His eyes fastened on the person sporting the shirt and he smiled. It was involuntary; he couldn’t have held it back if he’d tried. There was just something about her that made him feel alive, a feeling he hadn’t thought another woman would be able to do ever again. It shocked him, because he had always figured there would be only one woman his whole life who would strike that feeling deep inside him. At least, that was how it was supposed to happen. But he’d been wrong. He’d been wrong about a lot of things regarding love.
He watched her sweep through the isle of books, letting her finger trail along the edge of the shelves, her eyes squinting as she read each title. The bracelets that she always wore clanked together, the sound loud in the stillness of the library, and he watched as she absently pushed them back into place as she pulled out a book and began flipping through the pages.
Erotic was the only way to describe how Brooke browsed through the library.
He had work to finish, but suddenly there was a huge distraction in front of him, and he found it hard to pull his eyes away from her and back to his laptop. Should he go up and talk to her? She’d been pretty civil a couple of days ago, after their mandatory meeting, and had even gone so far as to give him a compliment, of sorts.
Pushing back his chair, he headed towards the bookshelf where Brooke stood with her back towards him. Her head was tilted down as she concentrated on the book in her hands. He had never been so curious as to what someone was reading until now. She intrigued him.
“Is there anything you’d recommend?” Ethan asked, as he sidled up behind her. His shoulder brushed hers as he casually reached for a book.
A smile quirked his lips as he saw Brooke whirl around, and with the wide-eyed expression that covered her face, it was obvious he had caught her off guard, and the sight pleased him. She was too carefree, so when he was able to make her slightly uncomfortable, he enjoyed it.
“Well, if you’re into Astrology, I’d recommend this book,” she said, as she shoved the book she was reading into his hands.
He looked down at the black book that now rested in his hands. He began thumbing through the pages, never guessing that she’d be reading a book like this. His eyes lifted up to hers, and he realized that with her, anything was possible. She never ceased to surprise him. He had meant to catch her off guard, but she’d been the one to pull one over on him.
“I never would’ve thought you’d be into tarot cards and stuff,” Ethan mused, licking a finger as he began scrolling through more pages.
She laughed and said, “Yeah, well, probably because you don’t know me that well.”
His eyes shot up to hers. “Touché,” he said with a smile.
Her face softened as she grabbed the book from his hands. “Yes, and as a matter of fact, I get regular tarot card readings, as well.”
Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. “Hmm, interesting,” he said. “And I bet you read your horoscope every morning, too. Am I right?” he questioned.
She stared at him. “Actually, you are right. And, it is all very interesting. Anyway, what are you doing here besides harassing me on my taste in books?” she asked.
Tossing a look over his shoulder, he said with a shrug, “I’m working.”
Brooke peered past him towards his computer in the corner table. “Ah, I should have known. How many hours do you put in a day?” she asked.
“I try not to add it up,” Ethan said, one corner of his mouth twisting up.
“You’d probably stress even more if you did,” she teased.
Pulling a random book off the shelf, Ethan shuffled through the pages to his horoscope, and laughed. “Well, this can’t be right,” he said.
“What’s not right?” Brooke asked.
She leaned in and looked over his shoulder, and as she did, a strand of hair draped over Ethan’s arm, carrying with it a subtle hint of peaches. From the corner of his eye, Ethan risked a glance at her. Her lips had a light sheen on them, and his thoughts raced back to their first date and how, when he’d kissed her for the first time, he’d tasted the peach lip balm that coated her lips. A light blue tinted her eyes and a mess of long necklaces hung from her neck, casually caressing his back as she leaned in even closer.
“Ethan, what’s not right?” she asked again, her tone indicating she’d asked him more than once already.
“Oh, this,” he said, as he pointed at his horoscope. “I’m a Capricorn and it says I’m considered a workaholic and have a huge drive for success,” he said incredulously.
Looking at her watch, Brooke’s eyebrows rose as she said, “Ethan, it’s seven-thirty at night and you’re at the library working, after you’ve more than likely already worked a twelve-hour day. I’d say that part fits you perfectly.”
Frowning, Ethan said, “Now that you put it that way, I guess.” He looked up and couldn’t help but notice how close she was standing to him. Licking his lips, he asked, “What’s your sign?”
His eyes ventured to her lips as she said, “Aquarius.”
Tearing his eyes away, he began to look up her sign. “Ah, it all makes sense now,” he said with a gruff laugh.
“What does?” Brooke asked.
“What makes you, you,” he said, waving a hand down the length of her.
“What exactly does that mean?” She asked hotly.
“Well, like, right here it says Aquarius are eccentric and unique.” He gave her a look and said, “You’re whole package is exactly that.”
“Is that a problem?” she questioned, a hand now resting on her hip.
His eyes danced around her face for several beats, taking in every beautiful detail before he finally said, “Not at all.”
Her hand dropped from the defiant stance she had taken as she softly said, “Good.”
A smile slowly appeared on Ethan’s face at that one word. “Oh, and look here, it says we’re a good match.” His smile brightened as he pointed to the section on love.
Rolling her eyes, Brooke said, “Yeah, well, I’m not sure that is one hundred percent accurate.”
“You believe in this stuff, right? So, I’m going on that. You believe, I believe.” Ethan said.
“And I’ve also been wrong,” Brooke said, giving him a hard look.
That look tore into him. He knew the reason behind that comment and look. “Yes, but maybe you didn’t have all the facts,” he said, matching her glare. He wanted her to know that she didn’t know it all. That she had the wrong impression on things.
Her eyes darted away from his, and he thought he saw uncertainty hiding beneath the surface. Or, maybe he was hoping he’d seen that.
“Maybe,” she finally said. She slowly pulled the book from his hands and said, “I’d better let you get some work done. The library will be closing in only an hour.”
Struggling to not look too disappointed, he agreed. “Yes, I still have plenty of information to enter from today.”
“Well, maybe I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, before turning away and heading around the corner.
Ethan stood there for a moment, cursing himself for putting himself in this situation. After a few seconds, he finally headed to his table, and for the next hour, he engrossed himself in his work in order to not let his mind dwell too much on Brooke’s parting statement. Did she want to see him tomorrow or was she being sarcastic like usual? She’d told him she wouldn’t give him another chance, but in their training class the other day, he was positive he’d felt something from her.
Damn, he sounded like a teenaged boy trying to figure out dating for the first time.
Chapter 12
BROOKE
It couldn’t be her, could it? Brooke thought to herself as she followed a girl down the hall of Anderson Hospital. She was coming back from the ER because they had run out of gloves in their department, and she had seen this girl who resembled her sister, Casey.
Her unit was to the left, but she turned right and continued several feet behind the girl. She had to see the face of this blonde-haired girl first. The walk was identical. From the way she dramatically swung her arms, to the way her hips swayed from side to side, looking like they were about to fly off her waist. But, it couldn’t be her. Last she knew; her sister was still in New York. Was she here looking for her now?
Brooke watched the girl for another minute, noting the wispy blonde strands of hair that delicately fell to her shoulders, and the way she angled her head slightly to the right, just like Casey. But she couldn’t imagine her sister just showing up after all these years.
The girl finally stopped at the nurses’ station and asked a nurse a question, and by the sound of her voice, Brooke realized that it wasn’t Casey. She paused in the middle of the hall, relieved, but also confused as to why everything was suddenly reminding her of her sister. Casey had been completely gone from her mind for the last three years and then all of a sudden, she’s getting hang up calls, her Gram is suddenly worried about Casey, and she’s seeing people who look just like her. It was strange and out of the blue. Running a hand through her hair, she turned around and headed to her unit.
“Hey, Brooke, I think Mrs. Bradford is giving the tech a hard time. I tried reasoning with her, but then my patient in 3303 started causing trouble, so you might want to go in and check on them,” Paige said apologetically.
Sighing, Brooke said, “I’ll head right in. Mrs. Bradford has been pushing her limits with me lately.”
As she rounded the corner, she could already hear Mrs. Bradford’s defiant voice carrying down the hall. It grated on Brooke’s nerves. Nothing pleased the woman and she rarely cooperated with anyone. Everything with her was a chore. She paused in front of the door, trying to gather her composure. “I can do this,” she chanted to herself before heading in.
“Hi, Mrs. Bradford,” Brooke greeted, doing her best to sound cheerful and enthusiastic. Of course, she knew it wouldn’t matter. Mrs. Bradford was the type of person to find something negative in every situation. And of course, she absolutely hated being here in the hospital.
“I don’t know why you’re so cheery in such a drab place like this. I’m being treated horribly and you’re happy about it,” the old lady griped.
Brooke and the tech, named Tina, made eye contact, both knowing she was in her irrational state of mind at the moment. Mrs. Bradford seemed to fluctuate every hour or so.
“I’m trying to get her to lie back so I can change her sheets, but she’s refusing, even though she’s lying in urine,” Tina stated, waving a hand across the bed at the mess.
Pulling in a deep breath, Brooke addressed Mrs. Bradford, “Nancy, we can’t let you lie in dirty sheets, hon; it’s not good for your skin.”
“I don’t care,” she said, waving a hand in the air, and a gray curl, almost as defiant as she was, fell into her eye. She angrily shoved it away.
“I know you don’t care, but we care about you, so we need you to cooperate so we can get you cleaned up. Okay?” Brooke said, saying a silent prayer that this would go smoothly. Her patience was growing thin with Nancy.
“Well, I just want to lie here right now and not be bothered,” the old lady said with a huff.
“I know, but we’ll be fast, I promise.” Brooke began pulling the sheets up from the end of the bed, hoping Nancy would get tired of fighting them and just go along with it.
As soon as Nancy realized what they were doing, she began kicking her legs at them, screaming at the top of her lungs. Brooke reached up and grabbed her legs, trying to keep her from nailing her and the tech in the face. “Mrs. Bradford, you have to calm down, we just need to change your sheets!” Brooke yelled.
Mrs. Bradford was sitting up now, her arms flailing in every direction. Brooke and the tech tried to grab her arms to keep her from falling out of the bed, but with no avail.
“Mrs. Bradford, you’re going to hurt someone, you need to stop,” Brooke said, trying to keep her tone calm.
A shadow from behind her caught her eye and she risked a quick glance, hoping Paige or someone had heard the commotion and was coming in to help, because there was no way they were going to get close to the call button without getting knocked in the face, and she couldn’t risk sending Tina out and leaving her alone with Mrs. Bradford. The last thing she wanted was for her to fall out of bed.
“Mrs. Bradford, what’s going on?”
Recognizing the deep voice, Brooke felt relieved and irritated at the same time. She felt embarrassed that Ethan was seeing her in this position. Again. She didn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle her patients, but damn, the lady was out of control, and she doubted he’d be able to help. He was a doctor, she was sure he rarely dealt with patient interactions like this.
“Oh, Doctor Ethan!” Mrs. Bradford squealed, bouncing up and down in bed as she laughed in excitement.
Brooke relaxed her grip on the old lady, but stayed in her spot, the last thing she needed was Mrs. Bradford drawing back and hitting Ethan in the face. She couldn’t help but smile at that thought though.
“Are you causing trouble for these nice women?” Ethan questioned sternly.
Mrs. Bradford covered her hand over her mouth in surprise. “No, no, I just wanted to go to sleep,” she lied.
“Well, it seems that your bed needs changed, though. Why don’t we get this done quickly and then you can get your beauty rest, okay?” he said, patting Mrs. Bradford’s arm gently as he looked over the bed and gave Brooke a slight nod.
“Oh, okay, if you say so,” Mrs. Bradford said, giving his hand a squeeze as she stared sweetly into his eyes.
Rolling her eyes, Brooke turned to Tina. “You can go ahead and leave, I can get this while Dr. Harris assesses her.”
Brooke watched Tina dart out the door, glad to be dismissed from the chaos.
“Here, I’ll help,” Ethan said, as he put on a pair of gloves.
“No, no, I’ve got it,” Brooke said, shocked that he would even offer. She had never seen a doctor help change a bed before.
“It’s fine, I’ve changed beds before. It’s not a big deal and it’ll be faster with two people. Right?”
“Um, yeah, I guess,” Brooke said.
“Okay, Mrs. Bradford, I need you to lie back and roll to one side,” Ethan said with a smile.
Brooke waited for Mrs. Bradford to argue or start throwing a tantrum; the last thing she expected to see her do was fall back and roll to her left side without even a huff.
“Um, okay, that went better than I thought it would,” Brooke said, slightly annoyed. She watched Ethan begin pulling the sheets from the bed and followed suit.
When he was done putting the clean sheets on his side, he said, “Okay, Mrs. Bradford, I need you to roll towards me one more time, and we’ll be done.”
Brooke watched him gently grab Mrs. Bradford’s arm and help her come his way.
“Anything for you, Dr. Harris,” she cooed innocently, even going as far as to bat her eyelashes at him.
“Seriously?” Brooke mouthed over the bed at Ethan, rolling her eyes at the scene playing out in front of her.
Laughing and grabbing the pillow case that Mrs. Bradford had been resting her head on, Ethan looked up and said, “We make a great team, though. Look at how fast we got this done. I bet it was in record time.”
He looked so pleased with himself that Brooke couldn’t help but smile. “Well, I guess you have the magic touch,” Brooke stated, as she yanked the old sheets free from her side.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ethan said, “Not really, just some women patients listen better to men, so I thought I’d give it a shot. It was a 50/50 chance that she’d cooperate.”
Brooke paused and said, “Oh, okay. Well, good call. She’s been difficult all week, so it’s nice to change the sheets peacefully for once.”
>
“I bet she’s been fun,” Ethan said with a laugh.
“I don’t think fun is the word to describe this experience,” Brooke stated, waving her hand before her. “But, I’ve dealt with worse situations.”
“Okay, now roll to your other side for me, Mrs. Bradford, we’re almost done, okay?” Ethan said as he helped her to roll over.
“You’re really good at this,” Brooke said.
“Ah, another compliment from you. I’ve been on a roll lately,” Ethan said.
“Don’t get too used to it,” she said.
“Okay, Mrs. Bradford, we’re done now, you can roll onto your back.”
“Thank you, Dr. Sexy,” Mrs. Bradford said, and then as Ethan leaned over to adjust the blanket, he jerked upright when Mrs. Bradford smacked his ass.
Brooke covered her mouth, her eyes lit up in amusement, as she watched Ethan fumble for how to respond. He took a step back and scratched his head, but Brooke saw a smile trying to creep onto his face. She held her hands up when he turned back to her. “She’s all yours.”
Mrs. Bradford just stared at him, smiling sweetly as if it was completely normal to smack the doctor’s ass. “Um, okay, let’s get started with your assessment,” Ethan said, keeping his eyes on her as he backed away to grab his laptop.
Giggling, Brooke tossed the old sheets in the dirty hamper, and as she picked up the room, she couldn’t help but notice Ethan’s gentle manner as he talked quietly to Mrs. Bradford while he assessed her. She was even more amazed at how calm Mrs. Bradford was. She seemed to be more alert and was even asking him coherent questions about her health. As she left the room, she could hear Ethan politely answering her questions and telling her when her next tests were scheduled.
“How did things go in there?” Paige asked. “I was going to come in and help, but Tina said Dr. Harris came in and you sent her out.”
When Love Ignites Page 10