never bargained for [open]

[jess1z1]

He had been back as an attending trauma for less than a month and he was sure he would have been bored by the white walls by that point; yet, things managed to keep themseleves interesting in the pit, even while regarding the most mundane aspects of the profession.

The majority of the people that walked into the ER during the day seemed to somehow have mistaken it for the clinic. It’s not as if Luke was expecting to have gunshot wounds or explosion victims every other day in Capeside, nor did he wish to after facing that very sort of stuff in Africa for two years; but he really did wish people wouldn’t consider migraines emergent or when their stomachs hurt after winning a hot dog eating contest. A good chunk of the waiting area was filled with people like this, pissy and tapping their foot, getting up from their place every two minutes to complain at the desk about not getting looked at soon enough. The rest were either hobos looking for a warm place to sit and watch some television or, occasionally, though more often than Luke cared to see, a drug addict with a lame excuse and an inability to conceal his or her early withdrawal symptoms.

On any regular day of the week except during Holidays, Luke was finding, he would spend a lot of his time simply doing sutures; an intubation or tracheotomy when things got exciting. But all the complicated surgeries were generally reserved for important dates such as the first of January or the beginning of Spring Break. His job very frequently also involved listening to the injured patients’ rants about whoever was idiotic enough to get them into an accident, as well as overreact to their cuts and bruises. Fortunately, some of these types of patients became somebody else’s problem as soon as Luke referred them to a specialist. Or as soon as he got to sedate them.

At night, all those who tired of waiting and weren’t actually in “critical” condition left the building one by one, huffing in irritation or simply not caring anymore and leaving the area somewhat emptier. Along with the real cases stayed only the homeless and sometimes a desperate junkie. For this, Luke preferred working at night, when he actually treated those in need of medical attention and not hypochondriacs better suited for the psych ward. That day, however, the early evening passed and it became later and later and the seats in the waiting area were still all occupied. Some people stood in the corners and others paced outside the double doors, a cigarette dangling from their lips. Every time Luke or any resident or nurse stepped into the waiting area to call an Irish name, they were hassled by those standing closest to them, one or two Boston accents flowing angrily, cursing or threatening to burst into tears. Busy night. Luke really wished they would look inside and see how the people in scrubs were running back and forth –as they had been for hours- treating as many patients as they could manage while fetching supplies and listening to complaint after complaint.

“Give her an aspirin and send her home. Tell her to come by the clinic tomorrow if she still thinks she’s dying.”

Luke was in the middle of removing a group of marbles from a twenty-year old stoner’s nasal cavities while a nervous intern hovered over his shoulder with questions about a patient. As the intern hurried away, a nurse stopped by for the fourth time to remind his signature was needed on several pages. But when Luke ordered her to take over, the nurse retook her speech about how busy and understaffed they were. Gritting his teeth, Luke pushed the stool back and got up after the nurse. The stoner wouldn’t mind. He marched over to the desk where a pile of charts awaited him in front of a woman who was on the phone and merely nodded at the mess as he made eye contact with her. Luke opened the first chart and someone else popped up from behind him and left a couple more by his side on the counter.

“Whu-?”

This was ridiculous. They would never get through the rest of the night unless they prioritized. As two more charts were left on top of the other ones and he heard somebody say ‘Dr. Pratt’ somewhere in the back, Luke snapped. He grabbed a bunch of fresh charts in both hands and strode over to the waiting area. A cleanse was in order; otherwise, it would be a massacre. As he stepped into the room full of people, a couple immediately approached him as was expected, but Luke ignored them and instead addressed the entire room.

“Hey, listen up! Alright, who's bleeding? Is anybody seizing? Have trouble breathing? Swallowed something you shouldn’t have? No? Then you’ll live. Go on, vacate!” A rather large and disgruntled group began exiting the area and Luke opened a few charts in search of anything resembling an emergency. A couple of nurses were already at his side and proceeded to guide the few people who fit Luke's description into whatever empty space they could accomodate them in. Then he went back inside and stroded over to one of the newly occupied hospital beds. He opened the curtain.

[mimiriter]

Okay, let’s face it. Mimi wasn’t really hurt. Or sick. Perhaps a little misguided, but that was it.

So why was she in the ER?

Well, there were a few reasons for that. The first of which was that she was just a terrible teacher. Sometimes (or all the time) she forgot that it wasn’t necessary for students working at the school newspaper to go to as great of lengths to get a story as they would if they were working for the New York Times. That was Mimi’s territory. She had more restraining orders against her than what one could fathom. It was a little a ridiculous. Of course, it didn’t concern her. It had come with the territory- she didn’t want to touch that man inappropriately, but he wouldn’t tell her anything unless she made him uncomfortable first. It was a necessity. Okay, maybe she had wanted to touch that man inappropriately. Restraining orders were practically in the job description. But for a High School student? Okay, maybe they didn’t need to go to that great of lengths. But in her defense, she hadn’t really expected her student to take her all that seriously. Really, who in their right mind would take Mimi Riter seriously? That was about as senseless as telling the Pope that God wasn’t real. Anyways, said student had gone ‘undercover’ and pissed off a certain doctor in the very hospital in which she was standing. However, ashamed, said student would not reveal the name of said doctor, no matter how many times Mimi threatened them. But now this student’s family was threatening to sue the school and Mimi had to do damage control. That was reason number one.

The second was that she just couldn’t do anything normally no matter what. The logical thing would have been to go through all the necessary channels, like calling the hospital and writing a formal apology and shit like that to figure out who it was. Well, Mimi didn’t have anything to do and she didn’t find the fun in that. So, naturally, she was planning to figure out how to fix this the hard way. At least, figure out who the doctor was the hard way. As for fixing it, well, there was always that chance that she’d merely resort to keying the guy’s car, as if that would solve anything. She also wasn’t really convinced that anyone would talk to her. It wasn’t like any of this was that big of a deal. But her boss wanted her to fix it, so fix it she shall.

And third, well. She wanted to see how uncomfortable she could make people when she went in claiming she was experiencing sharp pains in her vaginal area. It wasn’t like she was a very subtle person. It seemed like a pretty legit excuse to go to the emergency room.

Right?

Whatever.

One needed patience to sit in the waiting room for such a long time, but unfortunately, that was not one thing she had. That and height. Fucking tall people were her target. She managed to chase quite a lot of people who (probably) weren’t really in any grave danger merely by being obnoxious, but luckily, a rather irritated doctor had done quite a wonderful job of clearing it out himself.

Hey, that got her in. Wonderful.

After being ushered behind a curtain, Mimi hoisted herself up on the hospital bed and stretched herself out. In all honesty, she had every intention to just start trying to dig for information the minute she was given attention. But when the doctor who had gone off back in the waiting room appeared, she decided it might be fun to humor him a little bit. That, and he was good looking enough to the point where she thought it might be fun to see how far she could get him to go before he threatened to stick something uncomfortable inside of her. Might as well.

”Well hey there,” she greeted, a grin playing along her lips, ”You good with your hands?”

Okay. Maybe she’d get kicked out before she could fix anything.

No one said she was sensible.

[/justify][/size]

[jess1z1]

“Well, hey there. You good with your hands?”

Luke paused at the greeting. Salutations were practically nonexistent in the ER and he knew at once he wasn’t going to like the reason behind it. Luke took one look at the new patient’s nonchalant figure just lounging there easily inside his ER and titled his head to one side. His jaw rigid. To say that smiles were rare in that area of the hospital would be the understatement of the year. Especially on such busy occasions. It was a place of brows that furrowed and eyes that rolled back on a good day; mouths that screamed and moaned on all the others. And that’s how it was supposed to be.

“You’re not dying.”

He stated matter-of-factly. There was no joy at all in that statement. although there was a definite glint of amusement in his eyes. Before the not-at-all-sick-person had anything to say for herself, however, Luke was raising the chart and taking a look.

“Those sharp pains in your vagina not so bad, are they?”

By then he was pulling up a stool and rounding the hospital bed to place it in front of her; then he reached into a plastic drawer and took out a set of instruments, which he placed on a silver stand close to him and then a pair of latex gloves. As he did this, Luke continued,

“I’m gonna need those pants to come off, Miss…” He glanced at the chart once more. “…Riter. To answer your question, my hands are awesome. Only problem, I’ve just returned from some voluntary work period in Mozambique where the largest part of my job involved extracting bullets from conscious people. Naturally, the furthest thing from their mind was whether I was gentle with them or not, so I’m a bit rusty in the delicacy department. You understand. I’ll be super fast, so you can move on the attending OB/GYN,” finished Luke quite conversationally. He snapped on the rubber gloves for a dramatic effect.

At this point, he didn’t even care that there might actually something emergent needing his attention elsewhere (he was confident the nurses would yell at him to hurry over if there was and the remaining cases were being handled properly by the residents). This woman had waited in that sitting room with the rest of them and she had somehow slithered her way in to the examination area when there was nothing visibly wrong with her and seemed not at all afflicted, so Luke was going to follow protocol and she was going to follow it with him. If she wasn’t ok with him peeking into her lady parts with a small flashlight, there would be nothing she could do to get him in trouble. And if she didn’t want that… she wouldn’t have flirted with him.

Still, this was not going to be sexy. And anybody who knew Luke could say that, under any other circumstances, he would have responded a lot more enthusiastically to an attractive woman saying shameless things to him. But at the moment he was just not about to let a perfectly healthy person take up his time without him letting his irritation be known. That is unless she had a very good reason for having put herself through the hell that was the waiting area. Luke had to admit he was looking forward to hearing it.

He sat on the stool.

[mimiriter]

Mimi amused herself ten times more than she probably should ever admit.

Really, she probably wasn’t all that funny. But as far as she was concerned, she was the most hilarious person to ever grace the planet. She wasn’t as self centered as she came off, but she wouldn’t admit anything different. She liked that she pretended to be a bitch. She wasn’t sure why, but it worked for her. Truth be told, she actually had a heart. She just… Well. She didn’t like to show vulnerability, so she didn’t. It was really just that simple.

So when the man stated that she wasn’t dying, Mimi sat up, crossing her legs in front of her, and made a show of checking her pulse. ”Mm… No, I’m still kicking. How about you?” She pointed a finger at him. ”Are you dying?” She began to wiggle said finger. ”Hope not. You’re a professional in the health industry. Your death would be counterproductive. And messy, if I may add.” It was clear that he wasn’t thrilled with her disruption, and she sort of felt bad, already leaning towards giving up the act. Especially once she saw all of those instruments laying there. Well then.

”Those sharp pains in your vagina not so bad, are they?”

”I assure you, Doctor. My vagina is screaming your name.”

At his request for her to remove her pants, Mimi smirked and swung her legs around so they were hanging off the side of the bed. She noted how far off of the ground they dangled. She hated being short. ”If I had a dollar for every time a guy’s said that to me, I could be retired by now. Christ.” A playful grin playing along her lips, she quipped an eyebrow, staying silent until he mentioned the bullet extraction. ”That’s sexy. Hope you’re as good as putting things into people as you are at taking them out. We could get along well.” Chuckling, she shook her head, simultaneously pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. ”Okay. Sorry. I’m done now.” She really didn’t make suggestive comments and flirt with the intention of picking up a sexual partner. She never did. She was just the kind to crack jokes- the sex part came when the guy took things a bit further. Sure, she really did enjoy sex, but she wasn’t nearly as much of a slut as she came off to be.

That was how things with Marco had started, after all. A bit of harmless flirting. Her usual kind. Nothing too terribly serious. Hell, she tended to treat every male guy under the age of forty the same way when she first met them. Some told her to cut it out. Mostly the ones with rings. She obliged. Marco simply… Hadn’t.

Freakin’ Marco.

Deciding she didn’t really want to push this guy any further, Mimi held out her hands, flashing him a charming smile. ”Okay, so, maybe my vagina is fine. A little sexually frustrated, but what can I say. It’s connected to my brain. I can’t control them. Ridiculous, those two are. Always buddy buddy. Playing pranks on other various parts of my system. You should’ve seen what they did to my immune system last week. I had a case of the sniffles like you wouldn’t believe.” Just because she wasn’t playing the game didn’t mean she was going to cut right to the chase. She never did. Never saw the point (haha, get it?). ”I need your help with something, though. My student took my advice on something- crazy, right?- and got into a little bit of trouble with one of the doctors here. I need to do damage control but said student is refusing to tell me the name of said doctor. So I need to know who here has been pissed off by a seventeen year old in the past week.” She widened the smile. ”I can easily sit here all night, until you’re done making your rounds, if you so please. I’ve got nothin’ to do.” Clearly.

[/justify][/size]

[jess1z1]

”That’s sexy. Hope you’re as good as putting things into people as you are at taking them out. We could get along well.”

Luke stared at her for a beat. Then his features betrayed him and he cracked a small smile despite himself. To be quite honest, he was glad for the break from the stressful state the hospital had been in all day and he figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep it on the other side of the curtain for a short while. Besides, he was still curious as to the real purpose of her visit. He heaved a sigh and relaxed.

“Okay. Sorry. I’m done now.”

“And it only took you longer than it takes the most deceitful of drug seekers,” Luke commended her on her ability to cut to the chase. Or lack thereof.

And what do you know. They weren’t quite there yet. Remotely close? Probably not. But he was listening as he began removing the rubber gloves from his hands.

“Really?” Casually commented Luke regarding the existing harmony between her organs. “I find my two heads don’t connect at all.” He paused. “Maybe it’s a female thing.” Then he shrugged. “Maybe it’s just you.”

“I need your help with something, though.”

There it was. By this point Luke had moved the instrument stand out of the way and closed the chart full of fake symptoms. He was ready to see what it all was about, although in no particular hurry so long as nothing beyond the curtain sounded like chaos. Also by then, of course, he was wise enough to not expect that whatever she needed help with would be in the least bit related to medicine. And he was right.

Luke suppressed a small snort. He wouldn’t have pegged for a teacher; a sales woman or a Jehova’s witness or some profession equally known for their skillful and pushy ways perhaps. When she was done, he had crossed his arms over his chest idly and smiled back at her, although sort of ironically.

“Please tell me you’re not an ethics teacher,” said Luke, listlessly dancing around the core of the conversation himself, “I mean, the healthcare system is shitty enough as it is without you tricking your way and stealing the spot from some poor uninsured shmuck whose appendix is bursting somewhere out on the streets as we speak because my staff decided your symptoms were far more alarming than his,” he continued, “How could any of us live with that? Unless you were a tea bagger, which I‘m sure you aren’t because I don’t think they ever say the word ‘vagina’ that many times out loud. Come to think of it, no one does.”

Luke unfolded his arms and rested his palms on his knees. He believed her statement about sitting there all night. It crossed his mind letting her do that, though. Just for kicks. His shift was done soon and the activity would be slowing down considerably after his cleanse of the waiting room.

“I think you’re talking about Dr. Maugham. I might have heard him say something about… prostate exams and delinquent youths. Look, his retirement party was this morning, I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s perpetually pissed, so I even doubt he’ll remember your student. Unless you bring it up in front of him again, in which case you’ll be looking at an hour long lecture. No lawsuits, though… I don’t think.”

[mimiriter]

Aha! The smile. There it was. Mimi had been a bit scared that this guy may have a stick up his ass. Luckily, he didn’t.

She shook her head simply, holding up a hand. ”Really? Drug seekers give up that easily? Please. Don’t even kid.” Perhaps it was just the fact that she was one of the most persistent people ever, but she could hardly believe that someone who came in wanting drugs would just drop the subject after a mere few minutes. She had only given up because she didn’t feel like getting a metal instrument shoved up into her body. That didn’t seem all that appealing to her. ”If I were addicted to drugs, I would still be going at it. But then again, I probably wouldn’t have come in faking lady part pains. I probably would’ve just cornered you and shoved my hand down your pants and said some sort of cliché version of ‘you do this for me, and we’ll see what I can do for you’ kind of deal. I try to keep it classy.” Waving off the entire situation, Mimi shifted herself atop the examination table and scrunched up her nose.

Whether anyone would believe it or not, this is the kind of stuff she would say to anyone. Sure, it was coming off as though she had sexual intent, but this was just sort of the way she spoke. She had learned, to some extent, how to tone it down with her students, simply because they were mostly underage and it was weird. And she didn’t want to lose her job that way. Mimi noted, briefly, how she hadn’t checked to see if there was a ring on his finger- it wasn’t something she was used to doing. She didn’t make a habit of sleeping with married men. Marco was the only taken man she had ever consciously slept with- Sure, there had been times when she’d been cornered down by angry wives, but it wasn’t like she had known. Maybe that was what got her into trouble. The fact that she just had a habit of joking around with anyone and not thinking about the consequences. Rings weren’t something she normally checked for. Lately, she’d found herself glancing at a man’s left hand more and more.

Shooting him a playful glare when he questioned her profession, Mimi gave a subtle shake of the head. ”No. I was tempted to become a Sociology teacher but then I found out that you can’t just relate every bout of human behavior to sex to High School kids. I mean, it’s true. A fair amount of human behavior is driven by sexual desire, in one way or another. But there are still some High School kids who giggle at the mere mention of it, so… I chose French instead.” It was a bit of a jump, but she already knew the language so obtaining the necessary degree was relatively simple. At least now she could talk about racy subjects in class and tell her students that they needed to keep on with the language to figure out what she was talking about. A bit of incentive. A lot of amusement. It worked out well.

Wrinkling her nose when he went on to talk about how the doctor had retired, she gave a slight shake of her head. ”But see, the parents are really mad at me and I’m trying to get it in writing that I’m trying to get it in writing that my student is not going to get in trouble. Because like, if I’m going to lose my job, I don’t want to lose it like this. I have a pretty decent track record of getting fired for just the stupidest shit, but it’s stupid to the point where it’s humorous, and like. This isn’t all that funny. So I’m just thinking, like, this is not the kind of bang I’d want to go out with. So uh. You mind? Then I’ll get out of your hair.” A playful smirk. ”Unless you really want to examine me. In which case, I will go wherever your little heart desires.”

[jess1z1]

Well, if most drug seekers played it like that, Luke probably would oblige more often, he couldn’t help thinking.

“I’m sure they giggle anyway,” he commented regarding the students, “You can’t tell me they fail to see the well-established link between sex and the French language? Especially taught by you.”

He was visibly less irritated than before. A lot less than he’d been all day. Or all week. Although Luke had always been known for running the ER like a boot camp whenever he was in charge, he had never been an overly bitter person, despite how much pretending to be had worked out for him in his everyday life. He didn’t know if he was actually bitter now; couldn’t tell. It was very possible. But he hadn’t stopped to think about it even for one second during the past two and a half years. And he’d forgotten there were interesting people to meet in Capeside. And that he’d grown quite fond of the town, in fact. And that it was possible to relax and pay attention to the simpler, more ridiculous things in life… such as Mimi Riter’s story.

“You mind? Then I’ll get out of your hair. Unless you really want to examine me. In which case, I will go wherever your little heart desires.”

Luke had inadvertently grabbed the fake chart again and signed it as though he had actually been at work and patient Mimi Riter had actually been in physical pain for the past few minutes instead of anything but. As Mimi finished talking, one of the hasty-looking nurses poked her head in around the curtain and her eyes went wide for a second.

“Um… Dr., um, just your signature here, I’m clocking out, the waiting room’s empty now… um…” said the woman as her eyes went from Mimi to Luke and back.

“I somehow don’t think this is a rare occurrence for you, is it? Alright, look, I suppose I could write a note to the PTA saying that you’ve persuaded me, turned the light on my whole existence and that I no longer see a problem with seventeen year olds getting rectal exams in the name of education,” began Luke, only mildly ignoring the newcomer as he scribbled down on the chart she’d brought in. “Maybe I’ll give you anus-related props to hand out as souvenirs, just to make sure everyone’s on good terms –take this as well,” he added to the nurse, nonchalantly handing her the current chart and closing the curtain again.

“Not that I don’t want to examine you, Ms Riter,” Luke continued with playful solemnity, “Your lady parts are not something I’d ever pass up the chance to see up close. I just think maybe I should buy you a drink first. You know, 'cause you like to keep it classy and all.”

[mimiriter]

This man had loosened up considerably and Mimi had no problem feeling pretty cocky about that fact, considering she was pretty sure he had her to thank for that. She liked any indication that her company was enjoyed. As much as she liked being a pain in the ass as well, it was human nature to want to be liked and approved of. Plus, it boosted her semi-actually-there ego, which was a plus as well. She merely shrugged a shoulder when he pointed out that the French language was still pretty sexual. ”I hate to brag but apparently there is a striking increase in the number of males signed up to take French next year,” she said, holding up her hands in an ‘I’m innocent’ fashion, ”So either they’re becoming more secure in their masculinity or I’m doing something weird. I don’t know. I don’t encourage this type of behavior. Giggling from teenagers annoys me.” Shaking her head, Mimi dropped her hands down into her lap again.

When the nurse came in, Mimi only mostly listened to Luke as he spoke, and instead set sights on the newcomer- if only because she liked to try and make people uncomfortable. Only when the woman left did she return her attention to the doctor. ”Do I look like a woman who has a boring life? God, no.” Okay, mostly. ”I’m either doing shit like this or drinking wine. You should be envious.” Very much an exaggeration, and she smiled nevertheless. ”I’d appreciate the note, though. And you mind adding that I’m a wonderful woman with a charming attitude and you’re in love with me? I’ve got someone I’m simultaneously trying to piss off.” Smirking, she cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow.

”The props would also be appreciated.” Not really.

Letting out a rather over-exaggerated sigh as the doctor mentioned buying her a drink, Mimi took it upon herself to stretch out along the examination table, tucking an arm behind her head and using the other to emphasize her words. She was pretty damn Italian, always loving to talk with her hands. ”See, here’s what I have an issue with,” she began, ”I never really know what to do when a guy offers to take me out for a drink. Because like, on one hand, yeah, they could just want to be polite and classy and whatever the hell else. But then I run the risk of encountering a man with a goal to get me drunk so I won’t care that he has a small penis.” She rolled over onto her side to look at him, shaking her head. ”I mean, I’m not saying you have small genitalia but like, I don’t know. I don’t know your motives. It’s slightly disconcerting.”

Mimi sat up again because, hell, the woman couldn’t sit still for the life of her. ”And, Doctor. I don’t even know your name.” An eyebrow feather duster and a tilt of the head.

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[jess1z1]

“I already am envious,” said Luke, “I never did fancy myself stepping in Maugham’s shoes in any way. I’d rather avoid anything rectum related unless it’s an emergency –should I call you an inspiration to the teaching of medical science or would you rather keep them from snorting their mimosas out?”

He had stood up and again moved toward the plastic drawers in search of a note pad, although all he had found so far was a clicky top pen. Yes, he was going to help with that note, but he was not going to devote more time than necessary to it, especially since his shift was finally over. He would write down something that sounded just the amount of formal and forgiving and like a man who had had cake for breakfast that day.

At Mimi’s sigh, he turned to look at her making herself comfortable on the examination bed again, grinning at her conclusions as he continued to search. Why, yes, Luke had completely lost all respect toward protocol during his stay overseas. His bedside manners had never been something to praise to begin with either; they had in fact been one of those things that never failed to get him in trouble since medical school and it was not an issue he had ever really tried to work on. He was not an oncologist or anything like that; people came to him to stop a hemorrhage or figure out why their insides were burning, not for a hand to hold. Luke had long since stopped even introducing himself to patients who would only be conscious in his presence for about twenty seconds. It had not unexpectedly slipped his mind after coming face to face with a patient whose terrible pains had been nonexistent.

“Ok, how about a beer and a hot dog? I like to be classy too, see.” He had finally found something on which to write the note on and took a seat again. “Although, I’m confident enough in my genitalia to take you out for some club soda, mind you. I don’t know whether that conflicts with your lifestyle of wine and damage control, though. It’s Luke. Pratt,” he replied after a short pause, before adding regarding the note, “To whom it may concern?”

[mimiriter]

Mimi cocked her head to the side when he spoke, eyeing him. ”Darling, you can call me anything you’d like,” she joked, raising an eyebrow, before deciding to actually answer his question. ”I’d like to think I’m an inspiration for everything, you know how it is. So sure, go ahead and add that in, too. Really, any sort of compliment. Don’t act like they don’t all love me. Look at you, you’re already smitten. There will be no snorting of mimosas.” She really was liking how her interaction with this man was going- it was the kind of thing she really enjoyed. She wasn’t really ashamed about her behavior, either. Her reasons for being there were pretty twisted and ridiculous but at least it wasn’t completely in vain.

She really wasn’t sure how serious this guy was about taking her out for a drink or anything, but it certainly wasn’t something she was opposed to. He seemed a few years older than her, but at that point, age didn’t really matter as long as they were over twenty-five. Mimi really wanted to abide by that ‘divide age by two and add seven’ rule but something about having sex with twenty-three year olds felt a little odd. Nevertheless, she liked the banter he provided and he was pretty good looking. Mimi wasn’t really interested in anything long term. Actually, she secretly was, but that was neither something she’d admit nor anything she was ready for- after all, she had feelings for Marco, for one damn reason or another. But sex, that was something she was always up for. She really liked having fun without worrying about anything. Probably wasn’t the best way for a woman of her age to live, but hey. She wasn’t conventional, not by any means.

Letting out a quick laugh at his ‘classy’ comment, she feigned a look of being impressed and nodded her head. ”Conflicts a little. I can go for a beer. I’ll take the ‘hot dog’ as a euphemism, though, if you so wish.” Mimi nodded a little at his name. ”Nice to meet you, Luke Pratt,” she said, grinning. ”And yes, I am cause for concern, although most just call me Mimi. Mimi Riter. Nice to meet you.” She stretched her arm out, offering her hand up for him to shake.

[/justify][/size]

[jess1z1]

Good. A step taken despite contradicting advice. That morning it wouldn’t have crossed Luke’s mind that he would be asking someone out on a date. He hadn’t made any plans to do so any time soon. Not even right after laying eyes on Mimi despite her being obviously attractive. Who knew what had shifted in the few minutes they’d interacted just now, but he felt right about it. Really, how stupid would he have to be not to at least ask most interesting non patient of the week, Miss Mimi Riter, out for a drink if he had a chance to? It would have been wrong on so many levels. Meeting her had changed his mind: maybe going out with someone wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

The contradicting advice came from, well, everybody he knew. There were a couple basic stances his friends and relatives took when it came to his being back in Capeside. Some, like his mother, urged him to, as they put it “get himself out there” and meet someone new. That fraction of the population would certainly be satisfied if he went out with Mimi… which is why he would not be telling them if he did. Then, a second sector encouraged him to settle back into town, take things slowly (as if Mozambique had been a time vortex of some kind), spend some time “working on himself,” which he inevitably took to mean they expected him to start painting on canvases and read self help books or something equally unappealing –a couple had invited him to join their yoga and pottery classes respectively. No, thank you. The third group was smaller and a lot more subtle than the first two. They only dropped hints, much like his father whenever they spoke on the phone, or found ways to bring the subject up: Have you seen Ruth yet? You know how she’s been doing? Heard if she’s seeing anybody? The bolder of them went as far as: Why don’t you give her a call or drop by? Shave that scruff off, pick up some wine on the way…

So far, Luke had discarded all three options, opting instead for fixing people whose health was in critical condition… and whiskey. It was too soon to tell how well that was working, but he hadn’t let his hair grow that much and as far as he could tell, he was still pretty good at his job. Who knew he’d be considering number one sooner rather than later?

”And yes, I am cause for concern, although most just call me Mimi. Mimi Riter. Nice to meet you.”

Who knew? But it didn’t matter. Luke wasn’t one to dwell too much on things ever. And he wanted to call Mimi Riter. He took her hand.

“Glad not everything on your chart was total bullshit,” he commented with a hint of amusement, “If the number on there is also real, I’ll call you about that drink. How’s this weekend?” He finished while handing her the note which had caused all this.

((wow, i did absolutely no homework today))

[mimiriter]

Maybe this was what Mimi needed. She was used to going out with various men and not sticking to any one for any considerable length of time, or at the very least, not committing- and most of the time that worked out for her. But this whole situation with Marco had been quite the set back. Actually, she hadn’t really been out with anyone in a couple of months. She’d spent too much time upset over what could have been rather than trying to brush it off, look forward, and move on. This meeting with Luke was screaming with potential. He had a great career, no ring, good looking, and best of all, he was able to keep up with her banter- a pretty rare quality in a man. He was shaping up to be a great candidate for… Wherever the hell this was going. She didn’t like to expect it was going anywhere other than a fling until things actually went down, but hey. Even one night with this guy had the potential to be awesome. So all in all she was pretty proud of herself for going her own route to fixing her problem. Many people questioned her motives and wondered why she didn’t just do things the normal or ‘easy’ way, but why switch it up when her own methods amused her and got her dates with hot doctors? She certainly did things her own way and she didn’t like anyone trying to tell her to be any different.

Firmly gripping his hand (which was much larger in size compared to her own- then again, he was much larger than her, damn her height), she shook it and smirked up at him, eyebrow still cocked. ”The number’s real, Doctor Pratt. I also resent the idea that I bullshitted most of my chart. A lot of that information is kind of valid. Except my height, sort of fudged that a little. I put down four foot ten but I’m really four foot eight, just wanted to seem more impressive.” She shrugged, pushing herself off of the examination table and gathering her stuff up. She was getting her note and she was getting a date, so really, there wasn’t much of a need for her to stick around any longer, was there?

As he handed her the piece of paper, she plucked it out of his hand and took a moment to look it over. ”This is missing a lot of compliments, but it’ll do. Thanks, Doc. Greatly appreciated. When I win ‘teacher of the year’ award, I’ll make sure to talk you up,” she rambled, winking at him. Pocketing the note, she tucked her fingers into her back pockets and shifted her weight to one side, looking up at him again. ”This weekend sounds perfect, by the way. Give me a call, we’ll set something up.”

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