leonard mccoy (adoctordamnit) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-04 22:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, john watson, leonard mccoy |
You gotta minute?
Who: John Watson and Leonard McCoy
When: Before Watson and Pond take their vacation
Where: Irvine General
What: ChitChat
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
McCoy poked his head into the little cafeteria-type room that so many of the doctors and staff used as a refuge away from patients. They’d often spend break times and lunches in there, chatting with each other or watching the television in the corner of the room. McCoy wasn’t particularly hungry, but looking for someone--and his eyes trained on Doctor Watson.
He let himself into the room, holding the door open for the nurse who was just leaving it, and then gave the other doctor his full attention. “You gotta minute?”
Watson looked up from the newspaper he’d been reading, a sandwich trained between his hands and his mouth full. “Mmf,” he said, eyebrows raising before he chewed, swallowed, and then nodded. “More than one. Have a seat, Dr. McCoy?”
“Yes.” McCoy flopped into the chair opposite Watson, then frowned a little as he couldn’t keep his hands still. He was nervous, and not sure how to go about talking about it. Truth was, Watson was the closest thing McCoy had to a friend outside of Jim and the rest of the Enterprise crew. He climbed up out of the chair just as quickly as he’d sat, and poured himself a cup of coffee. “How’s your lunch?”
Watson rose his eyebrows, set his sandwich down and leaned back, crossing his arms a little and just fixed McCoy with a stare. “Are you making small talk with me? You don’t do small talk.” And he most certainly never asked how good a sandwich was or wasn’t. “What’s the matter?”
“No. I don’t do small talk.” McCoy said, shaking his head a bit. He didn’t do small talk. That was obvious to anyone who knew him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “...I may have gotten my girlfriend pregnant.” It was such a teenager thing to do.
Watson blinked at that. Twice. And then he sat forward, elbows on the table and a concerned expression on his face. He hadn’t even been aware McCoy had a girlfriend.
“Might have? How do you not know? Aren’t you a doctor?” Okay, a little sassy but hey.
“Well, it’s still a bit early on.” McCoy said, sheepishly and defensively at the same time. And--hey, when did Watson become so snarky? “Nevermind. It’s not a big deal.” He added, now ready to change the subject.
Watson was always snarky. He was a snark master, thanks much and ta. “It’s a huge deal,” he said, waving away the waving away. Because McCoy wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise. “When will you know for certain?”
Watson may have been snarky before, but normally he and McCoy were on the same side of the snarkiness. Now that McCoy was the one on the receiving end, it seemed sharper somehow. He shook his head. “Not for a couple of weeks, maybe.” He was trying to wrap his head around what it might mean, and it was a difficult thing for him to do.
Nodding, Watson backpedaled a little, just so that McCoy wouldn’t think him the worst human being on the planet. Snark was one thing, actual spite was another. “Well,” he said slowly, picking up his coffee, but not drinking it. “Maybe it’s best not to worry until you’re -- you know. Sure. It doesn’t help matters much, you know?” He told patients that all day. All day. He was, after all, a general practitioner.
McCoy nodded in response. They seemed to be nodding at each other. “It’s my nature to want to work out some sort of a plan. A plan for if it happens, a plan for if it doesn’t. Maybe more than one plan, considering how other people react. That’s the only way I can keep my head on straight and go about my business. It wouldn’t do to be distracted by this all day.” Not in his line of work. No one wanted a distracted surgeon.
Distracted surgeons were kind of crap, particularly if the hospital wanted to avoid things like lawsuits. Watson huffed a little and picked his coffee back up. “Well. Planning never hurt anyone, I guess…” He wasn’t going to ask which either way McCoy might prefer. It wasn’t really his business.
“At least… having an understanding on how I feel about things.” McCoy said, then lifted his own coffee cup to sip. He gave a little nod. “...bit terrifying, isn’t it?” He mused after gulping. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to cover this up.
“You’d know better than me, I imagine.” John didn’t have kids, didn’t plan on it really. At least Mccoy had one already. Knew what maybe to expect? Something?
Something. “Anyway. Enjoy your lunch.” He’d taken up too much of the good doctor’s time and attention with his silly problems. “I’m sure we’ll talk again soon.” He climbed up out of his chair and turned to let himself out. He had thinking to do.
Furrowing his eyebrows, John watched McCoy walk away. He wondered, faintly, if he should have said something more. But his friend was a bit standoffish, and sometimes there just wasn’t anything to say. Especially in times of uncertainty. He ask up on the topic later, of course. But for now it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.