curiously_cora | (no subject)

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There were fourteen patients; three in critical condition, nine stable and two ready to be discharged. There were ten bunches of flowers; four mixed rose bouquets, one tulip bouquet, three lily bouquets and two wild flower bouquets. There were four nurses on shift, one orderly and a tea lady named April who did in fact know how to make a proper cup of tea and of course there were the Other Doctors who Coraline mostly seemed to ignore especially the handsy one. Some of the Other Doctors were idiots, the nursing staff on the other hand were quite good and April, April was a saint. Especially when she bought her a cup of tea in the middle of an eighteen hour shift.

"Hello Miss Spink," Coraline asked, brushing her hand on the shoulder of one of the new nurses before leaning across the desk to take the mug from her. Taking a mouthful Coraline let out a low happy moan, her hand tightened on the shoulder before she let go and smiledbrightly at the tea lady. "Miss Spink you are a lifesaver. How's your knee?"

"Oh, you know can't complain. It's Miriam's hip that are the problem, when we used to tread the boards we never had any troubles but now everything aches and creaks." Coraline smiled, turning before hopping up onto the desk swinging her long legs back and forth as she drank the tea. Looking down startled at the handsome man staring up at her, Coraline flushed as he stared intently at her. No one really looked at her like that before not like they wanted to... um, eat her. It was kind of creepy and a little bit hot. "Here Aidan dear, I made you a nice cup of coffee."

Coraline swallowed her tea as he reached over to take the coffee, his intense stare lightening as he smiled at Miss Spink.

"Have you met Aidan yet Caroline? Aidan is one of our nurses, he's taking over some of Rebecca's shifts. Aidan this is Doctor Jones."

"It's Coraline actually, Coraline Jones. Hello," Coraline said offering her hand.

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Aidan had spent the remained of his shift keeping an eye out for an appropriate time to sneak a few bags of blood into his bag so that he'd be ready for tonight, just in case things went... well, went any direction, really.

Sally had been far too interested in where he had been going and had needled him with questions until he had finally caved and given in and answered her. Josh would have been cautious (and rightly so) about Aidan going out but Sally was rather enthusiastic. Maybe it was the whole living vicariously thing.

Heading out of the apartment just as she would have been getting off, Aidan made it to the hospital around the time he figured she would be done. He had opted for his standard wardrobe of jeans, t-shirt, and leather jacket for the night, keeping it casual for wherever they went.

Just as he headed up the steps to the entrance, he bumped into Dr. Jones as she was leaving. Literally.

"Hey," he said, flashing her a smile. "And don't worry about it, I know how refreshing those showers can feel after you put in several hours of hard work."

"You have no idea how satisfying it was, on a scale of one to ten that was definitely in the Oh God levels." Coraline said with an honest smile, dropping her hands away from his chest before she blushed at the implications her mouth was making. If it wasn't asking questions and getting her in trouble, it was usually saying things like that or worse. "So... I was thinking pub? I just had one of those shifts, you know?"

Aidan would probably think he knew but he really, really didn't. Aidan was nice, cute, normal and Coraline hadn't been normal in a very long time. It wasn't the work that bothered her, it was the other stuff. It always started the same; one ghost noticed her noticing them, then one became two and two became three and so on and so forth. It was exhausting. All Coraline wanted to do was sit in a nice pub with a nice guy and be normal, just for a few hours.

"I mean, if you don't mind. What do you prefer? Beer or tea? No, wait you're not one of those girly drinks people?" Coraline asked, the smile faltering as one of the ghosts lingered at the edge of the hospital entrance. Coraline turned her back on the hospital, grabbing Aidan's hand before tugging him onward with her and away from the hospital. "You know the ones with the silly brollies in them, sorry umbrellas."

"My drinks only have umbrellas when it's raining," he joked, giving her a half smile. Maybe it would have been a better joke on someone who knew he was a vampire. Of course, jokes about drinking from humans maybe weren't the best kind of jokes to be throwing around right now.

Before he had time to think about it too much though, she grabbed his hand and pulled him after her, apparently rather eager to get tot he pub. The enthusiasm was adorable and kind of endearing. He could see why Josh would have been flustered by her though.

"But I'm mostly a bear drinker," he said.

"Liar, liar, pants of fire," a voice called out from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a grinning Sally behind him.

"And wow, Aidan, you were right, she IS hot. Check out those legs. Damn, I am totally jealous of those legs. You think she works out? You'll have to let me know because you are totally tapping that tonight, aren't you?"

The one problem with being friends with a ghost, besides not being able to hug them, was that you couldn't talk back to them in the company of people who couldn't see them.

"Does it often rain in the pub? Should I have brought my wellies?" Coraline asked with a smile, tugging Aidan along with her and urging him to keep up. Nudging him with her hip, she was about to ask him a question when she was interrupted by wow, someone was very honest. Glancing down as Aidan's friend spilled her guts, Coraline blushed and ducked her head.

Hot and wow, okay that was a lot of information.

"Oh, I didn't realise you were bringing a friend. A really, really honest friend." Coraline said, turning around to face the woman. Looking at her with a smile, Coraline dropped Aidan's hand and offered hers to the other woman staring straight at her. "Hi, I'm Coraline."

Both Aidan and Sally completely froze. There was absolutely no way Coraline should have been able to hear what Sally said. As far as Aidan knew, only supernatural creatures could really see ghosts, and Aidan would have known if she was a vampire or a werewolf.

"You... can see her?" Aidan asked, glancing back and forth between Sally and Coraline. That could not have been a more awkward introduction.

"Oh my god!" Sally gasped. "Oh my god, you can see me!"

"Of course I can see-" Coraline said, her nose wrinkling as she looked at Aidan with a confused smile. Her voice trailed off only when she turned her head back towards the woman, her hand gesturing to where the woman stood. Coraline looked at her curiously, really looked at her. "Oh, oh I'm so-. Okay, no. No, I don't see anyone at all. Nope!"

Coraline tried to smile, trying to figure out a way to talk herself out of the crazy room because here she was talking to someone who wasn't there and wait- Aidan could see her. Aidan could see her!

"You can see her? How can you see her?" Coraline said looking at Aidan confused.

"We're more interested in how you can see her," Aidan said, eyes narrowing just a bit. You didn't live for 250 years by being overly trusting, especially when things were really weird.

"Aidan, shut up, she can see me!" Sally said, obviously much more pleased about the situation than he was. Aidan supposed when you could only talk to a very limited number of people, finding a new one could be thrilling.

"My name is Sally and, wow, totally awkward. I had no idea you could hear or see me."

"I don't know? I've always been able to see people like you, ghosts, ever since I was a kid." Coraline said simply shrugging. There were things that Coraline understood; how the human body worked, that Ross and Rachel were definitely not on a break, that her mother would get quite cross with her if she didn't check in at least once a week. And there were things she didn't understand like how she could see them when others couldn't. "My parents thought I just had a lot of imaginary friends."

Coraline smiled at Sally as she gushed, she was sweet. Excitable but nice but Coraline knew what was going to happen... One become two... two now, more later. It was always the same.

"It's really nice to meet you and yes, very awkward." Coraline said. "And yes, I do yoga in answer to your question. And I play football."

"I'm so sorry, I just- Aidan said you were really gorgeous and he doesn't date like... at all, so I had to see who this girl was that actually got him out of the house," Sally explained.

Aidan sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. That was... not information that Aidan had really wanted Coraline to know. He wasn't one to really fawn over people like that and Coraline seemed like the type of person who would tease him about that.

"So, that's my roommate Sally," Aidan said, giving a tight smile. "The doe-eyed orderly you saw earlier was Josh, our other roommate."

"Date?" Coraline asked, turning her head to raise an eyebrow at Aidan curiously. Cheeks tinged with a soft pink flush, Coraline licked her lips before smiling a teasing smile at Aidan. "Oh, I don't know about it being a date. See, if this were a date then there would probably be a fancy meal, a nice bouquet of flowers and it would definitely involve... some very tiny knickers. Just so you know." Coraline paused before adding. "Well, I suppose one out of three isn't so bad."

Laughing, Coraline nudged Aidan in the arm with her hand. Fingers curling around his arm before sliding down to take his hand before tugging him on again.

"Come on you two before someone sees. And how can you see Sally? You never said... wait does Josh know you live with a ghost? I always thought I was the only one." Coraline said.

Aidan was stunned for a brief moment by the comment about her knickers, but she moved on from it too quickly for him to really comment on it, which was fine. It was probably best if he moved on from thoughts of those nature.

"Josh and I's... ability to see the supernatural is what brought us together in the first place," Aidan said, glancing over at Sally. It was probably best if they kept the vampire and werewolf stuff under wraps for the moment. That probably wouldn't go over as well as the ghost thing.

"You have no idea how glad I was that someone who could see me moved in," Sally gushed.

"Your face, I'm only teasing." Coraline replied grinning at Aidan's stunned look. Laughing a little as she smiled, Coraline nudged Aidan in the side. Coraline wondered a little about what he meant by that and she looked at him curious but managed to keep quiet for now. She could question him at length later. "I've never met anyone like me before, most people tend to think I'm nuts or that I'm making a joke about that stupid, dumb movie."

Coraline smiled at Sally, letting go of Aidan's hand to press her hand in his lower back pushing him on a little. Fingertips brushing his ass, Coraline looked over at Sally curiously as she gushed and talked clearly pleased.

"I think I have a little, everyone always seems so pleased that I can see them or angry. Sometimes they're really angry."

"I... highly suggest you don't go into the decommissioned wing of the hospital," Aidan said. There were the crazy ghosts, the ones that were completely out of it and past any hope. He was fairly sure Coraline would not enjoy being around them at all.

"Yeah, that is definitely a no-no place," Sally said, wincing at the memory. "But look, I've taken up enough of your time. Coraline, it was nice to meet you. Please come visit. Like, anytime, I don't go out much except to harass the boys."

"I can see ghosts, I'm not crazy." Coraline replied with a grin. Coraline used to explore old ruins, old abandoned places, old hospitals and schools and junkyards and graveyards, she quickly realised what went with most of those and had stopped for a reason. Coraline wasn't going to go into the decommissioned wing even if it was killing her with curiosity as to what was there. "That's- I think I'd like that. I mean, if you don't mind?"

Coraline pressed her fingertips against Aidan's ass as she turned to look at him curiously. "I'm sure you don't want your... girlfriend to think that I'm coming over all the time and that. She'd probably get the wrong idea."

Subtlety had never been Coraline's forte. Not ever.

Aidan raised an eyebrow when Coraline's fingertips brushed against his ass. That was definitely forward, but definitely not unwelcome, and he leaned back just a bit to press her hand more firmly against his ass to let her know.

"I'm single," he told her, giving her a small smile. His love life was more than a tiny mess, but he was definitely single.

"Okay, definitely time for me to catch you all later," Sally said. Before she disappeared though, she mouthed "marry her" to Aidan before transporting herself somewhere else.

"So no one is going to mind if you come over."

The touch had been vaguely accidental, vaguely, but Aidan didn't seem to mind. Biting her lip, Coraline glanced at Aidan as he leaned back into her hand. Turning to face him, Coraline dropped her hand away about to wave bye to Sally before she poofed. She would never get used to that ever but Sally seemed okay, she seemed nice.

"Well, that's good. That no one would mind. Not that this is a date or anything but just so you know, I'm also single." Coraline said brushing her hair behind her ear as she matched Aidan's small smile with a bigger, brighter one. Coraline leaned forward, looking up at Aidan curiously almost as if she was going to kiss him before... "So, are you going to show me this pub or not?"

"Not that this is a date or anything," he said with a nod. Either way, Coraline seemed like a lot of fun. Flirty fun, but also intelligent fun, so this was going to be a good time either way.

"And the pub is this way," he said, nodding his head as he continued to walk. "So what brought you to be a doctor in the States?"

"Because you'd remember the rules for a date if this was a date, wouldn't you? For next time I mean," Coraline said with a grin, turning to follow Aidan. Ducking her head as her hair spilled forward, Coraline reached to tuck her hair out of the way before leaning into Aidan ever so slightly. "My parents actually. We moved around a lot as a kid. I don't know if it was because they knew about me or... I don't know, it's just we always moved. Eventually we ended up here, they live in Oregon now. I still miss Wales, England but I love it here. I love travelling even if I do miss a good cup of tea."

Coraline paused, biting her lip as she tried to think why she chose Boston over everywhere she could have studied. "I just- I guess I had a good feeling about Boston. Still can't find anything at all but I like it here. Interesting people. What about you? Have you always lived in Boston?"

"Right, you need to bring me flowers and I need to wear smaller knickers," he said, nudging her with his shoulder. He could see why a family with a daughter who could see ghosts might move around a bit. It had to be hard on a kid to have that happen. He wondered if how friendly Coraline was had anything to do with that.

"I traveled Europe when I was younger," Aidan admitted. Back in World War I and II, mostly, but that was awkward to discuss. "But I've spent most of my life in Boston."

"I don't know in that outfit, can you even wear knickers at all?" Coraline replied before laughing, drifting to one side as Aidan nudged her. Coraline bit her lip, stifling the laughter before nudging him right back with her hip. "You forgot the fancy meal. You have to get it right or I'm not bringing you fancy flowers."

Coraline grinned, following Aidan as she looked at him curiously. "Did you do that whole wild tour of Europe? Getting drunk and meeting a girl in every city? Painting the town red?"

"Sorry, but whether or not I'm going commando is secret," he said, laughing a bit. Coraline was definitely an odd woman, but he was starting to really like that about her, like how comfortable he felt around her.

"And it... was wild in it's own way, but not quite like that," he said. There was quite a bit of painting the town red, but that was far more literal and with quite a bit of blood. His only good memory of the time was Henry.

"Don't think I won't pry it out of you, I'm very good at interrogation. No one expects the Coraline inquisition," Coraline replied smiling as he laughed. He looked nice, warmer when he laughed. Happier. Coraline liked that but then she'd always liked making people smile, laugh.

"No? What was it like then? Are you a secret... pigeon fancier? Or, let's see I bet you really like Jane Austen novels don't you?" Coraline looked at him curiously, raising an eyebrow at him and smiling as he talked.

"You're welcome to try and find out for yourself," Aidan said, opening the door of the Pub for her. The more thoroughly she tried to find out, probably the better.

"I liked Jane well enough," he added, following her into the pub. "And it was more just trying to get out there and see something besides the states. Just... expanding myself."

That, and it was easy to find a meal on the battlefield without arousing suspicion. Not so easy that he didn't end up killing a lot of witnesses. But that had been for Henry.

"Ahuh, don't think I won't try." Coraline said with a smile meaning the inquisition but sounding very much like she meant other things. Which wouldn't be so bad an idea, Aidan was quite nice even if this wasn't a date. And Miss Spink had told her she'd meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger... she'd also said he'd be dangerous but Aidan didn't look like he could hurt a fly. "I can be very thorough."

Coraline brushed past Aidan as she walked into the pub. Smiling as she looked around, Coraline laughed. Just what she had wanted. Definitely decent pub standards. "You can get the drinks, I'll have whatever and I'll get us a booth. And then you can tell me more or I can try and pry it out of you. Either way."

Her hand definitely lingering on his arm for a moment too long before she nudged him.

"Challenge accepted."

Aidan was pretty sure that Coraline was going to do her best to drive him crazy. Fortunately, he had centuries of experience to rely on to try and prevent that from happening, but he wasn't sure if even that was going to be enough in this instance.

Grabbing two pints of something dark, Aidan headed over to the booth where Coraline was at. He didn't need to drink or eat to survive, but that didn't mean he wasn't able to.

"They also have pretty good food here."