows that Mel is awkward and odd. He knows that Mel doesn’t date, doesn’t he? It’s not like she’s hidden her lack of dating life. Another message came through, ‘you don’t have to answer that. I downloaded the app after I found out my ex wife was dating. I’m a little out of practice too.’
Mel decided to be brave, it was just Frank. She talked to Langdon all the time. ‘I think I felt like I needed to do something different. My sister spends most of her time with her boyfriend, and my friend suggested this.’ It felt silly not to use names. Langdon knew Becca, and he knew Santos. She might have left Santos out of the conversation anyway, but it also felt like keeping the distance meant keeping this safe and protected.
‘That’s got to be hard, not having your sister around as much.’
‘Probably not as bad as splitting custody.’
‘Ha, does that make us pathetic? We downloaded the app because we’re lonely.’
‘I think that’s why everyone downloads it.’
‘Touché.’ Frank sent, and then, ‘thank you for making today feel less lonely. I’m going to hit the hay, talk to you tomorrow?’
‘Yeah, goodnight Frank.’
‘Night, Mel.’
CHAPTER 2
summary: Trinity convinces Mel to join a dating app. What neither of them could have prepared for was Mel matching with Dr. Langdon.
no warning, it's fluff and angst.
also on AO3 if you'd rather read it there.
read chapter 1
Trinity found her by the lockers. Mel nearly jumped out of her skin when Santos startled her. “Woah, a bit jumpy there.”
“Sorry, I had a weird night.”
“Weird how?” Santos asked as she opened her locker.
“I spent some time on the,” Mel lowered her voice, “dating app.”
Santos laughed, “and?”
“I have like 7 new messages this morning.” None from a certain Doctor she would not think about.
“That’s good!” Trinity held her hand out, “let me take a look.”
Mel’s phone was in her pocket, she began to reach for it and then stopped. No, she couldn’t let Trinity look at the app now. “It’s okay, I’m going to reply to them after work.”
Santos lowered her hand and turned back to her locker. “If you need any help with answering them you can give me a call tonight.”
Mel suddenly felt terrible, Santos was being a friend. An eager friend, but Mel had learned that was just how Trinity was. Mel vowed that she would call Trinity tonight and go through the messages with her. It would be fun, and she probably could use the help.
Trinity disappeared into the chaos of the ED shortly after that. Mel was adjusting her badge when a figure came into view beside her. She knew who it was before she looked, Dr. Langdon. Mel kept her eyes on her locker as she finished putting things away.
“Morning Mel,” Langdon said, he lowered himself down to open his locker. She looked then, down at him. He wasn’t looking at her. Panic rose inside her chest, why had she swiped on him. Why was he even on her damn app? There were so many men in Pittsburgh and the app had to show her him? It was ridiculous. “Have a good night?” He looked up at her then. She studied his face for a moment, and nothing. No hint that he’d see her on the app. This was not an issue. It was probably for the best.
Mel took a moment to answer, “yeah, normal night.”
He smiled, it curled up in the corner, “good. I’m glad to hear that. I had Tanner and Penny. Penny spent the whole night crying because Abby forgot to pack her stuffed bear. It was a whole thing. Good news is an exact copy of her favorite bear will be at my doorstep when I get home tonight.” Mel laughed, probably louder than the joke had an merit for.
“I’m sorry you had a rough night.”
He stood and shrugged, “So is life.” He smiled at her one more time before walking away. It was at that point that Mel realized she’d been at her locker far longer than she needed to be.
Dr. Langdon was completely normal all day. Mel concluded that he hadn’t seen it. Which meant Mel probably had time to unmatch with him before he saw it. That was a feature the app had, right? The day had luckily flown by. It was a relatively good day. Mel hadn’t worked with Dr. Langdon a ton that day, which was probably for the best. Instead she found herself working closely with Dr. Ellis who had recently switched to Day Shift.
“You good, Mel?” Ellis asked her after a more intense trauma.
“Yeah,” Mel nodded, “I didn’t sleep well.”
“If you need anything, you let me know.” Ellis squeezed Mel’s shoulder as she walked past.
Mel spun and blurted out, “have you ever used dating apps?”
Ellis paused and turned to face her, “I’ve dabbled, why?”
Mel took a deep breath. Her and Ellis had gotten a closer working relationship now that she was on dayshift and after the whole deposition thing. “Dr. Santos signed me up for it. It's a little overwhelming.”
“Yeah the messages can be a lot.” Mel hadn’t even gotten to the messages part of the app yet. She would definitely be calling Trinity tonight to help with that. “Just take it one at a time and if there is someone you find easy to talk with then take it from there. It’s not meant to be this pressure cooker, it’s fun. Dating is fun.” Mel nodded, but she didn’t know if she fully understood how it was fun.
Mel's apartment was quiet as it usually was nowadays. Becca was at Adam’s again. For a while Mel fought against Becca staying over at Adam’s all the time, and then Mel didn’t feel like fighting anymore. Mel turned on the oven and threw in a frozen pizza before it even preheated. She took a quick shower and by the time she was done, the pizza was cooked. Mel flopped down on her sofa, pizza on the coffee table and dialed Trinity’s number.
“Ahh, Mel, I was worried you might not call.”
“I almost didn't, but the thought of looking at these messages alone is terrifying.” Mel looked down at her screen. There were 8 messages, none of them from Frank. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed.
“Open the one furthest down, we will start from there. Who messaged you and what does it say?”
Mel put Trinity of speaker phone and scrolled a little, “the first message is from Kevin and it says, ‘ur so hott.’ with two T’s.”
Santos groaned, “this is why I date women, okay delete that and read me the next one.”
Mel did as she said and kept going, “the next one is from Sean, and it says ‘what book are you currently reading?’” Mel began to type before Santos even responded. “I’m going to reply to this one.” She finished typing out the book she was reading and asked if he was reading anything good.
“That’s good. Okay, at least one normal person. Next!”
Mel went to the next one. They continued after that. There were three other messages she deleted. They were all some variation of telling her that she looked good or that they wanted to meet up with her. Trinity informed her those were not the king of messages Mel was looking for. It did feel nice they were telling her how pretty she looked.
“That’s all of them.” Mel announced. She stood leaving her phone behind to put her dishes away. “Thanks for your help.”
“It was fun! Are you going to go through and swipe some more?”
Mel hadn’t thought about it. She could, and she probably should if she wanted this whole thing to work. What she’d gathered from a few things she’d read online is that it's a numbers game. “Yeah, I might.” Her phone chimed, it was this weird chime that must have been specifically for the app.
“Is that a new message? Who replied?” Mel laughed as she made her way back to her phone.
She picked it up and nearly dropped it on the ground. A message from Frank. “It’s someone new, a-his name is Sam, and it’s just some nonsense, I’m going to delete it.” Mel stumbled through her bogus explanation. “I should go, but thanks again.”
Mel hung up before Trinity had a chance to respond. Mel’s heart was beating so fast, she could feel it through her entire body. This was so silly. She spoke with Dr. Langdon, every day. Every day! They spoke. They joked. They talked about serious topics and history, and his kids. So why did this feel like the biggest deal in the world.
Mel didn’t read the message right away. She put down the phone. Turned off the TV. She did her skincare, brushed her teeth and got into bed. It was only then with every light in the apartment turned off that she opened the app again. ‘Frank has sent you a message’.
Mel clicked into the conversation and read, ‘did you know that the shortest war in recorded history was only 38 minutes long?’ Mel laughed. Frank’s go to pickup line was a history fact.
Mel was typing before she thought about it, ‘That is impressive. I’ve had showers longer than that.’ She pressed send. Then panicked, why did she mention a shower. Was that sexual? It wasn’t meant to be.
Another message appeared almost instantly, ‘I am the king of long showers.” Then another message followed, ‘what did you get up to tonight?’
It was a simple question, Langdon had posed a very similar one to her this morning. ‘The honest answer is my friend was helping me respond to messages on this app.’ Was that pathetic to admit?
‘And who am I talking to now? Mel or this mysterious friend.’
‘It’s just me.’ Mel typed.
‘Have you found anyone worth talking to?’ You! Mel wanted to answer.
‘It was a lot of nonsense. I’m new to this.’
‘Me too.’ Frank sent, ‘I’ve been playing around on it for a couple weeks, but I’m not sure it’s for me. My family tell me this is how you meet people in your 30s.’
‘It feels a little dystopian. I mean how do I even know I’m talking to the person in the photo.’ It was as close as Mel felt comfortable getting to the topic of this Frank not being her real Langdon.
‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I am actually a 60 year old balding man. I apologize for leading you astray.’
Mel laughed, ‘that’s okay, I’m an 80 year old crazy cat lady.’
‘Now we’re talking, I do have a thing for older women.’ Frank sent, and Mel paused. Was Abby older than him? ‘I’m kidding, I realize tone is hard to portray in text.’ Then another message almost as fast, ‘I should be getting to sleep, but it was nice talking with you Mel.’
‘You too.’ It look Mel another moment before she put her phone on her nightstand. Her body buzzed as she lied in the dark staring at the ceiling. Frank had swiped right on her. Frank had messaged her. Frank had messaged her. It was the first time since meeting Dr. Langdon that Mel let the emotions she was feeling flood her. Langdon had always Mel felt like she belonged. Even when he was away in rehab. She'd replay what he said to her in break room her first day. Mel never labeled the feeling. She told herself he was her friend. It was all she wanted, all she let herself want. Now, in the darkness of her room, in the emptiness of her apartment she let herself think maybe it was more than that.
~~~
Mel was convinced she was crazy. At one point she even thought of phoning psychiatric and asking for an exam, because Langdon was acting completely normal. It was driving her up the wall. He didn’t look at her longer than normal. He didn’t say her name weirdly. He didn’t hint at anything they talked about last night. Maybe Frank was a 60 year old bald man. Maybe someone stole Langdon’s identity to hit on unexpecting woman. Mel should tell Dr. Langdon about this, maybe he could get the profile taken down.
“Melanoma, you good?” Santos leaned against the nurses station next to her.
“How do you know if someone is a catfish?”
“Caught one already, huh?” Santos smirked. “It’s not a big deal unless you want to meet up with them. I thought this was just for practice.”
Right, Mel had said that. “I know, I think I’m reading too many online dating horror stories.”
“Yeah, stop that!” Santos was gone by the time Mel turned to look at her again. Instead Mel saw Perlah and Princess looking over at her. Mel ducked her head and went to find her next patient.
There was a message from Frank when she got home that night. She didn’t look at it, or the other 3 messages that were waiting for her. Becca was in the living room setting up for another viewing of Elf. Mel popped the popcorn and grabbed them drinks. “Hurry Mel, or it will start without you.” It’s not like I haven’t seen it a million times.
Mel was sitting in the living room before the opening had even finished. She watched for the first 30 minutes before she could take it any longer. Mel opened the app and looked at the 4 unread messages.
She clicked into Sean’s first, he had responded with the book he was reading and asked Mel what else she likes to do for fun. Mel hated that question. She’d been spending the last few months since finding out about Becca and Adam, trying to figure out what she liked to do. She typed a reply, ‘my coworker and I sometimes do Karaoke.’ Then she added, ‘how about you?’.
The next two weren’t complete write offs, instead Mel replied and was finding herself smiling. She peaked at Becca who was watching the TV and then clicked open Frank's new message. ‘Today was a rough day at work, what do you do after a hard day?’ Mel paused for a moment. Had today been hard on Dr. Langdon? Mel didn’t see him much, but when she did see him she hadn’t picked up on that.
‘I’m sorry to hear that. I would tell you to run a warm bath, but I’m trapped watching Elf for the 200th time so maybe I don’t know what I am talking about!’
‘Elf is a great movie.’ The response came quickly.
‘Not when you can recite it from memory in OCTOBER!.’
‘Not sure I’ll fit in the tiny bath in my apartment, plus there are children's toys everywhere.’ His profile said he had kids, and Mel knew Dr. Langdon had kids, but it still felt like a tell. Is it really you?
‘Sounds like the bath is ready for a good time.’ What was she saying?
‘You have a point there.’
‘I’m sorry you had a bad day.’ Mel wrote.
‘Talking to you is making it better.’ Mel’s heart started to pound in her chest. Who does he think he is saying stuff like that? Before Mel could panic with how to respond another message came through, ‘does this mean you’re messaging me when you’re supposed to be watching Elf?’
‘I am, don’t tell my sister.’
‘Our secret.’ Mel stared at the screen a little longer than necessary. She knew he was talking about Elf, not their conversations, but it felt like it was about more. Like he was hinting to her, don’t tell anyone. Mel didn't think this dating thing was meant to be so confusing. Perhaps she was making it more difficult, because the truth was, Mel needed it to be a secret too. She wasn't ready to explain it to Trinity. Trinity still didn't love when Mel would bring up Langdon, but she was getting better about it. Then there was everyone at work. She thought about Princess and Perlah. She thought about the gossip that would spread through the ED. No, this was better as a secret. A secret was special. A secret that was just theirs.
