Columbia Mercy Hospital

Lily West
I got into the canteen probably a little bit after the others, I'd got distracted half way by a call back from Jack, rambling incoherently. I turned my phone off after that, too tired to deal with him. What a mess. I bought a salad, a diet coke and a paper cup of black coffee, then sat down opposite Tyson. I had half thought about sitting with the other girls, wondering if it would be much more sensible not to separate myself from other female company (like I always did) but they all seemed.. pretty involved in conversation. So I sat with Tyson, dumping my tray on the smooth, round table and chucking coffee down my throat like the nectar of life.
"What's up with you?" he asked me, and I blushed that he'd sensed my bad mood. I don't like people figuring me out so fast.
"Nothing," I told him, picking half heartedly at some lettuce. The salad was lame, and there was salad dressing all over it which I had to try to scrape off. He watched me, bemused, until I gave up and opened my bottle of coke. He kept grinning at me, and I peeked at him from under my eyelashes a couple times just to see him looking at me like I was really funny.
"What?" I asked him eventually, and he laughed a soft, melodic laugh.
"You're moody," he told me, teasing.
"Maybe. It's the first day. Everyone's freaked out, it's not just me."
"I'm not freaked out."
"You don't look like you've been freaked out a day in your life."
His face darkened momentarily and then he smiled again, showing me those white teeth.
"Maybe not," he said.

I ran outa time >.> I'll write more later =]

Zoe

"Sugar-Beth your like a life size barbie." They both laughed, then Zoe stopped for a moment.

"How about we go get some food, yeah?" Zoe asked.

"Sure." Sugar said, they both stood up and walked through the small crowd, and looked at the options. Zoe grabbed one of the coffee cups, and filled it up, before grabbing two trays, and handing one to Sugar-Beth.

Sugar-Beth

Zoe and I got lunch and sat back down, she was eating like a normal person, I wasn't eating at all.

"What's wrong?" She asked a corcerned look on her face.

"I'm just.... not hungry." I said.

>>Again. Please remember that all posts need to be at least two paragraphs (six decent sentences total or longer) long. If you need help with this, please PM me and we'll work on it. Thanks.



Tyson Cromwell

"Maybe not," he smiled and looked around, leaning forward as if telling a secret, "but they are just people, nothing to be nervous about." He let a wink escape his bold, chocolate eye as he leaned back into his seat again.

Tyson popped open his small chef salad and looked it over, glancing to Lily's. It was definitely better looking than hers...that was a fact. He didn't really enjoy salads much anywho, he was just always hounded about how good they were for you so he was used to eating them. But, this time he decided he could live without, "Want to switch me salads? Yours looks delicious." As earnestly as possible he lied, hoping he'd be convincing.

Lily looked his over and hers over and shrugged, "Nah, that's okay. Thanks."

Tyson squinted a bit, not believing her but not pushing it, "Well, I'll just leave it here for a minute and eat my sandwich first...just incase you change your mind."

Lily smiled his direction and rolled her eyes a bit, but kept quiet--she may actually change her mind in a few moments but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction beforehand.

Tyson rolled the plastic wrap off his newly purchased turkey sandwich and ripped open a packed of mayonnaise, "So, Lily West, when did you come over to our glorious, mass-garbage producing country?" The light flickered off his chocolate hues as he smiled to Lily, truly interested in her answer.

Lily West
I glanced over, unconsciously, at the table of girls. I could see one of them eating a sandwich, and the blonde girl not eating at all. She looked uncomfortable and fidgety. I sighed, of course, it made so much sense now. I had pinned her right away, the false smile, the glazed expression, how pretty she was, how well groomed. How thin. A high achiever with stunning looks and low self esteem. So text-book I almost laughed. I almost thought about talking to her about it, but then of course it could just be me, seeing it in everyone else like that was some normal thing.

I was shocked out of my train of thought when Tyson called my attention back:
"but they are just people, nothing to be nervous about."
He even offered me his salad, which I didn't accept. I found myself thinking, just for a moment, no, better not eat, what if she sees me. Then I could never talk to her, never show my face.

I let him sit back again, taking huge man-sized bites out of a sandwich, and then he asked me:
"So, Lily West, when did you come over to our glorious, mass-garbage producing country?"
I thought about it, wondering what sort of answer he was looking for. Was he really interested or just makng conversation? While I thought about it I switched my plate of salad with his, ate it calmly and slowly one bite at a time, just like they taught me back in rehab.
"I got the chance to. Why not take it?" I regarded his expression, he looked almost disappointed.
"That's it?" - Maybe he was really interested after all. Now that surprised me.
"Not exactly. I uh.. I wanted to get away. From England. I have family there, and uh.."

I thought of Jack, slouched on the sofa beside in, drunk up to his eyes, watching Hollyoaks on a Sunday. I thought of him dancing with some girl in a bar while I swirled vodka shots in some sick attempt to forget it, I thought of my last words to him before I left for America. In the airport, his eyes red with a hangover, my own with held back tears. This is what I have to do, Jack. For my sanity. and his reply, glib and cold. Whatever, Lil. I'll see you around.

Tyson waved a hand in front of my face, half smiling and half concerned.
"I had a guy I wanted to get away from." I continued. "So when my uni had a place for me here, to do my internship.. well it was either that or Manchester and no one wants to go there. I needed a change of scene." I finished the salad with three lettuce leaves arranged neatly in the centre of the plate. He didn't say anything to reply to me so I filled in the silence.
"You from around here?"

***oh! I'm sorry V, really. I totally forgot*****

Name: Aaron Lancer

Age: 34

Position: Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, and Professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Appearance: 6' tall, about 120lbs (183cm, ~54kg), black hair, green eyes, sharp facial features, blocky shoulders.

Biography: Born an only-child to affluent parents in New York City—both of whom were killed in an accident when he was 14—Lancer attended Stuyvesant High School where he graduated salutatorian. Lancer went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then from Harvard Medical School. He did his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Internal Medicine followed by a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School's Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and a training fellowship at the Center for Disease Control in Epidemiology and Epidemic Intelligence Services. He has been at CMH for three years now as an attending physician.

Personality: Aaron seems reserved to most people; his reservation, though, stems more from the fact that he is uninterested in other people rather than having some actual hesitation about social interactions. Unfortunately, this means he has a hard time "reading" other people and frequently comes off as being callous or insincere, particularly in romantic entanglements, where his mixed signals often frustrate the other person. His personal life is thus mostly nonexistent.

His diagnostic style is unorthodox in that he has little regard for financial constraints, often performing tests and procedures that run a deficit in the hospital budget (sometimes taken from his salary). His mistrust of his colleagues and subordinates often leads to confrontations that call into question their abilities--sometimes his own as well. This has led to a tenuous-at-best relationship with hospital faculty, but Aaron, for now, remains employed.

*okay wow I have been away to long..after tomorrow I will not be gone..I'm sorry I havn't posted much but ten hours of volleyball a day pretty much kills me..tomorrow is my last day of camp though! Yay!*

Corrie-

"Corrie, is everything okay?" Dr. Morrow asked me. I looked up into his handsome face and put on a smile.

"Of course." I set my clip board on my lap and put my hands on the wheels to start to roll away into the canteen. That was usually my answer to everything nowadays, run away. He put his foot in front of my right wheel to stop me,

"Are you sure?" I nodded and caught his eyes for a second then looked away. I looked back behind me at Brian then continued to the canteen.

There were a lot of people there. I didn't really feel like eating so I just rolled up to an empty spot on the wall and watched other people. I stared at my clip board and tried not to think about Brian or Ben-- that could only lead to trouble.

Brian-

I headed to the canteen after Corrie, I wanted to try to talk to her but thought better of it. I got in line and picked out the least disgusting looking food. I sighed and took a seat with some lonely looking ederly patients.

"How is everyone today?" I asked cheerily digging into my mac and cheese. It wasn't half bad. I didn't want to go swimming in it or anything but it was definatly edible. I got a few grunts and head nods from the other patients.

"I'm fine kid, been that way since '48." It was a frail looking man who seemed to have a lot of fight and spunk in him. He was wearing a blue robe, patient pants, and a dark green hat.

"Well, thats good to hear. If you're fine than what are you in for?" I asked motioning around the room with another spoonful of mac and cheese.

"That's not really important." He said, "The only thing that matters is I'm here for a while and I've tried every escape route but none of them work." He laughed followed by a cough. I laughed a little too, "Though I could use some more 'lively' company. He looked around at the others who were half asleep.

"I see what you mean, what's your name sir?"

"Arthur Adams." He said, we shook hands and then he looked up at the clock, "And your name son?"

"Oh excuse my manner, Brian Ledge."

"Well, Brian Ledge, I have to be off now. See ya around."

"Most definalty." Arthur stood up and walked out of the canteen leaning on a walker.

*So this would be a great time for whoever claimed Brian to jump in*

Tyson Cromwell

"You from around here?" Lily questioned.

Tyson shrugged, "Enough." He took a bite of his swapped salad. It could have been better, but to be honest he wasn't really a picky eater. Or very open about his personal life for the most part.

"When did you get here, Lily West?" He put a bit more salad dressing over his lettuce to make it a bit more tasty.

Lily took another sip of her drink, "About two weeks ago, haven't quite gotten the lay of the land yet." She glanced around, almost nervously, at the others in the room.

He raised a brow to her attentiveness, wondering what it was she was really nervous about or if she really just didn't handle pressure very well. Ty had never been the kind of person to get nervous, he took everything as a challenge and that's really what made him where he was in life and he was not ashamed of it. He couldn't really understand what there was to be nervous about, but he saw it happen all the time.

Tyson smiled and checked his watch for time and date quickly, "I can show you around this weekend, if you like?"

Isabella Milan

I smiled, seating myself beside Daniel and biting into the hamburger he had insisted on buying for me. He watched me for a moment before taking a bite of his own.

"Thanks for lunch," I said. He nodded in response. "You must be here a lot to have known your way to the cafeteria that well. If you were only here for blood clotting last time, you wouldn't have been here long enough to actually learn your way that well."

Daniel swallowed his food, and took a drink before speaking.


Evan Kensington

When it came to be lunch time, I walked back to the lounge, hoping to find Sydney.

She wasn't there.

Instead, I pulled the lunch I had brought for myself out of the fridge, and then headed down to the cafeteria, thinking I might be lucky enough to run into Sydney on my way.

>> Haha, actually Sydney is standing in the lounge doorway with Jeremy right now, Bell

Jeremy Raynor
It was good to see Sydney, she always seemed like she knew what she was doing. Although she looked a bit flushed, and if I could notice it through the haze of exhaustion it must have been pretty unsubtle. I was curious now, so I followed her to the canteen, waking myself up a bit with more coffee.
"Sorry about this," I muttered and she turned to me with an expression like, huh? I wasn't sure what I'd meant to say really, so I just said, "I'm pretty tired this morning."
"It's not morning any more!" she laughed, "what's wrong with you?"
I turned my head sideways, thinking.
"I dunno, really. More to the point, what's wrong with you? What was going on before I bumped into you, huh?"
She actually blushed a little bit, I was almost delighted by the result.
"I don't want to talk about it," she told me, and she sounded pretty certain.

We were in the queue for lunch by this time, so we remained in silence while we got our food and walked to a table. I chewed absently on the sandwich I'd bought.
"I was thinking..." I paused, embarrased, but we'd known each other the whole time I'd worked there... she was a friend, or a close as it got. "look, I'm not sleeping. Not properly. I just pass out every so often, otherwise it's all sitting around listening to my head, you know?"
"You were thinking what, Jer?"
"Oh. Nothing, really." I backed off from the idea, I didn't wanna go there really, changed my mind. But she looked sceptical, raising an eyebrow. Yeah, okay, I hadn't done that too well.
"Yeah, right. Spit it out."
I considered a moment, held my breath, then blurted:
"I was thinking maybe you could do me a prescription of Eszopiclone, to get me to sleep."
I was the one biting my lip this time, wishing somehow I hadn't bothered to ask. It wasn't like I couldn't have faked someone signature to get me some. I don't know why I wanted to do it right this time. The thing was, I really did need to get to sleep this time, it wasn't a habit thing or even something I planned on keeping up. Once I got my body-clock sorted, I'd be off it easy as anything.
She seemed to be considering it. I waited.

Lily West
I felt my heart leap into my throat, but I forced myself to remain calm. This couldn't mean anything, anyway. I mean, he wanted to show me the city. That's a perfectly normal thing for a person to want to do. The fact that he hadn't been instantly horrified by me was pretty reassuring, and he interested me. He was obviously a private person, and I liked that. That was where I'd gone wrong with Jack, spinning myself into a guy whose problems were right there on the surface, messing with everyone's head. Not that Tyson meant anything by it, of course.
"Well, okay." I managed, actually smiling back at him for the first time, despite all those dazzling smiles directed at me. "Why not?"
"Why not exactly," he said, squirting more salad cream over the salad. I was horribly glad I was in another country, horribly glad I was away from England and everyone who knew me. I'd wanted to start over here, like I'd wanted to start over at every point in my life. Maybe this time it would really work out.

Via wrote:>> Haha, actually Sydney is standing in the lounge doorway with Jeremy right now, Bell

Not anymore! I just moved them to the cantine ^^' so that's right.

Sugar-Beth

I looked at Zoe eat for a while and we talked a little bit more. I finally stood up and said,

"I think I'm going to dump my tray, want me to take yours?" I asked.

"Ah... Nah I'll take it plus I'm not done... Are you sure your not hungry?" Her eyebrows raised once again.

"Positve." said flatly. I finally stood up and started to walk towards the trash.... and then I got those stupid glares from almost the whole room. "Hey exactly like highschool." I muttered under my breath. I looked at all the other women, it wasn't a curse to be tall, really. I smiled. I needed to check on Ava. I wanted to know where she was. I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket, I was so happy I had sent it to vibrate unless you wanted to hear the song "Shake it" by Metro station. Who didn't love that song? Anyways. I looked around at all tables and I notcied one girl not glaring at me, but just politely looking. I smiled her wa, a real smile. Maybe I would talk to her later on, I noticed she too wasn't eating anything.

***sorry for the post I know it's short but I have to get off right now I'm in trouble X_x I'll come back and add more***

Sydney Parker

Sydney sighed and leaned back in her seat, munching on a couple baked chips as she thought. She galnced around the room for a bit of help on who she should ask if it was a good idea or not--not that she actually would. Sydney was really the kind of person who could handle pretty much anything without help (or, at least thought she could). But, often times this philosophy did come back to bite her in the butt. Fortunately, it was usually in her personal life and rarely where her job was concerned.

She caught a glimpse of Emily and Des-her mother-in the corner of the room. Neither one seemed very intent in watching her, and she wasn't about to give her mother of the satisfaction of catching Sydney paying attention to her when not required, so she quickly stole her glance back to Jeremy.

Her body leaned forward on the table, one arm upon it with it's shared hand on her cheek as she rested her head there. Her blue hues scanned up to Jeremy as she spoke softly, assuming from his actions that this was not something he wanted others to really know about.

"Jer, why don't you just go see Gerty?"

Gerty, who all the residents and attendents knew very well, was the hospital psychiatrist. Most of her business, infact, came from CMH staff members. They all knew that working in a hospital could often times get to you...and none of them had the simplest of personal lives, to say the least. Gerty was a strict, but rather welcoming person. The kind of person who seems so much like she wants to know nothing that you just want to tell her absolutely everything. Sydney often felt a bit threatened by her as a friend, however, just because she knew so much about everyone that one big fight and--if she really wanted to--she could bury anyone with a few pieces of information. Not that Sydney ever thought she would, but just that she could frightened her a bit.

Jeremy sighed and leaned back a bit, avoiding eye contact with Sydney as if she was yelled at him for something and he was the guilty child.

"I mean, you know that's all confidential. She could really help you, and get you what you need."



Tyson Cromwell

Tyson easily pushed another smile out towards this amazingly accented British woman he had just meant. Truth be told, she really kind of fascinated him. There weren't many times that he met a woman who did. And despite his flirtatiousness and what that inevidably made people think about him, he really wasn't a player or a pimp--but few were privileged enough to find that out.

"Great, do you have Friday off?" Tyson gave up on the salad and snapped the plastic box incasing it shut before him, turning back to his turkey sandwich.

Lily glanced up and squinted a bit in thought, as if the answers were on the cieling, before turning back to him, "I think so?"

Another smile. He was definitely full of them, "How about two o'clock?"

Lily shrugged and agreed after a few seconds of deliberation on what a "two o'clock, non-date" really meant. What exactly was there to see in the middle of the afternoon? And, would this non-date include dinner? Do I want that? Oh, who knew.

"Oh, where are you staying? You couldn't have found a decent place around here in two weeks, could you?"