"PLEASE GO OUT with me tonight. I really don't want to go out with Ms. Do-Gooder Betty Crocker again. She doesn't even drink."
Lindy laughed, raising the cigarette that she held between her fingers to her lips before taking a long drag off of it, blowing the smoke sideways into the cool, October air.
"Well, maybe that's a good thing. She's like a good influence."
Lindy's friend Beth grunted, also taking a pull off of her own cigarette. She leaned against the wall of the back of Virginia Mason, rolling her bright blue eyes skywards.
"Yeah, because what I really need in my life is a good influence," Beth quipped sarcastically.
The two women were currently on their break, having both just worked the graveyard shift at the hospital. Though they were not supposed to smoke on break, let alone smoke at all within a twenty-foot radius of the hospital, both women had coerced the other into doing so.
Beth Ansley had unequivocally become the best female friend Lindy had ever had in her entire life.
She'd first met Beth during her starting month at Virginia Mason, since both of them worked as labor and delivery nurses but always tended to run around doing much more than just that. Ironically enough, they had bonded over smoking.
Beth had seen Lindy's pack of Marlboros in her purse as the two women had gathered their belongings one night after a shift.
"You smoke?" Beth had asked conversationally. She'd been meaning to strike up an excuse to speak with Lindy for awhile, having been intrigued by her quiet yet bold personality.
"Yes. Doesn't that make me a shitty nurse?" Lindy said, smiling wryly.
Beth had proceeded to hold up her own pack of Marlboros, grinning.
"You're not alone."
This interaction had sealed a bond between them both and before either of them knew it, they were meeting for secret smoke breaks out in the hospital's back parking lot, discussing everything from music to Seattle culture to more personal things, like when Beth had a rash in an unfortunate place and wanted Lindy's opinion on its rather gruesome appearance.
Beth had been the kind of person that Lindy had always wanted in her life. She was strong-willed and similarly to the new Lindy, refused to put up with anyone's bullshit. She was from Tacoma and was a year older, but this made no difference in their friendship. They both found the same things funny, gushed over the same film actors, and the winner, in Lindy's opinion -- they both shared a love for classic rock albums.
Never in her life had Lindy connected so well with another female. She'd been undeniably close to Shelli, but that relationship had been more of a motherly dependence than anything. With Beth, they were equals, two souls who felt free to vent openly on whatever bothered them about the world and rejoice in little things, like how Meet the Beatles! was undeniably one of the best records of all time.
Beth knew almost everything about Lindy but did not know of the person who had impacted her life so hugely only years prior. Lindy had never discussed Kurt with anyone except Trae, and despite having nothing except the utmost trust in Beth, she was nowhere near ready to talk about the person who still crossed her mind every night before falling asleep.
"Just go out with her instead of me. I'm tired," Lindy complained, flicking her cigarette to the ground.
"Ugh Lindy, you are the worst today," Beth pouted. The woman in question that they were discussing was another nurse who worked on their floor named Jaimie. She was nice, but had strong, morally-charged beliefs against smoking, drinking, good music, and otherwise good fun. This did not stop her from pursuing Lindy and Beth's small but exclusive group of two.
