Private Finished Funny Seeing You Here

Tommy crossed his arms, as displeased as he may be with her little roast, he couldn’t exactly protest it. Her laughter brought a soft smile to his lips and he shook his head at her. He raised his chin and narrowed his eyes at her. “I can be diplomatic,” he protested, but the truth was she was right. Diplomacy was not in Tommy’s skillset. Rather the opposite. Occasionally what he said was said in anger, but in most cases people needed to be set straight and Tommy stood behind what he said. Now, that definitely made it a very good thing that he worked in the ER most of the time, where his patients often needed to be lectured on their own stupidity.

Of course he had had a few long term patients like Shay and sometimes they took his harshness less well. He supposed he should be glad that Shay seemed to find his attitude amusing rather than off putting like most people did. It wasn’t many people who were willing to go toe to toe with the vampire, much less openly tease him. “That’s probably for the best though,” he amended his previous statement.

He looked over the information she had written down briefly, nodding as she spoke to indicate he was paying attention to her. He reached into his back pocket and pulled a card out of his wallet with his contact information for the hospital on one side and The Apothecary on the other. Tommy looked at her with surprise as she defended their exchange of number and he smiled at her. He had said that hadn’t he? He had always been, sometimes unnecessarily, firm about drawing professional lines. The fact of the matter was that he cared about Shay, but she was living her own life and he his, their lives only colliding because she needed help. While he cared for her and enjoyed her company, that past made him hesitate to become to involved in her life. “You’re not my patient anymore, Shay,” he reminded her holding out his card to her, “And this is networking.

“You should also come by The Apothecary sometime,” he continued, "I've got some stuff that can help with pregnancy side effects."

Tommy smiled warmly and nodded. Her statement was lightly made, but not lightly taken. Tommy didn’t think Shay realized just how worried they had all been about her. That she was here talking to him, a healthy well-adjusted adult, with a healthy pregnancy and all was more than they could have ever hoped for. This was why he did what he did day in and day out. For people like Shay to live a long and happy life.

“Sure,” he said digging out a few more and handing her a small stack. “Let them know they can reach out for an informal conversation if that would make them feel more comfortable. I know some people have this weird fear of lab coats.” He shrugged as if he didn’t get it. But in many ways he knew he was the terrifying figure from nightmares. Not because he was a vampire or a bad doctor, but just because they had to give a lot of bad news, painful procedures. It didn’t surprise him at all that people, especially children tended to fear doctors.

“Great, I’m looking forward to seeing you and hearing about how the baby-Shay is doing,” he smiled, “I’ve got all that and —" An urgent beeping interrupted his thought and he reached for his pager. “Ah blast! I’ve gotta run Shay.” He tossed her an apologetic look “Have a good appointment, I hope everything goes well.” He patted her shoulder and took off for the ER at a run.

((OOC: I hope this is an okay ending point! I'd love to have a follow up thread with them!))