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In stark contrast to the rest of the hospital room, Kyle's pink scrubs seemed to almost be a protest - silently clashing with the occasional beeping of a monitor that kept a technological eye on the bed's occupant. Kyle looked up at the bunny's face, which looked peacefully asleep - although it was more due to the amount of anesthesia she was given for the unplanned Cesarean section she ended up needing. Julie Bowers, husband deployed and couldn't get leave approved in time. Thirty six hours of arduous labor, three hours of pushing which included a one hour emotional meltdown at the mention of a C-Section delivery, some ugly crying when the doctors opted for general anesthesia upon learning of Julie's back injury - something that went more akin to the tranquilizing of a rampaging elephant, and not a gentle ushering into that dreamless sleep as some people might think. Nothing in Julie's birth plan even got close to this 'ride' and Kyle felt bad for her. He stayed with her through the procedure, through the baby needing a bit of TLC from the NICU staff, and now had one last thing he wanted to do for her. He looked at the bottle of fingernail polish, Lilac. He remembered a conversation they had at the start of things - she wanted to look her very best when her husband got home.

“I am not a mani-pedi expert…so…I apologize in advance if I've done you dirty…" Kyle stated to the unconscious rabbit. He glanced at the instructions, before he started to shake the bottle. Last Kyle had heard, her husband was working to get state-side but he had no idea if that had happened or when to expect him. But, Julie was going to look good for her man - if Kyle had anything to say about it and if Kyle was any good at painting nails. He stopped shaking the bottle, paused a moment, then opened it carefully - as if he expected it to explode. Yep, not the target demographic for this product at all - I hope I am doing this right. Julie… Kyle thought to himself. He sniffed the polish curiously, which caused him to wince before he started painting with the small brush attached within the bottle cap. She had all of the polish removed from her fingers and toes before the procedure, he had made sure that it would be alright that he was able to paint her toenails. Her fingers would have to wait until she was discharged - an oxygen monitor was taped on her right hand ring finger, and any attempt to paint her fingernails would likely interfere with post-surgery monitoring. He finished with a few of the smaller toes, about to start on her left big toe before he was interrupted.

“Waltman, are we going to have to have the 'don't let your freak flag fly at work' talk?" Joy poked her head into the room, having come across Julie's post-surgery room while looking for Kyle undoubtedly. Julie didn't even twitch at the sound of Joy's voice, a sign that she was still quite unconscious.

Kyle paused, taking a moment before he looked over at the hippo leaning into the room, “No. If you want me to explain, I will. If not, then I've got toes to paint." as he blinked back exhaustion. He had been up for nearly three days at this point, a fact that seemed to make his eyelids heavier than they were before the interruption. He returned to the toes, dipping the brush into the bottle.

The hippo came in, looking at the bunny before looking at Kyle, “Things are pretty quiet down in L&D, I realized I hadn't seen you leave when I did - went looking for you to hear that Mrs. Bowers had to have a C-Section and that there were…issues that kept you here. Lilac. Her favorite color for her toes or yours, 'cause you strike me as being a Lilac…" she quietly mused with a smile, letting her statement drift off as she gets a deadpan expression from the fox.

Kyle stopped, looking back at the hippo, stating, “I strike you…as a Lilac?" clearly looking a touch confused. The ladies he worked with tended to have a little bit of fun at his expense, though they are careful not to take it too far. He knew that a bit of it was the result of being one of the only men they regularly worked with - he got pulled into a lot of conversations that would be 'yellow light behavior' if it were men. He tried not to let it get to him, for one - it would make the teasing worse and it was a sign that they were starting to accept him. If they didn't care about him, they wouldn't bother to do anything to include or exclude him.

“Come on… you know, if you were a woman - you'd definitely be a Lilac kind of lady. You know, not smoldering hot, not frigidly cold, warm, floral…" Joy explained, “I've even been known to like lilacs, but that's more my daughter's speed."

“Good to know. I think this might be a conversation best resumed at the nursing station, you know - so all the others can pile on?" Kyle weakly suggested.

“Alright… check back in before you head out? I don't expect to keep you, but if things go nuts - I don't want to be out, yaknow?" the hippo asked.

“Of course." Kyle nodded, returning to the nail painting task. He had only one toe to do, and he had to admit that it didn't look TOO bad - he knew the principle was to keep the polish off the skin and fur, as well as not to smear things. He had taken a bunch of gauze squares from the supply cabinet after they were done, so their 'inside patient' count would not be off (he also billed them to himself, which was likely gonna get noticed - but then he'd get in trouble, not Julie).

Joy ducked back out of the room, undoubtedly returning to the Labor and Delivery department back on the first floor. Despite the clinical name designation, it was warm and inviting, almost encouraging people to sightsee - as Joy would call it - as curiosity would get the better of people curious about the abrupt transition from sterile white neutrals to pastel warmth. It did have a set of magnetic-lock equipped doors, but they were kept in the 'locked open' position, only closing if a fire alarm was activated, or someone yanked them closed.

Kyle inspected his polish-painting to see if he had missed any parts, or gotten polish where it should not be. Satisfied that he hadn't made any serious errors, he put the cap back on the fingernail polish, putting it back into the little gift bag from which he got it. Almost as if the universe knew he had completed his task, there was a knock on the door behind the curtain, a baritone voice asking, “Mrs. Bowers? Are you awake?"

The bunny stirred slowly, her face wrinkled in discomfort. She blinked a little, still looking slightly dazed before she responded, “...94…" in an uncertain tone that almost seemed to question as well as inform.

Kyle checked to make sure that he had not made a mess on his own hands before the curtain was drawn back by a brown bruin's paw.