romy waters đž primrose everdeen (primroses) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-03-12 10:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * jamie, * kit, c: mehdi khan, c: rosemary waters |
WHO: Romy Waters & Mehdi Khan
WHEN: Monday, February 11, 2019; Late Evening
WHERE: Dunhaven General Hospital Emergency Room
SUMMARY: Mehdi has a work-related accident and gets his arm sewn up by a cute doctor đ
WARNINGS: None! It's just adorable, tbh.
PROMPT: Meet Cute
On normal occasion, Mehdi was a very careful, very safe mechanic. Â It had been instilled in him when he worked in the shop was a teenager, throughout his time studying at MIT, and especially when he was at NASA. When he had returned to Dunhaven and eventually took up the mantle at the shop himself, he continued that tradition. Everything was up to code, each standard taken care of, and he made sure that his employees were careful, too; the last thing he wanted was for one of them to get hurt, not just because he didn't want them to be hurt in general, but also because the guilt would eat at him. Because of his attention to safety, Mehdi had only gotten injured a few times and all of them had been minor scrapes or bruises. Â He had always joked that part of the reason he was so careful was because he didn't want to get an earful from his father, were he to show up at the hospital with some preventable injury. Â Though a joke, it wasn't necessarily untrue. Of course, it was bound to catch up to him eventually and that was why Alee had gotten to return the favor of Mehdi driving her to the hospital. Â With his forearm wrapped up as well as they could muster from the cut he had sustained when the car he had been working on shifted and he got the bad edge of the engine, he hadn't been able to drive himself -- and he'd grabbed enough towels and clean rags to make sure none of the blood fell onto her upholstery. Â When they had reached the ER, he had been quickly tended to, his wound cleaned and numbed for the stitches to come, and sent into a room. Though he had lost some blood, it hadn't been as grave an injury that he was left woozy from the loss of it, but it was bad enough that he seemed to have been bumped ahead of someone with some shade of a cough. Â He'd feel bad about that later. Mehdi tapped his foot as he waited, his gaze darting to the door. Â He wasn't feeling necessarily impatient, but his need to move and inability to sit still seemed to be getting the better of him. As much as Romy disliked the fact that she couldnât celebrate her brotherâs birthday with him in person today--a double shift at the hospital had made that near impossible--she could never deny that this was where she thrived. And while she vastly preferred working within her specialty, there was something to be said about being on duty in the emergency room, as well. It kept her on her toes, even when her patients presented with run-of-the-mill ailments--like a cut needing stitches as was the case in B-5. Pocketing her phone after one last quick message to her brother, Romy grabbed the patientâs chart, gave it a once over, and smirked at the patientâs name at the top. Closing the file, she stepped into the room, a smile of familiarity on her face. âItâs nice to see you, again, Mr. Khan,â Romy greeted, âthough Iâm sure you wish it were under different circumstances. I have two important questions for you before we get started. One, are we making sure your father remains unaware of this rendezvous? And, two, are we going for a âthis never happenedâ or âlet me tell you the harrowing tale of how I got this scarâ sort of healing process?â She laughed, reaching for his hand to take a look at the cut. Yep, it needed stitches all right. She winced sympathetically. âYou got yourself pretty good there.â Mehdi recognized the woman that walked into the room and a smile met his lips. Â They had only met a few times in passing, the couple of times when he had been there to see Alee and before when he had dropped into the hospital to catch lunch with his dad, but it had been enough for her to make an impression. Â He laughed at her questions, even as he looked down to the injury on his arm. "I have a feeling that in a town this size, it's not going to take very long for my dad to figure out I was here," Mehdi admitted, the corner of his mouth still turned up in a smile as he spoke, "but I wouldn't say no to a head start to prep myself for the lectures." Â He looked at the cut once more, wiggling his fingers once, just because he was glad that he hadn't sliced into anything too important. "I feel like I'm going to have to come up with some sort of exciting story either way. Being a victim of my own distracted self doesn't feel like it will quite cut it." Romy grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on, pulling a stool over to settle in for the quick procedure. She set to working finishing the preparation of her tools, but kept the conversation going while she did so. âYou know, personally, I think the whole âI got this scar while working hard at something I enjoyâ story is a pretty good one, but Iâm sure I could help come up with ideas if you wanted something other people might find more exciting.â She glanced up at him as she worked and offered, âWe could say pirates came in and you fought them off at the docks. Or maybe you wrestled a bear trying to steal your porridge? Hm, actually, I bet something like saving a family of five from a collapsing building sounds more like something youâd do.â And then because she wasnât the sort of doctor who just dived in with no warning, Romy added, âYou wonât feel much more than a pinch, but Iâm going to start stitching you back together in 3...2..â Without waiting for the last of the countdown, Romy made the first stitch and, pleased with Mehdiâs response (or lack thereof) to it, continued onward. Though there was a slight flinch, Mehdi otherwise remained pretty stoic as she started the stitches -- a feat that he was pretty proud of, in the grand scheme of things. Â He remembered carrying on a great deal when he had broken his arm, though that had been when he was ten, so he assumed that was allowable. Regardless, he forced himself to look away from what Romy was doing to his arm and instead let his focus rest on her face. Â That was much easier, though he mentally chastised himself for the thought as soon as it formed. "I'm still working myself up to being able to save families of five," Mehdi replied, doing his best to stay as still as possible for her. Â "I need to keep refining my vigilante work." Romy didnât notice where Mehdiâs focus was, primarily because her own was on each individual stitch that she so carefully and meticulously placed along the length of the cut. It was a simple procedure that sheâd done hundreds of times before, but she always gave it (and other routine procedures like it) the same care as she had the first time sheâd done it. It was when one became too sure, too careless, too cocky that one made mistakes, and Romy didnât like to make mistakes, not when it came to the care of her patients. Still, she couldnât help the grin that continued to widen across her face. âHow about a family of two, then, plus their cat. Saving animals counts for at least two additional people in this scenario. Now that cat can be your heroic sidekick, even, as itâs obviously got to be so inspired by your act of bravery and selflessness.â And then she laughed, finding humor in her own thoughts. âYou know, I was just thinking of a good superhero name for you, and my first thought was Khan Man, and then I immediately realized that was a terrible name. You clearly shouldnât heed my creative advice.â Mehdi laughed himself, just catching himself before he could jerk his arm out of her grip. Â "Probably not the best superhero name, no," he agreed, scrunching up his nose in amusement. "But I won't pretend that I wasn't called that in high school. Â I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a term of endearment, though. Of course, if it wasn't, I could just taken ownership of the name and then it couldn't be used against me at all." Â It was a ridiculous thought, but he was clearly enjoying the course of the conversation. In fact, he could almost forget that she was currently sewing his skin back together as he thought about it -- almost. "I don't think I could do the whole spandex and cape thing, though," he admitted, shrugging the shoulder attached to his arm that was whole and unmarred. Â "So maybe vigilante life just isn't for me." Romy finished the last of the stitches--thirteen in all--and moved to start on bandaging the arm. She almost wished the whole process would have taken more time as Mehdi was one of her more conversational patients of the evening. And she happened to like his conversational skills. âYou could take ownership, and I bet youâd singlehandedly be able to change peopleâs perception of the phrase. When they think con man, theyâll think hero, instead of, you know, jewel thief or predatory car salesman,â she said, finally glancing back up and catching his eye for a brief moment before looking back at what she was doing. âAnd, I donât know. Theyâre making those hero costumes pretty wicked these days. Maybe you could pull off a supersuit thatâs not made out of spandex. I donât think anyone actually thinks spandex is comfortable, you know? Would you wear a mask, or rely on something mundane like glasses to hide your identity?â Mehdi's eyes went to his arm as she finished and he found himself a bit impressed with her efficiency. Â As someone whose pair of parents was half made up of a medical expert, he thought that gave him at least a little bit of room to be appreciative of one with talents. Â He idly wondered what her speciality was and if his dad knew her. "I'd probably also stray away from the leather pants that some of the more edgy heroes go for," Mehdi mused, as though this was a totally typical conversation to happen in a hospital room. Â "The spandex at least seems to have some give, but the leather just seems like a bad idea all around. Same with a mask. I feel like it would get in the way of me seeing properly. I'd probably just have to pull a Clark Kent and get some glasses. Â Just seems logical." Romy skillfully pulled the bandage taut against Mehdi's arm and secured it in place. And then, quite unfortunately, she was done. Even so, she couldn't help but to continue the conversation, even if she had to pull herself away shortly. She pulled off her gloves, tossing them into the tag with everything else that needed to be properly disposed of and then finally gave her full attention to Mehdi. âI personally like the Clark Kent plan. I think you could pull off the glasses. And maybe you could bypass the traditional superhero look altogether and emulate someone more like Tuxedo Mask, but without the mask.â Though he was sure he wasn't supposed to, Mehdi tested the bandages gingerly, his fingers gentle on his arm. Â He found himself just as disappointed that she was done, as ridiculous a thought as he knew it was; she had been giving him stitches, after all. Â That wasn't generally one of those things a person was meant to want to prolong any more than necessary. Still, the conversation was easier than he had anticipated, not at all the dull silence that he was expecting or a simple lecture about what he would need to do to care for the injury and when he would have to come back to have the stitches removed. Â He was sure that was to come, but everything leading up to it had been a nice surprise. "I think I could pull off Tuxedo Mask," Mehdi accepted after a brief moment of thought. Â "He does have a cape, but I can probably let that slide if I'm wearing a tux instead of spandex. Â It really completes the look." âYou know,â Romy offered, âyou could use the glasses as your mask instead of your civilian disguise, since everyone knows you without them already.â But then, as much as she didn't want to, she stood up. âI have to get to my next patient, but I'll have a nurse in here in a few moments to go over a few parting notes and to give you a prescription for the pain, if necessary.â She smiled, tucking her hands into the pockets of her labcoat. âBut if you need anything, or have any issues with the wound, or have questions, you should call me.â Though Mehdi's manners that had been instilled in him at a very early age made him want to stand as she did, he stayed in the plastic chair as he wasn't going to leave yet anyway. Â Still, he smiled up at her, an amused glint to his eye. "Do any future questions I have about my superhero persona fall under reasons to call or should I stick to strictly medical reasons?" Romy pressed her lips together to fruitlessly quell the smile that came as she considered that. âYou know,â she started, âI can't remember the last time someone called me about anything other than medical reasons.â Excepting her family, of course, but that was beside the point. âI think it would be incredibly refreshing, actually.â Mehdi didn't bother trying to hide the grin that her response immediately inspired, though the way he lifted his hand to scratch at his jaw was almost bashful. Â "Then I suppose I'll have to start working on a list of questions, Dr. Waters." âRomy,â she kindly corrected, then mentally chided herself for the familiarity, though she reasoned that Mehdi would never be an actual patient of hers, and it wasn't like living in a small town didn't mean everyone knew everyone's name already. âIf we're going to be discussing non-medical issues, it's probably for the best that I divulge my own civilian personality, or who I am when I'm off the clock. So, please, call me Romy.â "Romy," Mehdi repeated, doing his best to reign in his grin before it became downright silly. Â He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel like his grin could become silly when he was talking to the doctor that just stitched up his arm, but he wasn't sure he wasn't, either. Â "And I'd say something like Mr. Khan is my father, but he prefers Dr. Khan so..." He shrugged his shoulder again, much more nonchalant than he actually felt in that moment. "Call me Mehdi." She couldn't help it, at the sound of her name, her smile split across her face. Romy ducked her head, trying to let her hair cover up the pleasant blush that accompanied it. âWell, Mehdi, be careful out there. I hope the next time we run into each other, there will be significantly less blood and hospital involved.â It was silly, she thought, that such a brief encounter had made her whole night. It wasn't like she'd never spoken to him before, though other occasions had been under much more formal or frenzied circumstances. It wasn't like her to let Romy take over for Dr. Waters while she was at work, and while she could say with certainty that she'd handled the task at hand with professional efficiency, she also knew that it was Romy that her smile belonged to. She let her eyes meet his again before giving a small wave and stepping out of the small room, hoping that he would, in fact, call her. |