the 'brook action threads

Days in the hospital could either be exceptionally good or terrible. Today had been the latter for Darcy. She knew it was always a bad idea to get attached to patients in the ICU, but Mr. Farber had been a grumpy, sarcastic old man – his personality matched Darcy’s almost to a T. She always tried to sneak him extra dinner, even though he complained every day about how terrible the food was. He was battling an aggressive form of lung cancer, and while he’d been in high spirits the previous day, he’d succumbed to his illness just hours before her shift was to start. It was the hospital life, and it wasn’t the first death she’d experienced... but it was quite possibly the hardest. Her coworkers had taken pity on her – none of them had really cared for Mr. Farber the way Darcy had – so they convinced her to go home early, which she appreciated and did.

Walking into her small apartment, she noticed the light on her phone flashing, indicating a new message. She assumed it was her mother or sister, who couldn’t ever keep track of her schedule. She pressed the button and opened the fridge, examining the contents as she listened to the message.
( ... )

"Oh, girls, they wanna have fun..."

Price winced as he downed another shot of tequila - or perhaps it was from the screeching noise coming from the stage. He watched as the bleached blonde girl bowed grandly, as though she'd just completed an award-winning performance, instead of a horribly off-tune karaoke number, and stumbled off the stage.

"Come on, Irv," Chris prodded, poking him in the arm. "Do it, man. Come on." They'd all been at him all night to go up on stage and sing karaoke, since this was his bachelor party of sorts, and they were aiming to get him as drunk as possible and, Price figured, to laugh at him as much as they could.

Price was chilling out at the club with his three former band members, and the guy that had replaced him in the band. His name was John, and he'd just moved to Stoneybrook a couple of years ago, so Price didn't know him well, but he seemed like a decent enough guy. Though it felt weird knowing that the guys were jamming with someone else, Price held no animosity toward any of them. He'd been the one to move to California, after all, and seeing as how this was his first time back in four years, there wouldn't have been a point for him to stay in the band. Besides, he liked to think he'd matured a little from his pop-punk garage band days.

"Ugh.. fine," Price finally conceded. He was just tipsy enough to not worry about how he sounded, but definitely not drunk enough that he would fall off the stage and make a complete fool of himself.

Damien practically shoved him up onto the stage, just as a girl was shoved up on the opposite side of the stage.

The whole universe must have gotten together behind Price's back, he figured, and thought of the most awkward situation that he could be put in. Here he was, standing in front of his ex-girlfriend that he'd been sort of, kind of thinking about ever since seeing her in her wedding dress, and Price wished the floor would just open up and swallow him whole. Unfortunately, it didn't suddenly grow a mouth and gobble him up, so Price was forced to just look at Davina. This time she was as aware of his presence as he of hers.