Chapter Text
They were standing by the intake desk which was where all the worst decisions took place because if they had enough time to 'congregate' then they had enough time to come up with 'trouble'. Dana's phrasing, of course. Right on cue, Santos bet everyone twenty dollars that she could beat them at arm wrestling which devolved into one sprained wrist, several bruised egos and a victorious Abbott.
'C'mon let's go get lunch.' Santos was frowning in the direction Abbott had gone. 'Do you think he trains at night? He's definitely got some secret gym bro routine going on.’ Mel chose not to mention that they all variously work nights and that Santos has been dropping hints about lifting together for the past week.
In the cafeteria Santos loads her tray with a turkey sandwich, an orange juice and a cottage cheese fruit cup. Mel wrinkles her nose at the cottage cheese. Why people seem to enjoy the texture of wet soft fruit and lumpy cheese is beyond her. She picks up the only vegetarian option: cheese and tomato sandwich and a garden salad. After Santos insists on paying, waving away Mel's protests, she steers them over to the only free seat by the window.
'So. What's your whole deal?' Santos asks after a brief reprieve. Mel blinks. 'My deal?' Santos nods and takes a massive bite of sandwich before elaborating. 'You know, are you seeing anyone? Men, women - are you secretly dating a lab tech who expedites all of your cultures?'
Mel narrows her eyes. No such thing as a free lunch. 'The lab techs don't process your requests as fast because you're rude to them, not because I'm sleeping with any of them.' Although she leaves out the part where Brian has asked her out for drinks twice. No need to add any grist to the hospital rumour mill.
Santos scoffs. 'Alright, whatever. But seriously I have a friend who would dig your whole innocent nerd next door girl thing. She's called Gemma, no I haven't slept with her and she's got a 401k. So, do you date girls?'
Mel pauses. 'Um -' Before she can work out what to say a tray drops down next to them and Mel almost jumps out of her skin. Langdon is all too-bright-smile and artful hair. ‘Hi loser, hi Mel. I heard you lost an arm wrestle with Abbott. He bought a tray of donuts for the break room with his winnings.'
Langdon is smirking. His tray has on it: two caffeinated drinks and some kind of grilled cheese. Mel frowns. She has a strict five fruit and vegetables a day rule and she suspects Frank hasn't seen a green leafy vegetable since he'd gotten out of rehab. She wants to point it out but that might be considered rude. He’s been twitchy with McKay and Dana and they are definitely more in a position to comment on those kinds of things.
'No one cares and no one invited you. We were having a private conversation here.' Santos slurps on her juice.
Langdon just cracks open his Red Bull obnoxiously in response. 'So? I'm not stopping you, am I?' They both turn to Mel with the same expectant looks. In another world they’d probably be best friends.
'I don't think this is a work-appropriate conversation.' She tries. Focuses on methodically removing the tomatoes from her sandwich.
Santos groans. 'C'mon King, yesterday I told you all about my ex who made a bonfire out of all of my stuff on the sidewalk! Give me something. Are you single? Are you ready to mingle?'
'Um, ok. Well I never asked you to tell me about that Trinity, although I guess I’m glad you were able to share? I am. Single, that is. I actually only really have one ex. They're married now, and uh, live in California.' Santos nods with her eyebrows raised. What else is there to say?
It is a conversation Mel had with Samira, noticeably, outside of work. They had been two beers in and the honest kind of tired after a gruelling shift that entailed almost, but not quite, losing a six year old girl. The little girl had been stabilised after an epilepsy fit but had an allergic reaction to the diazepam they'd given her. Mel had taken a break in the toilets to cry. Samira had gone after her and together they ended up at Hal's which is kind of a dive but the service is fast and they sell the kind of food that reminds Mel of a fair: salty, fried and really good with a lager.
It was natural, in that setting, for Samira to offer up a story of an on-and-off-again ex boyfriend who'd wanted Samira to leave emergency medicine for something with more regular hours. After that Mel had told her about Dan, Mel’s one significant ex. Dan, who had asked Mel to move with them to the west coast after they had won a grant to do something with coastal habitats.
Mel gets a Christmas card every year from Dan and their wife which is funny because when they were dating Dan couldn't even match shoes and how they're in twinned ugly thrift store Christmas sweaters grinning like a maniac. Mel is happy for them, a little wistful sometimes, but mostly just happy that she and Becca get sporadic updates on the sea otter conservation project that Dan is working on.
'So… where do you stand on me setting you up with Gemma?' Santos prods. ‘Don’t think I didn’t notice that pesky gender neutral. I can sniff out the bicurious from a mile away.’
'Hey, I don't think she has to answer that. Mel, don't answer that.' Langdon is doing something strange to his grilled cheese, shredding the crust into smaller pieces instead of eating it.
'Why shouldn't she? One of us should get laid!'
'Uh I don’t actually need any help, in that department.' Mel absolutely will not get into the subtleties of romantic and sexual attraction at her workplace. She’s had a grand total of two one night stands in her life. Once to try and the second to double check. Stringless sex is not for her. For some reason this makes Langdon choke midway through a sip. He probably, definitely, doesn’t want to be talking about their personal lives either.
‘Well tiger, I guess that's a no to Gemma then. Let’s go see if there’s anything nice and gruesome we can learn.’ Mel got up to follow her. She doesn’t wish for anything gruesome but she does like to learn.
---
There are few things as calming for Mel as a run. Most of the time she’s full of nervous energy, when not bone tired, and jogging is one of the things that regulate her. Headphones in, a bassline thrumming softly through her brain, just a little breeze and - magic. At any point of the day or night she’d head east to Frick Park in her bright blue trainers, winding her way through the suburban streets nearest the cemetery before dropping down into the wooded trail path. It was always grounding to feel the crunch of leaves underfoot and watch the trees through the season.
It’s that hour just before sunset when all of the paths turn golden. There’s still warmth in the air from the day and the vague promise of summer. She focuses on her body, automatically going through her grounding exercise. She takes a big inhale of leaf mold and the decay of forest. Takes notice of the feel of hair tickling her nape. Mel lets her feet come into time with the music. She’s listening to Megan and mouthing the lyrics to Worthy (‘I’m worthy, not worthless, I’m worthy, not worthless’) when she feels a presence to her right shoulder and whips around making sure to follow through with her right hook. She thanks last year’s self defence class for the solid connection.
‘Jesus fucking-!’ Except that’s Langdon. She’s just punched Frank Langdon. Of course. Sprawled on the path he looks like a college student in his baggy shorts and Penn hoodie. He has one hand clasped to his nose but there isn’t blood anywhere. That’s a good sign. He won’t have to get blood out of plush grey cotton.
‘Dr Langdon!’ Mel drops to her knees and tugs his hand away to survey the extent of the damage. The damage that she caused. How will she show her face tomorrow when the nurses in Paeds find out she’s broken the face of their favourite eye candy?
‘I really think it should just be Frank when you’ve decked me. That’s the rule.’ His voice is garbled but he’s smiling. Mel prays she hasn’t ruined the chance to be his friend. ‘Have I ruined any chance of us becoming friends?’
Frank laughed and then immediately winced. ‘Mel, we are friends. We were friends pretty much the first day we met.’
‘Oh.’ Mel felt the grin split her face. ‘Well, friends let friends assess their potential nose breakages.’ Frank’s eyes are dancing with humour even as he holds still for her, hands close but not quite touching. ‘Nothing’s broken. I’d feel the difference.’
‘The self defense instructor told me that he’d have me breaking bones and taking names. Clearly I need a refund.’
Frank pushes himself up. ‘You can have my name. To, uh, do tax fraud or something.’ There’s a small bruise forming under his eye. It throws Mel back to her first shift four months ago. Dana’s black eye took three weeks to heal and by the time it was gone Mel had just about stopped wondering when Langdon - Frank - was coming back, if he was. And then he came back like a thundercloud, no bravado, just the same tense kinetic energy two-fold, like if he stopped moving he’d stop forever, just wind down. It was probationary, they all knew it, Frank most of all.
It’s hard to remember to be on eggshells with him when he’s covered in wood debris and she can see the knobs of his knees.
‘I’m Squirrel Hill North,’ she says, partially to fill the silence, gesturing a hand vaguely in the direction she’d come from.‘I run here after work.’ She adds as he clambers to his feet and pulls his neckline away to fan air down himself.
‘Hey, snap. Or well, actually this is only my second run, and I’m Squirrel Hill South. But to-may-to, to-mah-to.’ He scuffs a foot and Mel can see clearly what he must have looked like as a boy.
‘I don’t like tomatoes. Actually, do you want to grab a drink? A coffee, I mean! I hope that wasn’t insensitive. Sorry.’
‘No one would ever accuse you of being insensitive.’ They started walking back down the path. ‘In fact I think it would be worse if you didn’t buy me a coffee.’ He made a move to bump her shoulder but stopped at the last moment.
He was as awkward as her! Mel smiled at the revelation. ‘Frank it is my professional opinion that you need to stay hydrated.’
‘Well if it’s your professional opinion.’ She just shook her head at him, swinging her arms with happiness. ‘It is.’