by J. L. Drake
Molly was the first to greet us, and she started to bark out orders to the others as they paged Dr. Flynn.
“What happened?” Molly shouted over the chatter. I saw Mia race over.
“Grenade.”
Mia nearly froze when she heard me. She shook her head, then ordered them to take Cole to bed six.
She hurried to stand in front of me. Her hands went to my face, then retracted when she realized what she did. “Are you okay?”
I looked down at my black gear, two guns strapped to my hip, a knife on my thigh, and I looked like I was…well, like I was nearly blown up by a grenade.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
She reached up and gently touched my head. Her cold fingers immediately comforted me. “You need a CT and stitches.”
“Stitches,” I countered, “but only if you are the seamstress,” I joked.
Her chest fell as she huffed in frustration. “Fine, come on.”
She led me to a quiet room where she told me to sit on the bed and carefully cleaned my cut. The feeling in the room changed. I sensed she was upset by the way her breathing had changed.
I tried to lighten the mood. “We have to stop meeting like this.”
“I’m guessing that grenade wasn’t friendly fire?”
“Friendly fire?” I laughed at her choice of words.
“I work in a place where I hear lots of terms. You would be surprised what comes through those double doors.” Her head lowered and she let out a sigh.
“Hey,” I tipped her chin so she’d look at me, “what’s wrong?”
Her mouth tugged up on one side, but I could tell she wasn’t her normal playful self. “Just been a long couple of weeks.” With a shake of her head, she forced a smile. “So did you catch the bad guys?”
I sat straighter, my body’s natural reaction when I thought of the men we’d killed. I wasn’t proud of the number of deaths I’d been part of, but I wasn’t bothered by them either. The men we killed had done terrible things to good people.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
She moved in front of me, between my legs, and held my head so I looked down at her. “How’s your vision?”
She licked her bottom lip. I silently begged to know how she tasted.
“No complaints here.”
Her smile touched her eyes and made them sparkle. Her nose had the perfect downward slope that made her pink lips pop. Her long, shiny hair smelled freshly washed, and a soft, sweet scent lingered on her skin. She was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. It made me want to touch her…
“I wish you’d let me book you a CT scan,” she said, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’m fine.” I tried to decide which place I would kiss first.
“What if you’re not?” She let go and stepped back.
“Would you care?”
“Yes,” she blurted, then tried to fix her outburst. “I mean, of course, you’re my patient. And I care about all those people.”
“Those people?” I grinned, loving this moment.
“You know what, on second thought, I’m sure you’re fine.” She moved, and so did I.
“Ahh…” Fuck, my side.
“That’s it. Take off your scary-looking gear.”
“Really, it’s—”
“Mark, please,” she nearly begged, “let me do my job.”
I stood, my chest almost touching hers, and carefully started removing my vest. My t-shirt was soaked with sweat, and some blood soaked through over my shoulder. She helped me peel the fabric from my sore torso. Her long hair brushed by my stomach, and I swallowed down a moan. It felt so soft.
Again her eyes grazed over my body, and everywhere they went, I felt a slight pull toward her.
“Why am I always naked around you?”
“Perks of the job,” she teased, and I could see she was coming around.
“That perk could go south real quick with that old guy across the hallway.”
She laughed and felt around my stomach.
“So, am I gonna live?”
“Today, I think you are. Lift your arms above your head.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She peeked up at me from below her long bangs. Her cool, soft hands slid all around. “Hurt anywhere?”
“Not while you’re doing that.” I gave a huff at her touch. I wanted to be doing the same to her.
“I think you have two fractured ribs, and…” her fingers walked along my side, “some pretty intense bruising along your side here. Let me go grab you some tape. I’ll check on how your friend is doing, okay?”
“No pain meds.”
She stopped to look back at me. “I remember.”
After Mia left, Nurse Alvin came in and taped me up, under Dr. Evans’ orders. I saw I had a little competition. After I got touched a tad more than I needed to, I dressed and headed back into the waiting room where the rest of the team waited.
Nurse Taylor came over and gave us an update.
“Mr. Logan had a pretty good hit to the head. He’s stable and will be released within forty-eight hours.” She glanced at me with a shy smile.
“Are you undressing me with your eyes again, Nurse Taylor?” She blushed and laughed as she walked away.
“Okay, I’m heading out.” Keith rose and flicked his head toward the other guys. “Mark seems at home here, so he can babysit.”
I waved as they headed for the truck. After an hour of staring at the wall, I decided to wander a bit. It didn’t take long to find her, and I hung back and listened from the doorway.
She had her back turned to me as she held onto a kid’s hand. They seemed close. She smiled and ran her hands through his hair a few times.
“You are so special, Kenny.” She kissed their hands.
“I love you, Mom.” My stomach sank. What?
“And I love you. Time for a nap, okay?”
He nodded and closed his eyes. Mia started to sing “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding. I couldn’t help but lean in and listen to her voice. With Savannah’s piano skills and Mia’s voice, we could have a band soon.
I smirked at the thought, mainly because I had never thought about a woman like that. Melanie was great, but…I pushed aside that dark cloud. I loved my job, but it could be a bit depressing thinking about the future.
I was lost in her words when she suddenly stopped singing. I snapped out of my fog and saw her staring at me. Her face was pale and her eyes glazed over.
She stood, tucked in the boy, then whisked past me and out to the nurse’s station.
“Hey, Mia.” I ran after her. “Who is that?”
“A patient.”
“Is he your son?”
“What?”
“I heard what he said to you.”
“That was private.” Tears rimmed her eyes.
“Mia!” Dr. Evans’ voice sliced through the tension. “I could use your help, if you could spare a moment.” He looked over at me. “Your friend is in room 346.” I got the point.
“Excuse me,” Mia made her way over, her head down and her shoulders slumped forward.
“Be careful, Mark.” Nurse Taylor pretended to organize her paperwork. “That’s a touchy subject for her.”
“Is he her son?”
“No.” She turned away when another doctor came up and handed her a stack of charts.
“Mr. Lopez,” Dr. Evans appeared at my side, “I understand you are here for your friend, but he’s in room 346.”
“So you’ve mentioned.” I could tell he was annoyed with me.
“I need you to leave my staff alone.”
“You mean Mia?” I squared my shoulders. We were about the same height, but I had approximately a hundred pounds on him.
Nurse Taylor rolled her eyes at him. I took it they’d dealt with him before.
“I mean everyone.”
With a wink, I slapped his shoulder. “You know the Logans invest a lot of funds in this hospital. We spend a great d
eal of time here.”
“Your point, Mr. Lopez?”
“My point is you will be seeing a lot of me and my men.” I gave him a grin. “And it’s Major Lopez.”
Moving past him, I made my way toward Cole’s room.
“There’s my sunshine.”
“Die.” Cole stared at the green Jell-O that wiggled as I propped my feet up on his bed.
“Done faking it yet?” I pulled out a protein bar, knowing Cole loved them.
“I want some.”
“Nah,” my eyes rolled back in my head, “not enough to share.”
“Fuck you.”
“Aw, is someone cranky? They not feeding you enough?” I enjoyed myself as I tossed his words back at him.
He pushed the Jell-O out of his sight. “When can I get out of this place?”
“Forty-eight.”
“Fuck me.” His head fell back.
“It’s fuck me sideways,” I mumbled through a mouthful of food. Cole gave me an annoyed look.
“Please tell me you didn’t call—”
“The Mrs.” I interrupted. “Yeah, I kind of like to keep my balls where they are, thanks.”
Cole laughed, then squinted when the pain kicked up. “God, I love that woman.”
“And we are all thankful for that, but if you two could stop acting like rabbits in your office, that would be nice too.”
He shrugged shamelessly. Cole didn’t care he and Savannah were always starved for one another.
“Speaking of hot and heavy, you find your sexy nurse? Maya?”
“Mia?”
“Yeah,” he smirked when I corrected her name again, “Mia.”
“I seem to have some competition in Dr. Evans.”
“The pretty doctor?” Cole laughed. “I think he gets his eyebrows waxed.”
I made a face at his comment. “The day you catch me in a spa is the day I die.”
“Amen to that, brother.”
I entertained Cole until he passed out around six, then I watched The Killing until I followed him in sleep.
The nasty green vinyl chair nearly killed me around four a.m. I was entirely too big for such a tiny seat. My attempt at being quiet failed miserably as I knocked into the table and the glass Snapple bottle tipped and crashed to the floor.
“Door, now!” Cole pointed without opening his eyes.
“I’m fine, thanks for asking. You can pay for my therapy when I tell you what that armrest did to me earlier.” I sauntered out of the room with a grin.
The hallway was dim, and only two nurses were at the station. I decided to wander around in search of some coffee or maybe an open bed.
I’d watched enough TV to know there was an on-call room the nurses used when they were on break.
Three hallways and twelve doors later, I found an open room for the staff. With a glance over my shoulder, I slipped inside.
“Oh, yes,” I cooed and curled up on the rather large cot and passed out in a matter of seconds.
***
Mia
The last surgery went horribly. I watched a ten-year-old girl fight for her life, only to have it slip away when we were closing. She had been in the front seat when she and her mother were hit by an empty school bus. Her mother died on impact, but the daughter had a sixty percent chance. I’d lost four kids—well, now five—since I started working as a nurse, and nine adults. It didn’t matter how detached you were from them. To lose a child patient left you feeling like nothing anyone could explain.
I flicked on the light and jumped. Mark was in my on-call bed. With a quick peek down the hallway, I moved to close the door behind me. I was so tired, and this bed was so comfy with its pillow-top mattress.
I sat on the edge of the bed and carefully shook his shoulder.
“Mark,” I whispered. “Mark?”
His eyes opened and he squinted at me. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry.” He started to move, but I stopped him. “Hey,” his hand came up and touched my cheek, “you’ve been crying?”
My chin dipped and I looked away. “Rough night. Some nurse I am, crying over every patient.”
“Sounds like you need this more than me.”
“No,” I tried to smile, “it’s okay. I don’t think I can sleep anyway.”
He moved to lean his back against the wall and patted next to his leg. “Why don’t you just sit with me for a bit?”
It had been a long time since I’d allowed myself some company. I guessed it wouldn’t hurt.
With a twist, I settled in next to him. His body was much larger than mine, and the heat that radiated off him was comforting.
“You’re freezing.” He pulled the blanket over my lap in a caring way. I wasn’t sure why I let him do that, but something about how much he seemed to like to take care of me was…nice.
“I can never seem to get warm.” I yawned and covered my mouth when I realized I might have come off rude. “Sorry.”
He granted me a sexy smile. “For what?”
“For yawning. It’s been a day.”
“So you mentioned.”
I nodded as my eyes grew intensely heavy. “Lost a little girl today.”
“I’m sorry, Mia.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. “If it helps any, I do know how that feels.” He removed his arm, and I felt a sudden chill.
“It does, thanks.” I shivered and moved closer. He moved his arm so it covered more of me.
I didn’t remember much more than that, but I did know that was the first time in a long time I went to bed warm.
I opened my eyes at the sound of the door clicking open. It was the cleaning crew, who backed out when they saw the room wasn’t empty. I was very comfortable, and it took my brain about thirty seconds to realize I wasn’t alone. I scrambled to a sitting position and looked over at Mark propped up in the corner, and I apparently was using his shoulder as a pillow.
Oh my God! I wondered who else saw us this way. This was not okay. People could get fired for sleeping with a patient. The fleeting thought that he wasn’t actually a patient, per se, was brushed aside as I slipped quickly off the bed. What was I thinking? With a glance over my shoulder, I saw he was still passed out. There was a part of me that wanted to snuggle back down and sleep for another twelve hours. I straightened my hair as best I could and glanced at my watch.
Shit! I was late to prepare for my next surgery. Dr. Evans wanted me on every one of his operations. He said we were a good team, but I thought he just wanted to get in my pants. He was nice enough, but like most doctors, pretty full of himself, and he was simply not my type.
As much as I didn’t really want to, I shook Mark’s shoulder until his eyes fluttered opened. A lazy grin appeared, and my knees nearly failed me.
“You need to leave. The other staff will be in here soon.”
“Okay.” He sprang up and rubbed his face. “Did you sleep?”
“Like a rock. However, I could use another twenty-four.”
“When do you get off?”
I stopped fixing my scrubs. “Umm, five hours.” He nodded. “I gotta go. I have surgery.” Right before I opened the door, I turned to him. “When do you go back?”
“Tomorrow, I think.” He caught my expression, but I recovered quickly.
“I guess I’ll see you around.” I left because I didn’t like the knot that formed in my stomach when I thought about him leaving.
***
“Great job in there.” Dr. Evans came up behind me as I hurried toward the nurse’s station. “We make a great team.”
“Yeah,” was all I could think of to say back. Four surgeries in one shift, and I was about done.
“Mia.” Nurse Taylor—Vikki—popped out from behind the station. “This was left for you.” She gave me a smile, then scowled at Dr. Evans’ shadow behind me.
“What is it?” I peeked in the bag just as she set a steamy cup of coffee in front of me. My mouth watered as she handed me a note.
Eat something, you’ll
feel better. Mark.
I grinned as I pulled out a breakfast sandwich and took a huge bite.
“Ohh, so good,” I moaned, forgetting people were there. Normally, I only ate once, sometimes twice throughout my shift. I never seemed to stop.
“Who’s this from?” Dr. Evans asked as he peered over my shoulder to see the note.
“A friend.” I snatched my coffee and hurried down the hallway to Cole’s room, where I hoped to find Mark.
By time I hit the room, my body was already recovering with the protein. The coffee was the icing on the cake. I opened the door and caught sight of a gorgeous woman leaning over Cole’s bed.
“Good morning.” I pulled Cole’s chart to see how his night went.
“Oh, Mia,” Cole pulled my attention, “this is my wife, Savannah.”
“Nice to meet you.” Savannah offered her hand for a shake, and I returned it, but not before she gave a funny look.
“Nice to meet you too.”
She smiled at Cole, who shook his head. What was going on?
“So, Mia…” Savannah came over to my side. She was stunning in a pair of black leggings, a swoop neck sweater, gold earrings, and bangles. My feet were envious when I took in her black heels. “Tell me something, Mia. Are you single?”
I nearly choked on my coffee. “I don’t do threesomes. No offense.”
“Oh, shit.” Cole sputtered as he laughed into his pillow.
“None taken.” Savannah dismissed my last comment cheerfully. “No, I was just asking for curiosity’s sake.”
The door flew open. “Nurse Taylor is one dirty—” Mark stopped when he saw me. “I see you got my gift.”
“I did, thank you.” I smiled but had to look away when I felt my cheeks heat. “I feel a lot better.”
“Good to hear. How was your surgery?”
“Better than yesterday’s.” I caught his grin, and his teeth looked sparkling white against his dark complexion.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“So, Mia, when can I get this guy home? We have some catching up to do.” Savannah held onto Cole’s hand as she sat next to him. The love pouring off of them was palpable.
“Ahh…” I had to force my gaze away. “I will go grab Dr. Evans, but I think he’ll release you late today or tomorrow morning.”