2020-04-02 - Break Time Banter

Thursday afternoon and Zara has finally been able to find some time to take a break. Normally, Thursday afternoon would be a quiet time in an Emergency Department but in Gray Harbor that doesn't seem to be the case. Though perhaps it has something to do with it being the day after April Fool's Day. There do seem to be a lot of embarrassed people making their way to Emergency after trying to sleep off a mishap.

Right now, though, the rush has ended and Zara, still in her traditional doctor coat has found a wall to lean against and a cup of hot tea to drink.

It's Thursday afternoon and Abby is... apparently taking a small stack of paperwork out for a walk, because it really doesn't seem like she's headed anywhere in particular in any hurry. The nurse is in scrubs (blue, with smiling clouds and smiling suns) and daisy-yellow nursing clogs (matching the suns). She's looking a little mussed and less than fresh-faced, suggesting a long shift.

And yet, her voice is bright and cheery when she beams a smile Zara's way. "Hello, doctor! Ooh, tea?" She wonders, though she's going for a coffee herself, it looks like.

"Morning, Nurse Reed" Zara smiles back before her brow furrows a little. "Wait, that's not right. Afternoon." A little laugh and a shake of her head. "It's been a long day though I'm sure you're aware of that." She looks over at a clock on the wall. "And still many hours to go."

At the mention of her tea, Zara raises her mug. "Join me? Unless you need to take those files somewhere... And please, call me Zara." With Abby off to get a coffee, the doctor finds somewhere for them both to sit - the bench in the kitchenette will do.

"Morning, afternoon, who can tell?" Abby waves off the wrong time of day with a smile, before returning with a cup of coffee in one hand and her files tucked away under one arm. The other arm. That should prevent stains. "Oh, they don't have to be anywhere any time soon. They'll get there when they get there. Time is a flat circle," she deadpans. Cheerfully. A cheerful deadpan.

Abby then takes a seat, letting a slip a tiny sigh as she wiggles herself into a comfortable position and brings the cup up to her lips. "Well, call me Abby then!"

"Time is a flat circle? Hmm, I might have to ponder that one. Possibly for weeks" Zara laughs warmly before nodding, "Abby it is." She raises her mug in a greeting motion.

"I wonder if you could try your time theory on people waiting in the Emergency Room. It might calm them down." She doesn't sound too confident that will be the case. A sip of her tea. "Mmmm...I needed that. How long have you been working here, Abby? We didn't really get to chat when I was introduced to everyone."

Abby rolls her eyes just a little, flashing a good-humored smile. "Oh, it's probably just nonsense... I've no idea what it means, really," she admits with a shrug, legs stretched out, cup of coffee tucked into her lap. She tilts her head and shoots a quick glance in the general direction of the ER. "Depends on what they're here for... drugs and philosophy don't really go well together. Not for anyone listening, I'm sure it's very interesting inside their head!"

The nurse has a tiny sip, and thinks, cup in hand. "Just a little over a year now," she replies with a quiet smile, pensive. "That's about it. Well, time being a flat circle it's hard to say for sure, but that's what the calendar says."

"And, of course, it all depends on which calendar you're using. If you're using the Mayan, there is no time at all unless they sculpt another one." Zara sips at her tea again. "It has been a long day, we're talking gibberish" she laughs.

"Over a year? So that means you have an idea of the annual peaks and troughs. When should I prepare to be really busy? And some of the injuries that people have here..." Zara shakes her head in disbelief. "Do you now Stephanie? The EMT. It was like she exploded from the inside. Lucky to be alive. Any odd injuries you've seen in your time here?"

Abby draws a deep breath, exhales almost a sigh into her cup of coffee once she raises it again. There's a long pause while she's thinking, mouth tugged off to one side as her head tilts and her eyes search the corner of the room as if that's where her memories are. "I've no idea."

"It's always a little crazy. You wouldn't think, the size of this town, but... Let's see, there were a few weeks around summer where it seemed everyone was tripping over their own feet and landing on power tools. And flu season was the worst, too!" She looks to Zara and makes a face, grimacing, and pitches her voice a little lower while almost stage whispering, "Oohhh, shouldn't we call the CDC? I wonder if we'll have a flu pandemic named after us!" Her smile brightens up. "That's how bad it was."

"So... really, I'm hoping I've no idea about the annual peaks and troughs because the last one was a terrible weird year full of terrible things and a statistical outlier, and this one will be much nicer! Not much of a chance of that, but here's hoping!" She clenches a fist and swings it in front of her face, beaming a sunny smile. Positive thinking, that'll do it!

"Falling on power tools?" Zara's eyes open wide at that information. "I assume not in a way that is covering up sexual escapades." A worried shake of her head. "Let's hope that everyone did all their renovations last year."

"I did hear a little about the flu issue. Were there any fatalities? I'm sure the CDC has been informed." A sip of her tea. "If they haven't, I'll happily do so. Something to ask the Administrator about." A little snort of a laugh. "Do you want a disease named after you? That's not a way to make friends."

A laugh at the fist pumping positivity. "I like your attitude, Abby. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Which is not as philosophically unique as your flat time theory but it will do for now. Where were you working before Gray Harbor?"

"Oh, no! Well, some of them might've been sexual escapades. But it was - there was a statistically unlikely number of freak accidents, you know? Everyone just go awfully clumsy all of a sudden," Abby tries to explain, then waves it off with a small flick of her hand and a shrug. "There were a few, but I don't know if it ended up being that bad. And I'm sure they were informed, I'd just worried it would be worse."

Abby takes a long sip of coffee and sighs. "Oh. I was working in a nursing home, in Elma." Elma being a little town of some two thousand souls, twenty minutes inland from Gray Harbor. "And I was taking classes. Mostly in Olympia, but I did a bit here, too. So then I got registered! Which sounds a little ominous, but just means I got my RN license. Which is ominous for everyone else!" She smiles and holds up her coffee. "Where are you from?"

"Statistics are always being updated with the addition of new numbers. Maybe this is the new normal" Zara shrugs. "Though I definitely hope not" she adds with a warm smile. "There were deaths? I definitely should talk to the Administrator. I assume there are still samples of the virus?" When she's not working sixteen hours a day in Emergency, she could do some research.

"I know Elma" she nods. "Please don't tell me you worked at that nursing home called 'Happy Endings'. Isn't anyone else concerned with the suitability of that name?" A laugh about the ominous spiel. "Don't be silly. You are much admired by both staff and patients." She sneaks another sip of her tea before talking about herself. "I'm from Washington, so semi-local I guess. Not from around here but not too far away. Thought I'd come home-ish for a while."

"There's always a few, aren't there?" Abby wonders, then stops, crinking her nose just above her coffee as she gives Zara a thoughtful look. "I guess I did work in a nursing home. So the residents would've been more vulnerable than most. Flu season was always a little touch and go. What I mean is I couldn't even begin to guess at what's normal here yet, honestly."

Abby leans back slightly, legs kicked out in front of her in a slight stretch. "It's a pretty terrible name, alright! But no..." She does a tiny grimace, then lowers her legs again and takes another sip. "I'm from Elma, originally. I could've taken a job in Seattle but I thought things would be a little quieter here. Not so much, apparently!"

"Is there anywhere that does not have illness or accidents? It would be nice. We are, after all, both employed in jobs that we would like not to have to exist." Zara has a worried look at Abby's grimace. "Was that pain or the name of the retirement home getting to you?"

"The long winter wouldn't have helped with the flu season. I'm guessing it was flu. Most patients get a cold and decree it a flu. 'No, you don't have influenza, you have a cold.'" Zara shrugs as she drains the last of her tea. "For a race that are frightened when we get sick, we don't do an awful lot to prevent being sick. Sorry, I won't get on my soap box." A wry smile before adds with playful menace. "Yet. What do you do for fun around here, Abby?"

"Well, there's normal amounts of illnesses and accidents and there's - whatever last year was," Abby remarks with a faint cringe, but she's smiling again just a moment later. "No, that was just the name. I'm good!" And to demonstrate it, she kicks her legs forward again and raises her hands above her head in a stretch while trying not to spill any coffee anywhere. "It might've been something else, but it definitely wasn't a cold. It knocked me right out for a whole week."

Abby relaxes again, just stifling a small yawn behind tightening lips, then looks to Zara and blinks, thinking for a second. "Oh. All kinds of things. You know, I take random classes that look fun and go to things... I don't go to a lot of things. I just have hobbies. I take a lot of pictures of my cat, too."

"You had it? Sounds like I can get a good description of the symptoms then" Zara smiles. "Glad you got better." A little applause at the stretch. "Bravo. You're fitter than most of our patients" she grins.

"Oh no, you're a mad cat woman" Zara teases before a wave of her hand and further confirmation. "Just kidding. I'm sure it's a lovely cat. And always doing new things is a very commendable approach to life. I salute you."

"Staff to Emergency. Staff to Emergency" blurts out over the speakers and Zara drops from the bench. "Sounds like we're needed. Unless those papers are more important."

"No, that's pretty much right, the mad cat woman thing," Abby admits with a small sip of coffee, before her whole body leans in towards Zara so she can add with her voice just above a whisper, "She's got over 2000 followers on Instagram."

"Well, I try to stay busy and meet people. I mean good fun busy, not here busy," the nurse clarifies, then tilts her head at the voice from the speakers. "Not that kind of busy. The other kind of busy!" Then she finishes her coffee and stretches again as she stands up, glancing at the papers tucked under her arm. "Oh! I'll drop these off along the way."

"Your cat has an Instagram account? You'll have to give me the address." No judgement from Zara...not until she's seen the pics at least.

"Maybe you can show me around town some time?" Zara adds as she heads for Emergency. A nod about the papers. "I'll see you in the War Zone, Abby. Don't be too long."