The phone call Bella managed to finally get a hold of Rick with lasted all of ninety seconds. Just long enough for her to agree to drop around after work to see him when he asked before her pager went off with an alert that one of her post-op ICU patients had just gone into cardiac arrest. Just about the rest of her afternoon was tied up, and she ( Read more... )

It was around mid-afternoon now, a good seven hours after Chris had last been awake. After biting the bullet and creeping into his brother's room early that morning, for some reason he had gone out like a light after spending the last few days struggling to get any sort of momentum in a sleep. Even before he went and crashed on Rick's bed, he had ( Read more... )

8.2. "Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us -- and those around us -- more effectively."
Eric Allenbaugh

Co-written with halfway2heavenIronically enough, it turned out that Bella ended up staying at Chris' apartment for the rest of the night. Chris went to lie down in his bedroom once he ( Read more... )

[Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]By the time Chris made it back up to the floor of his apartment, he was dragging his surfboard behind him and just glad he had taken the effort to shove it back into its case so it wouldn't get scratched. In the wake of Proctor sending home - again - all Chris had wanted was a surf, just like last time. And just like ( Read more... )

Rick had had booty calls before. He'd arranged meets with various women over the years, and he honestly couldn't remember feeling so nervous or awkward about one before. It had been his idea. He'd talked her into it, he'd charmed Bella into agreeing. And now he was forgetting how it was supposed to work. They were at her place, and he wondered if ( Read more... )

Bella entered Rick's hospital room with three medical students in toe. She had on her lab coat over her skirt suit with her long, curly hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. She turned to the next file in her arms, and couldn't help but note with a tiny flicker of a smirk at the corners of her lips that Rick was sitting on the side of the bed ( Read more... )

Rick was aware that Chris was away taking some personal time - and he really couldn't deny his little brother. He just wasn't exactly swimming in visitors or with anything particularly constructive to do. Even the TV seemed to suck, and he mostly slept to try and just kill the boredom. It didn't help he couldn't sleep without still some discomfort ( Read more... )

[Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]It was standard practice for any post-op patients having important body parts removed be put in the ICU for a day or so to monitor their condition. Chris had demanded Rick have a private room, though, and even though the unit was busy at that point, Bella was able to see his demands were catered to. Private was a bit of ( Read more... )

Although the shower helped Chris smell better, it didn't really make him overly feel better. He was tired and pale, the stress of the day and what he had been hit with was just taking it's toll. What he needed was sleep and probably a good meal, but his stomach was just upset in general. He still had a lot to work with through with both Rick and ( Read more... )

[Follows THIS]Rick had to admit that he was liking having his own room, and not just a curtained off bed in the ER. There was something a little more intrusive about only having a sheet separating you from the next bed over. And at least this way he didn't need to share the mysterious Dr Watson with anyone. He was still keen on seeing what she ( Read more... )