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The ER had been chaos today; Mel was talking with Earl (she had gotten him a sandwich, and he had asked her a question about the pin on her scrub top) when Frank came walking by. Seeing Mel in the room, he paused. "Hey sweetheart, there's a STEMI coming in. You wanna join me?" Mel's cheeks burned red, and Frank's eyes went wide when he realized what he'd said. Earl, for his part, took a bite of his sandwich and looked between the two.
"Um," Frank said at the same time Mel said, "I got another patient, but thanks."
When Frank had walked away, Mel looked at Earl. "I...It’s…it’s not what it looks like,” Mel said.
“Never said it was,” Earl said. “You don’t need to explain what it is- or isn’t- to me. That’s between you and him.”
Mel was about to say something else when Whitaker came running in. “We need you in room 14.”
“On it,” Mel said. “I’ll come back and check on you later Earl.”
“Alright doc.”
*
When Mel had returned a little bit later, Earl was on his second sandwich. “Hey Earl, how are we feeling?”
“Better.”
“Good. Are you ready to get out of here and head home?”
“Not really. I like the people watching. And the drama.” Earl chuckled, setting off a coughing fit.
“Oh! Let me take a listen.” As Mel listened, she heard some wheezes in the lower bases of Earl’s lungs. “Let’s give you a neb and see how things go.”
Frank caught Mel outside of the room. “I’m sorry. That slipped out. I didn’t mean to say that. I-“
“I know,” Mel said. “You don’t need to explain yourself. It was a slip of the tongue.”
“But-“
“Let it go,” Mel said. “I gotta go. We can talk over lunch though.”
“Right.”
At lunch, Frank looked at Mel. “I really am sorry. I know we talked about keeping our work and home lives separate.”
”It was bound to happen eventually,” Mel said. “I’m surprised it didn’t sooner, actually.”
”I was doing my best.” Frank chuckled.
“It wasn’t that bad though. I don’t want it to happen all the time, but if it happens to slip out again, I wouldn’t mind it.”
”Ok, sweetheart, I think I can work with that,” Frank said, grinning.