Perseverance (The Resident FF) by Frances51163

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Unwanted Christmas Invitations

Christmas Eve seemed to come around too fast as far as Conrad was concerned. The Holidays were a time he always hated as a child and once he was old enough to work he willingly volunteered for extra shifts as those around him begged, bribed and pleaded to get out of theirs. This year was no exception and although his friends had taken steps to ensure he could not work many extra shifts at Chastain unbeknownst to them he had signed up to work in a free Clinic. Not that the pale man had any intention of divulging that information! As he headed out of the locker room for his morning shift the the third year Resident hoped the day ahead would be without incident. He knew Nic, Devon and Jude were all booked off from the end of the day so all he had to do was avoid getting tied down by them. Luckily Eric and Danny had headed back to Texas for the Holidays so he did not have to worry about dealing with the two men. Heading along the corridor Conrads' gut clenched as he saw Mike Gibson heading towards him with a frown. He had been told Mike and his wife were going out of town but obviously there had been a change in plans. Sighing he forced a smile and greeted the older man.

"Didn't expect to see you around for a while."
"We decided to stay at home in the end. Turns out our hotel was double booked. Just lucky we checked before driving all the way up there," Mike explained easily not appearing too put out by the inconvenience.
"Maybe ye can book it for the New Year. So how come you're here?"
"Got thrown out," the Psychiatrist confessed with a chuckle, "apparently I was interfering in the cooking process. Jane gave me a list of groceries to pick up and a time to be back."
"Should I ask?"
"Well apparently before midday is unacceptable," Mike shook his head, "even though it's just the two of us the place is like a madhouse. I learnt years ago never to get between a Cook and their turkey!"
"So you came to work to hide?" Conrad checked.
"Didn't have anywhere else to go once I went to the mall."
"Well if you stick around you might not make it out of here so you might be better off hiding on your office."
"Great minds think alike! That's where I'm headed. What about you?
"Me?"
"Yeah. Where are you going?"
"Going to check on a patient," Conrad began to walk away.
"I meant where are you going for the Holidays? What are you doing?"
"I have some plans," the Resident headed off, "enjoy the break. Give Jane my love."
"You know you could always call to us for dinner tomorrow. There will be too much food for two people."
"Appreciate the offer but like I said I got plans. See you."

The older man sighed as he watched his friend walking away. He had known it would be difficult to get his friend to visit. He resolved to try again later.

Devon had been observing his mentor all morning and although he was working away two things were obvious. One - there was an overall weariness in his frame which no amount of words or smiles could hide and two - his friends' eyes looked haunted. As if he was living a nightmare. Any questions he had posed were quickly brushed aside with short answers and as lunch time approached he decided to take a more proactive role in dealing with the reticent man. Nic had already approached him about the state of their friend. Unfortunately she was called to an impromptu meeting so Devon was alone with the task he had set himself.

"Conrad you going to the cafeteria?" Devon approached his friend by the elevators.
"Nope," the fair haired man looked up from the text he was reading momentarily before returning his attention to the screen.
"Thought we could grab something to eat and catch up."
"Busy."
"That important?"
"What?"
"The text."
"What do you want Devon?" Conrad finally looked at the dark haired man as the elevators' chime announced its'
arrival.
"Nothing. Just haven't seen much of you lately."
"Well I'll see you later then," Conrad stepped into the empty chamber hiding a sigh of relief as he pressed the button for floor five.
"I'm going up too."
"What floor?" Conrad kept his hand raised to press the required number.
"Five."
"Sure," the third year Resident rolled his eyes and then took out his cell again to concentrate on anything to avoid talk.
"So what are you doing for Christmas?"
"The usual. You?"
"Nothing extravagant," Devon admitted, "be good to have some time off."
"Yeah."
"So what's the usual thing you do for the Holidays."
"Nothing special," Conrad shrugged dismissively as they reached their destination, "I'll see you later."
"Yeah," Devon knew it was a dismissal as he watched the other man walking away as if he had the weight of the world in his shoulders.

Conrad could feel his friends' eyes on him as he headed along the corridor. He had already had similar conversations with Mike, Pete via text and the way his luck was going he would bump into Jude before the shift ended. He cursed to himself softly as a familiar figure approached. Speak of the devil!

"Hey man I've been looking for you!" the Surgeon exclaimed in greeting as he assessed his younger friend with a disapproving eye.
"Been here all morning."
"Working no doubt."
"Well that is what they pay me for."
"True but luckily for you the afternoon is free."
"No. No it's not," Conrad frowned.
"Personnel made a mistake with the shifts. You my friend were scheduled to finish ten minutes ago. So come on let's get out of here."
"Don't think so," Conrad remained motionless, "I signed up for a full day. Since when do you know about Personnel admin?"
"Hey you saying I don't care for my fellow workers?" Jude feigned mock hurt as he tried to tug his friend to get him moving.
"I'll ring them," Conrad shrugged off the hold on his arm.
"Sure. Go ahead and ring," Jude pointed to the Nurses Station, they're only going to tell you what I just did. "
"Sure," Conrad said sceptically as he headed over to make the call.

Ten minutes later Conrad was in the locker room getting his jacket. It turned out there had in fact been an error made when the schedule was being drawn up. His suggestion that he could simply work the full day was dismissed despite his arguments. In defeat he decided to make a quick getaway. The Surgeon had been called down to Emergency but asked him to wait for him. That was not an option. He knew his friend was just like the others. He wanted him to talk but all he wanted to do was to get past the Holidays. He had just reached the steps outside Chastain when a hand tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"You said you would wait for me," Jude accused lightly as he placed an arm around the smaller mans' shoulders.
"Nope I didn't," Conrad tried to break away from his friend but didn't have the energy.
"Well...," Jude hesitated before continuing, "it was implied."
"Nope."
"Geez you're a regular chatterbox today. How about getting something to eat? My treat."
"Look Jude ..... I'm not ...... in the mood for company okay? Another time?" the pale man determinedly stepped away from the taller man this time and looked at him for acquiescence.
"Nope," Jude knew his friend wanted to be alone but also knew that sometimes what a person wanted and needed were not one and the same, and besides he had promised Mike Gibson he would look after Conrad, "come on I'll drive you home. Bound to be something edible in your refrigerator."
"I was going to walk."
"Tough. Come on it's too cold to be standing around."
"Damn," Conrad surrendered as he was guided towards the car park.

Conrad was no fool. He knew someone had changed the roster. If it wasn't Jude it could have been Mike or Devon. He really appreciated having friends but one day they would realise he wasn't worth the hassle. He decided he would let Jude bring him home and raid his refrigerator but he was not going to get drawn into any revealing conversations. He just hoped his weary brain cells would co-operate in that endeavour.

tbc