Ask No Questions
Leo glanced into the lab as he settled at his desk. The week away had been good, he�d needed it, but it felt good to be back. He had to admit, work would have seemed a lot more welcoming if he hadn�t had a huge stack of paperwork to return to. His desk was piled high with files, sheets, notes and memos. He couldn�t help but feel grateful for having the foresight to come in early to give himself a chance to catch up undisturbed.
Two hours later he had made a sizeable dent to the stack. He�d reorganised the single pile into several smaller ones, tackling each pile separately. His wrist was aching and he�d lost count of the number of times he had written out his signature. He needed a break.
Slowly Leo got to his feet and headed out of his office to find refreshment, just as Nikki entered the lab looking frazzled.
�Leo, hi. I�m sorry I�m late. The traffic was a nightmare.� She shed her jacket and pulled her long hair away from her face.
�It�s fine. You want some coffee.� He gestured towards the coffee pot in his hand.
She gave an enthusiastic nod and together they sat in his office drinking and discussing the business of their respective weeks. At last both set down their mugs and Leo looked at his watch.
�Harry�s running late. Have you heard from him?�
Nikki looked sheepish for a moment but the look quickly gave way to confusion. �Didn�t you get the memo?�
The look on Leo�s face told her he hadn�t.
She got up immediately and shuffled through some of the sheets on his desk, finally finding what she was looking for in a pile of work related notices he had intended to read later. �He�s on medical leave for a couple of days.�
Leo quickly scanned the page. It didn�t give him much information other than the fact that a doctor Reuben Brown had recommended a few days off to recover. �What happened? Is he alright?�
Nikki grinned. �He�ll be okay. He needed a couple of stitches and he had a slight concussion, but they released him after a nights observation. He just had a bad headache. Of course, he wanted to come back to work but I insisted that he follow the doctors advice.�
�Stitches? Concussion? What happened?�
�He umm� bashed his head� at home. He didn�t lose consciousness but there was a lot of blood so I thought he should get it checked out.� She bit her lip apparently realising that she had said too much.
A little voice at the back of Leo�s head suggested that he not say anything else. It was probably best if he didn�t get too involved in whatever was going on between his two younger colleagues. However it was his job to ask questions and he�d asked it before he even realised. �What were you doing?�
�I�m not sure you really want to know that.� She replied with a grin as she walked to the door. �But suffice to say, when the Twister instructions say take off your socks before playing, they�re not kidding.� And with that she left him to resume his search for his desk.