No, she didn't miss Niccolo's mention about his status one of the hospital's donors, but that simply didn't matter so much to Nicole Thibault, RN - well, beyond the fact, of course, that she probably<em>hadn't</em>mortally offended him with her offhanded comment.  Nursing for her was a calling, not just a job.  Every man, woman and child who came through those ER doors, rich or poor, prominent or a complete unknown, well-heeled or homeless, rated her respect and her help, and her undivided attentions.  This wasn't something she could simply 'turn off' the moment she swiped out on the clock.  Her genuine reaction to spilled coffee on her scrubs would have been the same for anyone at all.<br/><br/>"No, no Niccolo," she began when he yet again offered to buy her new scrubs.  "Please, don't you worry a moment about - "<br/><br/>And that was when she heard<em> his</em>voice.  Nicole blinked, her lips parted with a small gasp.  Robert's call snapped her from her conversation with this intriguing stranger, as abruptly and completely as a spilled cup of lukewarm coffee all over the belly of her scrubs.  The change in her expression would have been unmistakable, most certainly as close as the ancient vampire remained beside her.  The kindness she showed Niccolo was, by no means, rote or feigned in the least, but at the sight of her husband approaching?  The exhaustion of the past 13-hour shift seemed to disappear like a morning fog, her widening smile the bright sun cresting the horizon, and damn the time of day.<br/><br/>"Bobby?"  Her brow furrowed with undeniable curiosity, those two incredulous syllables the only ones she could have in the space of that single breath.  Was it completely out of character for her husband to surprise her at work?  No, not at all:  look in the dictionary under 'hopeless romantic,' and she was certain her husband's picture would be right there.  Their anniversary, Valentine's Day, birthdays - if she had to work, he'd be there to take her home.  They'd simply leave her car behind in the employee's garage and drop her off the next morning for work, or simply to get her car and drive it home.<br/><br/>But Nicole scoured her memory, trying to decide whether she'd forgotten some rather crucial, meaningful day - but she hadn't, had she?  Today was nothing special really, and why in the<em>world</em>was Bobby carrying his camera with him?<br/><br/>No matter, she'd ask him later.  Right now, her bone-deep, well-ingrained Southern manners bubbled to the surface as she shook off her surprise.  "Bobby, this is Niccolo Rossi," she began, just a touch flustered as her husband wrapped his arm into her hand, pulling her away with an unaccustomed swiftness.  "Niccolo, this is my... Husband... "  Her soft voice trailed off, obviously unheard by either man as the coffee-wielding stranger murmured his farewell.  Her smile dimmed, just a little - Bobby was being downright rude, wasn't he?  She opened her mouth to protest, but realized quickly it'd make not the least bit of difference.  Niccolo would be about his hospital business, and Bobby was whisking her off to the car, and nothing she said or did had the least bearing on either.<br/><br/>Robert's words about Niccolo, just out of earshot of course, were just as strange as his behavior - just really,<em>really</em>odd.  Her smile dimmed further to the faintest of pouts, mitigated only by the fact that the lithely muscular arm beneath her hand belonged to the husband she adored.  And that beloved man was currently escorting his coffee-stained, work disheveled wife to his Honda as if she were his most perfect and pristine princess.<br/><br/>That, and the boxes of Red's Chinese on Claude Street didn't hurt her suddenly brightening mood either.  An Asian-Southern fusion place, this was a little gem hidden away in the heart of the Big Easy - and Robert Thibault knew exactly how little resistance his wife had for the Green Papaya Salad and Kung Pao Pastrami.  With a soft sigh, half resignation and half delight, Nicole put her bag on the backseat floor of Robert's car, trading the weight for the handful of Green Papaya Salad box.  A quick, two second search for some of the disposable wooden chopsticks, and Nicole let her husband hold the door as his much-loved wife settled into the passenger seat, safely buckled in beside him with her prize.<br/><br/>"You know Bobby, you really<em>do</em>sound paranoid about Niccolo," she eventually mumbled about a mouthful of savory green beans.  Manners only took her just so far when it came to Red's Chinese.  "He's just a donor at the hospital, who managed to spill coffee on me on the way inside."  She could still feel the cooling, uncomfortable wet across her belly, that would probably disappear before they even got home.<br/><br/>"Not a chance I'll probably ever see him again anyway.  Folks like him don't hang out with 'the help.'"  A ripe piece of papaya disappeared past her lips, and she chewed thoughtfully.  "People like... The hospital CEO, or the VP of Whatever On-High Position of Super Important, or maybe even the Administrator of Lofty Near-Divinity - not some random ER nurse."<br/><br/><em>'Though why in heaven's name would he be there this time of night?'</em>Nicole shrugged, and poked about her box of yumminess with the ends of her chopsticks 'til she found another tempting little morsel.  People with that kind of money - who could tell their reasoning for anything at all?  She should just be grateful he was giving some of his worldly goods to a worthwhile cause, and that was that.<br/><br/>Still, she really couldn't resist prodding at her man, just a little, a wicked little grin lifting one corner of her lips.<br/><br/>"Heeeey... "  The word was long, drawn-out, rich in that irresistibly sweet Cajun patois.  "Are you<em>jealous,</em>baby?"  Nicole teased, her chopstick-wielding fingers reaching over to poke him playfully in what might have been a paunch - on anyone else, of course, but the lean, lithe Robert Thibault.  "Thinking I'm just<em>so</em>hot in these dirty scrubs, sweaty, in desperate need of a shower?<em>Mmmm</em>... What man could possibly resist all of this, no?" she quipped with a saucy wink.