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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 2:49 am
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Three o'clock rolled around after a long, tedious evening full of long, tedious issues, one right after another. Impatient patients, prickly coworkers, a broken intercom system and various other troubles plagued the Emergency Room on top of the never ending line of people waiting to be seen.
As the nights grew colder, more homeless would shuffle their way inside, fabricating ailments or conditions to be spared a few hours of warmth and possibly a plain, toppingless turkey sandwich. The elderly and infants brought the flu in with them, there were two cases of pneumonia in need of ICU rooms and one unfortunate individual had almost managed to vomit directly on her plain, white sneakers.
Sigh.
She still had an evening of energy gathering to contend with but as Julianne Payne gathered her purse and her jacket, she debated exactly how worth it was it going to be to add an extra few hours of sleep deprivation for the sake of her second, very unpaid vocation.
Then again, she mused, she could always try sending her youma out for it...
Thoughts fled her mind momentarily, though, as she noticed a familiar logo on a familiar looking - now empty - stretcher. A quick glance around the room found the familiar lilac hair that sent a smile spreading across her exhausted face.
Maybe she could linger for a minute or two more.
Folding her arms across the counter, she rested her chin on top in an attempt to look as casual as possible and not as utterly tired as she really felt.
"You're out late tonight, hero."
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:10 am
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He was still getting his feet under him.
Switching to night shift hadn't been easy but everyone was required to rotate shifts on his unit, for fairness and to cover shifts that needed to be covered and Joey Nixon was always there, ready to offer his hand when needed.
Tonight had been a particularly long night for him, his second week on night shift and he felt no more prepared for it than he had when it started. He was beginning to worry that he'd only find a comfortable routine close to the end of it.
He was filling out some paperwork when a familiar voice called out to him and he paused, lifting his head and flashing a bright, sunny smile her way that hid his weariness.
"I'm on night shift now," he replied, rocking on his heels before he slid the pen beneath the metal clip and carried it over with him. "Means you and I will be seeing more of each other Jewel."
He shouldn't have been excited about that prospect, considering it meant that he was bringing someone into her emergency room, but he enjoyed the woman's company and he still couldn't get her to meet him outside of work.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:58 pm
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That bright, wide smile was a dangerous one; it was going to get a sweet young man like him in trouble when it came to the ladies.
Jules couldn't help but smile back, quietly watching as the young man closed the gap between them, clipboard in hand with no doubt the files for whoever it was they'd just dropped off. She didn't particularly care at that moment - she'd clocked out and her main focus was on her and how she was going to spend the rest of her evening.
"Oh really? Come to play with the rest of us on the graveyard shift?"
He was a sweet boy, really. It had genuinely surprised her, how his positive attitude had somehow weathered through the months that normally chipped away at newbies' moods. Fresh meat that somehow still remained fresh, not allowing the physical and emotional toils of the job to drag him down. It was almost impressive, honestly.
Night shift, however, was an entirely different beast of its own. Not many nurses could stay on nights for long periods of time - a couple years, mostly, if that. The change in sleeping schedule, forcing one's body to alter its time clock. It wasn't a natural process and it burned people out - fast - and there was no telling what additional stresses came from being an EMT on the job. While she at least had the sterile, organized hospital at her fingertips to utilize, he was thrust out into the cold, uncaring world doing god knows what to god knows who.
"You sure you're up to the challenge of the full moon and the crazies that come with it?"
The nickname was a cute touch. An innocent boy in a man's world. He'd won her over quickly, (not that she'd ever actually tell him of such) and her maternal instincts were quickly kicking in as she noticed small, minute details any other person might have otherwise missed.
The circles under his eyes were starting to grow, despite the cheerfulness in his expression and how straight he kept his posture.
His hair was a mess - granted, it always looked a little ruffled but even now the casual waves looked a little wilted.
Wrinkles adorned his collared shirt, wrinkles that normally had no business being on his crisp, logoed work attire, telling her that maybe he'd given up on ironing, maybe he'd left it in the dryer just a little too long this time.
All of this had her more concerned than she knew she should be over a work colleague but Joey Nixon had taken a shine to her for whatever godforsaken reason and Jules found herself wanting to protect the poor thing from the inevitable pain that came with a job like his.
Straightening herself up, she reached for the clipboard and glanced at the details, knowing fully well she had nothing to do with it outside of sheer curiosity.
Well...that and he'd have to ask for it back, forcing him to talk to her just a little while longer.
"You going back out on the streets tonight, hero, or are you done for the day?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:37 am
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"Figured it was my turn and all," Joey replied, sneaking glances at her from the corner of his eye when he went back to his paperwork. "Challenges don't scare me, I have faith," he replied, setting the pen down long enough to tap the silver cross that hung from the chain he always wore around his neck.
The new schedule would require some adjusting so he could still attend church and getting his bible study group to agree on an earlier time, but he was confident that given the time he could make it work.
"Besides, it'll mean that we'll be seeing more of each other," he reminded, his grin flashing brighter even though his weariness was still very apparent. Getting up for this last shift, his last one of four tens, had been a bit of a struggle since his blackout curtains hadn't arrived yet but he still had just enough energy to make it through the day until he could collapse on his bed.
His clipboard was stolen and he arched a brow at her. "What are you doing Jewel? I know you're on your way outta here." It hadn't been too hard to learn her schedule with the frequency of his 'deliveries' here.
"Last shift for the week," he admitted, reaching for the clipboard. "As soon as I finish this," he pointedly looked at her, "I'm done for the day."
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:02 am
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"What? No--" Joey cut himself off once he realized that Jules was teasing him and his cheeks flushed with slight embarrassment. Shifting his weight he ducked his head, trying to hide the pleased grin blossoming on his lips when she looped his arm with hers.
Joey shrugged at her question, not particularly wanting to talk about other girls that his mother might've wanted him to date. There was Prudence, who was sweet and they got along well enough, but he wasn't necessarily interested in dating anyone.
Except the woman who kept making excuses to hide the fact that she was interested in him.
"Some might believe that, but I don't," Joey answered truthfully. Sure, divorce was frowned upon by his church, but he wasn't naive enough to think that every relationship was something that could be saved. Sometimes, people married and ignored the messages left to them by God as he tried to divert them into the right path instead of the wrong one. "We're brought together for a reason, but sometimes we stay longer than we should even when he's trying to lead us away from the dark and back towards light."
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:39 am
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There was a flutter in her stomach that shouldn't have belonged there - was she getting attached to this fresh faced little paramedic?
No. No, he was too fresh, too innocent in such a corrupt world full of wicked people with wicked thoughts and plots.
But if he was so dedicated....
"So you want some lessons?" She mused as the Beetle pulled out of the parking garage and out onto the street. The diner she had in mind was several miles away - presenting enough distance between them and the hospital, so no other employees would wander by after work for a bite to eat. "I'm not sure if you can handle the sort of lessons I teach, hero."
If the boy wanted to learn, Jules - or rather, Angelite - had a few easy lessons up her sleeve that could easily be taught to a new recruit.
Ha, how tempting. Her first little recruit, all to herself...
The temptation had her asking the question before she could stop herself. "You ever dream about being a super hero when you were a kid? Well, more of a kid."
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:18 am
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Joey looked up in surprise, blinking a few times.
Jules' words settled over him like cold water and it took a bit before his heart started to thump almost wildly in his chest. He had never, ever, thought he'd hear something like that from her.
The purple haired man thought that she'd keep him an arms length away and now...now she was presenting him with the potential to maybe be something other than the friendly EMT with a crush.
His swallow was strong, tongue darting out to wet his lips before he reached up to run fingers through almost unruly locks. "I mean, if you're offering. Yeah, I'm interested," he told her, voice soft and almost hesitant.
Joey didn't want to get his hopes up, but this was an opportunity he didn't think he'd get again.
"I'm sturdier than you give me credit for, Jewel," he argued.
Her next question required a little bit more thought but he shrugged after a minute or two. "Dunno about super hero, but I've always wanted to help people. S'why I'm an EMT, I want to be a paramedic, but this is the first step to that."
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:32 am
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The softness was detected, detected and read thoroughly as Jules pretended to concentrate on driving. She could see him messing with his hair in the corner of her vision as he spoke, the uncertainty lingering in his tone.
Guess he wasn't expecting that for an answer, was he?
Suppressing a grin, she was amused at the reaction, especially knowing the double entendre she'd held behind her words. He was expecting lessons in dating - probably bedroom ones at that - while she was more than happy to induct the newest member of the Negaverse into the fold, making him her own little duckling to tend to.
After all, he did say he was sturdy....
The latter comment finally earned him a look in his direction, just about the same time Jules pulled into the diner's parking lot. She made a point to park at a distance, knowing that she was growing close to dismissing his last meal offer in lieu of a different kind of offer.
"What if I told you I could give you the power to really help people? We're talking, actual power to do some actual change in the world -- to right the wrongs as we see them, to take care of those we want to protect with more strength than you could ever imagine."
Unfastening her seat belt, she didn't move to open her door. Instead, she chose to turn towards the young man sitting next to her, eyes lit up with something growing close to excitement.
"Would you say yes, if I offered to give you that sort of power, hero?"
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