Extra Shift

ALESSANDRO

"Look who declined an extra shift today." The door to my office busted open and he ushered himself into my office. "Very much unlike you, Alessandro."

I looked up from the medical report I had on my desk, it was an x-ray report on one of my patients, whom I had just finished with a moment ago, to meet his blue eyes scaling my office as he walked to my desk.

David Freeman, the only person on earth who would rather push my door open and barge into my office, rather than knock and be invited in, but he does that with pretty timing; always when he is sure I have no one in my office.

"David." I watched him sit his lean ass on the seat meant for patients who come to me on appointment.

"Here you come again to bother my life with noise and an odd invitation to a glass of beer."

"Exactly." He crossed his legs and raised one brow. "And you've never taken past a mug."

I laughed. He was fond of asking me out to the bar, to grab beer. We normally go for beer when we are off duty on workdays, but during weekends, we usually check into clubhouses to take champagne or anything strong to spice the weekend and usher in a new week.

"So, you were saying something about someone who declined an extra shift." I slipped my words off from my laughter.

"Who were you talking about?"

He looked around my office, my picture was there at the far end of the wall, and a glass vase of scented flowers. Those were not the ones who refused an extra shift.

They lay here day in and day out. His eyes returned to me and rested, this time, on my face.

"I know I look old because I got a lean ass but trust me, my brain cells aren't lean." His voice was hoarse like he had already taken rum.

"I was talking to Alessandro Greco, and reminding his ass that it is quite unlike him to decline an offer for extra-shift."

I laughed and slipped the X-ray report I had on my desk into its passel. The patient whom the report was his, was hit by a stray bullet, fired by an unidentified source in the open city.

Some blamed it on the police, and some claimed there was a robbery somewhere. I just don't know which was right.

"Now I hear you well, my friend." I relaxed in my seat. "My apologies, David, but I'm not spending one bit of an extra hour here tonight."

He scuffed and moved his lips. Sometimes, I feel he finds it difficult to speak, so, he usually makes his words loud to the ears so you will hear him for real.

Also, did I mention he was a Neurosurgeon? He and his team spend lots of hours dealing with conjoined skulls and tumors in the brains of patients.

His shifts are usually long enough to make him not feel his tongue while he speaks, because how can a normal human be awake for a whole lot of hours without a nap?

"You know I wanted to have you here tonight because I heard the gunshot that met the patient who was brought in here yesterday and they had just been brought here after they were first taken to a local hospital that couldn't handle the level of bone damage on one of them," said David.

I beamed a sigh, the sort my mother does in those days when she is so overladen with work that she requires help but gets none at the end of the day.

"There are other doctors here who can do that." I dropped him a response.

"And there is no big difference between them and the doctors in the local clinic they were taken to." Said David.

"You know, I heard one of them say they need to see the Whiteman who handles bones."

He rose to his feet and slipped his hands into his side pockets. "I have my cut of the shit, Alessandro."

He blinked and once again, toured my office with his eyes. He was deemed the most dedicated among us, but I don't blame those who awarded him the tag, because his work requires so much dedication.

Mine requires the same maximum dedication, but come on, I respect his field so much.

"One of them was hit in the head." He smiled a wry smile. "But he didn't die even with that long bullet trapped in his brain. I must take the bullet off his head and fix the mess of the local clinic."

I drummed my fingers on the desk and nodded my consent. I would accept the extra shift I declined, and maybe, when we are both done, we will catch some sleep, and hang out at the bar or clubhouse, there, we might grab a shot of whisky.

"Very good, Greco." He leaned in and winked; his voice lowered to the lowest volume. "And there was this new nurse from Nigeria.

She is US based though, but she is Nigerian, a real one at that, she has this beauty we need to be careful with, and she works in your ward."

I laughed. That's his little flirty way with the female gender, but I love the fact that he doesn't do his flirty shit during work hours, he waits for work to be at least over before looking for which lady to flirt with, but the big bad thing is he doesn't sleep with the ladies he flirts with, rather, he would go down the club and pick a random lady for an after shot moment.

"I'll be careful enough, and work with my head bent on duty," I said amidst laughter. "But mind you, our next hangout would be billed to you."

"I don't mind adding the bill of the Nigerian nurse."

He turned and zoomed out from my office, the same way he zoomed in.