Fight for us

Kinda a date

Archer POV

Running around the hospital looking for a little girl I lost is reckless from me, she was just standing next to me a second ago and when I turn around she makes a run for it, kids. Going though all the rooms I could possible think off I about to give up when a nurse starts walking over to me with the child, what is it with nurses and child, running a single hand though my hair I ask the nurse to look after to her as I grab my pager, I have incoming trauma and don't have the time to care about children right now, there's a reason why I don't have any myself at the age of twenty seven. Standing in the er I spot Ellie in the corner of my eye looking like she's about to kill someone, looking at the door I give myself a couple of minutes before the incoming however before I think of it I'm standing in front of Ellie giving her my best smile
"You ok? You looked like someone eat your last cookie" I ask but instead she shakes her head at me before looking at Megan, someone pissed her off and now she's holding everything in. I have been in the same spot she's in where I have held everything in and I paid the price, I had ago at the wrong person but luckily I was forgiven, looking back at Ellie she carry's on writing the notes
"If your not going to talk about what's wrong, how about we talk about it over coffee" i thrown myself out there hoping she doesn't shut me down but it looks like she's actually thinking about it and now I have a smile on my face, I know she doesn't talk to anyone in the fire station so talking to a stranger may be the thing she needs even if it's only a couple of words, I'm happy to be her shoulder, everyone needs a friend right.
"Sure" the one word response is enough for me as it wasn't a no. Im about to grab my phone out for her number but instead she writes her number down on a piece of paper and sticks it in my hand with a nod before walking away, well that couldn't of gone any better.

After treating the incoming I go back to running the er, It has been a quiet day for a Wednesday, I just want this shift to end so I can enjoy my two days off which I have nothing planned apart from catch up with an old friend and sleep. Taking a seat at the desk I fill charts in anything to kill some time, however all I can think about is Ellie sour face and the way Megan looked, something happened in the fire house but what. Shaking the thoughts out my head I go back to work before taking my thirty minute break which I never seem to get as when I leave the er someone pager me for something, I cant even take a nap in the on call rooms either, I just to love those naps but it feels like forever since I sleep in one of those bed and dare I say it but I miss them.

Thought out my day I must have ran over the hospital over five times for a little of everything and now I'm knackered, I could be climbing into my bed in less then a hour but after texting Ellie for a time she finished, she finished same time I have and now i'm on my way to meet her for a coffee when I really need something stronger but right now isn't about me. Ellie needs a shoulder to cry on and i'm going to be first then get something stronger to drink maybe. Heading to my locker I change into a pair of jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt before grabbing my car keys and phone, i'm ready for whatever Ellie tells me and then hopeful she won't be so distance from me making it a little easier to have a conversation with her but a part of me doesn't think thats likely as she seems like she wants to be closed off to almost everyone. Nodding my head to almost everyone as I walk out the hospital I cant wait to enjoy my two days off, feels like forever since I had time off as if i'm not on shift I'm on call. Not looking back I climb in my car and head to the little cafe I texted Ellie I would meet her at, its only a five minute drive from the hospital, fifteen in walking distance which is always a good thing when i'm hungry which is all the time, I can eat like a pig when I'm hungry but right now I just want my bed. Pulling into the car park I climb out my car and enter the cafe, spotting Ellie straight away she already has a cup of coffee next to her but she doesn't notice me walk in instead her gaze is out the window while she plays with a ring on her finger. It takes me a couple of seconds for it to sink in when I look at her hand again, she has a ring on her married finger. Ellie is married? i'll get the story out of her.

"Hey you made it, I didn't know if you could find this place" I say starting the conversation but my mind is still on the ring around her finger, she didn't have it on when she was working as its the first thing I spot before making a move and Megan definitely didn't say nothing to me about her partner being married. I'm a little confused whether its just for a show or if she was married as Ellie looks rather young maybe in the early twenties to be married. As Ellie catches me looking at her ring she moves her hands under the table before giving me a smile, and right there I know theres a story, if it was a show she would have kept it on display.

"It was easy to spot. Thank you for the invited it feels like i'm suffocating at work" nodding my head as I get where she's coming from, its not easy to work as a paramedic as they are the first at the scene and sometimes its not what you want to see like myself as a doctor, I see some things I cant get out my head some times. The two jobs are exactly the easiest but they make us stronger in everything we do. Ordering myself a coffee I don't have to wait long till the waitress is at the table and refilling Ellies before filling mine, I don't come here too the cafe too often but somehow they remember me when I do walk in but I don't normally come with company, I only come to this cafe when I have one of those days where I want to forget everything and be on my own.

"You want to talk about what happened earlier? I'm not one to judge" I ask wanting her to open up but she looks at me before looking back out the window, the fear in her eyes say everything when she places a hand around her coffee cup, Ellie looks like she's battling a inner demon right now as she closes her eyes for a couple of seconds, I wish I can be her shoulder to cry on but it doesn't look like she's ready to open up and thats fine with me, I can sit here in silence till she's ready, i'm only a phone call away when she doesn't want to talk.

"I'm a widow. I lost my husband in a fire under a year ago and every time I'm in the firehouse I think of him, he died in my arms his last words was that he loved me. How do I move on from seeing him dying?" sitting there starring at Ellie my eyes are in shock, I knew she lost someone but sitting here I didn't think it was her husband which I didn't even know she was married but now it all comes together. She keeps to herself because she fears of losing anyone else especially in her line of work and I understand that but everyone around her would rather help her then stand and watch her burn down. Placing a hand on her hand I give her a reassuring smile before taking a sip of my coffee unsure what to say to that as I have no clue what she's been though but I seen it happen around me in the hospital.

"Sometime all we can do is think about the good memories you shared, theres no clock on moving on after losing a loved one. Focus on one day at a time and when ever you want to talk or not talk we can come here and enjoy each other company" I say unsure whether what I said was the right thing to say or not as I still want to date her but I don't want to push her especially after hearing she lost her husband, she must of really loved him if they was married . I wish someone loved me as much as Ellie loved her husband.