WHO: Brianna O'Hara and Grayson Wilkes
WHAT: This physical exam isn't as innocent as Brianna thinks
WHERE: St. Mungo's
WHEN: Today!



Maybe it was the long shift, or maybe it was the fact that Jack wouldn’t go to sleep last night and she felt like a terrible, no-good mother, or maybe it was the fact that her two teenage patients were giggling like mad at the latest photo spread of Zachary Sloper in this week’s ‘Teen Witch,’ but----Brianna was in a really shitty mood. This shift needed to end, and it needed to end now.

She felt a quick tug on the hem of her skirt, which was peering out slightly from her robes. Brianna turned quickly and glared down at the patient who was leering up at her from his wheelchair, “Mr. Slater!”

“Got some good news for you, honey: I’m getting discharged,” he said with a great, obvious wink. Brianna took a second to get the terrible innuendo and let out a gag, pulling her skirt out of his hand and stalking away. As she entered the examination room where her next patient was waiting, a great gust of wind from behind blew up her robes. Brianna let out a yelp and spun around to once again glare at Mr. Slater, who was tucking his wand away quickly before being wheeled off.

Feeling utterly humilated and ready to break some potion vials, Brianna quickly tried to relax herself and pulled the patient’s charts from the holder on the door,

“I’m sorry for the wait Mr. Wilkes,” she said with a great breath, looking up at him with a quick smile.

This had not been a good year for Grayson Wilkes. Between what had happened to his brother (‘what had happened’, right) and everything that had happened with Rabastan, he was -- utterly at a loss as to what he should be doing. The one thing that he’d devoted himself to, distracted himself with throughout any doubt he might’ve had -- was gone. His friends, for a meaning of the term, were gone. And his wife -- was leaving.

And not taking their daughter or that … thing he called his son. It all seemed terribly rude. Grayson couldn’t be blamed for deciding it would be better just to venture back into his more youthful years. Fiona had been a sweet girl, for all that she was -- and it was her sister’s resemblance to her that had brought Grayson to her office.

“No problem at all,” he managed a smile that he hoped was at least mildly charming. “I don’t mind the wait.” Which was an utter lie, if anyone knew Grayson at all.

Brianna smiled thankfully and shut the door behind her before another patient could cause her trouble.

“I’m Healer O’Hara, and...we’re just doing a physical today?” She looked up, pushing her hair out of her face. This new blond dye job of hers...it had been to try and shake up her life a little bit, but all it was doing was causing her problems. Firstly, all men seemed to get stupid when it came to a blond in healer robes (or street clothes, or muggle jeans...ugh), and secondly, what was the point of doing your hair if you were going to tie it up, so now it was always in her face.

She put down the charts on the side of the examination table and stood close to Grayson, pulling out her wand to start the exam with his ears. “What else do you have planned for today?”

Small talk usually helped these things go by faster.

He really ought to have thought this through a little better, considering. He had to make a concentrated effort to flinch when Brianna stepped toward him, and his back stiffened despite himself. At least she didn’t have to worry about him trying to look down her robes or something like that -- he was in fact too wrapped up in other things to even notice that bit.

He cleared his throat. “Oh, nothing too interesting. I was thinking of going for dinner a bit later, but I am woefully lacking in company.” At least that was more of a polite and subtle invite than she was used to, right? That had to be some sort of improvement.

“Oh yeah?” she said, bottom lip jutting out in surprise. For some reason she’d expected him to be married, but she couldn’t be sure why. Brianna moved in front of Grayson after his ears were checked, her hand grazing the side of his thigh as she moved to press it down against the table. She lit her wand with a dull lumos, “Follow the tip of my wand, please.”

“What happened, did she have to wash her hair or something?” She winked and moved to write down her notes and findings. He was seemingly in excellent health, but there was something off. Grayson seemed---stressed, definitely, but she’d never seen someone so tightly wound before. People hated check-ups, surely, but this man was filling the room with great tension.

“Where were you going?”

Technically the divorce papers were a few days from going through, but she didn’t need to know that. Grayson did not honestly know what he was doing here, and he tried very hard not to prickle at her wink. She was … probably joking, people seemed to do that. Grayson didn’t have a sense of humor that people seemed to recognize, but he could at least superficially see it in others.

He followed the wand obediently. Maybe he’d just come here to have someone order him around, tell him to do things. Maybe.

“Something came up,” he said dismissively. Telling her that he hadn’t really planned to be dining with anyone seemed silly; she could make her own assumptions about things.

“La Brioche,” the snotty French restaurant where they overcharged for their food, but the wine was good. Oh yes, Grayson was tightly-wound -- even moreso than usual, unfortunately.

“Ooh,” Brianna let out, this time honestly looking impressed. She wasn’t one for fancy restaurants, but everyone was always raving about that place, “I hear the wine’s amazing.”

She barely even noticed she was now pressing fingers to his neck to check his lymph nodes, these exams were so regular. Brianna probably did fifteen physicals a day, and that was on a slow day when she still had rounds to do on the Spell Damage floor. A healer couldn’t avoid the physical contact, but she could at least keep it to a minimum, seeing how stiff Grayson was.

“Is there a bar?” she asked, tapping under his arm to have him lift them out. His long sleeved robes were a bit confusing, given the weather, but Brianna didn’t question it, “You could get drinks and meet someone there.” Her eyebrows rose as if she was very knowledgeable about this, but she’d only had one boyfriend in three years, and he was also the father of her son. She didn’t know anything about picking up men.

“Oh, I’m afraid that I’m not a very charming man,” he managed with something akin to a smile. At least he was aware of the fact that he came off like he had a gigantic stick up his arse. He was aware that most of the vapid women who hung around the wine bar looking for men probably only cared about the way that his face looked, of course, but that seemed very … boring.

Physical touch wasn’t something he craved, not in the least.

“And you are correct, the wine is excellent. Particularly the most pricey bottles.” It was a place to go if one wanted to blow a week’s paycheque, if you measured money like that.

Brianna tended to agree with him, but she didn’t let it show and she shook her head, “Don’t say that! You seem very charming, Mr. Wilkes!”

He was classically handsome, and if he could just get the kinks out of his shoulders and not look so...scary when he smiled, then he could definitely charm his way around women. The way he spoke, his choice of restaurants, and his robes also indicated that he was of the upper class. Most likely a pureblood, but being a somewhat disgraced pureblood herself, Brianna didn’t think she had much of a right to judge.

“Don’t waste the beautiful night,” she said as she gently gestured for him to lie back on the table, “it’s supposed to be very warm.”

Yes, this whole -- touching him thing was not going well at all. He strongly debated just flat-out walking out once she gestured for him to move back, but instead bit down on the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood and then laid back against the cold, probably filthy coversheet.

“You really have no reason to lie,” he pointed out. He was only a patient, after all, and she didn’t really need to be nice to him. She could just be clinical and professional (and at some point he might’ve preferred that). As it was, though, it was a .. nice change.

Brianna’s face twisted in amusement, “I am not a liar, Mr. Wilkes, would you want a liar performing your physical exam?”

She pulled out her wand for a quick look at his heart, the image of the organ floating over Grayson’s chest for a few moments to check for murmurs or anything of the like. Everything seemed normal, and with another tap she gestured for him to sit back up. She smiled and put a hand on her hip, her eyes holding onto his gaze strongly to show that she was no liar. Tweaking the truth did not count as a lie.

“You’re all set Mr. Wilkes. I recommend getting that drink, you seem awfully tense.” She wasn’t a therapist, or a psychologist, that was Abercrombie’s job, but Brianna was good at reading her patient’s moods.

Grayson laughed awkwardly. He hadn’t done it much -- ever, really -- so it always sounded strange coming from him. He blinked at her, though. “I don’t think that it would effect your medical aptitude, quite honestly.”

This was rapidly becoming irritating - but she was finished with the exam now and she was giving him -- advice? She obviously wasn’t interested in coming for a drink with him, but that was just fine. He had other ways of seeing her where she wouldn’t necessarily see him.

“I ...will, thank you.” He smoothed his robes down with a gloved hand. “I’ll be seeing you around, Miss O’Hara.”