2022-01-06 - Just some fresh air

Doctor Abraham Valentine was experiencing one of those rare events where he actually has -free time-. Of course, he still has his pager on him just in case there's a medical emergency that he needs to get to. The pains of being on-call.

He's currently sitting on a bench by himself in the park with a coffee in his hand. At times, he checks the watch on the inside of his wrist to ensure he's not spending too long out here or to just keep track of the time. But the park is so..lovely this time of day. Its perfect, one could even imagine.

Perfect for someone trying to get a breath of solid fresh air.

What? A doctor being able to breathe outside?! No way, they live on canned hospital air. It's in their bloodstream. Gabriella is really just out exploring the town. She's come across the park because, that's what happens when the aimless is walking. There could be a lot on her mind or there could be very little.

A toss of her blonde hair as she tries to huff it out of her face and she walks. There is a camera around her neck, but it doesn't look professional. Just nice. It is at this exact moment that she pulls out her phone and flips the screen. SELFIE! She takes a picture and .. wait.. is that music playing? This means that she's walking backwards and face zoomed on .. wait for it.. TikTok.

This also means she doesn't see Abraham right away. So there is either going to have to be a warning given or she's tripping over him or into his poor reclined self.

Abraham takes a deep breath as his eyes close. He listens to the singing birds as they tweet from their perches, to the sounds of passing joggers. To the sweet sound of an utter lack of pager notifications. Its nice to not be running around like a headless chicken.

Of course, he's completely not accounting for a young lady and a TikToker at that to be en route. Of course, Abraham notices that she's not exactly watching where she's going.

"Heads up." He offers, in an attempt to ensure she doesn't trip over and break her nose or something. Or even worse, -fall on him!-.

Gabriella is walking backwards but then there's a voice. This stops her from tripping into him, but not from jumping. She looks over at the reclined man for a few silent seconds as if she's not use to someone just being there. Then she laughs. "I almost took you out." Not even close. She wasn't even close to it. "You just sit here trying to get into all the TikToks?" It's a teasing comment.

Abraham is on the bench sitting and Gabriella has just arrived and is talking to him as she slides her phone away. A hand comes out. "Gabriella Leigh. Pleased to meet you. Pleased to let you buy me coffee sometime." It's not a 'date me', it's a hey free coffee attempt 601. Her smile states already she's not sure it's going to work as she drops to sit on the bench.

Outside the hospital was a familiar place for Erin, especially growing up in this town. At the moment, she's a nurse at said hospital and is wearing aqua colored scrubs that probably do nothing for her figure. Instead of coming from the hospital though, she's approaching from the direction of the carousel. As she watches the scene unfold ahead of her she almost calls out a warning but they seem to have it handled. Upon approach, she offers the two of them a tentative smile. "Hi Gabriella. Doctor." She'd seen him around the hospital but never really met him yet.

Abraham takes a deep breath then. "Kinda not really." He tells Gabriella on her almost taking him out. "I like to think I'm a little old for that stuff...and a bit too busy for TikTok." Then she's introducing herself with a hand that is shook. "Abraham Valentine." Long-name type, huh? But, its when she offers to have him buy her coffee that gets the raised brow. "Well, there's a stand just a small ways over there and you can treat yourself.

Coffee attempt 601 failed.

Though he does notice the familiar face of Erin. He noticed her around the hospital a couple of times, but never formally met her. "Hello there. Nurse, right? Not sure we've met. I'm Dr. Abraham Valentine." He stands up then and offers Erin a handshake as well.

Gabriella doesn't seem at all put out by the comment. In fact, she may be giving him a silent hashmark of good judgment to the denial of coffee. "No one is too old for anything. It doesn't mean they want to do it, but age is never a reason." Her eyes slide towards Erin and she nods her head a bit to her in greeting, but doesn't interrupt the two meeting.

Of course Erin hears the introduction and is able to put a name to the now familiar face even before he offers it to her personally. "Erin Addington," she offers her own in return, slipping her hand into his. "It's nice to formally meet you, finally."

After a brief but firm shake of hands, Erin withdraws and glances between the two with a smile. "I tend to agree with Gabriella, age should seldom be something that stops you from something if you enjoy it." Finally, she does respond about her occupation. "Nurse, yes. Almost finished with clinicals and school so I can officially call myself an RN."

Abraham smirks a little bit at Gabriella. "I'll take your word for it." he offers as he sips a little bit at his coffee. Once more, he checks the time, but not in a rude way. But he gives Erin a firm shake of hte hands when she agrees with Gabby. "Well, I guess that means its statistically significant. Guess I'll take both of your words for it." he smirks, but he gives her hand a nice shake. "Likewise, Ms. Addington." hand returned to his side, he shoves it in his pocket.

"Really? Well, congratulations. Speaks well of you to keep at it and who knows, maybe one day we'll get lucky and work with each other."

"What are your areas of focus?" Gabriella offers as she listens to the information being passed between them. Her eyes move from one to the other as the doctor looks at his watch and then she nods towards Erin as well. "Yes, congrats. It's a lot of work to put in. They never really prepare you for the prep work and all that goes in it. I took some pharm classes and the memorization almost kicked my ass."

"That would be great, I've heard only good things." Erin says with a quick smile towards the doctor. Once her hand is back, she just allows both to fall to her sides. "Thank you," answered brightly to Gabriella. "I am excited about it. Then someone else gets to do the dirty work and I breeze in afterwards." Surely she's teasing! "I do like working in the emergency room though, the adrenaline rush and all. Though neonatal is my favorite, even if it's heartbreaking most of the time. It has its own rewards." A solemn nod about the memorization, "It's a hell all its own. What do you do, Miss Gabriella? Besides eat pizza and drink coffee," she teases gently.

Abraham smirks at Gabriella. "I'm a surgeon. I typically work on my own time but lately I've been pulling ER hours to help pass the time and make ends meet." Not like he's in the need for money. But, he nods. "The learning curriculum is very intense, yes, but the reward of saving someone's life is worth it."

He looks then at Erin. "Likewise." He smirks, though he actually laughs. 'That's what I thought during my residency. Boy was I wrong." Clearly he's joking, but he listens as Erin asks Gabriella her current profession.

"Oh. I am figuring out my life at my grandmother's after probably having a mental breakdown after completing my Masters in Clinical Psychology with a certification in behavior modification." There is a smile to that. "The irony is not lost on me." Then she looks back between them and more towards Abraham's hands. There is a longer moment of consideration. "Do surgeons really insure their hands or is that a lie?" Then back towards Erin.

"I do like the ER. I'm not sure I will ever have enough hours in the day for everything I want to fit into it." Erin smiles though, "At least the school and clinicals are almost over, then I can get the big money." As if Addingtons don't have that already? Who knows?

"You live with your grandmother? I used to live with mine. While it can be stifling at times, just treasure the time you get with her." While the words hold sincerity, she does seem a touch guarded when speaking of her own family. There's a curious look towards the doctors hands, but she also checks the time. "I should get going. It was nice to see you again, Gabriella. Let me know when you want a ride in my car." Dipping her head to the blonde. "And Doctor, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we get to work together sometime."

"Even when it's irritating...it's worth it." Abraham has had to hold a lot of hands when its time to go...and he can be the first to tell you that sometimes, life happens sooner than we want it to or even expect. But he nods at Gabriella. "The mentally stable ones don't." He informs her with a smirk. Though his attentino shifts over to Erin with a small nod. "Of course. Stay safe out there...and likewise, Ms. Addington." His eyes shift back to Gabriella. "Could go the obvious route and be a therapist."

"Of course, but only if you promise to break all the speeding rules." Gabriella offers toward Erin with an easy smile. She then watches the woman for a few more moments as if she's trying to read something on her. Then her eyes move back towards Abraham. "Most likely. Right now, I'm offering to help out at HOPE. I said I'd give free counseling to any that show up from a battered situation, or the veterans. I feel we do a dis-service to what we ask them to go through and then don't help with their mental health." Her lips curve up a bit. "I'm more a talk therapist as I can't prescribe medications though. I'll find my place when it's deemed for me to have one." Pause. "OH! Yes, I live with Gail Leigh.." This is given in hindsight to Erin's comment.

"I'm pretty good at that." Erin says back before giving Abraham a smile too, "I will." She's off towards her car in the parking lot, presumably to get something from it before going back to work. Hearing the comment about her grandmother, she looks back and grins, "Great lady. Pass my regards on to her please? I've not seen her in many years." There's genuine warmth in her tone as she speaks of Gail. "I'll see you around!" Another lift of her hand before she disappears somewhere beyond the carousel.

Abraham watches as Erin decides to take her leave, but his attention shifts immediately back to Gabriella. "Its good that you're really thinking things through. Means that you're not just winging it blindly. That being said, I've heard of HOPE and you're all doing good work." he compliments, smiling ever so softly. "and not every kind of help requires medicine."

Gabriella smiles to the good surgeon. It almost feels like the coffee question was some sort of test or something. "My mother is clean." She says upfront before the sad looks, "But there was a time in her life she was not and it makes me not prone to suggest medications. However, I've seen the effects of CPTSD and I know how medications can help with getting through the day. So I just refer them to a doctor if I think they need drugs to assist an imbalance. Why did you end up in surgury?"

Abraham smiles to Gabriella. "I'm glad your mother is clean. Granted, while medications can be extremely helpful, its eternally detrimental to the patient if they become hooked on the drug in question. Sometimes we do more damage than we fix, but the point of medicine is ultimately to stall." He tells Gabriella. "I ended up in surgery because I had a passio nfor it and because I'm apparently amazing with my hands. Why did you get into psych?"

Gabriella is silent for a moment. No. No.. yep, she's going to say it. "You are good with your hands?" Her lips start to twitch. She can't help it. The devil on her shoulder is kickboxing the angel and winning. "I mean, if you ever want to prove that to me..." She trails off before a clearing of her throat and a realization he asked a question. "When I was growing up. I was... different. It's more acceptable here." She probably means the shine. "So people thought I was crazy. I went into psychology to learn to give people coping skills for their lives and not write them off. To give them hope."