Jamie Lannister (![]() ![]() @ 2012-11-07 13:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, oliver wood, verity |
Who: Oliver Wood and Verity Ashford
What: Upon leaving a pre-op consultation, Oliver reunites with his caffeinated saviour.
Where: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
When: Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete
Buttoning a shirt one-handed was almost as frustrating as doing anything without the use of thumbs. Three buttons down and Oliver had to give up, ripping at the material until the buttons let loose again. He made a mental note to purchase some snap button shirts before Monday’s surgery and then slipped his trainers on, the laces permanently tied loose just to make life easier.
Though the surgery was still a few days away, Oliver preferred to keep his right arm strapped into its braces over utilizing it even in the simplest of tasks. Breathing deep caused enough pain; he didn’t need to perpetuate the situation.
With one last overlook of the room, Oliver grabbed his sunglasses and exited into the hallway.
Verity wasn’t really sure why she’d been told to wait in the hallway. Something about patient confidentiality? She was meeting with her Sister-in-Law again, but for a coffee this time, and had been told to wait right here. So she stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, staring down at the tile floor under her feet.
Of course, she’d been to the hospital once between the first time she’d met Oliver and now, and sort of hoped that she’d bump into him. He’d been very good-looking, with a nice sense of humor, and hadn’t been wearing a wedding band. Good sign, right? This time Oliver wasn’t even on her mind. Sure, when Lizzy mentioned the really cute, Scottish patient that she had in the office, Verity mentioned bumping into him in the cafeteria, but Ver wasn’t thinking about that at the moment.
She was wondering how many floor tiles there were in any given hospital.
The door opened and pulled her from her thoughts. When she lifted her head, Verity saw him come into the hall. She straightened her back, finding that her breath caught a little in her throat at the sight of him.
Halfway down the hallway, Oliver stopped in his tracks. He could feel eyes on him.
Not the creepy, stalker eyes that accompanied his profession on occasion. Those he could feel across a dark room and knew well enough to stay as far away from their vicinity as humanly possible. No, these eyes were alluring. These eyes told Oliver to keep walking straight down the hallway.
‘Hello Creamy,’ he purred.
Verity broke into a smile at the sight of him, and it only brightened as he came walking straight for her. Her spine straightened as he neared, seemingly of its own accord. “Creamy?” She asked, smirking.
Drawing up before Verity, Oliver tucked the arm of his glasses into the collar of his white tee. ‘Cream in my coffee, remember?’
Verity gave a laugh. “That’s right! You remembered.” She said, unfolding her arms and slipping her hands into her pockets. Now she was wishing that she’d worn something nicer than a sweater from two seasons ago and a pair of old jeans. Though, the sweater hugged in the right places, and the jeans showed off her backside rather nicely.
“Still losing wrestling matches with to-go coffee cup lids, are you?”
‘Button-down shirts, actually,’ he said, slightly embarrassed as he gestured to his shirt. It hung open, revealing a low v-neck tee, white and thin and clinging to his chest. A grown man and he couldn’t even dress himself properly in public.
“The unbuttoned look works for you,” Verity teased. Though, it wasn’t untrue. She thought he could pull off a burlap sack, actually, if he showed off those baby blues.
Oliver scritched his head, a nervous habit around pretty girls. Particularly ones who were confident enough to flirt back with more than just a giggle and a head bounce. ‘Eh... So are you here visiting someone? A parent? A friend? A boyfriend? Or is it that you enjoy stalking gimps?’
Had he thrown ‘boyfriend’ in there to gauge her reaction? Was he fishing to see if she had one? The smirk on her features grew a little, and she tore her eyes away from his handsome face to glance down the hall. “Sister-in-law, actually. The stalking gimps is simply a bonus.” She turned back to face him again. “Lizzy Adler. She’s a nurse here, told me to wait for her in the hall. We’re supposed to be having coffee, but I think she’s forgotten me.”
'Well we cannea have that now.'
Glancing up and down the hall, Oliver saw no signs of Nurse Adler. She had only just left his examination room, minutes before he had run into Verity. 'You know, I'm finished here and was headed for a coffee myself. Maybe we can find your sister-in-law on the way to the cafeteria.'
Verity followed his glance down the hall. She didn’t see her Sister-in-law, and was starting to wonder if maybe... but that’s ridiculous. “All right. Let’s go.” Worst case she could text Lizzy and let her know she was already in the cafeteria.
Gesturing with an open arm, Oliver let Verity lead the way. He wasn't a dumb jock; in fact, Oliver's aptitude tests were off the chart. He just had a rubbish sense of direction and American Hospitals were apparently made for keeping patients inside.
'So your sister-in-law is working on my case,' Oliver mentioned as they stepped into an elevator. 'Four specialists, eight surgeons, an anesthesiologist, six nurses, two security guards and a hoard of interns. You'd think the arm was worth something,' he laughed. The shoulder was worth something. Eight million pounds of something. There was a lot riding on Monday's surgery that Oliver hated to think about.
“She may have mentioned you,” Verity said as she led the way into the elevator. It wasn’t a surprise that she knew her way around the hospital, Lizzy had been working there for years, and Verity had spent some time visiting. Especially after she and her previous boyfriend broke up. Lizzy had been a wonderful support.
“If the rest are as good as Lizzy, then you’re in fantastic hands.” Verity kidded, trying to make light of the situation. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him, though it had to be something big if he was here for such a complicated surgery. She glanced at his arm in the sling. “What happened?”
Punching the button for the ground floor, Oliver replied without pause. 'Drew Brees surgery,' he was slowly becoming an expert on the subject after a year of trying to rehabilitate the arm. Plus if he focused on the medicine, it was easier to ignore the reasons behind the injury.
'Bicep tendon's completely detached from the bone, and there is zero articular cartilage in the joint. Chipped bone fragments. Scar tissue from the first surgery where they botched a collarbone repair. All in all, it's a bloody mess.'
The elevator dinged and Oliver gestured for Verity to step out first. 'Hence my trouble with coffee lids and buttons'
Most of what he told her about his injury was over her head. She recognized words like ‘cartilage’ and ‘bone fragments,’ but the rest was too technical for her to really understand. It didn’t really matter, though, she was just making conversation for now, and she could always ask questions about it later.
“Sounds it,” she said, then stepped out of the elevator and turned toward the cafeteria. “Well, I can definitely help you with the coffee lids. But you’re on your own with the buttons.” She said, giving him a little smirk.
'I'm not sure whether to be grateful or disappointed.' And for Oliver, that was quite true.
Since his injury, Oliver had done little outside of doctor's visits, legal consultations and arguing with his agent. Friends and hobbies fell by the wayside. He hadn't even been on a date in six months. With surgery days away, Oliver was finding he wanted to do all those things he'd been missing out on before the long road to recovery picked up again. Going to the movies, having a pint, shameless flirting with strangers... eating pastries. It was as if he were on death row with a week to live and fulfilling all his fantasies while he still could.
After all, come Monday, a large part of his future would be decided. Either the doctors were successful enough to start a rigorous rehabilitation routine, in which case his perpetual state of uncertain waiting would continue, or something would go wrong and that would simply be the end. Over as abruptly as a the slip of a scalpel. And as with any surgery, no matter how remote, there was always the chance of death.
In light of everything, some carefree flirtation seemed perfectly harmless.
'Can I buy you a cuppa?'
“I know, it’s a difficult decision.” Verity smirked, holding open the door to the cafeteria so he could walk through past her. What she wasn’t really expecting was for him to offer to buy her coffee. Or ‘cuppa’ which she assumed meant tea. Her smirk fell a little in surprise, and she attempted to cover it up as quickly as she could with another smile. Her cheeks went pink.
“I’m sure Lizzy will be down here any minute,” she said, softly. She wanted to have tea or coffee with him, but... she was supposed to be having it with her sister-in-law...
Oliver nodded, his lips pressing into a smile that portrayed casual disinterest. 'Of course,' he said understandingly, but he felt slightly awkward all the same at having been rejected.
But they were strangers and this was America. Oliver had been told a cup of coffee may as well have been an invitation for sex. And he had been flirting. Perhaps he'd scared her off. 'Suppose I'll see you around then,' he added, bowing slightly as a means to a goodbye. Shaking hands with his left arm had always been too foreign for comfort. 'Give Nurse Adler my regards. And tell her I want a velcrow dressing gown on Monday! Not one o'them tie things I cannea manage on my own.'
Verity gave a little nod to the bow, shifting her weight awkwardly from hip to hip. “I’m sure something can be managed.” She said, giving him something of a smile. Truth was, her heart was racing and she was kicking herself for saying no. It was all Lizzy’s fault! She wasn’t sure how, but somehow this was all Lizzy’s fault!
She turned to head into the cafeteria, but stopped after the first step and turned back to face him. “Good luck on Monday.” She said, hoping he’d linger. She really should just say goodbye and get on with her own coffee plans, but how could she when he was so... attractive?
Verity was conflicted; Oliver could see that now. It was pricelessly adorable.
The options before Oliver were simple: in for the kill, which Verity's posture and lingering suggested would be a highly rewardable action at no cost to himself. Or he could play the gentleman, a card more true to the reforms he was trying to make in his life. Given the need for good karma in his life, the decision took no time.
'And to you finding your sister-in-law,' he replied, Scottish brogue curling. 'See you around, Creamy.'
Verity was disappointed. It showed on her face. She smiled nonetheless. “See you around, Dreamy.” Her face went a little more pink and her expression fell into a completely shocked and highly embarrassed one. “Oliver. Wood. See you around.” She said, flustered, then turned on her heel and headed into the cafeteria.