A Christmas Carol Blooms (New Amsterdam fanfiction)

Ghost of Christmas Present

"Evie come back. Come back".

"Lauren. Lauren. Wake up."

Lauren is shaken awake. Her eyes land on a familiar face, one whose presence was not only unexpected but surprisingly fills her with warmth.

"Floyd!" She jolts up into a sitting position and wraps her arms around a friend.

"Hey Lauren. How are you feeling so far?" Floyd lets her go, to look closely at her face.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I have had some weird dreams." Lauren says, rubbing her eyes groggily. "You wouldn't believe what I have been through tonight." She moves to stand, when she looks at Floyd again. "Why are you here?"

"I'm actually not. I was here to-"

"Oh god, Floyd. Please tell me not you too. Which one are you? Let me guess. Christmas present huh?"

"Guess you can say that."

"What a present you are. Can you please tell whoever sent you that I really don't need this. I am -"

"Fine. Yes we have all heard this before. As many times as you have said those words I think you're persuading yourself more than anyone else."

"You don't know me, Floyd." Lauren brushes past him and walks into the kitchen. Knife still in the sink with a red stain that looks unmistakably like blood on one end.

"It's because you have shut me out. Just like everyone else who tried to get close to you." Floyd follows behind Lauren as she looks to wash the knife only to find her hand is still bandaged.

"Can you explain something to me? How is it that if you, Casey and Evie really aren't here and this is just a figment of my imagination, how could I have hurt myself?"

"Who says that the injury is real? That could be a figment of your imagination also."

"Look Floyd. I don't get why you're here. You're Ghost of Christmas Present, right. You're going to show me Christmas today. I see it. It sucks. Now I need to sleep." Lauren takes a glass from the cupboard fills it with water and takes it to her room so she can fall back to sleep.

Floyd reaches out to touch her when suddenly the room starts to spin. When Lauren gets her bearings, she finds herself in a small one bedroom apartment. She can spot the silhouette of a man bent over at a small tree.

Forgetting that no one can see or hear her, she whispers to Floyd. "Where is this? Who's that? Why are we here?"

At that moment, the man stands in full height. Lauren gasps in recognition soon as the light hits his face. "Diego".

"Papa, merry Christmas papa." A little girl no older than 12 comes running from her bedroom and jumps into her dad's arms.

"Merry Christmas, Gianna."

Lauren forces her eyes away from the little girl and looks to Floyd. "Why are we here, Floyd? You're supposed to show me my Christmas present. This isn't mine."

"Lauren, you made a connection with Gianna while we waited for word on her lung transplant."

"Yes, and?"

"As much as you may want to deny it, you do think about her. Wonder how she's holding up. Now you can have a chance to see for yourself."

"I just feel like we're intruding. And yes they don't know we're here. But I feel that makes it worse."

As Lauren and Floyd move closer, Lauren is shocked to hear her name.

"Papi, I wonder how Dr. Bloom is doing." Gianna says, as she unwraps a new copy of her favorite comic books.

"Honey, we have gone through this already. As much as we appreciate the doctors for what they did for us, they have other patients." Diego says, leaning back on the couch taking pictures with his phone.

"I know but this is Dr. Bloom's favorite. She told me so at the hospital."

"Ok. We can try and go back to New Amsterdam and look for her again. Come on. Let's put on your coat so we can go church."

Lauren's eyes follow them as Gianna and Diego leave for church. "They came looking for me at New Amsterdam?"

"Diego did. I'm not surprised you don't remember. You barely could string two words together because of lack of sleep." Floyd replies.

"How do you know this?"

"They were there because Gianna had a follow up with me. Diego went to look for you since she had been asking for you. All I know is he was back saying you were busy."

"But how do you know about everything else?"

"People talk, Lauren. And you forget I know you. Probably better than most." The scene slowly dissolves around them. Lauren and Floyd find themselves back in her apartment. "I know what this place holds for you. Your biggest fear. Loneliness. And I know you have been using pills so you can work longer hours so you can stay away from this place."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Floyd. I'm fine."

"No, Lauren. YOU don't know what you're talking about. It's not just casey and I anymore. Other doctors are noticing. It won't take long before action will be taken." Floyd starts to disappear into the night.

"What action, Floyd? Floyd, come back here. What action?" Lauren screams at the emptiness before her.

She begins to rock in her chair, chanting "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine".