No More Mrs Nice Nurse (Doctor Happy 2)

Chapter 22

Just a few hours before Carly had called Lee to pass on what Phil had told her, Doctor Dawson was sitting across from Doctor Hunter, being stared at like he'd just committed a crime.

"What are you doing here Doctor Dawson?" Jack asked, not even making eye contact with the drink that Lee had bought for him.

"It's a public . . . pub" Lee joked, although Jack's complete non-reaction made it look like anything but.

"You could sit anywhere else. I wouldn't mind"

"Look Jack, I'm not going anywhere. You're just going to have to get used to my company" Lee tried his best to recreate something that Carly would have said to him years ago.

"I hope you like silence then" Jack shrugged, finally grabbing a hold of his new drink and taking a giant swig out of the bottle.

"I love silence" Lee laughed to himself, since Jack wasn't going to.

And in silence they did sit, for almost half an hour before Jack finally got up and left, only to return moments later with two more drinks.

"This doesn't mean anything" He said curtly to Lee as he slid the bottle over to him.

"Thanks" Lee said anyway. "Is your hotel close by?" He asked.

"Not really. I just wanted to get a little further afield today. It was starting to feel like a prison. Not to mention the extortionate prices in the hotel bar" Jack answered, keeping his dull tone as if trying to exaggerate how uninterested he was in conversing with anyone. But Lee guessed that he was secretly happy to finally have a conversation about something other than work. Or how much of a dick he was being.

"I thought that money wouldn't matter to someone as flush as you?"

"I'm rich Lee, not stupid" Jack joked, but only laughed after he saw Lee laughing. "So what are you doing here? I thought you had friends?"

Lee didn't want to tell Jack that he'd been out with every single one of his male colleagues except for him so he went for a different, and probably more productive, answer.

"I needed some space too. I like the idea of being home alone but the reality is a little . . ."

"Shit?" Suggested Jack.

"Yeah. Shit" Lee laughed in agreement. "How long have you been here? I didn't see you for a start?"

"I'm pretty good at keeping out of sight"

"But why?"

"Why do you think? I'm not exactly a social guy am I?" Jack snorted.

"Neither am I. So here we are" Lee stated.

"What are you getting at Doctor Dawson?" Jack asked, seeing straight through Lee's attempts at small talk.

"What happened to you?" Lee cried, more than happy to get straight to the point.

"Nothing happened to me. What are you talking about?" Jack turned away as he snapped back.

"I know it did. Because you're just like me. The way I used to be" Lee told him sympathetically. "I didn't want to talk to anybody or tell anyone anything about my life but all that did was make me even more depressed. All I really needed was for someone to give me a chance. Just let me in. Even the slightest friend can help"

"I'm beyond help"

"That's what I said too. But then Carly did for me exactly what I'm about to do for you"

"Piss me off?"

"That" Lee confirmed before adding "And listen"

"Do you really want to know, Doctor Dawson, why I've given up on "letting people in"?" Jack growled.