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[lukexxbrowning]

Rocky road, hands down. Or I like the regular ol' cookies and cream. What's yours?

Ice cream is good in any weather. Living in the south it was warm enough year round for ice cream so I still find myself wanting it all the time. Haven't readjusted yet. What is your favorite kind of ice cream?

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"Don't beat yourself up about it Annie, it was a mistake, and we caught it in time, and it was a mild allergic reaction." He said, his hand on her shoulder squeezing it softly. Letting out a small groan, he nodded his head. "That's exactly what will make me leave work and not come back in when I'm being paged. What kind? Chocolate chip?"

She caught the look of pain in his eyes as she looked back to him from her kids. She knew he'd been through some loss and that he'd wanted a family. Maybe someday he would still get that. "I try so hard to be thorough but then things like that stupid cocoa sneak through the door." She nodded her head. "10 minutes will work. The next bribe was saying I brought cookies. Which I did."

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Luke nodded his head, taking a moment to see the smirk on her face and her next words. "I can't say I have, and I'm not even quite sure what that is." He raised an eyebrow. "Is that the one with those stationary bikes?"

"You need more hobbies, yeah? Or just something that's proactive for you." Libby looked over at Luke with a smirk on her face as she spoke. "I mean, you could always come with me to pilates. It's a good workout and I find that it helps me take my mind off of things," she shrugged. It allowed her to escape the outside world for an hour or so. "Have you ever done it before?"

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He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'll have to try it." Though, he wasn't usually a fruity drink person. If they had a virgin old fashioned, he'd be all over it. "Onion rings work. I did seem some wings as well. Are you hungry? Do you want me to order a smorgasbord of appetizers?"

"If you want to get adventurous, I actually have had virgin daiquiris here before… they taste pretty good for being non-alcoholic!" she understood completely why some people chose not to drink, after all. "But we can also go with mozzarella sticks. Maybe some onion rings, too?"

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Do you want me to say something to him? I can. Tell him, you're spoken for and going home with someone else tonight. Hmm. Yeah, surprised myself too. The - uh - what? Really, these people need to not find different ways to ask others to sleep with them.

I have. About ten times. But then again guy doesn't take no for an answer. He's trying to shoot his shot with anyone he's seen walking by him. A neon sign we are that says yes please tell us the positions you'd want us to get into for you. How about you? You've actually surprised me that you came out. Got anyone in your sights you want to do the horizontal lambada with? That's my favorite line someone told me in the restroom. I have to find that guy who said it because that was smooth. Solid effort.

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Lucas: I'm glad you're doing well. Rosalyn is good too? Lucas: All good. Was working, and had to take care of my patients that were nestled over there. Played a lot of card games.

Text Baby Sis

Lucas: Hi. Lucas: Wanted to check in. Lucas: See how you're doing, and if there's anything you need. Cordelia: Hi. Cordelia: I'm good. Back to work after the storm. But I'm good. Cordelia: Everything good with you during the storm?

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He glanced over. "I'm going to be sipping on water for the most part, but I can buy you a round or two." Pausing, he glanced towards a few people down the bar with mozzarella sticks on their plates. "Yeah, maybe that's the better bet. They look good."

WHO: Livvy & open!

WHERE: Singles Night, Vibrations

WHEN: February 11, 2023

"So what are we drinking tonight?" Livvy asked, sidling up to the bar and resting both arms on the surface. "Or are we thinking about grabbing an entire platter of mozzarella sticks? I'm not against it."

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I hope I get to watch that, if you do. Though subtlety isn't your strong suit, so why don't you just tell them?

✨ × singles night × ✨

Do you think if I throw my drink over my head they'll get the hint that I don't want to hear another one of their pick up lines?

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He shot her a look, and stroked his beard again. He was not going to grow his hair out that long. "Yeah, I don't think I could go that long. I'm quite happy with my facial hair right now." he laughed, before nodding. "Thanks. Not my usual attire, but I don't hate it. You make the whole cowgirl vibe look good too." Truth be told, Livvy could probably pull off any outfit and look good in it either way. Taking another sip of his drink, he nodded. "Yeah. Me being an asshole. I know Cage is making her happy. And they both deserve that. I got jealous of it." He sighed. "I'm happy she's happy." He pressed his lips together as her hand squeezed his arm. "Yeah. I know." Shrugging, he took another sip of his drink, maybe just as a reflex of not wanting to talk about it anymore. "Seems promising. You've spoken to the lady about potentially taking over after she leaves?"

"Well… you have the beginnings of the facial hair for it," she shot back on a grin. "Lumberjacks have those big, bushy full beards, like the ones that go halfway down their chests?" she held up a hand to show him what length she meant. "But you do look good in it, yeah, very casual and laidback, which is a good look on you," much better than scrubs, and a lot more relaxed than formal events around town. "You, being an asshole?" she parroted back, raising a brow. Truthfully, Livvy couldn't remember very many times when Cordelia had complained about fighting with Luke, so she knew it must have been something serious. "I know you guys will work it out," she reached across the table to squeeze his forearm. "She loves you, you know? You're family. We always forgive family." Lord knows how often she had fought with Mandy growing up. "Mhm! I'm taking some online courses to learn more about it."

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He thought about her words. "I think I would need to find something that I could do that would keep me busy other than work. Right now, I haven't been able to find it." Pausing. "At least not yet. Any suggestions?"

At Luke's words, Libby sent a small smile his way. It was one of the hardest things to leave behind a long-term relationship, but sometimes that change was needed in order to grow and live out the life you deserved. You could only stay stagnant for so long before you needed to move on, or at least, that's what Libby thought. Libby's arms leaned against the table, hands underneath her chin as she listened to him speak. "Yeah, but you don't want to drown yourself in your work, you know? I know it's a busy schedule being a resident, but you should find little things that bring you joy."

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"Well, maybe one day we could go out, and you could have another reason to wear it." he said, "Though, that would involve me getting dressed up." Letting a small laugh slip out of his mouth. "I feel so much more comfortable in jeans and a tshirt. or my scrubs."

"It's one of those dresses that I actually look forward to wearing again in the future, you know?" the sort of dress that she had put work into, something she would happily take out of the closet if she ahd the opportunity to slip into it again. "I get you. Sometimes it's better to be in jeans and a t-shirt, right?" Nari loved the Galas and fancy events in town, but was glad they didn't happen that often. "Right? I could have taken home a dozen dessert containers!"

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Yeah. Yeah. Fine. I'll check in with her. Cage? Thanks for taking care of her. I've not been the best lately.

Then keep doing that. Whatever it takes to just... stop making everything hard. And no more using me against her -- I mean that. I hear word of it again, we're done here, and that's going to make a real awkward rest of our lives, because I'm not going anywhere. She'll get out when the time is right. I'm not sure if they got it fixed today or not, but I told her to stay here until it's taken care of.

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He could see the panic in her eyes as she locked eyes with him. Those words that slipped out of her mouth immediately put him into alarm mode as he slipped right behind her to fall in step. Rounding behind her shoulder, he could see the amount of people in the room trying to come up with an excuse. Lucas wanted to step in, but Di looked like she had it under control. Her voice was stern but she handled it with care, especially with her patient still in the room. Luke's eyes scanned around the room to make sure that everything was okay before he glanced at Di. "You okay?" He asked, his arm slipping around her shoulders, since he knew how tense she was from that. "They're okay. We caught it in time."

The way her heart always nearly falls out of her socket when she hears that ghastly alarm go off in her ward, she made sure to calm her patient down after opening her juice box for her and with a promise of coming back she ran out the door. Instantly meeting Luke's eyes and what, two seconds ago had a gleeful smile on her face, was now replaced with concern. "Code red." That was all she said as she went down the hall to the room. The alarm blared into her ears as she ran in and saw the doctor who thought owned this ward and knew more than she did because she was a woman. She heard everyone in the room clamoring to find a good excuse on how the shot of insulin was given to someone who was allergic to that specific brand and that had not been authorized by their parent. "This was not authorized by their parent. You'll be hearing from them when I give them a call." Di took her job seriously and that often meant butting heads with senior members who thought they had all the answers but when it came to the kids that were in her care she would fight for them. Pushing past his shoulder she quietly went to stand beside Luke. Her eyes showed she was still in a rage but was trying not to show it and further scare the patient.

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I'm trying. That's all I can say. Is that I'm trying.

I know. I've been trying to figure out a way to get her out of there. Her heater still not working?

Yeah, you do, Luke. You're making a difference in lives every day at work. You're being an uncle to Rosalyn, a sister to Cordelia, a pain in my ass on a regular basis. I know that might not seem like a huge deal, but... it is, I promise you. And if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, things will get better, day by day. I will. I just wanted you to know, in case you dropped by and she wasn't there. You know how god awful her place can be.

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He couldn't help but smile. Diana did that to him. Had always done that to him in the years they've known each other. And as much as they got under each others skin, he knew she was one of the good ones. He couldn't agree more with her words. Jamie was the best, even with younger patients. Nodding, he put his hands up in mock surrender. "I will not move, unless I get paged." He watched her off before turning towards the clipboard in his hand, a stupid smile on his face. He could hear the giggling from across the hall, and made eye contact with Di, catching a wink before she went into the room. "Can you make sure someone checks in on 110? I went in there a bit ago, and he was sleeping. Just take his vitals, again." He said, to the nurse at the station a few feet away.

She nodded and shrugged her shoulders, "Buddy boy. Get used to it." Jamie is the best with them when they don't like the hospital vibes. Alright but wait right there. I need to go over another patient's chart with you before I clock out. It is important and I need to have that asap so I can continue giving Livvy the progress report." She turned on heels and became the epitome of a big child slowly creeping toward the desk where she knew she'd find her. Hearing that child laughter made her heart expand, all she really wanted was to give these kids a chance to experience what being a child is like. Even if they didn't make it out then at least they'd have one special core memory to take with them and their parents would have the reassurance that their child didn't always suffer. Finding them she lead the patient back to her room with the promise of lunch. Turning to Luke she winked in triumph.

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"I'll let you sniff me right now, and then I'd have to carry you to a bed and stick an IV in you." He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not that bad. I have deodorant in my locker. Though I could easily just shower here, and just meet you at your place." Lucas paused and raised an eyebrow. "Not that I know of, though I can page them. Are you alright? Last time you had your blood taken, I didn't see any abnormalities. Or is this about Annie's dad?"

"Yeah, that's a good point. Don't think we can let you in if you're not showered." He joked teasingly. "Less than 10 minutes? Okay, now I really do wanna time you. Do you know if the head of hematology department is in yet?"

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God, it felt like they were back to being in their twenties. "Buddy boy?" He teased, letting out a laugh. Leaning against the counter, he looked behind her for a second, still seeing the young child from 209 running around looking for a hiding spot. His eyes went back to Di's in front of him as he scrunched his face. If he would've known, he would've tried to go help out. "Jamie knows what he's doing all the time, probably more than any of us." Letting out a sigh, he knew how it felt when you didn't think there'd be any more hope for patients. But that wasn't how he operated. He always tried to find a way to find hope. "Her blood pressure has been fluctuating but either way, we'll keep an eye on her. And if anything changes, I can call you." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure out a way to help. Plus, I think you have someone to go look for." He said, nodding his head towards the other side of the nurses station.

◇ LB ◇

"Sorry to burst your bubble but you are not it buddy boy. You have to be okay with being second best." She knew this might have seemed insane and weird but Diana was never one to care what people thought especially concerning children. She enjoyed seeing the good in all the bad that surrounded her job. "Yeah, okay. Sure. You keep telling yourself that. She's okay now. She went in for some lab work and one of the new nurses went a little too hard on the poke and she didn't know how to handle it. I don't blame her she said the new nurse had a heavy hand and a rough touch. Then enter moi! I am going to refer Jamie to be the one who administers the pokes for her from now on. I've been waiting for a tiny miracle for her but that chart is not giving me really optimistic feelings."