Let It Be
Regulus finds James in the attending lounge, taking a quick glance around before shoving him against the wall.
James makes a noise of surprise before letting Regulus kiss him, mouths connected, hot and heavy.
He welcomes the sudden change in Regulus’ demeanor, pulling him closer.
Then the door opens and Remus isn’t sure what he’s just walked into.
Regulus rips back from him, eyes wide.
All James has to say is, “Hi, Remus.”
Regulus stares in horror as he turns and walks away, yogurt cup in hand.
“Oh, fuck.” Regulus squeezes his eyes shut, “That is bad.”
James licks his lips, “At least it wasn’t Sirius.”
Regulus does not laugh at that joke.
“Your place or mine?” Regulus changes the subject.
James grins, tucking some of Regulus’ waves behind his ear, “We can go to mine.”
“Perfect, I’ll drive.”
Back in James’ trailer, the only thing he does before taking Regulus’ clothes off, is put his glasses on.
It’s not long before they are breathless, staring up at the ceiling of the RV and blinking.
James turns to him, “You’re in a good mood.”
Regulus leans forward to kiss him again, “I heard what you did for me, with my mother and Dumbledore.” His hand wraps over James’ shoulder, “I don’t even know how to thank you for that, James, really. You saved me.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Reg, I really want you here.” He blushes, completely head over heels.
“I notice,” he assures him.
Just say it.
Just say it, Regulus.
It’s not that hard.
I love you.
I
love
you.
It is three simple words, he's not an idiot. He can speak, so just say it.
But he opens his mouth and nothing comes out.
James takes that as an indication to kiss him again, “Regulus?”
“Hm?”
“What are you doing on Friday night?” He asks.
“Nothing.”
“Let me take you out to dinner, I’ll make reservations.”
Regulus doesn’t object this time, “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, James, I’ll go on a date with you.” He laughs, “Don’t let it go to your head.”
〚*〛
Dorcas and Marlene are at the bar until almost one o’clock in the morning, getting to know one another.
Then Marlene looks at her, “Wanna go back to my place?”
Dorcas will blame it on her blood alcohol level, but she really did want to.
Maybe she had a microscopic, tiny crush on her boss.
Regulus does too, so it’s not that bad.
Turns out Marlene lives just across the street from the Hogwarts Hospital, the two of them tumbling inside.
It’s Dorcas who kisses her, feeling brave.
Marlene pulls her head down, being shorter than her intern, in order to kiss her back.
Her place is oddly in scarily good order, which surprised Dorcas. She thought she would be messy, maybe have some faults, but she doesn’t.
Marlene is just pretty fucking perfect.
In her drunken speech, Marlene tells Dorcas, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this.”
〚*〛
Dumbledore is bombarding Macdonald with questions when Evans overheard.
“Mary, you are taking my fellowship, aren’t you?” He says, demanding to know.
“I don’t know yet, Chief.” She shrugs, scribbling on the papers when her pen doesn’t work. “Hand me that, Evans.”
Lily does, their hands brushing, “Here.”
“Thanks.” She doesn’t even look up, focused on her chart. Evans’ eyes are stuck on the resident, watching her. “Look, Albus,” she turns, “You will be the first person I tell when the decision is made, but for now I do not need this.”
She heads to find her interns before rounds.
Barry is on Sirius’ rotation today, working with a patient who fell from the fifth floor, where he was washing the windows.
“He’s got obvious open tib/fib fractures, but otherwise, he’s okay.” Sirius says, looking at his intern.
“Equal breath sounds.” Barty notes.
“Palpate his abdomen, Crouch. Then get him for an X-ray.”
Sirius yanks off the gloves and heads to his next patient.
Regulus is working on Mrs. Sorrento, who suffers from acute cholecystitis.
“I’m going to give you antibiotics and I.V. fluids to cool the gallbladder down. Then I’ll call Dr. Macdonald to see if surgery is the next best step.”
As Regulus is inserting her I.V. she holds her husband's hand and tells both of them, “Did you know otters mate for life?”
“I did not,” he shakes his head, “hold still it is going to take a moment for the tube to fill.”
Regulus has never seen two old people more in love than his patient and her husband.
Momentarily, as if the thought slipped through the back of his mind without knowing, he wonders if this is what it would be like to grow old with James.
〚*〛
Marlene stares at Dorcas, handing her a coffee.
“Oh. Thanks.” Dorcas says, taking a sip to avoid talking, even though she burns her tongue.
Worth it.
Marlene’s blonde hair is a mess this morning, pulled up into a messy high bun, waves falling out from the top.
She's not weird about it at all, simply just asks as if the answer won’t faze her either way, “Wanna get dinner tonight? I’m off at six.”
“Dinner?” Dorcas’ eyebrows shoot up, “Like a—dinner?”
“Just dinner.”
They slept together one time and now Marlene wants to get dinner.
It feels like a date.
Dorcas isn’t sure she wants to date.
Not now when there is so much on the line.
But then her mouth betrays her and says, “Sure.”
“Wear whatever.”
“Okay,” Dorcas replies, watching Marlene walk away.
〚*〛
Macdonald is removing the gallbladder while Regulus is assisting.
“What next, Black?” She tests him.
“Put in the graspers to lift the gallbladder so we can dissect it out.”
“Good.” Macdonald says, staring at the screen, “Tell me what you see.”
He hates this, “A porcelain gallbladder.”
That means that they are going to have to tell Mr. Sorrento there were calcifications. That his wife probably has gallbladder cancer.
Advanced cancer.
That she cannot be cured.
Regulus will tell his favorite patient that she has six months to live, just after he compared them to his own relationship.
〚*〛
Sirius and Barty are in surgery when he asks, “So, you live with Regulus?”
“I do.” He says, staring as Black resets the bones.
“How’s that?” He questions.
Barty usually likes getting in the middle of situations, but not when it’s Sirius and Regulus.
It never ends well.
He only shrugs, “Regulus is my best friend.”
“Okay?”
“So, obviously you and him aren’t that close but we are. I’m not going to just spill everything.” Barty suctions, making eye contact with his friend's brother.
Sirius makes a face, “You’re right. Scrub out.”
“What?” He says, amazed by the utter nerve of Sirius to kick him out of surgery just because he didn't talk shit about his best friend.
“Scrub out, Crouch, then go downstairs and get me a coffee with five shots of espresso and three sugars.”
“Unbelievable.” He mutters.
〚*〛
In between surgeries, Dumbledore finds Macdonald again. She is perfectly polite, “Chief, you need something?”
“Have you made a decision yet?”
“Sir?”
“The fellowship. The Hogwarts Hospital fellowship! I thought you would have accepted by now.”
“Busy, Chief. I haven’t had a chance to fill out-”
He goes directly into salesman mode, “We are a private hospital. We have extensive resources. You will get more surgical experience here than anywhere else. Why aren’t you more excited?”
“No, I’m excited,” she assures him, “I’m sorry, I just—I need to scrub in.”
〚*〛
Dorcas is sitting across from Marlene at a quiet, cozy Italian restaurant.
She is staring at the menu, probably going to order a shrimp fettuccine.
Marlene wants vodka pasta.
It’s an awkward, quiet meal.
“We should probably skip dessert.” Dorcas blurts out. “I have an early morning tomorrow.”
“Oh, right.”
Someone crashes onto his meal, his table yelling. “Help! Is there a doctor here?”
A pinch of excitement in their eyes, standing up to say, “Yes!”
Racing to the other side of the room, Dorcas tells someone to call an ambulance as Marlene checks the pulse.
“I thought he was just joking, he said he had heartburn.” The girlfriend shudders.
“Rapid and unequal.” Marlene says.
Dorcas checks the pulse on his wrist, “Marlene, look at the size of his fingers, he could have Marfan’s.”
The girlfriend is asking one hundred and one questions right now.
“The walls of his blood vessels are weak.”
“Which means?”
Dorcas looks at her, “We need that ambulance.”
When the ambulance arrives, Dorcas and Marlene are shouting orders, one at the paramedics and the other to Hogwarts, telling them to clear an O.R. and a C.T. for him.
“Who the hell are you people?”
“That’s the cardiothoracic surgeon that’s going to save his life.” Dorcas snaps, folding her arms over the green dress.
Marlene adds, “And she’s with me.”
When they get to the hospital again, scrubbing into surgery, Marlene asks, “Can you see the echo from here?”
“That dissection isn’t subtle.” She says from behind the sink.
They head to the O.R. at the same time, Marlene is smiling behind her mask.
〚*〛
“Are you being wooed?” Dumbledore asks, finding Mary after her final surgery of the day.
“Excuse me?”
“The fellowship. You’re fielding offers. You’re looking at bonus packages, you’re letting yourself be wooed.”
“Chief.” Mary sighs, her foot propped on a chair after being standing all day.
Dumbledore turns as if for dramatic effect, “How could you do this to me, Mary? I’ve known you since you were my intern.”
Her mouth is agape, scoffing, “I’m pregnant, you blind moron. I’m not leaving, I’m pregnant.”
“Oh,” Albus moves his hand through his beard, “congratulations!”
〚*〛
“Dr. Meadowes. . . you’re handling the saw.” Marlene says, eyeing her.
“Thank you, Dr. McKinnon.”
Marlene’s gloved hands move over top of Dorcas, pressing deeper on the saw.
Dorcas thinks it’s the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to her.
When people say time flies when you’re having fun they mean it.
Three hours of surgery, perfect, perfect surgery, flew by.
〚*〛
Regulus is working overnight so James is going to work on getting Sirius to forgive him now.
He picks up a pizza, buys a case of beer, and invited the rest of the attendings because if Sirius is one thing, he is popular.
James, Marlene, Peter, Remus, Lily, and even Mary, who is a final year resident.
Sirius isn’t even wearing a shirt when he answers the door. Remus, although he’s standing in the back, notices the tattoos across his body.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He says, looking at all the people on his doorstep while his dog barks unnecessarily loud.
“Throwing you and Lily a welcome to Hogwarts party.” James says, Marlene throwing an arm around the ginger.
He lets them in, everybody sitting on the floor because he has so little furniture.
James opens the first pizza box, taking a slice of cheese, “Next time I’ll take you shopping.”
“Good idea,” Mary nods.
They all sit around, talking to one another.
In the kitchen, Remus is grabbing another beer when James finds him, “I wanted to apologize about last night in the lounge.”
Remus shrugs, “I’m not going to tell anyone, James.”
“I know, but I feel bad.”
“Don’t,” he shakes his head, “doesn’t matter, you coming?”
Marlene brought a speaker, so they’re listening to music when Mary stands up, walking to Sirius.
“This has been fun, Black, but I’ve got to go home, alright?” She pats him on the shoulder.
Everyone tells Mary goodbye.
Remus is getting drunk, something Sirius has never seen before. Peter had passed out on the floor, James and Marlene in a heated discussion about. . . the interns? And Lily walking Mary to her car.
Sirius turns the music down a bit, trying to talk to Remus when Padfoot nuzzles between both of them.
“He likes you.”
Remus pets the top of Padfoot’s head, “He can probably tell I have a dog too.”
“You do?”
“Moony’s his name.” Remus exclaims, watching Padfoot lay on Sirius’ feet.
“Moony, huh?”
“Mhm.” Remus grins, "You should meet him sometime."
Sirius tries to play it cool but he is jumping at the opportunity to know more about Remus.