Chapter Text
Frank frowned as his phone rang for the seventh time. He pressed the red hang up button, scowling as the screen lit up immediately after pressing the button. Dana raised an eyebrow, “Seems like someone’s pretty popular this morning?”
Frank slipped his still buzzing phone into his pocket, forcing an easy smile onto his face. “Well, when you’re a hot commodity like me…” He smirked when he saw the other’s unimpressed expression, “Just kidding Dana. It’s just spam calls. Been getting them all day and night, I really should just change my damn phone number.”
Dana crossed her arms, “Uh huh, well when you’re finished dealing with that, patient in room 8 refuses to go home until she talks to you about the treatment plan.”
Frank rolled his eyes, “I already told the kid three times that all she needs to do is to take antibiotics daily for a week for her ear infection, what’s the holdup here?”
Dana raised her hand, “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. We’ve been trying to tell her that you’ll just give the same teaching as the nurses, but it’s like it’s in one ear and out the other.”
She paused, looking up, as Princess stomped in their direction, visible frustration apparent on her face. Princess walked up to the duo, crossing her arms, “Bed 8 is insistent on speaking only with Dr. Langdon because and I quote, you fucking bitches don’t know what you’re talking about, I want the doctor.”
Frank groaned, “Ok, ok, I get it, I’m going.” He pushed himself off the chair in the nurse’s station and headed down the hallway towards the patient’s room. As he rounded the corner, he felt his phone buzz again in his pocket.
As his thumb hovered over the red hang up button, a ping rang out, indicating that he received a text message from the same number that has been calling him insistently. He frowned, as he glanced at the text.
Frank Langdon, my life is yours. Will you give me yours in return?
Frank’s head snapped up as he heard a loud crash and hurried toward the noise, groaning when he saw the source of it was the teenager from bed 8. He quickly blocked the unknown number and pocketed his cell phone to focus on the situation in front of him.
The teenager had her arms crossed over her chest, the contents of her lunch tray splattered across the room as she glared at Frank. “Finally, you’re here. So now I know that you won’t come unless I make some noise. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”
Frank glanced at the mess that the girl caused, and took a deep breath. He already had two talks with from Gloria about his “poor bedside manner”. he could not sit through another lecture from her about patient satisfaction metrics and press ganey scores.
His eye twitched as a cup hit the wall next to his head.
“Are you listening to me? I am asking you why you would prescribe amoxi-whatever to me when I heard from my friend that it can also cause a lot of weight gain. I want a prescription for a different medication, now!”
—
Frank groaned as he spotted Princess finally walking the disgruntled girl out front to wait for her mom to pick her up. He ducked into the staff lounge, afraid that the girl would spot him and stop him once more to delay her inevitable discharge once again.
He grabbed a granola bar from his locker and pulled out his phone again to see if anyone had messaged him while he was stuck in the girl’s room. He paused when he saw twenty missed calls and texts from the blocked number.
Another text message appeared from a new unknown number.
Why aren’t you answering me, Dr. Langdon?
He frowned before deleting all of the notifications, including the new one. Another text message popped up immediately.
Don’t keep ignoring me. Do I need to come and talk to you in person?
His phone lit up again as the new unknown number called him. He hesitated over the red hang up button for a second before switching over to the green answer button. “This is Dr. Langdon.”
Frank frowned as he didn’t receive a response from the other end. “…hello?” Once again, he received no response, but he noted heavy breathing on the side. As he was finally about to hang up, an automated, obviously machine-operated female voice sounded on the other side. “…I’ll see you soon, Frankie.”
Before Frank could say anything in response, the other caller hung up on him. He stared at the phone in his hand for a moment, a little unnerved.
“What the fuck…?”
He didn’t have time for this, he had so much to do and he was already running behind due to the late discharge from earlier. He blocked the new unknown number and shook his head. It was probably some stupid scam caller that somehow got his number from their database or maybe some stupid kid that was prank calling random numbers and somehow got a hold of his number.
It was a little odd that they knew his name, but honestly, he’d religiously sign up for promotions online and in store for discounts, so he wouldn’t be surprised if someone got a hold of his information. Besides, with technology nowadays, it wouldn’t even be that difficult for people to find his information online, especially since he was a public figure in the community and saw upwards of hundreds of new people each week.
The door suddenly slammed open, revealing Whittaker. “Dr. Langdon, we’ve got an incoming trauma, ETA 2 minutes to trauma room 2. 65 year old male, gunshot wound to abdomen, GCS 8.”
Langdon groaned, shaking off all previous thoughts, “Jeez, can’t even take a five minute break without something happening.” He rushed out the door, firing rapid questions at the other, “Do we have an estimated blood loss? Was the gunshot wound penetrating or non-penetrating? How many shots were fired?”
—
“Alright…I’m in, and inflating the cuff right…now.” Frank stated, as he stared at the screen during the intubation.
Whitaker glanced at the CO2 detector, “The end tidal CO2 detector is now yellow, indicating that the placement of the endotracheal tube is correct.”
Frank smirked, “Of course the placement is correct, who do you think I am? Garcia?”
Garcia rolled her eyes, “Well, I guess you’re not just a pretty face after all, Ken. I was beginning to think you were all brawn and no brains.”
Frank hummed, glancing at the cardiac and vital signs monitor. Normal sinus rhythm, vital signs stable, nice.
He responded absentmindedly, “Well maybe you should look into a mirror, Garcia. I heard that an accusation without proof are signs of a lack of self-awareness and projection.”
Before Garcia could open her mouth to snap back, Dr. Robby cut in, “Alright, that’s enough. Can we not do this everytime the two of you work together? Garcia, are you able to take the patient up to surgery from here?”
Garcia nodded briskly. “I’ve been ready for the past hour.”
Frank cut in. “Well, I’ve been ready for the past two hours.”
Robby sighed, not even acknowledging the duo as he took off his gloves and left the trauma room. Whitaker stood awkwardly for a moment before moving to follow the attending out the door. “Um…I’m going to go check the boards to see what else we’ve got.”
Garcia shot an annoyed look at Frank, “My five year old niece is ten times more mature than you are, Langdon.”
“Well, your niece must be some type of boss baby then, but I’m touched that I remind you of your family.” Frank chuckled inwardly when he saw the other’s look of disgust at the comment and left the room, shutting the door before hearing the other’s disgruntled reply.
He frowned as he felt the nonstop buzz of his cellphone against his leg. He reached into his pocket to shut it off. Ideally, whoever was (hopefully) pranking him would get tired by the end of the day when they didn’t receive a response.
—
Don’t you know that it’s rude to ignore someone when they’re talking to you? Or are you just not much of a texter?
Langdon squinted at the message. The day had finally slowed down a little as the shift slowly transitioned into night shift and he had a rare moment of reprieve to finish up his charting in the nurse’s station. He had been in the ER for almost 13 hours now, and it was his sixth shift in a row and he had only gotten about two hours of sleep the previous night. He may or may not be getting slightly delirious as he stared vacantly down at his phone.
It turns out that the unknown individual did not, in fact, get tired of messaging him. He had eighty missed calls, twenty voicemails, and forty text messages.
As if the unknown texter was watching him, he received another message. “Oh…and another one comes in…” He opened the message, pausing as he saw what it contained.
It was a photo this time. It was a snapshot of Frank slouching near the nurse’s station whilst on his two minute “lunch break”, gobbling down his lunch, which consisted of a snickers bar, bag of hot cheetos, and a red bull.
Huh, Frank thought, well at least now I know this probably isn’t because I signed up for those store memberships.
His phone rang out with a ping as a third message was sent.
I’ll forgive you because I’ll be able to see you soon again when you get off shift. I’ve got a surprise for you waiting at home, I can’t wait for you to see it.
Frank frowned, mumbling. “But I hate surprises…” The messages were odd and honestly, a little bit creepy, but he and the other ER staff would play pranks on each other all the time so he couldn’t rule out the possibility of an overzealous staff member and he really didn’t want to be known as the guy who could dish it out, but not take it.
Or it could be a bored teenage visitor that somehow had gotten his phone number and started overstepping boundaries by sending him these messages as a poorly made prank. The disgruntled teenage girl with the ear infection had what seemed like her entire school coming over to visit her this afternoon, so he wouldn’t be surprised if she had instigated something, especially with how their last conversation went.
He hummed, tilting his head, trying to remember anyone who was around him at lunch time. He shrugged as no one immediately came to mind. It should be fine, he thought. He was sure that the next time he came onto shift, whoever was responsible for this entire fiasco would do the whole gotcha thing and he would finally know who would be his next target on his (hit-list) prank list. And if not, then, he would deal with it then.
He startled slightly as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and turned to see Robby standing over him. He raised his head and slowly moved to get off the chair, running his hand over his face. “Robby? What have we got?”
Robby shook his head, chuckling. “Nothing like that, Frank. You look like you are ready to pass out, though. Isn’t it time for you to clock out now? You’re supposed to come in early tomorrow, aren’t you?”
Frank opened his mouth to protest, “But I haven’t finished the charting for Mrs. Smith and-” He broke off when Robby raised a hand to silence him.
“Remember that medical care is a 24 hour profession. You will never be finished with work. Mrs. Smith will probably stay overnight for at least two ER nights, so you can publish your notes tomorrow, but even if she goes home, there will be fifty more Mrs. Smiths coming in for you to worry about tonight, tomorrow, and the next day after that. So go home, Frank.”
Frank frowned, “But-”
Robby interrupted him, “Ah, ah, ah, I don’t want to hear any ifs, ands, or buts. When you become an attending, I won’t be able to control you and you can self-destruct as much as you want then, but I won’t have that happening when you’re under my leadership and therefore, my responsibility, got it?”
Frank chuckled, a small burst of warmth flowing through his body at the words. “Alright, alright, I’ll head out. But only if you practice what you preach, Robby.”
Robby raised an eyebrow, and pointedly glanced at the backpack that was slung over his back. “What the hell do you think I’m doing, Langdon? I already clocked out half an hour ago, and I could’ve already been at home, changed into my comfortable pajamas with a nice glass of wine and bowl of pasta, but I had to stop and talk with my wayward resident because I don’t want to come back in the morning and have someone pass out from fatigue because they decided to work a 36 hour shift.”
Frank smirked, “Well, with those words, I gotta go home now. I can’t bear to add to the workload of the great Dr. Robinavitch.”
Robby rolled his eyes and turned, raising his arm half-way up as a farewell. “See you in the morning, Frank.”
—
Home sweet home. Frank thought. He was ready to pass out in his comfortable bed, and do it all over again in ten hours. He chuckled, he really must be masochistic to choose such a grueling and stressful profession, but honestly, he wouldn’t change it.
“HEY!”
Frank’s head snapped up as he spotted an unknown man wearing a bright yellow polo shirt with a logo that read Dan’s Flower Shop standing at his doorstep holding a bouquet of roses.
He stared at the stranger, “Wow, just for little old me? You shouldn’t have. What’s the occasion?”
The man glared at him, “Cut the bullshit will you? I’ve been standing here for hours waiting for you to come home. God, I am so quitting this company after I find another job, what kind of fucking shop requires a signature for some damn flowers?! I don’t get paid enough for this! I promised my finance that I would make it home in time for dinner and this would be a quick delivery, but nooo, I had to wait four hours in the rain for Mr. Hotshot to come home. This damn company, fixing other people’s relationships, while ruining mine. FUCK!”
Frank stared blankly at the stranger as he went on a tirade. “Hey chill out dude, I’m a busy person you know, and while you’re here at my doorstep working, I too, am at the hospital working.” He gestured to his scrubs. “Besides, I didn’t even order anything and I don’t know of anyone who would so how would I know to expect you here. Are you sure you haven’t gone to the wrong house?”
The man scowled, “Well, this is 3298 Briarwood Lane, right?”
At Frank’s mute nod, the man held up a clipboard and pen. “Then these flowers are for you. All paid for by a mysterious admirer. Just hurry up and sign this so that I can go home.”
Frank raised an eyebrow as he took the clipboard and scrawled his signature after glancing over the form quickly to ensure that he wasn’t signing over his organs or anything like that. “So who do I get to thank for this lovely…gift?”
The man shrugged, “Fucked if I know, and frankly, I don’t care.” He shoved the bouquet into Frank’s arms before stalking away.
Frank stared at the back of the stranger, deciding if he wanted to chase after the other for more questions before he shrugged, unlocking his front door with one hand, holding the bouquet of roses in the other.
He inspected the bouquet briefly for a note or card that could’ve signaled the sender, before shrugging and tossing it carelessly onto the kitchen table when he couldn’t find anything. He was way too exhausted to deal with this after his thirteen hour shift.
He crawled into his bed after taking a warm shower and forcing a dry sandwich down his throat, knowing he hadn’t properly eaten anything all day. He didn’t want to bear Robby’s look of disappointment or even worse, Garcia and Santos’ smug I told you so looks if he passed out in the ER again.
A ding sounded in the quiet room and Frank let out an audible groan when he saw the source of it was from the unknown texter.
Hope you liked the surprise I had for you, Frankie. I’ll have more for you tomorrow and maybe, we can finally meet up again.
Frank furrowed his eyebrows. Could they have sent the flowers? Or is it just a weird coincidence? He let out another groan, “God, I really do not have enough energy to deal with this right now.” The deep waves of exhaustion was finally hitting him now that he was lying in bed and if this was a normal day off, he might’ve been more concerned and maybe even submitted a report with the police or something, but he was just so so tired right now.
Hopefully, it will stop when I wake up, Frank thought, as he closed his eyes. He made a mental note to mention the events to Ahmad, the security guard when he got on shift tomorrow if no one came forward and admitted to the poorly conceived prank, but for now, he let the sleep overtake him.