Little Problems

Chapter 11

Sean was only halfway through a twelve-hour shift and he was exhausted. He was working in A&E this evening, and he'd seen so many people that he couldn't even remember most of them. His body was on autopilot, and his mind was disassociating to forget the horrors he sees every day. He didn't think he'd ever get used to it.

Currently, he was on break though he didn't want to take one. His mentor, and ultimately his superior, Dr Roberts, had forced him to leave the room when he noticed how exhausted Sean was. Even when he was swaying on his feet, he didn't want to rest. Why should he be resting when some poor innocent could be needing his medical skills in the emergency room? Someone could be dying and not get the help they needed because he was resting. He shouldn't be here.

The ringing of his cell phone broke Sean from staring at the cherub faces through the glass. He only agreed to take breaks if they were with the babies. Grabbing his cell out of his pocket, he pressed accept without breaking his comatose stare at the infants. "What's the colour of the sun?"

"What?"

"Yello." Sean chuckled to himself down the line, ignoring the scoff on the other end. "Classic." He muttered.

"Whatever, Doc." The voice of one of his brothers called down the phone.

"Nathan!" Sean grinned, cooing silently when one of the babies in a pink blanket sneezed. "What can I do you for? Athlete's foot coming back? I told you not to put wet socks back on, didn't I?-"

"What? No! I stopped doing that, Doc." Nathan gritted out, rushing to change the subjects from embarrassing things like that. Though he loved Sean, and would, and has, gone to him for every embarrassing things, including the dreaded prostate exams, it never seemed to get less embarrassing.

"The ointment worked then? I can give you-"

"Yes, the ointment bloody worked, okay?"

"Geez, just trying to be a friendly neighbourhood doctor and yet my patients hate me so much."

"Doc-"

"No, I get it. My expertise intimidates you-"

"Forget it. I shouldn't have called."

"No, wait!" Sean called down the line, wincing when he realised, he took his hilarious humour too far. "Sorry, Nate. Long hours stitching up patients has me craving normal human contact."

"Yeah, I know. I get it." Nathan reassured, stopping himself from hanging up. "And we thank you for your service."

Sean chuckled again, smiling still at the babies. How he wanted one of his own. "So, what's up? I know you love me, but I assume you're not calling to tell me that?"

"Not today, Doc."

"Pity."

"Uhm." Nathan cleared his throat, wondering if this was the right idea. He'd figured out what Owen was planning, and honestly, he wasn't too surprised. It was slightly disappointing, but he couldn't blame the fella. Instead of going directly to the head of the snake, however, he decided that a more subtle approach would be necessary. Sean had to know what was going on, so he could fix the problem for him. "I know what's going on with Sang, Sean."

Sean frowned, the babies sleeping peacefully in front of him not enough to distract him from the situation. Nathan couldn't possibly know. "What?"

"I know, Doc."

"You know what?"

"I know what Mr B has planned with Sang. And, y'know, the team."

Sean recoiled slightly. If anyone were to know Owen's plans, other than him of course, he wouldn't have suspected Nathan. And he definitely wouldn't have suspected such a mature approach to the situation. This was completely out of character. "What does Owen have planned, Nathan?"