Begin The Procedure, OC/Canon fic, Chapter 11
Author's note: Ah, here's chapter 11~ It turned out really long O_o I had fun writing it though. Once again it's more relationship development... And it seems Markus and Valerie can't escape their work no matter how hard they try xDDD; And Dr. Angus... Hmmmm. Anyway, I hope you have fun with it! <3
Chapter 11: Outside Caduceus
The day was luckily a fairly nice one - warm weather, a gentle breeze, and it wasn’t too overcast. Nicole was enjoying it as she stood outside Caduceus, waiting for the others. She’d arrived maybe a little bit too early because she’d been nervous and excited about it at the same time, and as she was standing there she played with the ends of her hair, a nervous habit she’d had ever since she was young.
Eventually, she was startled by someone’s voice. “Hey, there you are!”
“O-Oh, Dr. Blaylock! Hey!” Nicole answered, turning to look at her. It was odd seeing Valerie in something other than the typical white jacket and that frilly shirt she was always wearing. “Where are the others?”
“Elena and Markus will be along in a couple of moments, I just thought I’d come find you first.” Valerie shrugged, going to stand beside her. “At least it’s a nice day.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her long brown trench coat and smiled. “It wasn’t much like this at Montgomery Memorial.”
“Montgomery Memorial?” Nicole asked her.
“It was a really small hospital in Alaska. Shut down a long time ago because the director couldn’t handle it any more.”
“Oh, I see. Wait, Alaska? Then how did you get from there to Caduceus?”
“We - Markus, Elena and I - worked at Concordia in LA before we started working here.”
“Concordia Medical Institute? Wow, that’s a pretty big place.”
“There they are!” came Elena’s voice, and she and Markus hurried over to Nicole and Valerie.
“Hey! Good to see you two.” Nicole said cheerfully. “How were the rest of the operations?”
“No big deal.” Markus replied confidently, smiling. “Val and I worked together, and that was enough to deal with all of it.”
“Good to hear! Oh, and I did bring my car, I just decided to wait for you guys near the front so you could actually spot me.” Nicole explained.
“Which car’s yours?” Valerie asked her.
Nicole pointed out a blue car sitting in the middle of the parking lot. “I know it’s a bit scruffy, but it does what it’s meant to and that’s fine with me.” she said, and then blushed. “Sorry. That probably came across as rude.”
“Not really. You were just trying to explain.” Valerie replied.
“Yeah, that’s really all I was trying to do.” Nicole said as she and the others walked to the car. She kept glancing at Markus every so often - it was even weirder seeing him in normal clothing than with Valerie. But it suited him, even if he did insist on wearing a similar shirt and tie to the ones she’d seen him in at Caduceus. And the jacket he was wearing looked far too warm for the weather they were having currently.
“Aren’t you too warm for that?” she eventually commented, searching in her own jacket for the keys. It was a pain because there were several pockets on it and she was always putting things in one, thinking she’d remember where they were, but promptly forgetting.
“Aren’t you having trouble with that?” he teased, smiling.
“You’re observant.” After a couple more minutes of searching, she pulled the keys out of her pocket. “There we go! Found them!”
“Good, otherwise we might’ve been waiting a while.”
“Be quiet! I’m driving, after all!”
“True. You might leave us somewhere if we don’t behave.” he grinned.
“Where do you guys want to sit?” Nicole asked the group at large.
“I’d prefer sitting in the back... I’m not always great with car journeys.” Elena said, giving Nicole an embarrassed smile.
“That’s no problem, really.” Nicole replied.
“Elena, do you want me to sit in the back with you?” Valerie asked, and Elena shook her head.
“Don’t worry about it, you can sit wherever you want to.”
“I’ll sit in the back with Elena.” Markus volunteered. Elena blushed.
“It’s okay, I really don’t mind...” she said.
“Val, you wouldn’t mind sitting with Nicole, would you?”
“No, that’s fine.” Valerie replied.
“Good, so it’s sorted then.” Nicole said, standing with her hands on her hips. “And I’ll try my best to drive slowly - or carefully anyway - so you don’t feel sick, Elena.”
“Thank you.”
The four of them got into the car and then they were off.
“It’s weird heading back to Greenwood... And it’s even stranger that it’s a work day and we’re not at Caduceus.” Nicole commented as they drove.
“Well, I’m sure your friends will be glad to see you, right? And as for that, everyone is working on their patients, and if they really need us back there, they can call us back.” Valerie replied, turning to look out of the window at the passing road.
“Yeah, true.”
“You don’t need to worry.” Markus added from the back seat. He’d taken off his jacket and shoved it on the floor in front of him. “They’re all very talented at Caduceus. Everyone knows exactly what they’re doing.”
“I suppose, otherwise they wouldn’t have been hired, right?”
“Right.”
“Elena, how are you doing?” she asked, glancing briefly behind her.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Good to hear!” Nicole chirped. “The drive to Greenwood isn’t too long, but we’ll still be a while.”
“It shouldn’t be too bad.” Valerie reasoned. “You’re going at a decent speed, and it’s still early in the morning. We’ll get there in plenty of time. Did you warn them you were coming?”
“Yeah, I phoned last night and the director answered. She said it’ll be fine. Plus, I think she’s quite looking forward to meeting you guys - I told her about how well you did when you were helping me with the research!” Nicole told them cheerfully.
“I’m sure she was interested to hear that. I bet you had to gloss over how disinterested a certain someone was though.” Valerie replied, indicating Markus in the back with a nod of her head.
“It’s not nice to talk about people behind their backs, Val. And it’s silly talking about someone while they’re right there.” Markus said, smirking.
“I didn’t mention names, Markus.”
“I’ll give you that one.”
“Yeah, anyway, the director was pretty excited about meeting all of you. She says she’s thought of Caduceus as a fascinating place for a long time, and she’s always wanted to meet someone from there.” Nicole said, interrupting their joking argument.
“So we’d better do our best.” Valerie grinned. “Not naming names of course.”
In the back, Markus held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not arguing, Val.”
“That makes once.”
“I’m not that bad, am I?” he asked.
“No, of course not, Dr. Vaughn!” Elena replied. “You and Dr. Blaylock are both really good!”
“See? At least Elena’s on my side!”
“And Nicole? What do you think?” Valerie asked, looking triumphant.
“Well, Markus is talented when it comes to surgery...” There was a short pause from Nicole as she thought about what to say next. “But I wouldn’t count you out either, Dr. Blaylock!”
“There we go!”
“There seems to be an unfortunate bias here.” Markus joked.
“Are you planning to correct it?” Valerie replied.
“I’ll work on that later, Val.”
“I’m quaking, really.”
“Hey, if you two keep arguing, I’m just going to leave you here!” Nicole laughed, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.
“What about Elena?” Valerie grinned, waiting for the answer.
“She can stay. She’s being nice. The rest of you are out!”
“You’re right about the biased part, Markus!”
“We’ll behave. Don’t worry.” Markus chuckled. “I don’t feel like hitchhiking all the way back to Caduceus, and I’m sure the rest of the department would have something to say about it!”
“I’d like to see Dr. Everett’s reaction to that!” Valerie said. “And Dr. Tsuji would probably blow her top!”
“Yeah, so let’s avoid all that, huh?”
The rest of the journey went fairly smoothly, and the four of them chatted comfortably with each other on the way. When they arrived, Nicole parked and got out first.
“You guys feeling all right?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Valerie replied.
“Elena?”
“I’m fine, thank you. That trip wasn’t so bad.” Elena said brightly.
“And you, Markus?”
“I’m just fine, thanks.”
“Let’s go then!” Nicole smiled, and the rest of them followed her towards the building’s entrance.
“Yes ma’am.” Markus said jokingly.
When they were in, Nicole stopped off briefly at the reception. “Hey, it’s Nicole Williams - I’m here for a visit with a couple of people from my work. Just so you know I’m not bringing a bunch of random people here randomly.”
The mousy-haired man at the desk nodded. “Yes, I was told about that, but thank you for informing me anyway. As long as they’ve got ID and they’re with you, that’s fine.”
“You do, right guys?” Nicole asked them, and the other three nodded.
“I figured we’d better bring them in case.” Valerie commented, showing her ID to the man. “Markus and Elena have them as well.”
The two of them showed their IDs to the man as well, who nodded.
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
“Come on, let’s go see the research lab first!” Nicole said cheerfully.
“You’d better wait for us, we don’t know our way around, remember?” Markus told her, and she nodded.
“Sorry, I’m just enthusiastic about introducing you guys!”
As they were walking down the corridor, Markus couldn’t help but think how much this place reminded him of Montgomery Memorial. It was small, with a warm atmosphere to it. It was funny in a way - he’d almost forgotten about Montgomery Memorial, and it was like visiting the past again.
When they arrived outside the research lab, Nicole opened the door and motioned for the others to follow.
“Hey guys! I’m back!”
“They kicked you out that fast, Nicole?” someone commented.
Nicole smiled. “Hey, what’s that meant to mean?”
“I’m just saying you must’ve blown it pretty fast to be back here already!”
“I’m sorry for visiting then!”
“Who’re those guys with you?”
“My...” she hesitated for a couple of moments, unsure what to call the others. “These are my colleagues from Caduceus.”
“Really?” the person, a brown-haired woman, gave her a look. “Did you invite them along?”
Nicole nodded. “Yeah. Hey, where’s Dr. Angus? I’d have thought he would’ve been working away right now.”
“That’s the thing. Dr. Angus quit a couple of days ago.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. He QUIT? This from the guy who was a complete and utter workaholic and swore he’d never leave the hospital ever? The guy who took work home even when it didn’t need to be taken home? The guy who was correcting everything any of us ever did?”
“Yes, he quit.”
Nicole stared at her in amazement. “Dr. Angus... Did he say why?”
“All I remember him saying was that he couldn’t take it any more, and he’d come back as soon as he felt ready.”
“That’s so unlike him...”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around.
“Don’t worry so much. He said he’d come back, right? So all you’ve got to do is trust him. Besides, the others are still here.” Markus said, in his best attempt at being encouraging.
“I-I guess you’re right...” Nicole replied, turning away so he couldn’t see the fact that she was going a bit red. “It’s just, I wanted to introduce you guys to him and I can’t believe he just left.”
“Well, there are still other people around here, right? Why don’t you introduce us to them?”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true... Why don’t you come with me to the surgical department next? I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would want to talk to you guys there!” Nicole asked, before turning to the woman. “Thanks, Millie. Sorry for bothering you like that.”
“No problem.” Millie said, giving her a sympathetic smile. “Anyway, how are things going at Caduceus?”
“F-Fine, mostly... I mean, um... I’ve been busy. And stuff.”
“Yeah, we’ve all been working really hard.” Valerie added helpfully.
“That’s just how it is, Caduceus is a hectic place.” Elena chipped in.
“I can imagine.”
They talked with Millie for a short while, and then with a couple of other people in the lab who had gotten curious and come over to chat.
“Okay guys, we’re gonna go elsewhere now!” Nicole said cheerily, or at least the best attempt at cheer she had. At the moment, with the news of Dr. Angus, she was feeling mostly worry. Was he okay? Had he gotten into some kind of trouble? She didn’t even really want to consider that.
“See you later!” came the reply, and the group of four headed out.
“Let’s go to the surgical department then!” Nicole said to the others.
“Sure.” Valerie replied. “Sounds like it might be interesting.”
Markus said nothing, just gave her a nod of agreement.
“Yeah, I’m willing to go!” Elena smiled.
“It’s decided then! Follow me, everyone!”
They headed away from the research lab and down a seeming maze of corridors, following Nicole. Eventually they arrived at the surgical department, but only a few people were even there, and most of them looked even more tired than the researchers were.
“I-I guess it’s not worth bothering, huh?” Nicole said, partly to the others and partly to herself.
“Yeah, they look busy. Let’s go elsewhere.” Valerie suggested.
“Um... You could always come with me to meet the director... Like I said, she really wanted to meet you guys.”
“Sure, why not?”
And so once again they were off, back through the corridors. Nicole led them through the twists and turns until they ended up outside the director’s office, and she knocked softly on the door.
“Come in.”
Nicole opened the door. “Hello, director! These are the people I said I’d bring with me. Markus Vaughn, Elena Salazar, and Valerie Blaylock.”
The director smiled, her blue eyes lighting up with interest. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you three. Nicole told me all about you. I’m glad to hear she’s getting on well at Caduceus. Tell me, how have you been getting on so far here at Greenwood?”
“It’s a very nice hospital, ma’am. And your staff seem like friendly people.” Valerie replied politely.
The director laughed, which made her long red hair bounce about her shoulders. “Thank you! I’m pleased to see that you’re very polite as well! Anyway, take your time looking around, it’s nice to have visitors. And it’s nice to see you again, Nicole, though I would like to hear more about Caduceus.”
“We’ve just been doing the typical work. Operations, research, that kind of thing. Although the cases tend to be a bit stranger and more difficult than the kind you find at most hospitals.” Valerie said.
“I can imagine.” Director Robertson replied.
She talked to Markus, Elena, and Valerie for a while, occasionally throwing some questions Nicole’s way. Nicole was glad that they seemed to be getting on quite well - or at least that the others were trying to get on with the director.
“Sorry to have kept you talking for so long. I’ll see you all later.” the director said eventually.
“It was no problem. See you.” Markus said, and the four of them turned and left.
“Geez, Markus. You haven’t been talking much since we were in the research department. Something up?” Valerie asked as they headed along the corridor.
“No... It’s nothing.”
“And you too, Nicole. I’m sorry about your friend... Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine. Thank you.” She gave the others a smile. “Sorry if I was worrying you.”
“I just care, that’s all.” Valerie shrugged. “I felt the same when Cynthia went missing - when she quit her job. So I understand what it’s like.”
“Yeah... I can imagine. But Millie said Dr. Angus was going to come back, so I’m not that worried!” Nicole said, but her voice went a bit funny towards the end despite her best efforts to prevent it.
Before anyone could say anything more, a woman came dashing along the corridor towards the group. “I-I’m sorry... Are any of you surgeons?”
Markus’s expression immediately turned serious. “Yes, I am. And so is my friend.”
“We just had a couple of emergency cases come in, and our other surgeons are busy... You wouldn’t mind helping, would you?”
“Of course not.” Valerie cut in. “But we didn’t bring any tools with us.”
“That’s fine, we can provide you with tools, just follow me!”
The woman rushed off and they followed her down the corridor to the operating rooms. “Everything’s already set up in these two rooms.” she informed them breathlessly. “Good luck, and thank you for your help.”
“It’s okay, we’ll do our best.” Valerie reassured her. The woman gave her a quick nod and hurried off. “So does this mean we’re going to have to split the patients between us?”
“Looks like, Val. Elena, do you mind helping me out?” Markus asked.
Elena smiled brightly and shook her head. “No problem, Dr. Vaughn!”
“Then you’re with me, Nicole.”
“I’ll do my best to help you, Dr. Blaylock.” Nicole said sincerely.
“Seeing as you’re calling Dr. Vaughn Markus, you may as well call me Valerie.” Valerie teased.
“Okay. Then I’ll do my best to help you, Valerie.”
“Good luck, you two!” Valerie called to Elena and Markus, before disappearing into the operating room with Nicole.
“Come on Elena, we’d better get started.”
Elena picked up the chart almost as soon as she entered the room. “We’re dealing with several patients with low vitals... Our first one is a young man, he has a fractured arm and several shards of glass in his chest. His vitals are also highly unstable, which is why he was chosen to be the first one, I guess.”
“Thanks, Elena. I’ll begin right away.”
He started with picking the shards of glass out of the skin and sealing the wounds with antibiotic gel. Once that was done, he made an incision along the man’s arm.
“Tch, I should’ve known. One of the bones is twisted out of place.” Markus muttered to himself.
“Just put it back into place and then use the gel to set it, doctor.” Elena advised, and he nodded.
“That’s no problem.”
Once the bone was reset and gelled, Markus started picking the bits of bone out of the skin and setting them in their places, gelling those as well to help the healing process. Once they were all set, he paused. “Elena, wait. There’s one bone missing.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s lodged in there somewhere. I’ll use the ultrasound to make sure.”
She found the final piece quickly and easily enough. It had been lodged deeply under the skin, and that was why they hadn’t seen it at first. Markus pulled it out slowly with the forceps, and then set it in place, gelling it.
“Okay, that’s his arm fixed. How are his vitals?”
“Very low, but I can give him an injection of stabiliser. They provided us with some.”
“Can you do that for me, Elena?” he asked, suturing the incision and bandaging it.
“No problem at all.” Elena gave the patient the injection, and glanced briefly at the monitor. “Still low, but he’s much better than he was. I think you should open him up and make sure there isn’t more glass inside him.”
“Right. Just keep an eye on his vitals for me.”
“Of course.”
A quick incision, and the patient was opened up. Markus sighed in annoyance as he looked carefully at the affected area. “He’s really messed up... Glass everywhere. And a few large lacerations as well.”
“I’m sure you can handle it. And I’ll be here to help.”
“Thanks Elena.”
He drained the pools of blood around the large wounds and pinched them together so he could suture them more easily. The smaller ones were easy enough - just a quick motion and they were closed. With the glass he was as careful as he could be. Some of those shards were pretty big, and he didn’t want to tear the guy apart by accident. Once he was finished, he turned to Elena. “Is that everything?”
“Looks like... His vitals are stabilising, and they’re higher than they were before.”
“Good, that wasn’t so bad. Let’s move on.”
The second patient had bad haemorrhaging in her lungs, but with Elena’s help he managed to keep her stable. At one point, her vitals dropped so low that he thought he might have to use the Healing Touch, but Elena kept her going with several injections of stabiliser.
The third patient just needed glass removed and a few wounds sutured, so that wasn’t a particularly difficult operation. As he finished up, Markus couldn’t help but smile. A day off and yet he was still working... That was life, really.
“Thanks, Elena. You did a great job.”
“It’s nothing, Dr. Vaughn!” Elena blushed. “I’m your friend, and your assistant. I have to do my best if I want to be as good as you and Dr. Blaylock.”
“You really did well. After all, we would have lost that one patient if you hadn’t stepped in.”
“Th-that was nothing...”
The two of them came out of the operating room and took a quick look around. No sign of Nicole and Valerie.
“They must still be in surgery...” Elena said, looking nervous. “I hope they’re doing alright.”
“I’m sure they will be.” Markus said calmly. “Valerie knows what she’s doing. Let’s just wait for them.”
About 15 minutes later, Valerie and Nicole exited the operating room beside theirs.
“That was nuts!” Valerie said, her voice cheerful but tired. “Our first patient was in a dreadful condition, the second one was nearly as bad, and the third one was... Well, the third one was the best out of the bunch!”
“They gave you all the tough procedures, huh?” Markus replied. “Sounds like you did well though.”
“Yeah, Nicole helped me with a couple of things too.” Valerie smiled. “Speaking of which, I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem. All I really did was hand you the tools and use the ultrasound, no big deal. I’m not very good at assisting.”
“For someone who’s mainly in research, you did a good job. How did you get on, Markus?”
“It was a bit tough, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“I’m sorry you guys had to end up working when this was supposed to be your day off.” Nicole sighed. “I didn’t think something like this would happen...”
“Well, we helped out because that’s what we do.” Valerie said. “We couldn’t exactly leave those patients.”
“Yeah... Anyway, thank you. I really appreciate your help.” Nicole replied, smiling. “You’re a really good surgeon, Valerie. And... you too, Markus. I’m sure you did great in there as well.”
“Thanks.” Markus said. “But Elena helped a lot in there too.”
“Dr. Vaughn, it was no big deal...” Elena repeated, going red. “All I did was help you out with a few small things.”
“You and Nicole, huh?” Valerie laughed. “Can’t you just trust him when he says that?”
“I was only doing my job.” Elena replied.
“I was only trying to help.” Nicole said, almost at the same time.
“You two are so alike in some ways, I swear!”
“Maybe.” Nicole said, shrugging. “I’ll go say goodbye to everyone for us. See you guys in a moment!” And she ran off before anyone had a chance to protest.
“Nicole DID do a good job in there, but the whole time she seemed kind of out of it.” Valerie said softly. “I think the disappearance of her friend is really bothering her... I mean, I can understand that she’s out of it because of that, I was the same when Cynthia disappeared. I just hope she’s okay.”
“She seems like a strong enough person, Val. I’m sure we can trust her.” Markus replied.
He didn’t mention that the whole thing with Dr. Angus was bothering him - that was stupid, he didn’t even know the other man. Though maybe he was just feeling worried for Nicole because of Valerie - when Cynthia quit, he’d felt just as bad as if one of his own friends had suddenly vanished. But this didn’t feel like that... It felt different. He felt uncomfortable. There was no point bringing it up though. Valerie was his friend, but he wasn’t entirely sure she’d understand.
“I hope you’re right.” Valerie said with a nervous sigh.
Several minutes passed in awkward silence, and then Nicole returned.
“Hey... Are you guys okay? You look kind of... anxious.”
“It’s nothing.” Markus replied.
“Well, I’m ready to go if you guys are! Let’s head out somewhere, it’s getting kind of late in the afternoon, and none of us have eaten all day.”
“You got anywhere in mind?”
“There’s somewhere cheap near here, so we could always stop off there.”
“Sounds good.”
They made their way out of the building and to the car, and once again Nicole fumbled in her pockets for the keys. “Ack, why didn’t I put them in the same pocket as last time?” she groaned, searching desperately. After a couple more minutes, she fished them out of her pocket. “There we go!”
“Hey, Val, do you want to sit in the back this time?” Markus asked. “I’m sure Elena’s getting tired of listening to me talk about nothing.”
“Th-that’s not true, Dr. Vaughn! You weren’t rambling!” Elena protested.
“I know, I was just teasing.”
“I really don’t mind sitting with you.”
“Markus, don’t tease Elena!”
“Now you’re talking like we’re kids, Val.” Markus sighed. “I just feel like sitting in front, okay? And it’s probably going to be a short trip anyway.”
“Fine, fine, you win.” Valerie shrugged. “I hope he doesn’t drive you too nuts, Nicole.”
“It’s okay, I’m sure I can handle it.” Nicole grinned, her face slightly pink. “And if you misbehave, Markus, you’re going to be the research department’s next test subject!”
“Great, I’d even rather be left at the side of the road.”
Everybody got in the car once it was unlocked, and they set off once again. The whole time, Nicole focused as hard as she could on the road to block out her worries. Markus occasionally gave her a look, but didn’t say anything. He just talked away to Elena and Valerie.
When they eventually arrived, they saw the place Nicole was talking about was a small cafe. “I used to come here all the time when I was working at Greenwood, since it was cheap and nearby. I-I know it’s not particularly interesting, but it’s good enough.”
“Hey, it’s fine.” Markus replied, and the four of them headed towards the building. It was a plain, ordinary cafe, the kind you see all over the place, but at least it seemed okay. When they got inside, Markus went off to find them a table, and Nicole and the others just stood talking to each other.
Eventually, he came back over. “I found us a place. Come with me.”
The other three dutifully followed him back, and sat down.
“Seems like a nice enough place...” Valerie commented. “The cafes near where I live aren’t all that great.”
“Well, it worked for me while I was here.”
When the waitress came over, they all ordered something - Nicole just picked something random, since she’d been there before. The others just went with stuff that sounded good.
“You know... It sounds stupid, but I kind of had fun today. It was nice showing you guys around and spending time with you.” Nicole muttered, staring at her hands. “Maybe next time I can see where you used to work.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Valerie replied, smiling. “And it doesn’t sound stupid. You obviously really liked working there.”
“I did...”
They talked for a while, but both Markus and Valerie noticed that Nicole wasn’t talking much. They didn’t comment on it, but they shared a look that said that they were worried. Or at least that was the look Valerie gave Markus. The one he gave her in return was frustrated.
When the waitress returned with the food, the four of them ate in silence. Well, mostly silence with Valerie and Markus teasing each other and Elena joking that it was going to turn into a full-scale argument at that rate, and maybe they should stop.
She did her best to join in, but Nicole’s mind was still on Dr. Angus. More because he was a friend than anything else, but Markus didn’t see it that way. He didn’t know why exactly this whole thing was bugging him, but it was just weird to see Nicole - who usually did her best to be cheerful - completely silent.
“I’ll pay, since I suggested the place.” Nicole said to them once they were done.
“Let’s split it. After all, that would be fair.” Elena suggested.
In the end, that was what they agreed on. Once they’d paid and were on their way out, they were back to chatting again, about whatever came to mind.
“Hey, Nicole.” Markus said, voicing his thoughts as if they’d just come to him suddenly. “Just do your best, okay? That way... You can make your friend proud when he comes back. I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to be as down as you are.”
“Y-Yeah...” She shook herself and straightened up. “Thank you! I’ll do my best!”
On the way back, she seemed a bit more animated, joking around with Elena and talking to him and Valerie, which made them all feel a bit better. She had to concentrate hard when the others told her where they lived - directions had never been her strong point - and she got lost a couple of times, but eventually she got everyone back.
Markus was the last one to leave. “Thanks, Nicole.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for.” she grinned from the driver’s seat. “I really did have fun. See you tomorrow at Caduceus.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Markus replied, waving as she drove away. That night, he didn’t sleep too well. His mind was focused on some worry that he eventually lost sight of, until all he had left was a nervous feeling inside of him. This had been an interesting day indeed.
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