[for Mindy]

[so_catholic]

It’s nearing 6pm and thanks to a surprisingly discreet Amelia, Danny knows Mindy isn’t scheduled to be at the hospital tonight. So aside from a couple of sentences in the break room, that would mean they had gone a whole day without speaking to each other, even at work, and knowing that gives him an uneasy feeling that he can’t shake off.

It’s amazing how quickly Mindy can move when she really wants to. Danny’s been busying himself with paperwork for the past half hour, waiting for the sound of her office door closing, and as soon as he hears it, he’s up and out of his chair, satchel slung across his chest. He’s surprised that he gets out only just in time to catch a glimpse of her leaving the lobby. Usually she stops to regale the entire practice with stories from her day – the patient who she’s 99.9% confident will take her advice and name their son Thor, the injustice of receiving her lunch delivery addressed to Mr Lahiri simply because she’d ordered the 16oz steak, picketing Dr Fowler to change their wifi password to something she finds easier to remember (what’s wrong with taylor4harry4ever?! It has NUMBERS, Danny!) or her futile attempts to sell on whatever weird object she couldn’t say no to at the latest flea market she never meant to go to.

He misses it, all of it, and it’s why he races after her, calling out before she can disappear.

“Hey, hold the elevator.”

Comments

[so_catholic]

"I don't think anyone's behind it," Danny replies, a touch of incredulity in the puff of laughter that comes out. "This isn't one of your crime shows, Mindy. This is just, coincidence or, the universe or whatever passes for one of those around here. This doesn't end with you slapping someone for making you miss a meal."

[beyoncepadthai]

"I would slap the universe if I could," Mindy muses, deciding against mentioning that not too long ago he was hell bent on blaming her for being behind this whole thing. It doesn't matter. If they want to move forward and maybe be friends again, she has to try to stop dwelling on the past. She sighs and peels open the wrapper of her candy bar. "I can't wait any longer," she laments, offering it to him, first.

[so_catholic]

"You've made it..." Danny turns his shoulders in towards her, checking his watch, impressed. "Twenty minutes. I'm rounding up." He lifts his gaze to her, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I'm very proud of you. Go ahead. You've earned the whole thing."

[beyoncepadthai]

"Thank you, Danny," Mindy says, surprised at the sincerity in his tone and not-so-secretly thrilled she doesn't have to share. She eats the candy bar happily, smiling over him occasionally.

[so_catholic]

Danny thought he'd seen the last of those smiles, if he's honest. If only he'd realized sooner that all it would take is declining half a Kit Kat bar to put that look on Mindy's face.

At the second or third glance from her, he feels sufficiently scrutinized into opening his mouth again, even though he's enjoying the quiet. But avoidance hasn't gotten him much so far; in fact, it's lost him more than he started with and Mindy deserves some kind of explanation. So it's with an uneasy bite of his lower lip that he says: "Listen."

The whirring that had died a death twenty minutes ago suddenly leaps back to life, metal grinding and pulleys straining as the elevator slowly awakens. "Listen," he repeats in an entirely different tone, looking up, too insecure to try and keep a hold of the moment. "Freedom."

[beyoncepadthai]

Mindy can be oblivious when she wants to be, but it's hard not to read a little more into Danny's expression before the elevator whirs back to life, even if she can't quite pinpoint it. It's just in time, too, the candy bar only a remnant of a wrapper, but she can't help but wonder whether and what all of this will mean for her and Danny's relationship from here on out.

"Thank god," she says, though it's with less delight than maybe either of them expect. Fighting aside, it's been kind of nice. Especially filling Danny in on the things that have upset her of late. Things that only he can really understand. "I was worried we'd have to spend the night here."

[so_catholic]

"Which one?" Danny asks as he climbs to his feet, slinging his satchel back over his shoulders and holding a hand out to help Mindy up. "You people worship dozens, right?" When the doors eventually ping open, his question is forgotten as he gawks at the figure on the other side.

"Dick?" The janitor stands there by his bucket and Danny automatically assumes the worst. He waves at Mindy to hurry up. "Oh boy. Come on, let's go, let's go, let's get outta here." He knew he shouldn't have confided in Dick but Danny is nothing if not a sucker for a fat guy with a mop.

[beyoncepadthai]

"What? Whoa, okay, slow down, speedy," Mindy says in spite of the fact she lets herself be dragged up and out of the elevator. It's a lot all at once and she has to pause to catch her breath, glancing over at Danny and wondering if it's an appropriate time to laugh, because wow. She's pretty sure this is a trope in at least five of her favorite sitcoms. "You think he's mad because you never thank him? You have to thank the janitor, Danny, even if we pay him."

[so_catholic]

"Huh? What? No, he had nothing--the elevator was an accident, the janitor had nothing to do with it," Danny insists, though he can't be certain. Either way, he still places a hand on Mindy's back to encourage her out of the building, just in case Dick gets any sudden urges to share.

"You okay getting home?" He asks once they're outside, brushing away remnants of the elevator floor from his jacket. Danny's very aware of what he'd said not too long ago. Technically the no personal chitchat rule is supposed to be reinstated now they're outside, but when faced with the reality of it, even he thinks a doorway, a few steps and a foot or two of sidewalk shouldn't hold that much power over them.