#langdonabbot

Admittedly, Frank Langdon was a lot of things; a father, an ex husband, a recovering addict, a penguins fan, but above all of that, he was one thing, and that was petty. 

He genuinely thought getting thrown out of the hospital that he worked so hard at would be the worst day of his life. Then Abby left him, so at least Frank had a new lowest point. He thought coming back to PTMC would bring him some sort of light and purpose. Robby telling him he wasn't wanted in the one place he felt like he had left hurt more than anything else.

He had enough of Robby just flat out ignoring him, even going as far as sending him to work in triage, when his talent could be better used to help patients. Instead, he was stuck here. 

He figured if Robby was just going to ignore him, that he may as well ignore him right back. The first thing he did was request to transfer to the night shift. It meant he could spend more of the custody time that he did with Tanner and Penny. He left them with a nanny at night while he worked, so he could get as much time with them as possible during the day.

The only person he told about the change was Mel, even if he did assure her that he would still see her at hand off. 

Quite frankly, he wasn’t going to stay somewhere his presence wasn’t wanted. If Robby was going to insist that he didn’t want Frank working in his ED, then he wouldn’t. He would more than happily take his talents to night shift where they would at least be appreciated.

He got through the first night shift with red bull and brute force. The second night, he just kept his head down at hand off, to avoid seeing Robby, and his disappointed eyes. That was until he heard his name from Robby’s lips.

He kept his eyes down, so it wasn’t so obvious that he was eavesdropping on the two attendings. Robby’s tone was somewhat snippy, considering he was talking to the guy who, for the most part was just looking forward to getting this handoff over with. "Still can't believe you willingly took him onto nightshfit." Jack shrugged a bit. "He's a damn good doctor, Brother. Don't know why you were being a dick to him."

Robby cut him a glare. "Jack, he got caught stealing meds, from the hospital. Why would I still trust him to work here?” “Because he got the help he needed.” Jack pointed out. “If it doesn’t affect how he is as a doctor now, I honestly don’t give a shit.”

Frank hadn’t been expecting that. Dr. Abbot was actually defending him? Well, if nothing else it felt good to know that he still had someone in his corner at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

He waited till those from day shift had filtered out to actually approach Jack. “Hey, I just…wanted to say thank you, for sticking up for me to Robby.” He admitted.

Jack smiled a bit. “It’s nothing, Langdon. Really.” He admitted. “Honestly for a good doctor, Robby doesn’t know how to get his head out of his own ass sometimes.”

That was enough to get a laugh out of Frank.

He shook his head a bit. “What can I say? I’m just glad to be somewhere that my talents are appreciated.”

Hearing him say that seemed to strike a nerve in Jack. He knew that wasn’t like Robby. He was the type to make sure that everyone felt appreciated. To know that he would just cast aside one of his own over a mistake that anyone could have made hurt.

Well, his loss was going to Jack’s gain. He didn’t really know all that much about Frank, aside from the fact that he had a wife. Outside of Robby, McKay, and Dana he honestly didn’t know that much about anyone on day shift. “Y’know, Robby didn’t really tell me what it was that you got busted for.” He said casually.

Frank bit his lip, and looked up from his charting. “Got caught stealing benzos to deal with chronic back pain. Got put on involuntary leave. Had to go to rehab for 10 months…” He admitted. He didn’t dare look up yet. He didn’t want to see yet another person in this hospital looking at him with disgust, or worse, pity.

When he did finally manage to look up at him, there was something in Jack Abbot's eyes that he wasn’t expecting; respect.

Jack waited till Frank was looking him in the eye to speak up. “Kid, in knowing veterans over the years, I have known plenty of addicts. I know the kind of work it takes to get clean, much less stay clean.” He admitted. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you.”

The bright look in his eyes, and the smile on Frank’s face struck a nerve within Jack. By his guess, it must have been a long time since Langdon had heard that.

Frank managed to crack a joke. “Don’t call me kid, I’m only 35.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and I still got 20 years on your ass. So I’m calling you kid.” The rest of the shift ran about as smoothly as it could have, considering it was an emergency room.

By 7, when it was time yet again for hand-off, Frank was ready to go home, and sleep for as long as possible. He was snapped out of it, by Jack talking to him yet again.

“Kid, you wanna go get breakfast? Or is the wife expecting you home?” He asked.

Frank shook his head. “Well, that’s the thing about being divorced. Abby doesn’t really give a shit where I am now, unless it’s a custody hand-off.” He told him, hoping that it at least somewhat sounded like a joke.

He noticed the ring on Jack’s finger. “So sure, if your wife won’t mind you taking a recovering addict out to breakfast, I’d love to.”

Jack bit his lip. “I mean I don’t know if my dead wife would care too much about who I’m hanging out with in the mornings…” He admitted.

A look of panic flashed in Frank’s eyes. He was sputtering over his words, realizing that he might have just screwed things up before they even started. “I…Shit, sorry I didn’t know.”

Jack put his hand on Frank’s shoulder, as the two of them were heading out to the staff parking lot. “Frank, relax. There’s no way you could have known. I don’t exactly go around telling people here.” He admitted.

Frank nodded, suddenly finding the crack in the sidewalk incredibly interesting. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He told him softly.

Jack simply nodded, and tilted his head towards his familiar black pick up. “C’mon. we can take my truck.” He told him.

Frank nodded. He could come back for his car later. He followed Jack and climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. There was something that felt easy about it all, just two coworkers going to get some breakfast together after a long night shift.

A comfortable silence settled in the truck as Jack drove. Frank kept his gaze firmly out the window, worried that his previous comment had made things too weird between them.

Jack finally broke the tension. “So uh…you watch sports?”

Frank gleefully spent a good chunk of the rest of the car ride talking about hockey stats.

After a bit, he looked over at Jack. “I… Sorry about that. It’s just… been a while since I had someone that I could talk about all of this stuff about.” He admitted sheepishly.

Jack shook his head, as he parked at the diner that he would sometimes frequent after a long shift. “Don’t be sorry. Kinda nice to know that you have something that makes you so happy, Langdon.” Frank smiled, following Jack inside once they were both out of the truck. “Please. We’re not at work. You can call me Frank if you want.” He offered.

Jack nodded and opened the door for him. “Alright, Frank.” The two of them were settled into a booth, when the waitress came over. “Oh, wow, Dr. Abbot, you brought a friend with you this morning.” She murmured, before glancing at who was sat across from her favorite early morning regular. “Oh shit, hey Frankie.” Frank froze in place when he heard that. He had thought the whole part of the anonymous of Narcotics Anonymous was to explicitly avoid things like this. He had to clear his throat. “Nice to see you to Lucy.”

Jack looked between the two of them. “Wait, you two know each other?”

Lucy nodded. “I was about to ask you the same thing,” she admitted to Jack.

Frank kept his eyes glued to the table. “Lucy and I go to the same meetings, “ he explained, before finally looking up at the waitress, “And Jack would be one of my coworkers from the hospital.”

Lucy nodded, knowing it would be best to drop it. “Alright. Well I already know that Jack is gonna want the same thing that he eats every time that he comes in here. Frank, what about you?” She asked.

Frank had lost any semblance of an appetite that he’d had when he walked in the door. “I’ll just have the same as Jack. I trust Dr. Abbot.” He murmured.

Lucy nodded, and wrote it down, before heading off.

Jack noticed the tension that had seemed to flood Frank’s body from that simple interaction. “Langdon, look at me.” He told him. He waited till he was sure Frank’s eyes were on him before he continued speaking. “Relax your shoulders. Unclench your jaw.” He told him gently. “You’re good, Frank. I’m not here to judge you.”

The simplicity of the instructions that Jack gave him were easy for Frank. He took a deep breath. His words came out softer than he’d intended, “Thanks, Jack.”

Once the food arrived, the two sat, enjoying their pancakes and eggs, just shooting the shit. It was casual. It took a lot of the pressure off of Frank. It made him feel more at ease.

Jack smiled, as he paid for both of their meals (after a bit of a huff from Frank, who tried to insist on paying for his own breakfast), he led the two of them back out to his truck. “So, you got any plans after this, Langdon?” He asked casually.

Frank shook his head. “Probably going home and trying to get as. much sleep as possible before having to get back to the Pitt at 7 sharp to do it all again for another day.” He admitted. It felt like all he did when it wasn’t his week with the kids, all he did was work, meetings and sleep. It was a boring existence, but he was still getting used to it.

Jack bit his lip, the gears already turning in his head. “How far is your place from the hospital?” He asked.

Frank had to think about it for a moment. “The apartment I’m renting is like 30 to 45 minuets, depending on traffic.” He admitted.

Jack could see the air of pure exhaustion that was radiating off of Frank. Part of him felt bad. He wanted help. He didn’t speak again till they were in his truck. “Alright, I know the plan was for me to take you back to the hospital to get your car so you could go home, but I have a new idea to propose.”

Frank nodded, as he got buckled in. “Right, well what is the plan then? Cause I have to go back to my car at some point. You know how weird Dana is about parking.”

Jack was already sending a text, to clear it with Dana that Frank’s SUV was going to be in the staff parking for the duration of the day shift. “Don’t worry about the parking.” He told him. “We are just gonna go back to my house I’ve got a guest room that you can stay in.” He assured. “You look like you could use the extra sleep.”

Frank wasn’t going to argue. Any extra rest that he could possibly get, he was going to take. “Alright. Sounds good.”

The drive back to his place was fairly quiet. Frank was doing his best to nod off during the drive, but it was in vain. By the time Jack was parking in his driveway, Frank was out cold, slumped against the window, snoozing happily.

Jack almost didn’t have the heart to wake him, but knew that sleeping in the truck after a long shift would be the worst possible thing for Frank’s back. He gently shook his shoulder. “Langdon, c’mon. Let’s get you inside, bud.” He coaxed gently.

Frank’s bleary eyes finally met Jack’s. He nodded slowly, and followed Jack inside the house. “Which way to the guest room?” He asked with a yawn.

Jack couldn’t help his small laugh. “Down the hall on the right. I’ll come wake you up when my work alarm goes off, okay?”

Frank was already heading down the hallway. “Sounds perfect.” He murmured happily.

He couldn’t explain why, but it was some of the best rest that Frank had gotten in months.