"They just won't understand these things
Thank you for your message
But I don't understand"
»«
"I'm going under soon."
Dana held her phone with a frown, leaning against the lockers. "Do you know how long the operation will take?"
"Depending on how well Arcee does, a few hours or a few minutes." Ratchet replied. "If it's a few minutes, I'm probably not going to wake up again.
"I should be there!" Dana stood up straight. "I'm a lot smaller than her hands. I could be like a sentient, mobile scalpel."
"And die the moment you cut something and get doused with energon." Her guardian reprimanded. "Besides, aren't you at work?"
"Well, yeah." She pouted, crossing her free arm over her body. "But that doesn't mean I can't take off. This is an emergency."
"The odds of me dying are very low anyways." The medic scoffed. "I'll be fine, I promise."
She sighed. "Call me the moment you wake up?"
"That might be a bad idea, as I don't know how I'll react under the sedative, but we'll see."
"Gonna reveal your biggest secrets to me?" She teased.
"Hopefully not." He didn't sound too happy about the jab. "I have to go, Bee is ready for the operation. I will call you sometime after."
"Alright. I'll be looking forward to it." She hung up on him, resting against the lockers once more. Though she was a little upset he didn't discuss the donation of his T-cog to her, it was his decision to make; and it wasn't like she was in any position to protest. While she would miss the epic sword fights and the ambulance rides, if he felt that he could do without such things, then so could she.
It wasn't like they were a married couple anyways, so what he did to his body wasn't any of her business.
Closing the locker again, she shot a glare at a nosy co-worker, who simply looked away quickly and flushing a little, pretending to have not just been eavesdropping. Pocketing her phone, Dana made her way back to the desk, picking up a file. To her secret delight she found that she could visit Leroy one last time before he was discharged, smiling as she made her way to his room.
"Ah, hasenfurz." He beamed. "I vas vondering if you vere coming back."
She returned his grin. "Yup, yup. But unfortunately, this will be your last time, I'm sorry to say." She gave him a sad look. "You're going to be discharged today."
"Yes, yes, zat us vhat I heard." He nodded solemnly. "I suppose it is a good zing, getting out of a hospital. But zhen I vill not be able to see your pretty face every day."
"Aw, thank you." She laughed with a blush, taking his vitals. "But I wouldn't recommend getting yourself into this hospital just to see me." She winked, still smiling. "Too expensive."
He nodded. "Yes, zat is ze unfortunate thing about you being here in America. If zis was Germany, then I could most certainly afford to see you."
That earned him another laugh. "That is very true." She shrugged. "But us Americans don't like our taxes, now do we?"
That made him laugh rather hard. "Zat is too true." He smiled. "But I vill not complain. You have very good health care. Though perhaps it is just you."
Dana blushed harder at that, chuckling. "I'm flattered. Is there any one last thing I can do for you?"
Her patient paused to think, but then he shrugged. "Just don't forget me, hasenfurz. I may need to come here again, and I vant you to be my nurse."
She grinned. "I won't. Have a good recovery, Mr. Hastings."
"And you have a good day." He replied, giving her a little wave. "Guten tag."
"Guten tag." She said back to him, waving before walking through the door again, disappearing from his sight. Putting his file away with a long, half-hearted sigh, she pulled another one and looked it over, mentally preparing herself for the next round of patients.
It's gonna be a doozy.
»«
By the time her shift had ended at seven o'clock, she had six new voicemails from Ratchet.
"Oh boy . . ." She muttered to herself as she got in the car, locking her doors and then putting the phone to her ear.
"Jus' wanted to let you know I got it done." She had to put a hand over her mouth to cover up her laughter, despite it being a message and he couldn't hear. He sounded like he was intoxicated, and she could only guess that it was the anesthesia. "You wouldn't believe what day it is . . . Such a rough day. I need sleep. No, not sleep, energon. Just energon. I gotta stay up tonight. Need to get it done."
"Honestly Ratchet, what in the world?" She murmured before listening to the next one.
"I forgot to tell you I went on this drive once and I saw this thing you called a dog and it looked like one of the cute ones so I went to drive by and see it but it barked at me and then I saw a rainbow and now I wonder if those barking dogs are what make rainbows so pretty."
Two more messages went by before he suddenly started yelling.
"I AM ABLE!" She almost dropped her phone he was so loud, putting it away from her ear almost at a full arm's length and she could still make out what he was saying. "Just ask Bantor! He was all mandrel before I put a tiger in his tank!!"
"You did what to who now?" She shook her head in disbelief, then finally clicked on the last message.
"This is Ratchet. I'm better now. I vaguely remember calling you, and I want to apologize right now about what I may have said." The medic sounded much more sober now, his charge chuckling softly as she listened. "I hope I didn't distract you from anything, but it looks like I called you about five times while I was under. Looks like I took your advice. Again, I apologize for what I may have said."
The message ended there, the last of them. Turning on her car she dialed her guardian and put the phone to her ear, holding it with her shoulder as she backed out of the parking space and started heading home. It ringed for quite a long time before he answered, sounding reluctant.
"Yes?"
"Got your messages." She laughed. "By far some of the most interesting things I've heard. But nothing too insulting or raunchy. How are you feeling? How was the operation?"
"It . . . Actually didn't happen." He confessed. "I guess soon after I was put in stasis some Decepticon activity showed up, and MECH. Bumblebee managed to get his T-cog from the latter, and though it wasn't in very great shape," he sighed "I managed to fix it and make it operational."
Dana beamed hugely, getting some of the best news that she had heard in a long while. "That's wonderful, Ratch! Hey, tomorrow, me and you should take a celebratory drive."
"I don't take drives."
"With me you do." She chuckled. "I'll be off work at three, and I'll get to base by 3:30. Me and you, go out in the country, and just drive. Hey, I'll even do the driving for you if you want."
She received a sigh from his end of the line. "Alright alright, fine. Drive at three-thirty."
"It's a date." She grinned, imagining the optic roll she was receiving right now before she hung up, putting all of her attention on the road now. Despite her usual high-stakes and high-energy activities, she didn't mind going on relaxing drives with her guardian, as rare as they were. She would have to remember to tell her parents she was going to Jack's house to study - of course June would be there.
Moms. Always assuming their teenagers are in it for the good stuff.
Chuckling to herself, she jokingly made a note in her phone the moment she had parked in her driveway.
Date with Ratchet: 3:30 pm.