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May. 12th, 2006 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittydesadeTitle: The Breakfast Club
Fandom: Kingdom Hospital
Characters: Hook, ensemble
Prompt: Breakfast
Word Count: 1,092
Rating: PG
Summary: Mornings in the cafeteria at Kingdom Hospital
Despite the fact that Hook never seemed to keep to an assigned shift hour, very few people noticed that he kept his rooms in the Old Kingdom.
Every morning he staggered out of bed and stripped down for a bracing two minute wash in the chemical shower he'd managed to get working again. Pull the cord and be inundated in freezing cold water, or room temperature at best. Scrub off as thoroughly as he would if he were scrubbing down for surgery, all over and not just down to the elbows. Pull the cord again, and again if he had to in order to get all of the soap off. One minute fifty eight seconds was his record best.
And then it was time to get dressed and get upstairs, if he didn't have anything personal to do. There was always someone who needed him on shift.
"Do you always eat breakfast here?" Otto wondered, early one morning when it was just shift change, people going home, people staggering in who hadn't yet managed to wake up. "I don't think I've ever seen …"
"Most of the time," he smiled, easy. "Sometimes I make it to Mill Street."
"Oh," he nodded, and that was an end to it.
Afterwards he and Otto usually sat at the same table, chatting about the cases. Otto was always able to fill him in on what was going on that morning, if there had been some kind of catastrophe Hook hadn't been around for the night before, if it was a slow morning.
Sometimes he would try to slip in a question about extension ninety-nine, but Hook just smiled and changed the subject.
Chris Draper saw them talking one morning and pointed her pen at Hook. "Do you ever go home?" He'd just seen her working the night shift, and she looked a wreck.
Hook smiled. "I am home. My home away from home," and gestured around. "Why would you ever want to leave all this glamour?"
Chris rolled her eyes, but she smiled when she said it. "The only glamour this place has died out years ago. See you tonight."
It was actually the next morning before he saw her, but she pulled up a chair and nibbled on a strawberry jelly roll while she listened to him and Otto discussing the finer points of avoiding the new doctor, Stegman.
Abel and Christa, whenever they passed, never failed to stop and wave. "Good Morning, Doctor Hook!"
Elmer Traff was an evening shift person, but he had been eyeing Dr. Massingale and hanging around the sleep lab for long enough that he had started to stay at Kingdom Hospital until morning. The result of this somewhat odd attempt at courtship was that they had to walk around a zombie of a Traff while they tried to cobble together their breakfast. He sat with them once or twice, but without a thermos full of coffee in him he didn't make much sense.
Dr. Massingale herself joined them after a few weeks, after first making sure that Elmer wasn't there. For her it was dinner, with her work in the sleep lab making her keep nocturnal hours, but she was all right for some weary conversation.
"As fascinating as it is, I can't wait till I get back to a normal sleep schedule," she admitted. "Humans just weren't built for staying up all night and sleeping all day."
"Diurnal creatures," Hook said, nodding sagely and hiding his amusement at the woman who had earlier protested that she'd be fine staying up nights. "That's because all the nasty things bigger and badder than us come out at night."
"Came," she corrected. "I think we've evolved past the point of living in caves and using fire to ward off the animals."
"Have we?" he smiled. "Have we, indeed."
Otto and Chris shook their heads. Hook had a strange turn of mind and wasn't shy about showing it, although he was personable enough to more than make up for the odd things he sometimes said and did. He just continued to smile at Dr. Massingale, who shook her head and stumbled off and out the door.
Jesse James himself stopped by one morning to ask what Hook thought of the new Morning Air brochures, surprised to see Draper, Otto, and now Bobby Druse sitting there with him.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know you had guests for breakfast." Out came the smile and the Morning Air stickers, which they all accepted with good grace and awkward smiles in return. "Here. These just came back from the printers…"
All of them settled into an appropriately grave position as he unfurled the sample poster. In all his years of working there he had yet to actually figure out what Operation Morning Air was besides some kind of feel-good idea of Dr. James', but the man was harmless. And a Keeper in good standing, of course.
"What do you think?"
Another awkward silence.
"I think it looks good."
"Not… not bad."
"They look fine, Dr. James. But what are those figures down at the bottom of the horizon?" Hook pointed.
Dr. James leaned over, looked, and when he came back up he had somewhat of a surprised look on his face. "Why, that's you. All of you, up bright and early to help our patients. A few rays of sunshine, of hope, for our poor and desperate, our huddled masses. It's good to see you out and about in our fresh morning air!"
There was no further explanation as he wrapped up the poster, pleading a busy schedule, and left them all blinking with at least one fork halfway to a mouth. Chris looked at Hook.
"Has he always been like that?"
"As long as I can remember," Hook smiled ruefully. "And I've been here a very long time."
"Really?" Chris leaned forward. From the look of her this was something to lead into a conversation she'd wanted to have for a while. "And how long is that?"
Hook hesitated, opening his mouth to respond even though he had no idea what he was going to say. He wasn't ready to take her down to the basement yet, not to the Old Kingdom. He wanted to, but he just wasn't ready. And yet he knew she'd been wondering why he turned up at all hours of the day and night. He'd heard her asking Bobby and Dr. Massingale.
"Longer than Dr. James, if I remember right…" Otto interrupted. "Pass that prune danish, would you?"
Fandom: Kingdom Hospital
Characters: Hook, ensemble
Prompt: Breakfast
Word Count: 1,092
Rating: PG
Summary: Mornings in the cafeteria at Kingdom Hospital
Despite the fact that Hook never seemed to keep to an assigned shift hour, very few people noticed that he kept his rooms in the Old Kingdom.
Every morning he staggered out of bed and stripped down for a bracing two minute wash in the chemical shower he'd managed to get working again. Pull the cord and be inundated in freezing cold water, or room temperature at best. Scrub off as thoroughly as he would if he were scrubbing down for surgery, all over and not just down to the elbows. Pull the cord again, and again if he had to in order to get all of the soap off. One minute fifty eight seconds was his record best.
And then it was time to get dressed and get upstairs, if he didn't have anything personal to do. There was always someone who needed him on shift.
"Do you always eat breakfast here?" Otto wondered, early one morning when it was just shift change, people going home, people staggering in who hadn't yet managed to wake up. "I don't think I've ever seen …"
"Most of the time," he smiled, easy. "Sometimes I make it to Mill Street."
"Oh," he nodded, and that was an end to it.
Afterwards he and Otto usually sat at the same table, chatting about the cases. Otto was always able to fill him in on what was going on that morning, if there had been some kind of catastrophe Hook hadn't been around for the night before, if it was a slow morning.
Sometimes he would try to slip in a question about extension ninety-nine, but Hook just smiled and changed the subject.
Chris Draper saw them talking one morning and pointed her pen at Hook. "Do you ever go home?" He'd just seen her working the night shift, and she looked a wreck.
Hook smiled. "I am home. My home away from home," and gestured around. "Why would you ever want to leave all this glamour?"
Chris rolled her eyes, but she smiled when she said it. "The only glamour this place has died out years ago. See you tonight."
It was actually the next morning before he saw her, but she pulled up a chair and nibbled on a strawberry jelly roll while she listened to him and Otto discussing the finer points of avoiding the new doctor, Stegman.
Abel and Christa, whenever they passed, never failed to stop and wave. "Good Morning, Doctor Hook!"
Elmer Traff was an evening shift person, but he had been eyeing Dr. Massingale and hanging around the sleep lab for long enough that he had started to stay at Kingdom Hospital until morning. The result of this somewhat odd attempt at courtship was that they had to walk around a zombie of a Traff while they tried to cobble together their breakfast. He sat with them once or twice, but without a thermos full of coffee in him he didn't make much sense.
Dr. Massingale herself joined them after a few weeks, after first making sure that Elmer wasn't there. For her it was dinner, with her work in the sleep lab making her keep nocturnal hours, but she was all right for some weary conversation.
"As fascinating as it is, I can't wait till I get back to a normal sleep schedule," she admitted. "Humans just weren't built for staying up all night and sleeping all day."
"Diurnal creatures," Hook said, nodding sagely and hiding his amusement at the woman who had earlier protested that she'd be fine staying up nights. "That's because all the nasty things bigger and badder than us come out at night."
"Came," she corrected. "I think we've evolved past the point of living in caves and using fire to ward off the animals."
"Have we?" he smiled. "Have we, indeed."
Otto and Chris shook their heads. Hook had a strange turn of mind and wasn't shy about showing it, although he was personable enough to more than make up for the odd things he sometimes said and did. He just continued to smile at Dr. Massingale, who shook her head and stumbled off and out the door.
Jesse James himself stopped by one morning to ask what Hook thought of the new Morning Air brochures, surprised to see Draper, Otto, and now Bobby Druse sitting there with him.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know you had guests for breakfast." Out came the smile and the Morning Air stickers, which they all accepted with good grace and awkward smiles in return. "Here. These just came back from the printers…"
All of them settled into an appropriately grave position as he unfurled the sample poster. In all his years of working there he had yet to actually figure out what Operation Morning Air was besides some kind of feel-good idea of Dr. James', but the man was harmless. And a Keeper in good standing, of course.
"What do you think?"
Another awkward silence.
"I think it looks good."
"Not… not bad."
"They look fine, Dr. James. But what are those figures down at the bottom of the horizon?" Hook pointed.
Dr. James leaned over, looked, and when he came back up he had somewhat of a surprised look on his face. "Why, that's you. All of you, up bright and early to help our patients. A few rays of sunshine, of hope, for our poor and desperate, our huddled masses. It's good to see you out and about in our fresh morning air!"
There was no further explanation as he wrapped up the poster, pleading a busy schedule, and left them all blinking with at least one fork halfway to a mouth. Chris looked at Hook.
"Has he always been like that?"
"As long as I can remember," Hook smiled ruefully. "And I've been here a very long time."
"Really?" Chris leaned forward. From the look of her this was something to lead into a conversation she'd wanted to have for a while. "And how long is that?"
Hook hesitated, opening his mouth to respond even though he had no idea what he was going to say. He wasn't ready to take her down to the basement yet, not to the Old Kingdom. He wanted to, but he just wasn't ready. And yet he knew she'd been wondering why he turned up at all hours of the day and night. He'd heard her asking Bobby and Dr. Massingale.
"Longer than Dr. James, if I remember right…" Otto interrupted. "Pass that prune danish, would you?"