alpha!stiles } { of sleepy residents and proverbial book reports

[hereditare]

Laura: [startles a bit as she looks around, trying to figure out where she is]

Jason: [from behind his computer, looking over patient files] Oh good, you're awake.

Laura: What happened?

Jason: Combination of working too hard along with dehydration and low protein count.

Laura: [groans and flops back against the couch, burying her face in her hands] Damnit.

Jason: [and he will get up and reach into his fridge] I didn't want to give you an IV without your permission since you weren't severly dehydrated. But you need to rest and eat.

Laura: I do, contrary to popular belief. Today has just been ... kind of crazy in the psych ward.

Jason: It tends to be that way there on a regular basis, I'm told. [smirks]

Laura: [rolls her eyes] I'm off for the next forty eight, so I was going to go home and get some sleep, I just needed to make it through this shift.

Jason: Well, you are officially off shift until Monday. So go home and sleep.

Laura: But my shift - [this is the part where he cuts her off before she can finish that sentence, right?]

Jason: Has been picked up by someone else. Go home, Laura. Doctor's orders.

Laura: [sighs, rubbing a hand over her face before she gets up and nods] Okay. Okay, I'll go home.

Jason: Do you need someone to drive you home?

Laura: No, I walk. I'm just a couple blocks down.

Jason: Well, I will walk with you then.

Laura: You really don't have to. I'm sure you have patients to see.

Jason: My shift actually ended an hour ago. I've just been doing some overdue file cleanup that I'm more than happy to procrastinate on further.

Laura: You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?

Jason: Nope. [flashes that bright smile of his]

Laura: [sighs] Fine. Let me get my coat.

Jason: [nods, and he will get up to take off his lab coat and suit jacket and tie and find his bomber jacket and briefcase, and will go wait for her at the nurses locker room]

Laura: [and she will grab her jacket, leaving her lab coat in her locker along with her IDs and what not, before donning her jacket and going to meet him] Ready?

Jason: Lead the way.

Laura: [and out they will go, and she will start heading south of the hospital] So do you get this protective of all the hospital's residents?

Jason: That's one of the roles when you're the student coordinator, yes.

Laura: I'm surprised I was the only resident on your couch then.

Jason: There have been others. You're just the only one who passed out on the floor today.

Laura: I wasn't on the floor. I was in the locker room.

Jason: You landed on the floor. It's still a floor whether it's in the locker room or in the halls.

Laura: [sighs] It wasn't my intention.

Jason: I know. But you have been pressing yourself very hard lately. Is there a reason?

Laura: [she shrugs] Not a good one.

Jason: Pressure from family to be the best?

Laura: Oh, no. I'm pretty sure if my mom knew I'd passed out today she'd insist on me coming home and quitting the medical profession entirely. [she sighs] They're just very far away, and when I get lonely I decide to work instead of doing sane things like going to a bar or joining a book club.

Jason: You need to work on your work/life balance, then. Life isn't just about work.

Laura: I'm well aware of that. Work is just ... easier. I don't have to be in my own head.

Jason: But it isn't the answer. What is in your head that you're scared to face?

Laura: Do you know how hard it is to date when you've been trained to spot microexpressions and analyze behavior? I either wind up getting turned off or offending them before the first date is over and it doesn't really make making friends easy either. So it's a lot more ... isolating than I imagined it would be.

Jason: You try socializing within your own field with people who would understand that problem?

Laura: All the other psych residents are men who think that an after work drink means they're going to get laid. I tried.

Jason: [sighs] that's the difference between boys and men.

Laura: I guess. I can't say I've really seen otherwise.

Jason: Well, it should make a difference. Maybe travel to a local conference.

Laura: Maybe. I'll think about it.

Jason: You should also rethink those book clubs. Reading is also a great way to escape.

Laura: Should I be making a list? Things Dr. Nakagawa would recommend for me to have more of a life?

Jason: I could put it on a prescription pad if it would make you consider it. I prescribe one book from the romance section - the cheesier the cover, the better.

Laura: [she laughs] Do I really strike you as a romance novel kind of girl?

Jason: Not at all, which is why I think it will be good for you. Something different to just read and get out of your head. You won't need to think at all.

Laura: I will consider it.

Jason: You can schedule a follow up appointment when you are done.

Laura: Are you assigning me a book report?

Jason: How about an oral interpretation? I can even provide the coffee.

Laura: Coffee, huh? [she tips her head to the side, coming to a stop in front of her building] That sounds almost like a friendly outing.

Jason: It could be. If you don't feel that I'm overstepping my bounds.

Laura: [and that's the thing. As much as that actually sounds like fun, he's basically her boss] I don't feel it's an overstep. I just ... worry how it might be perceived. [which would not be helpful in her mostly male department]

Jason: I understand. We can just keep it friendly.

Laura: Okay. [she nods once before looking up at her building] And this is me.

Jason: [looks at the building] You're not serious.

Laura: [glances up and frowns] Yes, I am?

Jason: [laughs as he points to the building across the street and one down] I live right over there.

Laura: [she follows his finger before laughing] What a coincidence.

Jason: I like to walk. It's impossible to drive around here sometimes.

Laura: I'm used to walking. Beacon Hills is really small.

Jason: The region of Japan I grew up in? It was very small, and very poor. I was lucky to have shoes

Laura: You've come a long way.

Jason: My family wanted to make sure I had the best. That I worked hard, and studied hard. That's why I asked if you had pressure from home, since that was why I pressed myself as hard as you do at work when I was a resident.

Laura: [she shakes her head] I'm lucky and my parents are incredibly chill. They just wanted me to be happy.

Jason: Are you?

Laura: [she nods] I like helping people and I like the work I do. It's just hard when Beacon Hills is a five hour drive and a phone call won't always do the trick. But my brother is graduating college next month, so I'll get to see them soon.

Jason: Well, once you finish your residency, you can look to transfer somewhere closer.

Laura: [she nods] The chief of medicine at Beacon Hills Memorial has already insisted that I submit my name to be matched there.

Jason: That is a lucky break.

Laura: It is. All I have to do is get through the next few years.

Jason: Well, if going home to spend time with your family is that important, and it would make you relax, I can adjust your schedule to give you one long weekend off every month to be able to travel home

Laura: [her head tips to the side] You would do that?

Jason: Of course. If I have to accommodate schedules for children's recitals and other events for the other residents, I can do this for you.

Laura: [it's hard to see it that way when it seems like it's special treatment] I'll think about it.

Jason: You don't ask for anything for yourself, Laura. I promise you, it can be done. You'll just end up doing more weekends on the other three weeks

Laura: I'm not saying it can't, I just ... [she takes a deep breath] ... Just, let me sleep on it.

Jason: Sure.

Laura: [she nods again, before playing with the strap of her bag] I should let you go.

Jason: [nods] Get some rest, and I'll see you tomorrow

Laura: [she nods] Good night. Dr. Nakagawa.

Jason: Goodnight, Laura. [and he will leave to head to his own apartment down the street]

Laura: [and she will head up to her apartment and basically strip out of her work clothes and collapse into bed]

Jason: [and he will go to rest for a bit, closing all his shades and transforming so that he can sleep in his other form.]

Laura: [aww, that's going to be a fun conversation later]

Jason: [yup. but of course it is the reason that Jason doesn't socialize as much as he could]

Laura: [which is sadmaking. he'd fit in well in Beacon Hills]

Jason: [oh, he will. And Thomas will still judge him.]

Laura: [Dad :|]

Thomas: [I'M A FATHER IT IS MY DUTY TO PROTECT MY CHILD FROM MEN]

Laura: [SIGH. Also I feel like Peter would kidnap her for Vegas weekends if he felt she was working too hard]