the evening breeze feels best on the rooftop, a sharp contrast to the stuffy hell that is ptmc’s basement of horrors.
by far, this rotation has been the worst. from a cybersecurity attack happening on her first day, to the ac breaking the next, joy has become more and more content with her decision on pursuing pathology.
although, one thing holds her back.
more accurately, one person.
the gravelly voice startles her, making joy drop her vape, “jesus-“ she turns her head, finding 5 feet and 9 inches of bold wisdom and snark standing there with his hands up by his shoulders.
“sorry,” dr.abbot replies, joy glaring at him as she reaches down and grabs her vape, basically useless now, “wasn’t trying to scare you.”
the younger woman rolls her eyes as she stands, “hard to believe that,” they drift to his hands, still posed up in that non-threatening stance.
directing her gaze downwards, she turns her vape over in her hands, “they’re fine. better than cigarettes. or smoke pipes,” abbot moves next to her, watching her fidget with the thin piece of aluminum. he lets out a little hum, and she can imagine the crease in his brow as he realizes what she says.
“funny,” his lack of amusement makes the corner of her mouth twitch, “you know, you’re technically still on shift.”
she knows, there’s about five minutes till she clocks out, but oglivie basically has everything handled and she’s been mentally checked out since the moment she got here. “they’re fine down there.”
“maybe. most people who aren’t fine do have the tendency to come up here.”
“are you speaking from experience?” if it were anyone else, any other attending, resident, or staff member they’d probably chew her out for asking. be dismissive and send her off and do some busy work. but dr.abbot is different.
instead, his face creases again, for a different reason this time. his smile lines stretching across across his face as he turns to face her, arms crossed over his chest as he leans against the wall. “what do you think?”
the heat of his gaze isn’t lost on her, urging her to say something, to use that smart little mouth. she wonders if he’d appreciate if she used it a different way. she wonders a lot about him, more than she’d ever admit.
he’s a mystery, an enigma. there’s a story to be uncovered, and joy wants nothing more than to peel him open, split him down the center and fold back his skin. dig through his ribcage and press on his heart.
rather than say any of that, joy says; “i think you like scaring med students when they least expect it.”
her response earns her a grin, one she’s already memorized.
