Mourning Has Broken
Part Five
Rated PG-13
By Annie
Please see note and disclaimer in Part One before reading further!
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A moment later, Sullivan returned to Charlotte's side with a plastic cup in her hand. She knelt beside the doctor and gently helped her to a sitting position. Doctor Beaumont's eyes lit up in surprised approval as Nurse Sullivan brought the cup to her lips. Charlotte closed her eyes, allowing Terri to angle the cup between parted, unpainted flesh.
She sipped slowly, savouring the moment. How often would something like this happen? Not often. Usually, Charlotte preferred to have things happen under her control, and as such, was known for refusing help or treatment from others. Rarely did the doctor let anyone do anything for her, since she liked to do things herself.
Terri's soothing voice and gentle touch encouraged her, and the liquid splashed softly onto Charlotte's tongue.
Her eyes flew open and gazed at the N.U.M., as she gulped and swallowed.
"Orange juice?!"
Pulpy, sweet, cold orange juice certainly was not what Charlotte Beaumont had expected to be drinking at that moment. Sullivan's eyes twinkled with silent mirth.
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. Water, maybe."
Charlotte drank more of the velvet liquid before Terri could take it away and replace it with the bland-tasting, clear beverage. She wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand, in much the same fashion in which she had done when she was three years old. The doctor slowly stood, finding balance to be a precariously difficult task to achieve.
"Easy, easy!" Sullivan soothed, guiding her friend and colleague carefully to the couch.
Gently, Terri eased Charlotte's head down, until it was resting between Beaumont's legs. Slowly, blood and oxygen began to recirculate the doctor's brain.
"Are you still up for a run with me?" Charlotte asked dryly, voice muffled from speaking through the trackpants she was wearing.
Ward 17's nursing unit manager smiled, despite the fact that the doctor knew exactly what her answer would be.
"Charlotte! I can't believe you just asked me that. Let me think about it."
Dr Beaumont raised her head from between her legs long enough to watch Sister Sullivan pretend to think as she took the empty cup back to the kitchen for the blonde-haired woman. Not for the first time, Charlotte felt her head swim amongst unbidden images that conjured themselves together in her mind. She moaned softly, silently asking the images to leave her alone. Just thinking those things didn't agree with her friend's personal code of practice, and she had to learn to accept that, respect it for what it was, where Terri was concerned. As Terri returned from the kitchen, Charlotte lowered her head again, desperate to get her body under control once more.
The brunette's voice filtered through to Charlotte's brain.
"I've thought about it... and to tell you the truth, Charlotte, I don't think it's a good idea today. You aren't well enough to keep your head up, let alone go gallivanting around the country. I think you know that. I'm sorry, Charlotte. Maybe we can go another time?"
A deep-throated reply, thick as velvet, responded.
"It's a date! How about the next scheduled break we both have together?"
Nurse Sullivan smiled again, wondering when their breaks would run into each other. Ward 17 sometimes ended up being so busy that Terri's already hectic workload as Nursing Unit Manager stretched beyond measure.
Break? What break?
As Terri rubbed Charlotte's back with her hand in soothing, calming circles, the doctor simply closed her eyes and let herself relax.
"That feels so good, Terri! I think we ought to get perks like this bundled into our pay packets..."
Sullivan's eyes twinkled as she attempted to snort back her laughter, and failed miserably at holding back the raucious sound from her throat, the snort developing into a most unbecoming noise that resembled a steam train hyperventilating more than anything else. Nurse Sullivan, listening to her own laughter, tried to stop, but only succeeded in steam-snorting even more hysterically and laughing harder than before.
Charlotte lifted her head. The expression on her face was clearly mock-horror, though her blue eyes were definitely enjoying the scene immensely, bright and mischievous.
"What?" she asked the nurse, voice innocent, despite the laughter bubbling up quickly from within.
The question only served to put Terri into tears as the brunette shook, unable to quit laughing and steam-snorting.
It was the only response Beaumont had from Terri, and within seconds, the doctor's chuckles erupted into maniac fits that matched the nurse's steam-snorting.
Suddenly, the competition was on. An unspoken challenge between the two women surfaced as Terri threw herself comfortably on the couch, legs kicking the air hysterically as she laughed beyond the ability to show self-control in decorum. Charlotte, feeling better, also leaned back into the couch, giggling and squealing barks of laughter, clapping her hands and making faces.
Without thinking, they hugged each other, in their excited, happy, carefree moments of insanity, still laughing.