Who: Gil Hatayama, Nana Kimigawa What: Long hours When: February 24 Where: Seattle Medical Center Rating: G Status: Complete
Gil leaned against the wall beneath the stairwell, the painted bricks cool against his back as he sunk down to a seated position on the floor. He'd have an hour to close his eyes, to let them rest long enough for the ache to fade from the back of his retinas to his eyelids. He pinched the bridge of his nose, detailing the to-do list once the beep emitted from his watch. He had the pre-op with Mrs. Anderson, then he had to substitute for Clara's last two appointments for the day. Call Hoffman, see how he was doing, follow up with Jason on campus and check up to see when they were acquiring the new attendings at the hospital.
He debated calling Dee to see if she would join him for dinner that evening. It wouldn't be an if this time, he needed to take a break. His body was starting to not give him much of a choice. Letting the weight that pressed against his sinus cavity, Gil closed his eyes and let the lists settle into the back of his mind.
Gil was late for pre-op... Gil was never late, not unless something really bad was going on. Nana bit her lip. He had been working so hard recently - Everyone had been busy, but Clara was expecting and so not doing as much as she usually did. They were spread so thinly in this wing, as well. Every other ward had enough doctors, but obstetrics had been an obsolete, antiquated field, so there weren't as many trained in it here.
Well... The first thing to do was to look for him, and she let the charge nurse know where she was going before heading off to find him. He wasn't in the staff room, and he wasn't in his office or with a patient... The next logical place was the stairwell near Pediatrics. That was where she found him. She knelt next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, then shook him lightly.
"Gil... Gil, wake up."
He didn't jump to alert like he should have, and he glanced at his watch to check the time even before his eyes fully opened or focused. "What time is it?" he slurred before yawning, rubbing the side of his face in an attempt to wake up. At any rate, he was in no condition to insert metalic probe in anyone's body. "May have to reschedule, Mrs. Anderson..."
He let his head drop to his shoulder, slowly piecing together the small white running shoes with the soft voice. "Hey, Nana..."
She frowned, her brow knit in worry. "Gil..." She rubbed his shoulder softly with her hand. "Okay. You need to go home. We can cancel, or get someone to cover your appointments." Nana clicked her tongue in a motherly sort of manner. "Mrs. Anderson can wait for you to get some sleep, it's not super pressing."
It worried her to see him like this. He was very dedicated, and burning the candle at both ends. "Do you need me to take you home?"
"Yeah," he said rolling his head back against his shoulders to look up at her, giving her a tired grin. He knew even before he started his first shift, even when Clara slapped folders on his desk that he needed to rest, but he pressed on anyway. They were going to lose patients, but it couldn't be avoided. "We're going to have to call county, see if they have an on call available to spare for tonight first."
"I'll do that, no problem," she said, giving him a smile in return. He was too focused on work. What was he doing, letting himself get this tired? "If not, they'll have to wait." There was no other option. He couldn't operate like this, he might as well have been drunk if he tried.
"I'll do that and then I'll be back and I'll give you a ride home, okay?" He was so dedicated, though... It was admirable, in a way, that he put his work and patients before himself in such a way. Still. It wasn't helping anyone right now.
"No, let me go with you." Gil gathered himself up to a standing position, rolling his shoulders as he adjusted his weight on his legs. It was impossible to get him to turn off the job while he was on the hospital grounds. Even if he was impaired from sleep deprivation, he wasn't going to take that excuse to wash his hands from responsibility. "I want to make sure they don't send over a GP again and charge an OB/GYN rate."
Nana sighed, then nodded and put her hand lightly on his arm. "All right," she said, "But you're not... You're not going to do anything else! I won't let you!" She certainly wasn't exactly the picture of a formidable foe, all short and sweet as she was, but she tried - Even though her 'orders' came out a bit less serious than she intended. It didn't help that her friend towered over her..
"Yes, ma'am." he agreed, ruffling her hair with his hand as he pressed the button to the service elevator with the other one. Finally taking a glance at his watch, he groaned. "Couldn't do the surgery anyway, the OR's booked for an appendectomy right now."
Guh! She wasn't a little girl... But the affectionate gesture felt good, and she smiled. She was glad that their relationship hadn't been ruined by their decision to change it, or the lottery's decision to put it back. "You did oversleep by a bit," she admitted, stepping into the elevator with him. "I checked everywhere for you... Maybe I should have come here first, huh?" She blushed a bit. She really had been starting to worry that something had happened...!
"You should have, one of these days I am going to hide an air mattress back here." he said, stepping into the elevator and pushing the number to their floor. "Sorry if I worried you, this schedule has been, well, it's been inhumane."
"I understand," she said, nodding. "But you can't let yourself get so tired." Nana gave him a warm smile, tucking some hair behind her ear. "You're going to make yourself sick."
"I'm a doctor, I can take care of myself." he smiled. "A lot tired, but never sick. How have you been?"
"Noo," she said, pushing him playfully. "You're not taking care of yourself now, you liar." She sighed a bit, then smiled. "I've been fine. I don't see Andrew very often because of work, but I'm doing okay..."
"I feel for Dee, I haven't had time to spend with her after we were married. So much has gone on, and this blasted schedule. Any ideas on how to make it up to her?" Gil asked, nudging her back with his elbow.
"Um..." Nana put her fingers together. What would she like? Flowers, dinner... "I don't know. Maybe, when you have time, go spend it with her. Or you could... Could buy her flowers or something?" She frowned. "I don't know Dee, I'm sorry. I don't know what kind of a person she is, the things she likes." She bit her lip in thought. "Flowers usually don't miss, though."
"Maybe paints, she's a painter." Gil mused as he kept his eyes on the elevator numbers. "Free time might be harder to get, you know?"
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea!" If Andrew got her yarn, she'd be excited. "I'm sure she'll like it..." She gave him a smile. "What is she like...?"
"Dee is bold. Like a loud color on a boring page. I don't know what to expect around her." he chuckled, shaking his head. "She's about your height, kind of wild. What's Andrew like?"
"He's nice," Nana said, looking down. "Really sweet, and kind of quiet. He um... He works in a bakery, he makes really nice cakes. I've been working nights a lot recently, though, so I don't know him as well as I'd like for someone that I..." She trailed off, frowning just a bit. She was able to do it, but it wasn't something she could just say!
"He sounds like a good match for you. Well, other than me." Gil intervened on her behalf, nudging her as the elevator doors opened. "Give it time, get to know him."
Her face was burning bright red at that comment, and she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. "I-I'm trying my best. I just don't see him as often as I'd like. Sometimes he's heading to work when I'm going to bed, sometimes it's the opposite. He's a good man." The 'but' was still there, and it settled heavily in the pit of her stomach. It went against everything she'd ever hoped for to be married to someone she barely knew, and possibly already carrying his child. But, Andrew was a good man. He was.
"I'm glad for you, that he's a good one." Gil said as the elevator carriage slowed to a stop. There wasn't a need to mention the 'but', they knew what followed them. "You know, if you ever need anything to call me, right?"
"Yes," Nana said, nodding. "I know... Thank you for that." She smiled, then looked at him. "And it's the same way for you...!"
"Glad to know you'll have my back," Gil replied with a sideways smile and wink in Nana's direction. The elevator doors opened and he held the door at its frame, allowing Nana to step out first.
She was happy to know he was still there, even after it all. She considered him to be a good friend. She stepped out of the elevator, but stopped and waited for him to walk before she kept going. "Have you had anything to eat today?" she asked curiously. If he was so tired, he probably wasn't looking after himself in other ways, either.
"A granola bar." Gil answered as they walked to the main nurse's station. He didn't include when, the always luminescent lighting and constant temperature made it easy for hours to blend together. He couldn't remember when he last ate, but he didn't feel starved.
"When was that?" Nana asked, frowning. She had half of her lunch left in the fridge in the break room... "I'll get you something to eat before I take you home," she said firmly. She was in mommy mode now, even if she didn't realize it, and was focused on making sure Gil got home safely and had something to eat and, above all, went to sleep.
"No idea," he admitted, stepping behind the desk to reach for a phone, dialng the medicial director's private line. "I'll eat whatever you put in front of me, promise."
Nana took a moment to disappear into the break room, and returned with her lunch box - A bento she'd picked up somewhere, pink and covered in dancing pandas and flowers. It had a rice ball inside, as well as a small packet of crackers and a tuna sandwich cut into triangles so it would fit. There was also half of an apple sliced up, and a cookie she'd made herself. "Here's the rest of my lunch." She gave him a grin. "I didn't eat most of it because one of the ultrasound techs gave me some of her pasta, so this is all yours."
"Thank you for understanding, sir. Yes, I'll take care. You too." Gil said as he hung up the phone, glancing at the lunch box in surprise. Listening to her explanation, he laughed. "I was about to say, looks like you barely ate at all. I can eat in the car, I don't want to keep you from your station for too long."
"Okay," Nana said, taking his arm. "I'm taking Gil home," she told the charge nurse, who nodded and made a note of it. "It shouldn't be too long." She turned and led him down the hall towards to the exit.
He waved behind him as he was led out of the hospital back a persistent Nana. Gil wasn't about to protest, and he munched on an apple slice as they took the elevator to the parking garage. Exhaustion didn't return to his gait and posture until they stepped closer to Nana's car, and Gil yawned loudly.
Nana unlocked the car and slipped in. "Poor Gil," she said, turning the key. The car thrummed to life and she looked at him. "Seatbelt." He looked so tired... They really were working him too hard, but what could they do?
All Gil had been thinking about what how low her car seats were and that if he reclined it just a little and closed his eyes... "Oh. Sorry." He buckled his seatbeat and reopened the bento box, there was a promise to eat that he had to fill.
Her car seats were low - She was kind of short - and she gave him a smile. "If you want to nap, you can do that, so long as you promise me you'll eat when you get home," she said, pulling out of her parking space and heading out onto the road.
He shook his head, he had a bed at home and maybe a wife if she wasn't spending the night at her apartment turned studio. If he ate now, it'd be one less thing to do once he got home. "No, I was more hungry than I thought." It was true, once he took a bite of the tuna sandwich, it was gone, followed by the rice balls, fruit and cookie in quick order.
"You're such a good cook." he mumbled between mouthfuls.
Nana couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks," she said, feeling a little swell of pride. It was something she was prided herself on, and she was glad he thought so. "I have a bunch more of those cookies at home. I can bring them to work and give you some to take home if you like."
"I would really like that," he said, smiling as he settled back into the seat, closing his eyes. "Not too many, or I might ask you for more all of the time."
"I don't mind," Nana said. She kept her eyes on the road, but she was smiling and blushing lightly. People liked her cooking~! "I like to make cookies."
"You should start a business, you really should." he murmured, yawning as he felt the lure of drawing him farther away from the conversation. "Charge a lot for them and everything. Dee could decorate..."
"Andrew's the baker," she said, turning down a side street. "Not me. I'm a nurse." She glanced at him, then laughed a bit. "You can nap if you want."
"Oh yeah, he bakes." Gil said between a yawn, nodding at her suggestion. "I will, wake me when we get there...don't think you could carry me in."
No, probably not. "Sure," she said. When they reached the building, she parked her car, then leaned over and shook him gently. "Gil, we're here."
Gil heard the voice before he registered he was being shaken. Opening his eyes, he focused on Nana's face and smiled. "Hey," he answered groggily, his voice thick with sleep. "Was I out long?"
"Not too long," Nana said, returning his smile. It was hard to ignore the twinge she felt in her chest when she saw him like this. Things hadn't worked out. They were both married. Stop it, Nana. "Come on. I'll walk you up there and then you have to go straight to bed."
"No, stay. Keep the engine running." Gil insisted, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Last thing I need to have to do is explain why I have a woman taking me home in the middle of the night. I can make it from here."
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for the ride and everything. I appreciate it."
Nana blushed, tucking her chin in. "A-ah... No problem, Gil," she said softly. She gave him a smile as best she could, then returned the kiss to his cheek. That was... confusing. Was his new wife that protective, too? They were only friends anymore, anyways... Hnnn. "Take care of yourself. Sleep well."
"I'll see you tomorrow." he smiled at the returned kiss as he stepped out of the car. "You take care as well."
Gil turned and walked to the building's entrance, waving to the car before stepping inside the lobby. Their friendship would be alright, at least, and he would continue to be grateful for that. The rest...was what it was meant to be.