His Bad Day [Open: Everyone]

[Perry Cox]

Doctor Perry Cox was not amused. He was having a particularly bad day. Not that he was unused to bad days, considering he worked in a hospital that dealt largely with old people with one foot in the grave and cancer patients with less time to live than it would take for him to catch up on all his backed up paper work. But today was distinctly irritating.

It was one of the drawbacks of working in a teaching hospital: the interns and younger doctors were constantly on his heels, begging him for his wisdom and sagely advice. Ultimately he had one thing to say to all of them alike, but each time he uttered it his chances of getting reported and subsequently fired rose substantially.

Sure, he could always find work elsewhere, but the repartee he had built with the Chief of Medicine here at Sacred Heart was too finely crafted to simply abandon. He knew he just had to tough days like these out. Days when doctors he thought were fully capable of taking care of themselves at this point in their careers decided they would completely forget all the years and thousands of dollars spent on their education and hand him their cases when things got too difficult.

He'd hand them right back, of course. There was no ducking out of hard decisions and life or death calls on his watch, but his elbow was getting tired. This was a never ending shift, a gift from Doctor Kelso upstairs for a small bit of insubordination on Cox's part, and Perry was beginning to feel the affects.

Twelve hours without sleep, then an hour of really long blinks and interruptions. Now he was in the final stretch: his thirty second hour at the hospital. If Kelso decided the torture was finally sufficient, Perry would be gone at the end of these sixty minutes, heading to a blissful day off. His bitterness only increased when he thought about all the things that could, and would, go wrong between now and then.

He was sitting in the break room, looking over a chart. He was not alone, but his expression told everyone around that he was in no mood to play. If anyone wanted anything of him they would have to be willing to lose a limb or two. His main rule was in effect: no one could bother him unless their patient was dying, -dying- not dead, and only he could save their life. Outside of that, however, any attempt at conversation would be met with a violent, volatile response.

Somehow he knew someone was going to push him.

[Adam Everett]

Adam walked down the bustling hallway of Sacred Heart Hospital. This was his first day here, having transferred as an intern from a neighboring hospital. He felt that it didn't challenge him enough where he was. From what he had heard, this place was always a challenge. He could tell by the level of activity that there was a never a dull moment. He liked that. It kept him focused, his mind working, and off worrying about the rest of his life.

Adam was 23, a young aspiring intern who had his heart set on becoming the best doctor he could. He had a bounce in his step and a boyishness to his smile that belied the fact that he hadn't been here very long. Although, that was the outlook he presented to most of the people he met. He always tried to keep things upbeat, even in the midst of chaos. It was just easier to deal with that way.

He hadn't really met anyone yet at the hospital, except doctor Kelso who had signed his transfer. Personally Adam thought he seemed to be more than a bit stuffy and could use a couple tiers knocked out from under the pedestal he put himself up on, but Adam always had a problem with that kind of authority. Still, he had remained pleasant, wanting to make a good impression. It was from Dr. Kelso's that he was now walking, and he was headed for the break room.

He swept his loose brown bangs out of his face as he rounded the corner and entered the room, hand in the pockets of his scrubs. He noted the man sitting and looking over the chart. That must be Dr. Cox, he thought, judging by the description Dr. Kelso had given him. He told him that he should go find him for his duty assignment. Looks like it was his lucky day.

Adam put on a smile and walked up to Dr. Cox. "Hi, Dr. Cox? I'm Adam Everett, the new intern," he said, extending his hand. "Dr. Kelso said I should find you."

[Perry Cox]

(Sorry this took so long O.o)

Perry Cox did not look up. He was not interested in the boy who had addressed him, and did not feel obligated to give his presence any meaning or justification by responding to the introduction. He carried on as if unspoken to, not even blinking at the sound of the new intern’s voice. It wasn’t that Cox hadn’t heard him, he was not deaf or even that absorbed in the work before him. In fact, he had almost been paying attention up until the moment the intern had mention Bob Kelso’s name. After that Perry’s mind shut out the voice, an instinct to keep him from reacting violently to whatever it was Kelso might have been done.

At this stage of the game, Kelso was winning. Cox was struggling to maintain his confidence, round after round of sparring with Kelso having its toll on him, in a metaphysical sense. Given half a chance, and the guarantee that he would not be fired, Cox would easily beat Kelso in a literal version of their war. It wouldn’t be the first time Cox turned to physical violence against the old man, but he had promised himself to never hit the Chief of Medicine again. Kelso was, after all, an old man. And as much as Cox hated him, that just wasn’t fair.

Cox had to keep his cool. He was trying to work on it. He was not succeeding.

The intern lingered, and finally Cox shifted his gaze to the young man. He arched an expectant eyebrow at him, keeping his hands on the chart. He took his time in saying anything, examining the young doctor with a less than enthusiastic, critical eye.

“Doctor Kelso said that, did he? That’s either because he’s taken an instant dislike for you, or this is his idea of a joke. Either way, you’re getting the short end of the stick here. I have nothing for you. At all. Nothing for you to do. No desire to introduce myself to you. Now go back to Doctor Kelso and ask him to find someone else to baby you today. I’m busy.”

With that, he reclined in his seat and, tossing the chart to the space next to him, closed his eyes.

[Adam Everett]

Ok, so clearly this wasn't a good day for Dr. Cox. But what should he do? He could tell Dr. Kelso would be no more sympathetic, and he was not about to start his first day in this place being batted between his superiors like a ping pong ball. He was always one who liked to make an impression, and whatever that might be, he was not about to be shoved into the background. He had heard from the scuttlebug in the halls about some sort of rivalry between Cox and Kelso. Maybe it was his bad for mentioning it. Too late now.

He took a deep and silent breath and cleared his throat, letting Dr. Cox know he wasn't about to be ignored. "Dr. Kelso said you might say something like that," he said, which wasn't entirely untrue. Kelso had hinted strongly at Dr. Cox's tendency for indifference towards the young interns. "But he also assigned me to you. Now, I know you're busy, but I'm a pretty fast learner. Just tell me what to do and I'll be out of your hair." He put his hands in his pockets.

[Perry Cox]

Cox stood, opening his eyes slowly as he drew himself up right. He did not look amused or impressed as he turned to face the intern, looking him over again as if he thought he might have missed something the first time. Not finding anything noteworthy, he smiled almost pleasantly and nodded at Adam's suggestion.

"Now why didn't I think of that? I'll just tell you how to treat any patient that walks in through those doors right here and now, and let you out on the world that Sacred Heart encompasses. Of course, I would do that. You know. If I wasn't a doctor and I didn't care about my patients. Or if I just wanted to kill them all," he looked thoughtful for a moment, as if honestly considering it, then shook his head, "actually, I think a better idea would be to cop you off to one of my Greater Underlings. That is, doctors who are a bit less incompetent than you, and that you might actually learn something from. Though, that last part might be a bit of a stretch."

As he spoke he moved to the door, expecting the intern to follow him. He didn't hold the door open, but kept talking because he knew it would not be that easy to get rid of the young man. He seemed to be a tenacious one, at any rate. Though Perry made it seem like he cared very little about the boy, he knew he would find himself following his motions more closely than anyone would know.

He was responsible, after all.

"Now where's Joanna?"

[Adam Everett]

Adam wasn't exactly thrilled with the verbal beating he was receiving. They had just met and already he was being called imcompetent. But he decided not to push it. He got the feeling he had strayed dangerously close to peril with his last assertion, and besides, Dr. Cox wasn't going to wait for his rebuttal. He wasn't sure what his problem was, but he was going to have to deal with it for now.

Adam saw the opportunity and followed hasitly behind. He felt like if he fell behind Cox's strong stride that Cox would be all too happy to leave him in the dust. He followed attentively and didn't say any more for now. At least this was a start. He would get to work with someone who had been here a while. Maybe they could aquaint him better with how things worked around here. He was eager to get in there and be part of the team.