How did Frank get into this predicament? He was having a lovely afternoon until hurricane Mel came full force and dragged him away from his first break of the day and to the hallway where he’s currently standing
He should’ve known the world was against him when he asked Dana for a couple of minutes in the break room, and she actually said yes.
Now- now he was standing leaning against the wall, orange in hand and his red bull held in the crook of his elbow. He was half listening to what Mel was saying, the other half was admiring how hot she looked, angry…sue him (actually don’t, that’s just messy)
“And she had the gall to ask me to swap the shift when she knew it was Becca's time! I told her beforehand that I had planned the evening to watch Elf with Becca, and she still asked me to swap, even Robby asked me if the swap was happening!” She paced the length of the hallway, her hands clenched together and her jaw set.
“Why was Robby asking?”
“Trinity had asked him to swap asap, but he wanted an answer first from me.”
He nodded, “So Trinity just assumed that you’d say yes?”
“Most likely, yes. I’m fine swapping shifts for people, but-but I can’t this time!”
“So why not say no?”
The woman in front of him stops, and he feels his heart drop down to his ass by the look she gives him
“And ruin my 5-star rating for being the top employee who will swap shifts with people?”
“You’re the top person? Figured it would be Samira by how eager she is to be here and work with Abbot,” he mutters as he shoves an orange piece into his mouth. “Anyway, just say no. Nobody will be mad at you for setting boundaries, Mel. You can’t work it, so you can’t swap it, simple.”
“You say that like it’s easy,”
“Because it is.”
She resumes her pacing, her gaze fixed on the floor, and the squeak of her shoes fills the silence.
The hospital is weirdly calm today, so he’s not worried about taking time away from the ER to calm his girlfriend down, though he can already see the worry setting in on Mel
“Don’t worry about going back so soon. If we’re needed, then Dana will come get us.” He assures her, offering a slice of the orange as he takes a swig of his Red Bull. “What are you and Becca doing that night anyway?”
That distracts her, and he has to pat himself on the back mentally.
“Watching Elf, again, while baking cookies. We could save some for you if you’d like? Maybe Tanner and Penny would like some?”
“I’m scared that if I give them any more sugar, then I won't survive the handover. Abby will very quickly clock that they’ve had sugar.”
“Oh well,” there’s a hint of a smile on her face. “We wouldn’t want that.” Eventually, the pacing stops, and his girlfriend plops down on the top step nearby, her elbows on her knees and her hands framing her face. “I’ll just say no,”
“Well, don’t sound so glum about it,” he teases as he comes to join her (and he absolutely does not grunt as his long limbs settle and he feels his hip protest with how low he’s going, he’s not old shush.) “Everyone will understand and if they don’t, then fuck them.”
“They’re our colleagues, Frank.”
“And? They can’t expect you to drop everything and do the shift, especially Trinity. She has to plan her shit better.” He doesn’t miss the small smile on her lips as he finishes off his orange and shoves the scraps into his now-empty Red Bull can. “We ought to get back before Dana comes and yells at us,”
“I’ll just blame you, easy.”
He laughs at that, shaking his head. “She’d probably believe you over me, so I can't even argue.”
Despite their earlier words, neither makes the move to get off the step and go into silence, but neither minds it
Footsteps break it, and Dana’s voice echoes through the hallway as she finds them, hands on her hips and a no-nonsense look on her face.
“Care to explain why you’ve both run off for all this time? We’re being slammed right now, and Whitaker is about two seconds away from having a panic attack!”
Frank snorts, standing up and holding out a hand to help Mel. “We’re coming back now, we just needed to talk.”
“Talk in your own time; we have patients who will do the talking.”
Mel and Frank look at each other when Dana leaves, just watching and feeling each other's hands in the other's hand
“Shall we?”
“We shall,” Mel nods before they head back into the chaos
