Another hard day of work and another night of nothing to do. The week had been hectic following Mr. Farewell's admission into the hospital. I don't think I've ever seen that many armed guards in a hospital. One would think that the president of the United States was visiting. Honestly, I didn't know what scared me more. The fact that Ivan Farewell, who was know to be extremely ruthless, decided to flirt with me while he was delirious due to blood loss or having his men follow me around like puppies because I saved their boss's life. My nerves have been so frazzled, I don't think I've had a moment to relax until Mr. Farewell was stable.

Dr Carlson and I were the ones who took over his care, taking turns to monitor his vitals and ensure that no further complications would come up. I'd rather not be on the opposite end of the barrel of a gun just because I missed a small details. The nurses were all sympathetic, always ensuring that I had coffee and something to eat between shifts. I don't think I would've made it throughout the week without burning out.

Treating Mr Farewell and then talking to Mr Farewell were two completely different things. For someone who had a reputation as bloody and fearsome as his, he was surprisingly polite. It almost caught me off guard.

I'm still not over the shock.

Haley and Andre—Dr Franz and Dr Carlson insisted I call them by their first names—had decided to take me out after a long and gruelling week.

The bar that they had chosen was a small sports bar a few streets away from Farewell-Love General. Inside was lively with groups of people coming from the cold to enjoy their time off work and drink as they watched the latest sports on the big screens that lined that walls of the bar. It was warm and brightly lit, with various sport regalia hanging from the ceiling and walls. There was no loud pulsing music or obnoxious college students. I think I was a few steps to achieving that sense of normal that I desperately craved.

It had been aptly named The Lemon Spritz Bar.

I sipped on a fizzy drink with lemon while Dr. Franz complained about the football team on the big screen. Dr. Carlson was giving her those soft eyes she complained about drafts and stats. I didn't understand what she was saying, most of it went over my head. Honestly, I felt like I was the third wheel on a date. But it felt nice to hang out with someone outside other than my cat.

Dr. Carlson must've noticed my silence because he cleared his throat. Dr. Franz turned around in her chair to ask why he interrupted but also noticed my sipping from my drink silently. She gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I get carried away."

"It's okay. You're very passionate about football." I titled my glass at the screen.

"I know." Haley beamed at me, tucking a stray curl of her hair behind her ear. "Andre is the only one who'll listen to my rambling. I swear most men would've left by now."

I smirked at him. "Good thing, Dr. Carlson isn't most men."

"Cheers to that!" She raised her beer mug.

I raised my drink. "To Dr. Carlson and his steadfastness!"

We clinked our drinks together while he rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, truly I'm superior to all men," he said sarcastically, spreading his arms out. "Cower before me and my manliness!"

Haley beamed at him. I watched the both of them have a silent conversation. It was sweet to watch. I don't think I've seen that many couples like that. My parents were hardly the type to exchange sweet words or gaze into each other's eyes. Nah. My parents had their issues. I don't fault them for that. I fault them for not being able to handle it. Sweet kisses and loving words were the stuff of fairytales to me. I hardly believed in it. But sometimes, it doesn't matter. Other people believed in it and that was okay.

"This seat taken?" Someone asked from behind us.

"Um....no?" Dr. Carlson glanced up. "We were waiting for you to show up actually."

"Nat!" Haley exclaimed loudly. Her curly red hair bouncy when she stood up. She walked over and pulled her into a tight bear hug.

I hid my laughter as a caught at her expression. She looked less than pleased but allowed the tipsy red head to hug her. Nat made a disgusted sound and tried to push Haley off of her. "Why do you always hug me, woman?" She tried to pry herself away. "Do you not know the concept of personal space?"

"How could I not hug my favorite patient?" Haley finally pulled away, beaming. "What are you doing over here?!"

"Just came to say hi." She pointed her thumb behind her towards the bar. One of the bartenders looked a little pale but waved nervously. "I need to keep my staff in check. I have a reputation to uphold."

I waved at her, unfazed by the casual mention of violence. "How are the stitches holding up?"

She looked down at her arm. "Meh. They're fine."

"Sorry for not being able to be there, Nat." Dr. Franz said. "I was called to consult with another case."

"You're okay." The blonde grabbed a chair from the other table and sat down. "The newbie wasn't so bad. She's a little weird but did a decent job."

I grinned. "Thank you."

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Don't mention it. Ever."

"A compliment for the Nat?" Dr. Carlson raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I can't believe that you let her treat you without breaking her hand. Color me surprised."

Okay then. I guess Nat breaking hands and fingers was common. She probably hated to be touched by people she didn't know. I breathed out a sigh of relief, broken fingers would not be pleasant. My livelihood depended on my fingers.

"She's stubborn." She shrugged. "And I was kinda bleeding all over the place so...yeah."

Andre gave me a look as if to say well done. Haley placed an arm around my shoulder. "I'm so happy that she's part of our team. It's been a huge relief to us. You have no idea how we struggled ever since Dr. Morris...Er...left."

Nat snorted. "Well, he shouldn't have tried to embezzle from the hospital. You know how much he hated that."

"Embezzle?" I raised my eyebrows sharply. Geez. Just how bad was it before I got here? Who even embezzles from a hospital?! "Should I even ask what happened to him?"

Dr. Carlson and Dr. Franz both exchanged a look. Nat looked unbothered.

"He's dead." She said causally. "Probably, we're not really sure. Or maybe he's in Mexico sipping on chilled tequila."

I felt a shiver crawl up my spine when she said that. "Oh."

"You don't try something like that and expect you're going to live," she said. She sipped on the beer that Dr. Carlson passed her. "You're not gonna do something like that, are you, Doc?"

I shook my head vigorously and sputtered out. "No! Absolutely not! I would never——"

Nat started laughing. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned against Haley.  She elbowed her to cut it out while Andre rolled his eyes. She clapped my back. "I'm just screwing with you, Doc. You don't look like the type that would murder someone."

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

"Be nice, Nat." Haley scolded her. "We're trying not to scare her off."

"I am nice!" She shot back.

"Sure. Tell that to the man you beat up." Dr. Franz scoffed. "Nice and Nat do not belong in a sentence."

"I can be nice! Watch!" She turned to me. "Hey, You're a pretty decent doctor." Nat turned back around the Haley. "See, I can be nice!" 

"In what world would that be considered nice?" I ask.

"In my bar."

"Why doesn't that reassure me?" I asked dryly.

"Don't take it personally, Doc."

"I'm not," I nursed my drink and my somewhat wounded pride. "I'm a great doctor."

She rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her hair. She was dressed in an all black suit but her heels were white with gold straps. She looked fashionable and put together for someone who regularly got into bar fights. Nat caught my expression and reached out her non bandaged hand. "I think we got off in the wrong foot. I'm Natalia Farewell, I own this bar."

At this point, I might've been just collecting Farewell's like they were baseball cards. I smiled, resigning myself to fact that I would be seeing the Farewell's more often from now on.

"Dr. Meera Saravana," I shook her hand firmly. "I'm the one who stitched you back together."

*****

I walked out of the bar, taking a deep breath of air. I felt tired. Like the day had all of a sudden caught up to me.

I had a small amount of beer that made me pleasantly buzzed. I walked towards the bus station in silence. The November chill tried to creep underneath my clothes. I don't know what I'll do if it get really, really cold. I didn't even have a proper winter coat. Hmm. I should probably get on that.Pharaoh was getting angsty being cooped up in a hotel for so long. I felt bad leaving him there all day. I made sure to cuddle him whenever I went to bed.

"Hey, Doc! Hold on for a second!" I stopped into the middle of the sidewalk and turned around. Nat was running towards me, a determined look on her face.

How did she run in heels? I hope she doesn't punch me. I don't like getting punched. I braced myself as the blonde came to a stop in front of me. She stood up and straightened her shoulders. I wasn't sure what she was going to do so I just waited patiently for her to say something.

"Do you speed walk or something?" She huffed. "Seriously, how did you walk this far in a short amount of time."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Habit?"

"Okay, look. I don't do this for anyone but Haley and I were talking after you left." She looked nervous, her cheeks stained pink due to the cold. "And I heard you needed a place to stay and you're a bit broke."

"I'm not broke."

"Haley mentioned you lived in a hotel."

"I'm not broke but I have very limited life savings." I admitted. "I don't know if I could pay you rent properly,"

"So close to broke?"

"Yeah." I said, resigned.

I still had some money leftover from my time in LA. I'd lost most of it when I was forced to move. I hated thinking about it. It's done. I can just make my own money again. Hopefully.

"Well.....okay. I need a roommate. And I hate living alone. So......" Natalia trailed off, looking at with an expecting gaze. "You interested?"

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Do you think Anya would mind?"

"Forget Anya. My apartment, my rules. I'll charge you a fair price for rent." She pointed at her bandages arm. I could see that Nat was doing her best to convince me. "All you have to do is to fix me up when I get hurt. And trust me, I get hurt a lot."

There were pros and cons to this. A lot of pros and cons. But honestly, what could I do? I was starting to get sick of living in a hotel and every apartment that I looked at was either outside my price range or shabby. My options were limited. "Let's talk about it." I motioned Nat to follow me. The both of us walked down the street towards the bus stop. The lamp light made out shadows dance across the pavement. I watched as her taller shadow stood parallel to mine.

"So that's a yes?" Natalia's asked. She started to walk backwards, narrowly avoiding poles and trashcans. "You'll move in?"

"It's a maybe." I tapped her nose. I was surprised she didn't try to bite my finger off. "I'll check it out first and if I like it, we'll write out a contract. How's that?"

"Not bad. Glad to see you're not a total pushover." She pulled out her phone. "Here. Give me your number. I'll text you the address."

I took her phone. I noticed how cracked her screen was. How did she even see anything on this? "Hey. Quick question," I said as I typed my name into the phone. "Are you okay with cats?"

Nat pursed her lips. "Yeah. I used to have one but is it trained?"

"Yeah. He is." I smiled and handed the phone back to her. "There we go. Call me or text me if that's convenient for you."

She picked her phone and looked at me. "What's your cats name?"

"Oh, he's called Pharaoh!" I smiled thinking about my cute little fluff ball.

"Do you have pictures?" Nat looked a little eager.

"Sure!" I dug our my phone from my bag and showed her my lock screen. It was Pharaoh when he was a year old, still gray and very fluffy. "It's an older photo of him. I can text you more photos of him if you want."

To my surprise, Nat smiled at the picture. "He's adorable."

There was a little flutter of happiness in my chest. It happened at rare moments but it always came as a shock to me. I couldn't help but laugh out loud a little. Pharaoh was one of the few things in life that made me smile and brought me joy. He was a gift from someone I considered very special. I've had roommates who hated having my cat live with them and I've had roommates that tried to get to get rid of my cat. I always stubbornly refused. It was one of the many reasons I had bought an apartment for myself when I was in L.A.

I was happy that Nat was okay with Pharaoh. Huh. She might be a little rough around the end he but she's wasn't so bad. Maybe this would work out. Pharaoh was always a good judge of character, just like me!

"You know what, Doc. I like you. You have a cat and you put up with my bull."

"I'm so glad that my cat endeared you to me."

She scoffed, but there was no malice behind it. "When's your bus arriving?"

"Oh?" I looked down at my watch. "In a few minutes. You should probably get going. I'll be fine."

Nat walked a ahead of me, she hands stuffed into her pockets. "Nah. I'll walk you to your bus stop. I'm heading in this direction anyway."

I wanted to point out that the direction she was heading was a bunch of warehouses but I didn't say anything. It was sweet in a strange away so I let it slide and caught up to her.