Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Eleven

Melody and James spent the next day relatively quietly. Though he'd returned to his own apartment early in the morning, they'd reunited at breakfast, along with Sharon who told Melody in no uncertain terms that she was not allowed to use the stove unsupervised.  Though they did talk, she did not bring up the discussion they'd had about the lab and neither did he. She wanted to talk about it, wanted to know what was going on in his head, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. 

She'd promised herself that whenever they spoke of the lab, it would not be on her terms, it would be on his. But still, it didn't biting her tongue that much easier-they had so little time left. Only nineteen days and with each hour that passed, it was shorter still. Just over two more weeks and Melody would be gone again, back in New York and pretending like she'd just returned from a relaxing vacation with her best friend, rather than from a secret base where she'd been surrounded by superhero's and a man she secretly loved. The time was short and Melody didn't have it in her to keep fighting. And so they stayed silent on the topic, instead trading stories about what their lives had been like in the two year gap they'd been apart.

James told her all about his darting around Europe, gathering as much information as he could about himself and writing it all down in journals. The flight to Siberia, trying to stop Zemo and how they had been wrong about his plan. The battle with Tony Stark afterwards and how he'd lost his left arm in the process. 

Melody, in turn told him about the residents she was training. Specifically Tucker Jones, as he was still showing amazing promise with her specialty. Hearing that James laughed a bit and Melody titled her head. "What's so funny?"

"Well," he said, taking a bite out of a bright green apple. "I just have a feeling that because of his skill set, you're probably a little hard on him."

Melody shrugged. "I treat them the same whether they're first years or seventh years. I'm not going to give them as much leeway as I would an intern." James gave her a rather disbelieving look and Melody blushed. "Okay fine, I'm probably a bit harder on Jones than I am on other residents."

"A bit?"

"Okay, a lot, but like I said. He has the most promise with the things I teach. He's proven to me already what he can do, I'm not going to accept less than that. He'll thank me one day."

"But I suppose at the moment," said James, setting down his apple and smiling. Juice was running down his face, but it appeared as though he hadn't noticed. "he's just content with dreaming about you getting shot so you'll stop nagging him, right?"

Melody took a sip of her iced coffee. Normally she wasn't partial to it, but the Wakanda climate, even with air conditioning was so sticky and miserable. That, combined with her long shirts made her uncomfortable and so a hot drink just seemed like more ways to pile on discomfort. "Probably, I mean I am his boss and that's something we all dream about at least once or twice. I've had my moments too with the Chief."

"The Chief?"

"Chief of Surgery," she corrected herself. "He he's in the upper-management for the surgical program at West Memorial. I've certainly dreamed about him getting grossly injured once or twice, mainly whenever he made me consult with Strange." The last name left a bitter taste in her mouth just thinking about that encounter. She'd never meet such an arrogant man in her life.

"Who's Strange?"

"Stephen Strange," Melody explained, running a hand down her face. "A neurosurgeon. he was called in for a consult on a case and I had to work with him. I've met a lot of pricks in my life but that guy was a cactus. Arrogant, egoistical and wouldn't shut up about how John was his teacher once."