2019-11-14 - Fresh Faces

The first day at a new hospital is always a difficult transition, though there are certainly similarities. Namely, actually doing the job. So, halfway through Lalo's first day at Addington Memorial, he may not be totally comfortable yet, but he's doing okay. He's probably been a nurse for a while, judging by his age which must be late thirties or so, so that helps. Currently, he's drinking coffee in the break room, taking in those who come and go as he waits for the clock to tell him it's time to get up again.

Abby is probably (definitely) not one of the oldest nurses in the place, but she does at least seem to know her way around already. And her way around brings her to the break room for a spell, puffing as she comes in the door with a little stretch, arms up above her head. Her scrubs are blue, and have little rocket ships and funky retro astronaut girls on them. Her comfy clogs are polka-dotted. She checks her watch, then raises a hand to wave in Lalo's direction, flashing a big bright friendly smile. "Hi! How are you settling in?" She asks as she heads for the coffee machine for a drink.

Lalo looks up when Abby comes in, and the neutral expression that had been on his face before -- which kind of makes him look like he's angry, if we're being honest -- fades into a friendly smile. "Hey," he says, leaning a little bit forward and lifting a hand to her in greeting. "Doing okay, thanks. You guys got a lot going on here, don't you? I was kind of expecting it to be quieter." His smile tilts a little wryly at that; it's probably inviting things to get even more crazy, and he knows it, but he still said it.

"Everyone treating you alright?" Abby throws out another question with a smile, a little playful, just enough seriousness to suggest people will be dealt with. The observation on the state of things here gives her pause, and she seems to take a moment or three to consider it while waiting on her coffee. "It's... definitely busier than what you'd expect for the population served by the hospital," she says, sounding like she's rehearsed this careful neutral statement a few times. A moment later she ads in a loud stage whisper, like she's pretending to share a secret, "I totally expected it to be quieter too."

"Oh, yeah," Lalo replies with another nod, "they've been great. But I'll let you know if they don't, 'cause I'm betting you got most people here scared of you, huh?" His tone matches hers -- though there's enough seriousness there to make it clear he's not totally joking. He will definitely tell her. He takes a sip from his own cup then, letting out a little sigh as he swallows, before a laugh escapes him. "Well, at least I'm not the only one," he says. "Eduardo. But I go by Lalo. Just so you won't wonder who the heck Eduardo is. You're not from around here, either?" Considering what she's said about the surprise in how busy things are.

"Oh, they're terrified!" Abby replies, and makes a scary face. Grrr. Teeth. Scowl. It's not very scary at all. She flashes him a bright smile and shakes her head, "But I will look sad at them." She waits a moment longer and retrieves her coffee, checks her watch again, then wanders over to claim a seat, exhaling once she's plopped herself down. "I'm Abby! Oh, okay. Is... Lalo short for Eduardo? That doesn't sound right, does it?" She at least gives the names an approximation of a Spanish pronunciation, even if not very good. "Well, I'm from Elma. If you're not from around here, it's a little town, like twenty minutes away on the road to Olympia? You'd probably miss it even if you drove by, that's how interesting it is! So I'm not from here but I'm not /not/ from here, you know?"

That face gets a louder laugh from Lalo, but it's certainly a friendly one. "Oh yeah," he says once it's faded a little bit, "I bet. I don't even know if I believe you've got a sad look, girl." Her confusion over the nickname, however, draws another wryer smile. "Yeah," he says. "It's a weird one. Just the way it is. Probably comes from the way little kids say their name, 'cause they can't say 'r's right, and they say them like an el." He shrugs, taking another sip form his coffee. His head tips to the side when she gives him her hometown, and he continues, "Oh, gotcha. So you know what's up here then, yeah? 'Cause I've never seen so much rain in my life."

"Of course I have a sad look! I just try not to use it on people because it's so powerful," Abby explains and takes a sip of coffee, sighing as she curls up with the cup in both hands on her lap. She listens to the explanation, brow creasing mildly. "Neat. I guess that makes sense. I guess it's like, how do you get Dick from Richard, right?" She swings her legs forward ahead of herself in a long stretch, looking like she's about to laugh. "No, that's just the weather, it's pretty much like that back home too. Nothing statistically unusual about it! I don't think." She's obviously not too sure about this.

"Oh, uh huh, got it," Lalo replies with a thumbs-up and a wider smile in her direction. "I'll try to keep on your happy side, then, 'cause I don't want anyone to find me crying in the supply closet or something. At least not in the first week. I need to start building up my tough guy cred." He settles back again, crossing his feet at the ankles, before he continues, "Yep, like that." As for the rain, he shakes his head, clarifying, "Nah, I didn't mean there was anything weird about it. Just not used to it. I moved up here from LA."

Abby places a hand solemnly on her chest. "I promise I won't tell," she reassures him with another friendly smile, then raises her brows higher at the mention of his origins. "Ohhh." As if things make a lot more sense now. "Oh yes, the weather is... it's kinda damp compared to LA. But it's milder in the Summer, at least?" She offers that up as some kind of trade-off, then hides behind her coffee for a sip, giving it some thought. "It's probably quieter than LA, right? It feels quieter than Seattle, at least, just not as quiet as you'd imagine."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Her realization has Lalo grinning, though. "Yeah, just a tiny bit." He holds up his hand when he says that, his thumb and forefinger spread a scant half inch apart as he squints through them at her, before another laugh escapes him. "Yeah, it is quieter. But I was hoping for real quiet." His hand moves to slide through the air parallel to the floor on the 'real.' "Like, daily naps in the on call room quiet. I don't think I'm gonna be able to catch up on my beauty sleep after all."

Abby wrinkles her nose as she lowers the coffee cup and hums, eyeing Lalo, "The patients do cut into all our card-playing time, they're so inconsiderate. See, what you want is a place like Elma. They ship all the interesting cases over here. Like, when I was a kid I had to come here a couple of times because they just couldn't really handle it. They only got certified as a Level IV trauma center in, like, 2014? So that's what you want! On the other hand, it's Elma and it has like, not even 3000 people? Which means everyone will stick their nose in your business and there's absolutely nothing to do..." she holds her hands up, wobbling them up and down like she's weighing one thing against the other.

"Right? Come on, people." Lalo throws up his hand not still holding the cup -- thankfully, since the alternative would not have been good. His eyebrows raise when she goes on, though. "Oh, yeah?" he says. "Damn, I knew I shoulda looked around a little more." He shakes his head, but the smile sort of ruins the disappointed effect. "I don't think I could handle that chill," he admits. "We all need a little excitement, yeah? Everyone knows the slow days feel the longest."

Abby returns the smile with a very small shake of her head. "Too late! They weren't hiring last time I looked, but then I really didn't want to work in Elma. I thought about Seattle, I went there and everything, but it was a little too exciting. Not just the hospitals I went to, the city and everything. It was all... a lot?" She gestures vigorously with one hand, like it's caught in a twister or something, and takes a quiet sip. "So here I am! You could always try for a quieter specialty! I've only been working here since the start of the year, though. You arrived at a weird time, we've been having an awful, awful flu season..." She sounds a little uneasy for a moment.

"Oh, yeah. I get that." Lalo leans forward then, resting his forearms on his knees and lacing his fingers together. "If you're used to a little tiny town, a big city's gonna be a shock. Suddenly you need two hands to count the people passing you." This draws another grin, the tone shifting a little jokingly again. "But you know it's really bad when you gotta take off your shoes, too." There's a more curious look when she mentions the flu, though. "Oh, damn," he says. "That sucks. People skipping their vaxxes."

Abby nods her head, musing with a smile and a little self-deprecating shrug, "I mean, Gray Harbor kinda was the big city when I was growing up? Olympia, too, but we ended up here more often. I was still tempted by Seattle. I could to actual soccer games and everything, yay! But this is my first actual job as an RN in a hospital, so that and moving to the big city just felt like... okay, let's not go crazy here." She swings her legs back and forward again, then gives Lalo a look and makes a face. "Hmmm. I think this year's vax just didn't catch this strain? I mean, I caught it and I have all my shots. And other people at the hospital caught it too. I never catc the flu. It's weird because I haven't seen that on the news, like, nationally? But here... well I hope someone called the CDC, just in case."

"Smart of you. Keeping the big life changes to one at a time's probably a good call." The face that she makes at him, though, gets upturned hands in a placating gesture, even as it's his turn to let out a little self-deprecating laugh. "Sorry, sorry," he says. "Don't mind me." He becomes a little bit more serious when she mentions the CDC, though. That bad. "Damn," he says, "that's crazy. Hope it's getting better now."

He starts to say more, but when he glances up at the clock, he cuts off and stands up. "Oops, I better go. Unless you're gonna give me a pass to be late, Sadface." He grins, reaching a hand out to her to shake, "Nice to meet you, Abby. Sure I'll see you around."

"It was pretty bad. I don't think I'd ever felt that sick before," Abby flinches at it, but not a second later she's already shrugging it off with a smile. "It's mostly... well, it's just weird. But you'll get to used to weird things! Statistically," she adds that last part with a calm, reassuring smile. Nothing untoward going on here. Just one statistical anomaly after another. She glances at her watch and nods. "I'll be right out after I finish my coffee. I'm pretty sure I can't puppy-eye my way into longer breaks either."

"Well, I'm glad you're better. Takes some of the pressure off me and you can go behind me fixing my mistakes." Lalo's smile tips a little crookedly at this -- perhaps the reassurance did help. "See, you spent too much time working on your sad face, you lost that one." This is accompanied by a wink, though it's more exaggerated for effect than trying to be cool. With that, he heads out the door to go and, you know, see patients.