Brain Games

6. Emergency Bar Services

For being a Monday, EBS has a fairly steady crowd. It's a spacious bar with high ceilings, navy walls, and dark wood furnishings. The dim atmosphere gives it a very mellow, relaxing vibe. I can already tell this is a hot spot for hospital staff to come unwind.

"Push those two tables together," Ashlee instructs, gesturing at two empty tables.

Her cousin Patrick and another intern push both the tables together and arrange the chairs accordingly to fit the eleven of us that showed up.

Ashlee, with her arm still looped through mine, pulls me into a chair next to her. "They have the best burgers here," she informs me, and my stomach growls immediately. The only thing they fed us for lunch were these fancy sandwiches and side salads with an awful vinaigrette. 

"Great, I'm starving," I state.

"Patrick, two burgers and two beers, please," Ashlee orders, holding up two fingers, throwing her cousin an overly dramatic polite smile.

Patrick huffs, throwing her a look that says, Do I look like a waiter? Regardless, he throws her a halfhearted salute, turning and heading for the bar.

After ten minutes everyone is back to the table with beers and burgers, and the second Patrick sets my burger down in front of me I start drooling. I pick up the cheesy, greasy burger and refrain myself from inhaling the whole thing in one bite.

Holy shit, Ashlee was right. These burgers taste like they were made by God himself. Or herself. Whatever Ariana Grande said.

"I was right, huh?" Ashlee says with a knowing smirk.

I hum—more like moan—through a mouthful of burger in agreement.

Conversation flows surprisingly easy between tables, everyone getting along well, minus the occasional bickering between Ashlee and Patrick. I find myself enjoying the company, and I almost don't regret my decision to not bail and go home, until a familiar face walks through the door, a young, blonde nurse hanging on his arm.

Brad saunters up to the table, flashing everyone an easygoing smile, and everyone seems to swoon and welcome him with open arms. Everyone except for Ashlee, who elbows me in the ribs and flashes me a 'WTF' look.

I set down my burger, suddenly losing my appetite, and shrug. I wipe my greasy fingers on a napkin before picking up my beer bottle and taking a large swig.

Brad pulls out the last remaining chair across from me at the table and gestures for his nurse friend to sit down, cause her to flash him those googly eyes of hers again.

I take another swig of my beer, and another, annoyance swirling in the pit of my stomach. This was supposed to be a nice night out for first year residents only. A bonding moment, potentially, to get to know each other. Not a social event to bring your bimbo nurse fling to.

Brad lifts his rich brown eyes and they lock with mine from across the table. The corner of his mouth twitches before he bends down to whisper something into the nurse's ear, causing her to giggle.

I go to take another sip of my beer, draining the little remains of the bottle. Standing, I saunter up to the bar without any proclamation and ask the bartender for another beer. While the man behind the counter pulls off the cap I admire the altered neon EMS logo mounted on the center of the wall between the two large shelves of liquor. The logo is still a blue six pointed star with a white border but the usual Rod of Ascleplus in the center is replaced by a beer mug pouring out a river of beer.

Just as the bartender hands me my beer, a large body appears next to me and I don't have to turn to know who it is based on the obnoxiously delicious, cool, and clean scent.