Code Blue

~ Chapter 68 ~

Chapter 68
Thursday December 7th
Mallory's POV

"First day back and I'm subjected to a social gathering?" Somebody, whose grumpiness I recognized immediately, joined at my side as I was heading to one of the conference rooms. Harry's complaint interrupted the conversation that Mason and I were in the middle of, which of course had him making a sarcastic comment.

"Sure Dr. Styles, not like I was in the middle of a sentence or anything" Mason remarked rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Oh shut up" Harry scoffed, brushing him off with a wave of his hand. I sighed heavily and looked between the both of them, shaking my head at their persistent banter. Whenever the two of them are in the same room, they're bickering about something, and usually it is Harry's fault. He'd never admit it, but I personally do feel he's grown a liking to Mason, and their fighting is purely playful at this point but I could be totally wrong.

"I think it's quite nice that the Chief is providing breakfast for us" I countered against Harry's introduction. I walked between the both of them, asserting my opinion that I thought it to be a nice gesture, but maybe it was my stomach growling that had me defending it. However Harry and I do tend to find the positive and negative side of things quite often, where he thinks its an annoying social event with colleagues he can't stand, I think it's a good opportunity to be energized for our shift.

"She's just buttering you up before the holiday overtime, don't fall for it" Harry remarked, stepping ahead to open the door in front of us. Both Harry and Mason motioned for me to go first, so I went ahead, glancing back to see that Harry just barely held the door open for Mason surely to annoy him.

"Gee thanks" Mason scoffed.

"You're welcome" Harry shrugged, the three of us falling back into a line that took up a lot of the hallway.

"Don't we work enough overtime as interns?" I ignored the two of their childlike antics and referred back to Harry's earlier statement, wondering if its even possible for us to work more than we already are.

"Do you know how many people I've seen almost take their hands off trying to cut down a Christmas tree?" Harry looked at me with a glint in his eyes, sharing his own personal reason for why there's extra hours during this time of the year. "Way too many"

"10? 20?" Mason interjected, showcasing curiosity.

"I wasn't telling you" Harry made a face of faux disgust towards him for interrupting, even though that's what he did when he joined us. I bit down on my bottom lip and tried not to laugh at their constant arguing, but it was a bit comical sometimes. The sun had just risen not too long ago, and they're already going at it.

"15?" I guessed, only asking a specific number because I figured Mason wanted to genuinely know.

"About 25" Harry answered me casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wow, thanks so much for telling me" Mason lit up sarcastically.

"Oh thank goodness we're almost there" I said aloud.

Harry chuckled, and I shivered when I felt his arm brush against my own. It was only a subtle touch but it was enough to make goosebumps spawn on my skin, even though it was simply an accident. We haven't been together much since that night, but when we are, I feel even more on edge around him knowing what I do. Every time he touches me, I wonder if it's just my brain playing tricks on me or not. Each step we took brought us closer to the correct conference room, and I looked around the hallways to see we were the only ones around. That meant we were either late, or early, but I didn't feel like pulling out my phone to check the time.