Complicated Lies.

[Marcus Sisneros]

Finding himself staring out of the large window too, Marcus took his eyes off of the nurse and instead looked around the brightly lit trauma ward. Again, it was a slow night, which was strange. He knew it could change any moment, one new patient could change a shift like that, but as he checked the clock above Charlie's bed, he saw that he could have gone home fifteen minutes ago. For some reason, he didn't care. "She probably liked it at one point." Marcus said about the nurse. "When she was young, pretty, doctors would sleep with her, and the whole hospital didn't realize she was a complete two-faced whore." He turned to look back at his patient with a small grin. "You're welcome."

After a small pause, he spoke again. "Maybe I did tell you to shut up, and I'm not apologizing." Marcus kidded, playing along by pouting his bottom lip childishly. Although he shrugged when she called him a serious doctor, he really felt quite flattered. Because of his age, most of the other staff didn't take him that seriously. "Damn, and this whole time I thought you were coming onto me." He joked again, smiling at Charlie.

He looked at the woman in front of him who didn't speak, and Marcus honestly was at a loss for words. He had spent all of his concentration trying to get information out of her he hadn't thought about what he would do once he'd gotten the truth. "So what are you wanting to do, then?" He asked, awkwardly breaking the drawn out silence. "When you're out of here at the end of the week I obviously don't want you going back to him." He added.

"I'm sorry." Marcus said sincerely, looking down at the girl.

sorry it's a little on the short side. Writers block. ):

Yes, moving it would be wonderful, if that's what you would like to do.

[Charlotte Rose.]

Her eyes stayed focused on the nurse outside the window in front of them, entertained about where the conversation had went to. Even more drama filled stories from a hospital. Who would have guessed? And all this time people were making fun of medical shows. Heh. Realizing the nurse had turned her attention back over to the two; she quickly moved her eyes back onto Marcus with a nervous chuckle. "Again with all the doctors sleeping with the nurses and vive versa..." Her head shook, pushing strand of hair out of her eyes. "I still can't believe it."

"So you admit you told me to shut up. How dare you." Charlie pretended to be hurt, putting a hand over her chest with a gasp for over dramatic effect. Not that she actually was. Shut up had to be one of the least offending things she had been told - living with her boyfriend and all. "You just want to fall in love with one of your patients. Not happening." She nodded teasingly, rolling her eyes to play it off.

How exactly was the girl supposed to respond to that? Once again the room filled with an awkward dead silence as the words escaped her mind. Now that Charlie told him; she knew he wasn't going to let it go so easily. Not with how stubborn Marcus was before just trying to get her to tell him what was up. How lovely.

"What I want to do? Get away from him." Charlie snickered, voice still low and quiet. "That's not what's going to happen though. I just can't leave like that. He'll.. find me. That or one of his little buddies." Charlie kept her eyes down low for a few more seconds, before picking her head up to look at the man in front of her.

"I have no choice but to go back to him. Where would I go? The streets?" She continued to shake her head - completely in denial about the whole thing. "You have no need to be sorry."

(Great. I moved the last post to this new thread. It wasn't short, though!)

[Marcus Sisneros]

"I couldn't believe it either, when I started." Marcus began when he heard her incredulous tone. "When I was still in school I couldn't wait to start working at a hospital. I thought I would be with smart, professional people everyday. Then I started my intership here and apperently not. My first day I felt like I was dropped right in the middle of an episode of ER." He laughed. It was hard staying out of the drama in a place like this. Of course, he tried to distance himself from it by hanging around the right people, but it was hard to remain separated from the madness. As if trying to save lives everyday wasn't enough, he had to worry about who said what, the old game of he-said, she-said.

"Yes, I admit, please put me in time out so I can think about my actions." he joked in the same sarcastic tone. "And, I'm also trying to seduce you. Guilty as charged." Marcus humoured as he put one of his hands up in the air, palm out and fingers stretched. He let a fake shocked expression spread across his face as he let his arm drop back to his side. "Or wait, maybe you're trying to make one of your doctors fall in love with you! The tables have turned, my friend." He still grinned at her as he said this.

The atomosphere was filled with tension, Marcus could only just stare the girl in front of him in the face. He ran his fingers through his hair, something he normally did when he felt pressured or stressed. Maybe he should just leave her. His job was done, after all, she was in recovery, she didn't need to have trauma surgeons hanging around her. Marcus could be done with this, go home and never worry about it again. But could he live with himself, just letting Charlie go back to such a dangerous relationship? If she did that, he'd see her again in the hospital, no doubt, and he would know it was partly his fault.

"There's always women's shelters." He suggested, his voice sounding much stronger than hers. "Sure, they can be a little rocky, but they're safe places, none the less. Do you not have any family or friends you can go to? No one who you trust who can help you out?" Their eyes met. A sigh escaped his lips.

[Charlotte Rose.]

The fact that all the staff working in the hospital were acting like teenagers in high school, well, shocked her. She was with Marcus on that one. She would have assumed the same thing - not end up working with people that liked to gossip, fuck around, and god knows what. "What is this, high school?" Charlie chuckled, laying her head back down on the pillow. "At least you're staying out of the drama. You're not one of them."

"Oh hush, I am not trying to make you fall in laugh with me." Charlie rolled her eyes jokingly, raising an eyebrow over at Marcus. That was the last thing on her mind when in a hospital. Pale looking. Hooked up to monitors and wires. Basically looking like the worst thing in the planet. Yeah, she was so trying to seduce him. "Whatever you want to think."

Biting down on her bottom lip, the conversation had turned into goofing off into being serious. Stressful, even. Charlie could tell just by his body language. Though once question swirled through her mind; why was he still here? Surely he didn't need to be there in the room with her at that point in time. And with that thought in mind - it was time to avoid his questions again.

"Why do you care anyway? You could have left already. You got your answers. I...I don't need anyones help." Charlie mumbled - obvious lie."My parents? They're the one who set me up with him years ago. And with friends, well... when you're not even allowed to leave your apartment or call anyone else, that's not exactly a way to keep a friendship."

Silence.

"Don't worry about me."

[Marcus Sisneros]

Hearing the High School comment, Marcus laughed slightly to himself. "High School? Not even that, it feels more like Middle School sometimes." He pressed his lips in a hard line as he said this, realizing the sad truth: he worked with fourty year old men and women who sometimes acted as if they were twelve. Then again, he did often do childish things, but at least he kept it somewhat seperated from his career.

"Are you sure? Because you can keep denying it, but it's not entirely convincing." He joked sarcastically. "I can see right through you. Don't worry, though, I understand. Everyone wants a piece of me. Is it my stethoscope?" Marcus continued his rant for a few more moments, not one bit of his words spoken seriously. He himself didn't look like the prettiest thing on earth either. Dark bags, wrinkled shirt, face needing a shave.

The room went quiet once again. Marcus could tell that his slightly over stressed state was starting to show through, and even from her tone of voice he could conclude Charlie was tired of everything as well. Defensive, even. He would have to pry more answers out of her.

"Yeah, I did get my answers, so now you expect me to leave you alone?" Marcus rebuttled, and he folded his arms acoss his chest. The thought had crossed his mind only a few moments before, yes, but he decided against them, no matter how nice they sounded. He inhaled slowly. This was starting to get rediculous. He was never one for arguments.

She was starting to sound really persuasive now. Marcus nearly took the first step towards the door. But something about the last four words she said kept him planted in his place for a little bit longer.

"Don't tell me what to do, I'll worry about you as much as I want." He said defiantly.

[Charlotte Rose.]

Trying to get her racing mind off of all the other horrible thoughts, Charlie smiled ever so slightly as Marcus continued to talk about working with what seemed like middle schoolers. You knew it was bad when someone compares your collegues to, what, twelve year olds? And it was safe to say there were no twelve year olds working at a hospital. "That's really bad. How do you put up with it all the time?" She questioned, nose scrunching once more.

Rolling her eyes once again - Charlie attempted to hold back a laugh that was threatening to escape her lips; failing miserably. "Oh yes. I so want you. Like, right now. How could I have ever denied it?" Her eyes rolled again at the end of her sentence, showing she was just goofing around. Something that she found easy to do around him. It was a relief, being able to laugh for once.

That was until the subject changed. Again.

Charlie hadn't meant it like that. Honestly - the last thing she wanted was for Marcus to leave the room. But with the mood going from happy to serious and stressful, it wasn't something she wanted him to deal with. Wasn't his job stressful enough without piling her problems onto him? "I...I didn't meant it like that." Charlie sighed, glancing down again. This is why she kept quiet most of the time. Never good with words.

"The thing is, why though? I didn't mean it in a bad way. It went from happy to...this. I can see it in your face. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

[Marcus Sisneros]

"I deal with it, somehow." Marcus answered simply with a shrug, his eyes fixated on Charlie's wrinkled nose. She kind of resembled a bunny rabbit, when he thought about it, but he had to admit, it was pretty cute. He couldn't help but giggle lightly to himself at the thought. Why was he laughing so much, anyways? He knew he was tired, but normally when he was worn out he would become quiet and withdrawn. After putting some thought to it, he could only conclude that he enjoyed Charlie's company. As a surgeon, he didn't spend much time speaking to patients unless he was consulting, and he normally wasn't even doing that, since he specialized in trauma. For him, the job was to clean the patient up, get them stabilized, and move them on to the next doctor who would take care of things further.

It happened again, that sudden change in the direction of the conversation. Marcus was, once again, exhausted. He was ready to be done with all of this. He let his eyelids close and focused on breathing deeply while he listened to Charlie's words. It sounded for a moment like she wanted him to stay, but he felt like he had no choice anymore.

"You're right, I shouldn't have to deal with any of this. I've wasted enough energy." He said quietly enough for the both of them to hear before lightly shaking his head and walking toward the door. Turning so they made eye contact for a split second, he was out of the room. As he walked down the quiet corridor, he heard the door swing shut behind him. Well, that was a dick move.

It ate at him as he made his way back down to the trauma ward, then further than that to the doctor's lounges and locker rooms. Marcus wasn't quick at his locker, he took his time. Placing his ID, stethoscope, and other various tools hidden in his pockets on one confined shelf and swapping them for a backpack, which he stuffed with his blood stained shirts from earlier as well as other artifacts he brought with him earlier that morning.

As he pulled a thick flannel shirt over his plain tee, followed by a warm black coat to protect him from the cold, he walked out of the little stuffy room and back out to the corridors, backpack slung casually over one shoulder. He had to go back to the recovery unit and say goodnight to Charlie, at least apologizing for his rude departure that happened merely fifteen minutes before. Yes, Marcus would go out of his way to stop by for a few moments, then he would leave for the rest of the night. He would go outside, have a long needed cigarette, then go home.

The trip back up to recovery went by fast enough. He strode down to Charlie's room, placing a hand on the door handle and bracing himself for lord knows what was on the other side. Pushing the door open a crack, he poked his head into the dimly lit room and looked at the small blond woman. "Just wanted to say good night before I left..." he started, casting his eyes down.

Marcus expected to just leave it at that, to turn himself around and walk out of the hospital, but for some reason actually found himself walking farther into Charlie's room. "Fuck it." He said, to himself more than anything as he threw his bag down and fell into a chair near her bed. The thoughts of smoking and sleeping faded from his mind.

[Charlotte Rose.]

Before Charlie even had a chance to say anything, none the less think, the mood had drastically turned for the worse. Once again, it only confirmed why she shouldn't be allowed to talk to anyone. All her words had come out the wrong way and this was not what Charlie wanted to happen - have Marcus leave like that. It had only been a few moments before he had turned around to leave out of nowhere after she had spoken; something that the petite girl had not expected from him. At all. Not when he was just laughing a few seconds earlier.

But what else could she do? Marcus was gone. Charlie was left alone in the dark room, simply staring at the shut door with tears forming in her blue hues. He had wasted enough energy? Shaking her head, Charlie let a huff escape her lips. Was she not worth it be helped? Not worth having someone who she could actually talk to? Was she actually not worth anything? The thoughts raced throughout her mind. Blink. Blink. Blink. The tears were now rolling down her pale cheeks; glad that Marcus - or anyone for that matter - couldn't see her cry.

Within those short fifteen minutes the girl had managed to turn to her side, slowly and carefully, hiding her face in the pillow. The only person who even cared enough to ask her what was going on was gone. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Charlie would never admit it - part of the reason she refused help - but she was scared as ever.

The sudden squeaking noise of the door opening caused her to literally jump out of her skin, quickly wiping the tears away from her eyes; not bothering to look up. Why...?

"What are you doing here?" Charlie coughed, staying in the same position as she listened to him walking over and setting down on the chair. "You already said you've wasted enough energy on me. I'm not worth it, remember?" Charlie closed her eyes tightly - attempting to hold back some of the tears once more.

[Marcus Sisneros]

For the first time since he entered the room, Marcus really looked at the girl. Or, at least he tried, for all he could see was the back of her head. Still, he could tell she wasn't happy. He wouldn't have been either if someone just walked out like he had in such a douche-ish fashion. It was selfish of him, childish even, what he had done, that much he knew. He felt terrible. The last thing he'd wanted was for Charlie to feel like he'd abandoned her. However, what was done was done, and now it was time to set things right. Had he thought that he would honestly leave her alone and give up after all he'd done to get the truth out of her? All for nothing?

Marcus kept his eyes on her hair and drew in a slow breath. "Maybe I should start with I'm sorry?" He asked her finally, as he'd let silence fill the room after she'd spoken, not wanting to put his foot in his mouth. "And that I'm a completely selfish, immature, dickhead? Oh, also if you didn't want to see me right now I would totally understand."

She wasn't worth it? Was that really what Charlie had taken from what he said? Well, that didn't make him feel any better about himself. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean any of that..." he let his voice taper and get quiet before he opened his mouth again to answer her original question.

"I'm here because I want to be here."

[Charlotte Rose.]

Oh how Charlie hated awkward conversations. Especially ones like this where you had just gotten into an argument and one person didn't want to see the other. Then again; she really didn't have to put up with that often. Now on the other hand? Yeah. Right now she wasn't as lucky. And with being in the hospital recovering from surgery, it wasn't like she was going anywhere. Charlie kept her eyes shut as she listened to what Marcus had to say, sighing heavily. This was going to be one long miserable night, wasn't it? After a moment of hesitation; Charlie lifted herself up and turned to Marcus - not caring if she looked if she had been crying.


"No, no. I don't mind if you're here." Charlie mumbled under her breath. She raised her hands up to her eyes, rubbing them slightly before returning her attention back over to Marcus. He obviously felt guilty about leaving like he had. That much was obvious. Would he do it again though? Charlie bit down on her bottom lip. "I'm the one who made you want to leave. I was stubborn. And.. well, I can't word things properly." Charlie laughed nervously.

"I just don't see why you would care. I mean, you could go home and forget about everything. And yet you were choosing to talk to me. I just didn't understand and it came out the wrong way." She nodded, wincing ever so slightly. Stupid stitches. "You're the first one to ever care."

[Marcus Sisneros]

There was once again extreme tension throughout the confined room. Even when Charlie flipped over to face him, Marcus didn't really want to look at her. For the most part he kept his eyes down, focused on his shoes, but when he glanced upward to risk a quick look at her, he could automatically tell that she'd been crying. He looked away immediately, the guilt still building on him. He felt like a child whose mother was standing before him, scolding him, wagging her finger in his face.

"You're not the reason I left." Marcus replied, shaking his head in protest as he repeated, "I'm just a completely selfish, immature, dickhead." He was still facing the floor. Although he still felt remorseful, at least she laughed -however weak said laugh may have been- which was enough to make him feel slightly better. He looked up for a few moments to smile at her, but it was without much effort. Casting his eyes back down, he propped his chin in his hand.

Marcus saw Charlie wince out of his peripherals. Looking up at her, making sure that their eyes met, he asked, "how are you feeling?" It was time to play doctor again. That, and the fact that he didn't really want to continue with the conversation they were having.

Out of habit he ran a hand through his hair once again before letting it slide onto his face, where he hid behind his fingers for a little bit. A muffled groan escaped his lips. This was getting stressful again, but in a different way than before. He wasn't leaving her again, that was for sure.

[Charlotte Rose.]

The tension in the room really needed to end. A mere fifteen minutes earlier and they had been laughing together and making jokes about the staff that worked here. But now? They were barely even saying anything to each other; and it was driving Charlie crazy. It needed to be broken. But how? Sigh. There had be some way to let go of this awkward tension that filled the room. Now if Charlie could only think of that reason, that would be great.

"You're not any of those things. You didn't have to stay. There was no need to, after all." Charlie reminded, biting down on her lip. "Besides. You leaving is so not worse than that awful nurse out there." Charlie glanced over to the window with a small smile - even though her attempt at cheering up the mood was a lame one. "Really. Would I still be talking to you if I was still mad?" Charlie questioned, nose scrunching. "You're the only one I trust here."

After his questions of how she was feeling, the girl couldn't help but roll her eyes. Playfully, of course. "I'm fine. It's just the stitches that suck." She nodded. With them in she could barely even move an inch. Hell, it had taken her five minutes to even turn to her side before.

[Marcus Sisneros]

Marcus could tell that Charlie wanted a way around all the awkwardness between them; he wanted one too. When she sighed he couldn't help but laugh. She seemed so frustrated, but at the same time she looked almost helpless, sitting in the bed, tubes and wires running through and over her body. It wasn't that he was making fun of her or anything, Marcus just thought it was cute.

"What, did you think I was just going to close you up back there and not come talk to you? After all the things you said in the operating room? And then just abandon you like that?" he asked, rhetorically, of course, locking eyes with her. "I still shouldn't have left. Not like that, anyways." Shrugging, he looked across and smiled toothlessly at Charlie. He didn't say anything else.

At the mention of the stitches, he drew in a quick breath between his teeth. "Yeah, I felt kinda like I was making a quilt with you. Alot of sewing went on down there." Marcus started, still smiling weakly at Charlie. "It'll take a few days before they fall out." He rubbed his eyes mindlessly as he talked. His contacts were drying out, something he dealt with regularly when he worked this late, but it was annoying, none the less.

[Charlotte Rose.]

Her eyes immediately shot up as she heard the soft laugh escape from Marcus's lips. Of course he was the one laughing. There she was, going from crying one moment to trying to convince him it wasn't his fault the next and getting frustrated when she couldn't think of anything else to say. Though she wasn't completely sure that's why he had laughed, it was pretty good guess. After all, what else could he be laughing at? Instead of asking, Charlie shrugged it off, laying her head back down on the pillow - glancing up at Marcus.

She had spoken in the operating room? That was news to her. With all the medication they had given her, Charlie was surprised she even remembered her own damn name afterwards. What exactly had she said though? Scrunching up her nose, Charlie narrowed her eyes. "What did I say in the operating room? I wasn't even aware I talked back there." She laughed nervously, having a good hint of what it was about. Why else would he be there?

"At least I'm used to having stitches. If not, this would suck even more than it already does." Charlie laughed softly, letting a yawn rise up from her throat. By the looks of it, Marcus was starting to get tired too. "You know, you really can leave if you want. You look tired."

[Marcus Sisneros]

Not seeing any sort of reaction from her, Marcus concluded laughing at her may have been a tad rude. His intentions weren't bad, exactly, but she wouldn't have known that. He was still laughing a little weakly at this point, but figured it would be best to just shut up. Closing his lips into a tight smile, he raised a hand and put it over his mouth in an attempt to restrain any outbursts. "I'm sorry," he apologized to Charlie, his voice sounding muffled against his fingers. He looked back at her once he calmed down, the corners of his lips turned up into a smug grin.

Marcus wasn't surprised at all when she asked what exactly she had said. "Uh, do the words 'don't let him come here' and 'he did this to me' ring a bell?" he replied automatically, shrugging, knowing her answer would probably be something along the lines of "No."

"Do you really think I would be here if you hadn't said something?" he laughed again. "I may be a doctor but I'm no detective." It would have been cool though. When he looked back, he remembered going through a big Sherlock Holmes phase when he was sixteen. He read the books, he tried to observe situations the way sherlock had, one of his close friends even got him a pipe and a monocle for Christmas that year. They were probably buried in his closet somewhere back at his apartment.

Hearing her comment about having stitches often, the nostalgic smirk playing on his face faded significantly. He knew why she had to get patched up often - hadn't they spent a while arguing about it? - but he still had to ask himself why. As far as he knew, Charlie was a sweet girl, she seemed to do nothing terribly wrong, and he couldn't understand why somebody would want to cause her harm. Marcus would be lucky to have somebody like her, and he for sure wouldn't hurt that. He was going to verbalize his curiosity, but decided now wasn't the time. Besides, before he could even open his mouth she suggested that he leave.

Nodding, he shifted his weight in the chair he was sitting in, getting ready to stand. "Do you need anything before I go? Something to help you sleep?" Marcus had stitches before, he knew how much of a pain they could be to sleep with.