— Free Time
“Nice to meet you, Rory.” The cashier returned with his food, and Sam smiled gratefully. “Are you sure? It’d make me feel better.” He chuckled lightly, but he still felt a little bad. He picked the bag of food off the counter and continued, “Well, if you won’t let me pay for your food, why don’t you join me?” He could certainly use a normal conversation right about now.But maybe that wasn’t in the cards, because apparently Rory worked at the hospital. It seemed like every Brit he’d met so far had something to do with the medical profession. “Do you work at St. Bart’s?” With luck, he was also working on the case that both John and Molly were. “I was there the other day, and yeah, everybody looked really busy.” He knew there were a lot of different positions in a hospital; he’d already met a doctor and a pathologist. But Sam also knew that some doctors were really touchy when asked prying questions about their job, so he phrased his question more carefully this time. “What do you do there?”
“Alright,” Rory said, nodding. He hadn’t planned on sticking around to eat, had actually thought about going home for a quick nap, but this was probably better. He preferred company, didn’t mind talking, and Sam seemed earnest enough. He lead the way to the few tables that sat outside the café and claimed the closest chair.
“Yeah, I work at Barts,” he confirmed, “I’m a nurse. We actually have been really busy lately. Loads of new patients.” He paused. Sam seemed to ask a lot of questions, which, honestly, made him a little uneasy. There was quite a bit that he couldn’t easily talk about - the adventures he and Amy had with the Doctor, for example - which made conversations sometimes difficult. But it seemed like Sam was harmless enough, so Rory decided that, for now, sticking with the most basic facts would be enough. “Um, why? Have you been by or something?” Sam seemed healthy, but it was always possible - actually, far more probable, because American - that he had been visiting friends or family.
Sam followed Rory to the table and took a seat. “A nurse? That’s cool.” He wasn’t entirely sure what to say about Rory’s profession, because it was the man’s patients he was interested in. But since Sam was used to this sort of thing, he could tell that the man’s suspicions were rising. “Yeah, I’ve been by.”
But as a patient, or a visiting doctor? If he pretended that he had been a patient, he’d have no reason to ask the questions he planned on asking. Though, he wasn’t sure how well he could pass as a doctor. He knew a little about medical practice, but Rory could decide to ask him some obscure question, and then he’d be screwed. Best to stay in somewhat familiar territory.
Sam picked the wrapper off of his sandwich and spoke, “I’m here with my brother. We’re lawyers, investigating some client’s claims.” Plausible enough, and since Sam had been studying to be a lawyer, he could likely answer any forthcoming questions with ease. And anyway, he could probably pass it off that at least one of his clients was one of the demon-possessed patients.
He snorted to keep up the charade, “Our firm decided to send us overseas to take care of it. Trying to scare off the newbies, I guess. It’s been hectic.” Sam ran a hand through his hair. “These clients are nuts, really.” Maybe that would get Rory to ask a question of his own. If not, he’d have to go about this in a different way.
