Laura Villenueve (stcosmas) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-05-23 08:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | chernobog, marassa jumeaux 1 |
in the space between
Who: Laura & Matt.
What: Two workaholics getting in late.
Where: Pax Letale lobby and elevator.
When: Just after midnight on May 23.
Laura stifled a yawn as she shouldered through the front, lobby doors of Pax, headed for the elevator. By her time, it wasn't even that late, but she hadn't pulled a long shift like this in quite some time. Another nurse had pressed to switch shifts with her, and, albeit hesitantly, Laura had agreed after texting and discussing it with her twin. John, as ever, was amenable to getting Anaise after school and making sure the girl was bedded down for the night. Just before her shift started, Laura had called to say goodnight to her daughter, the creeping guilt that she was letting the wrong things get in the way moving over her thoughts until she told herself it was one night.
And now she was home, or near to it, and very much looking forward to her bed. Surprisingly, she wasn't alone; though the concierge desk was bereft of Stephan, there was another man waiting for the elevator. Laura came up beside him, far enough away to not be discomforting, and decided to break the ice with an easy question.
"Late night?"
Matthew jumped slightly from the voice, blinking rapidly as he looked down at the woman who had stepped beside him. It took him a moment to come back to the scene and place himself. He was waiting for the elevator to whisk him up to his floor so he could sleep and forget about the past couple of days. Instead, he was left to wait and lost his concentration, and here they both were. She obviously returning from work just the same as he, except she looked more eager and alert than Matthew. Matthew had slightly paled and his eyes had a twinge of red from disturbed sleep.
“Yeah,” was all Matthew’s reply at first but he noted the woman’s scrubs and couldn’t help but ask. “Are you a nurse?”
"Mhm," she throated quietly, nodding. Laura glanced at the descending numbers, then back at the young man. He looked exhausted, though considering the late hour, she wasn't that surprised. Her mind was hazy with sleep, but a small curiosity nibbled at the back of her mind. "Where you coming from? Are you an accountant?" It was well past tax season, but maybe he had a few stray things left to tidy up.
Matthew let out a breath and a small smile appeared, but it was almost a bitter smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. “A doctor, actually. Well, I’m technically a doctor, but I work in a lab currently.” He didn’t mention anything else, the weight of his job hanging on him like a weighted blanket. He thought of the animal smells and the singing coming from the body of that one man who died before him, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
The elevator doors parted before them with a cheerful ding. Laura paused, waiting to see if he'd move, and then took the initiative.
"Yeah, that'll do it," she replied, once she'd tapped the seventh floor button and escaped to a corner. "And doctors do all kinds of things. I'm not going to make you prove it to me. It's too late for that kind of thing. Mind if I ask what you're researching? Government-funded, private project...?"
Matthew blinked, surprised by her reply. Not so much what she said, but that she said so much. He considered her and her questions for a moment as he stepped into the elevator and turned to face the closing doors. Leaning forward, he hit his floor call button. “Private project,” he replied, feeling uncomfortable with the topic of his job. He glanced at her and willed the elevator to move along faster. He didn’t want to have discussions, he hated socializing, and he felt incredibly awkward and so exhausted. But he had to at least try for a sense of normalcy. “And you? Do you work at a hospital? Private care?”
The elevator doors slid closed, Laura's arms crossing over her chest in much the same way. She nodded as the elevator began to rise.
"LA County," she replied. "ER. It's not research, but I guess, depending on what you have and haven't seen, it's never dull." She let the conversation lapse, seemingly content to let silence grow between the two of them. But more questions bubbled to the surface, her tiredness making her tongue looser.
"What's your degree in?"
“Oncology,” Matthew replied. He licked his lips and looked at the floor. He didn’t know what else to say but kept thinking of the dead man. If he had gotten that man to an ER, perhaps he would have lived. Perhaps not. He was dead before any help arrived within the facility. “I have a lot of respect for people who work in ERs. It’s not a very easy job…”
Laura shook her head, agreeing with his sentiment. "So they tell me. Oncology, though, that's just as tough. In it for the long haul, the way cancer affects families..." She shivered, thinking of her mother. Her shoulders settled against the wall. "So I guess you're looking for a cure? Or are you on a pharmacy payroll for the latest panacea?" She held up a hand. "No disrespect, of course, it's just...a job's a job."
“Uh…” Matthew looked up at the floor number, seeing it getting closer to the floor Laura had selected and feeling a sense of release. “I can’t really talk about what I’m doing now. But I guess… I guess you could say it’s something like looking for a cure, or at least figuring out some of the gray areas.”
It didn’t even have to do with cancer, it was just life force that Matthew was interested in and that Matthew monitored when giving the serum. The more he thought of it, the more likely he was on a pharmacy’s payroll. But he brushed the thought aside. Even if he was, his mind wasn’t, his mind was scrambling to find the pieces to creating ongoing life and reclaiming the spirit.
Laura nodded, her eyes moving away from his obvious discomfort toward the elevator numbers. Her hand slipped into a pocket, withdrawing her phone as a way to pass the time and give them both an excuse to ignore one another. She had no text messages, at least, none since she left the hospital, and soon enough the doors of the elevator were dinging open on her floor.
"I'm Laura, by the way. Nice to meet you. Hopefully we'll never see each other at work," she offered with a half smile and a wave as she exited the elevator.
“Nice to meet you too,” Matthew replied with a faint smile, his eyes lifting to meet Laura’s and he barely even flinched at having to actually interact. “And I’m Matthew, by the way. Or Doctor Buchanan if you run into me at your job. Have a nice night.”
"You too," she returned, finally turning away as the doors closed. She hoped he had something good to go home to, to take his mind off of whatever was bothering him. But the thought quickly moved from her mind as she opened the door to her own apartment, moving quietly through the darkness to check on her own loved ones before falling into bed.