Whirlwind Romance: 10 Short Love Stories

by Alicia Hunter Pace

  “Don’t know. All I want is out of here. So, are you going to press it now?”

  “No, I thought I’d leave that pleasure to you.” She bent to scoop up the dropped files and muttered under her breath. “Give you something to feel heroic about.”

  “I heard that.” Noah took a couple of steps to the panel and pressed the call button. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

  Instead of a voice crackling over the line, static was the only response.

  “Well, this is just fantastic. This is not how I imagined my shift would be,” he murmured punching the button again. “I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.”

  Lisa looked over at Noah, his agitation at the situation obvious. It didn’t seem to match his confident personality. Was he nervous about being stuck in an elevator? No it didn’t seem possible at all. Noah was way too confident to let a situation like the one they were in, to bother him. Besides it wasn’t like they were stuck in a small space, the hospital’s elevators were oversized to accommodate patient beds.

  She continued straightening her files and quietly observed Noah. He was drumming his fingers on the closed elevator doors as he chewed on his bottom lip. If those actions weren’t already a pretty good sign Noah was uncomfortable. The tapping of his foot confirmed her suspicions.

  Lisa almost laughed at the situation but knew he wouldn’t appreciate it; Dr. Arrogant had a weak point. If her guess was correct, Noah Collins was afraid of confined spaces. His earlier comment about taking the stairs suddenly made sense.

  “You’re claustrophobic?”

  He whirled around, like he’d been struck on the back of the head. “What? No, of course not, why would you think that?” His attempt at a laugh sounded more like a squeak from a tortured chew toy belonging to a dog.

  “Oh I don’t know. It’s not as if the way you’re drumming your fingers and tapping your foot isn’t a bit of a giveaway.”

  Immediately, he went still. “I’m not claustrophobic, that’s ridiculous. I’m worried about leaving the ER short staffed. I’m anxious to get out and back down into the thick of the action.”

  He may have stopped his unconscious fidgeting but from where she was sitting it looked like a fine layer of perspiration was starting to break out over his forehead and his breathing appeared to be shallower than it was before.

  Realization struck: she was going to have to maintain a cool head in this situation. She couldn’t let him panic. The last thing she needed was for him to freak out.

  The sound of a fist connecting with the closed door had her standing quickly. “Why aren’t they answering us?”

  Lisa left the files in a neat pile on the floor and walked over to where he stood, stabbing at the call button. She pulled his hand away.

  “Look, I’m sure maintenance is aware the elevator has stopped.” She glanced around their metal cubicle, spying the video camera in the corner. “There’s a camera, so they probably know we’re in here, and will get to us in time. Guess it was just lucky we didn’t have a patient with us.” She injected some humor into her voice, hoping that it would calm him down a bit.

  “Yes it is.” His reply was short and sharp. She reached across in front of him and pressed the alarm button. A loud ringing echoed around them. She was surprised that Noah hadn’t pressed it himself with the way he had continually stabbed at the buttons on the panel. But in his present state of mind it was highly likely he wasn’t thinking rationally. “Well, if they didn’t know before, they know someone’s stuck now.”

  As she was standing close to him she felt the subtle tensing of his body. All her annoyance at his arrogant nature fled. She couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling. “Why don’t we sit down? We could be in for a bit of wait.”

  Lisa hooked her arm through Noah’s and led him the short distance to where the files were. She gave him a gentle push and he sat down. Before she joined him on the floor, she tried pressing the call button again. This time someone answered, his disembodied voice floating around them.

  “Hi, we know you’re stuck. We’re working on getting you out. Our video feed of your elevator has gone out, so we have no idea of your situation. Can you please confirm the number of people in the elevator and if you have any patients with you.”

  “There are only two of us in here. Dr. Noah Collins and Nurse Lisa Wheeler from the ER. No patients.”

  “Right, fortunately, your elevator is the only one that’s stopped. We’re trying to get a crew to you as soon as possible.”

  “Can it be quick, we’re leaving the ER short staffed?”

  “We’ll do our best but the service company may treat it as a low priority, particularly if there’s an elevator stuck in a high rise with more people on board. Now if you had a patient or a medical emergency, then we’d be given top priority.”

  It seemed ridiculous to Lisa that a hospital wasn’t a priority to the elevator company and put to the top of the repair list.

  “Wouldn’t a hospital always be given priority?” She asked.

  “Normally, but today for some reason, there are an unusual amount of lifts breaking down. Must be due to Valentine's Day,” the man at the other end chuckled as if he’d told the greatest joke on earth.

  Lisa heard the groan of frustration from behind her and tried not to join in. An indeterminate amount of time stuck in a tin can. It was worse than being on a plane. At least there you could watch a movie or gaze out the window. This was a ten-foot by ten-foot staff elevator without even a poster on its four metal walls. Even she was starting to feel a little stir crazy and it had probably only been about ten minutes.

  Hearing the muttering going on behind her gave her an idea. “Look is it possible for you to contact them and see if they can come and get us next. We’re in a hospital for goodness sake. Beside Dr. Collins is suf—”

  “Dr. Collins is fine. Fine!” Noah yelled out. “Dr. Collins is fine.” The last time was spoken quietly almost to himself.

  The security guard buzzed in again. “Alright, we’ll let you know when the technicians get here.”

  Lisa looked at Noah. His head was resting against the back of the elevator with his eyes closed. His lips were moving silently.

  “If you’d let me say something, we could’ve gotten out of here a lot quicker.”

  “It’s not a medical emergency.”

  “True, but I can tell you’re struggling being in a confined space.”

  “I’m perfectly all right, Nurse Wheeler,” he grit out.

  “Fine, go right ahead and deny it,” she retorted and walked back to where Noah was, sitting down next to him. Clearly, he wasn’t going to admit to her that he suffered from claustrophobia, like all men he didn’t want to admit to a weakness in front of a woman. Let alone a lowly nurse.

  The metal floor was cold and hard beneath her butt. She lasted a few minutes before she wiggled a bit trying to get more comfortable. It didn’t help.

  “Here take this.” A rustling sound had her turning her head and she saw that Noah had taken off his white coat and was folding it up so that she had a makeshift cushion to sit on. The action was the last thing she expected from him in his present state of mind. It was such a gentlemanly gesture and it surprised her he was conscious of her discomfort.

  “Thanks.”

  Their hands touched as he passed his coat to her, the slight tremor radiated from Noah through to her. She wanted the touch to linger. To let him know everything was going to be all right. He was going to be fine. They were going to be fine. What would he do if she did say that to him? Now probably wasn’t the time to try and test those waters.

  She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, mimicking how Noah was sitting. The floor was shaking. She cracked her eye open and noticed Noah was tapping his foot again. Maybe it would be best to get him talking, take his mind off the confinement with simple conversation.

  “Tell me—?”

  “Do you have—?”

  They both chuckled and it
seemed to diffuse a little of the tension that had sprung up between them.

  “You first,” she said.

  “I was uh—” he cleared his throat, took a deep breath and stilled the foot tapping, but started drumming his fingers. His shoulders relaxed fractionally when he let the breath out. “I was going to ask you what made you decide to become a nurse?”

  Not the question she was expecting. He kept surprising her. Showing a different, deeper side to him, other than the arrogant and self-assured one that always seemed to be an innate part of him and on display for all to see. Was this the real Noah she was seeing?

  Lisa pushed the ridiculous thought aside. He’d be back to his usual arrogant self in no time.

  “I’ve always wanted to help people. I started babysitting when I was about eleven, and didn’t even mind it if kids threw up on me. I volunteered at one of the local day care centers helping the younger kids learn their ABC’s. I did think about being a teacher for a while.” She paused and plucked at her scrub pants.

  “So how’d you switch to nursing instead?”

  Lisa turned to look at Noah. She took a few moments to check if he was calming down at all. His breathing seemed more even and his hands were loosely clasped in his lap.

  “It’s not that interesting of a story. Are you sure you want to hear about it?”

  She didn’t know what to do when Noah took hold of her hand, rubbing his thumb gently over the top of her fingers. “Yes, I do.”

  White noise filled her ears as her skin flared to life and her blood warmed beneath his soft caress. Never in a million years had she ever thought she’d be this close to Noah Collins.

  “Please, Lisa. It’s helping me,” he finished quietly, his first acknowledgement that he was uncomfortable. Not an outright admission of what he was truly going through, but it was close enough.

  “When I was fourteen I broke my ankle playing field hockey. It was pretty bad, and I had to have surgery to pin it. I was supposed to be in hospital for a week max. Then I developed a blood infection so I ended up staying for a couple more weeks. I was going stir crazy and the nurses were amazing. They kept me occupied. Always had a friendly smile and were so cool under pressure when they had to deal with something on the ward. There were a lot of kids there who were really sick, if you know what I mean.”

  Lisa hated remembering that time. Seeing the kids so sick with cancer. But the nurses had always made them smile. “Anyway after I got out I knew then, that being a nurse was what I wanted to do. But to fulfill the small part of me that wanted to be a teacher I now volunteer at a rec center working with dyslexic kids. I help them read and it’s pretty rewarding.” She finished off quietly.

  “There is definitely more to you than meets the eye, Lisa Wheeler.”

  She ducked her head in embarrassment, she wanted to divert the attention off her and back onto Noah. “How about you? Did you become a doctor to follow in your Dad’s footsteps?”

  “You know who my father is. Tell me, do you think I had a choice in the matter?” He abruptly let go of her hand and folded his arms across his chest. Where he was once relaxed only moments ago, tension turned his muscles into steel poles. Anger laced his every word and she knew she’d struck a nerve.

  She’d only ever seen his father in the ER once, when he begrudgingly gave a surgical consultation. He made it clear that Dr. Brett Collins didn’t give consultations in the Emergency Department. He was only doing it as a favor to his son, a son he was extremely proud of. His father made sure everyone knew who his son was.

  “Well, you certainly walk around the ER as if you own the world,” Lisa said wryly. “I guess I figured you enjoyed the notoriety being the son of Perth’s leading surgeon.”

  “Oh, great. So everyone thinks I’m this shallow jerk who just basks in the shadow of my father’s successes?” He groaned. “This day is getting better and better.”

  Embarrassment washed over her. When he said it like that she did make him sound like he didn’t lift a finger in the ER. She knew how wrong that was. She’d worked with him. He worked as hard or maybe harder than some of the other doctors on staff. Was he trying to prove he was more than his father’s son?

  “No, I don’t. I’m sorry that wasn’t very nice of me to say those things.” She held out her hand towards him. “Forgive me?”

  He took her hand and gave it a brief shake. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

  “Thank you.”

  An awkward silence fell around them. She knew she was to blame for it and so she needed to fix it. She still wanted to know if he only became a doctor because of his father.

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you regret becoming a doctor?”

  He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, giving it the sexy, just-out-of-bed look. “No, I love it. “

  “Really? It sounded like it wasn’t your first choice in vocation and you were forced into being a doctor.”

  “Well yes, my father always pushed for me to go into medicine. I was reluctant, at first, because of what people would think and expect of me. But after my first year in med school, I was shocked to find I really enjoyed it. There’s a definite rush to know your knowledge can save so many lives.” He shook his head ruefully. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t love it as much as I do, though. Feels like my father got the last word. Again.”

  Lisa couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like to have that sort of expectation on her shoulders. Her parents were middle-class citizens, who worked hard for their kids and were rewarded when they all got into university and completed their courses. Her two brothers were on their way to making a name for themselves in the property development market and she was now a nurse.

  Her parents’ expectations had been for her and her brothers to try their best and whatever the outcome or whatever career path they chose to follow, they would always have their parents unconditional love and support.

  Did Noah have that with his father? Or was his father’s love conditional on him being a doctor and, eventually, a surgeon?

  “I’m sure he doesn’t think that way.”

  “Of course he does, my dad wants me to be a surgeon, but I like the excitement and buzz of the ER. I’m still in his bad books for not doing a surgical residency. But he’ll get over it.” He shrugged. “I’m his only son; eventually he’ll realize I’m right.”

  They both laughed, and Lisa looked at Noah with new eyes. Perhaps he really wasn’t a bad guy after all.

  “Seeing as we’re sharing our deep, dark secrets, can I ask you something else?”

  Her stomach leapt up her throat before quickly falling again. For some reason his request set her nerve endings on high alert.

  “Umm sure.”

  Noah leaned a little closer to her, invading her personal space. “Well…” His voice dropped an octave lower, and the sexy tone feathered down her spine, melting her resolve to remain impartial to him even further. “I was going to ask why a beautiful girl like you doesn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day.”

  Chapter Three

  Lisa swiveled so that she could look directly at Noah. The movement brought her almost nose-to-nose with him.

  Her mouth dried. She’d always noticed what green eyes he had. Up close, they almost glowed, even in the dull elevator lighting. His nose was straight and patrician, and his lips were full and only inches from hers. She had always thought he was handsome, but this close, he was really breathtaking.

  And she had to be dreaming to think he would be interested in her: a newly graduated nurse from a middle-class family, when he no doubt had his pick of the daughters of society’s finest all clamoring to date him.

  Lisa turned her gaze back to the scratched metal doors. He’d called her beautiful too. Had he seen the freckles covering her nose? The nose she’d broken courtesy of another field hockey injury. It was after that she finally gave away the sport. She’d spent more time injured than playing.

/>   “Are you okay, Lisa?”

  “What?” She gave herself a mental shake. “Sorry! Yes, I’m fine, and no, I don’t have a date because I’m not seeing anyone.”

  Oh God, that was the last thing she wanted him to know. “Well what about you,” she asked in a desperate measure to get the conversation off of her single status. “Why don’t you have date? I’m sure you’ve got a parade of women knocking on your door, wanting to go out with you?”

  His face screwed up in a grimace, as if the very thought of dating someone on Valentine’s Day was worse than getting puked all over by a drunk.

  “I take it you’re not a fan of the Hallmark holiday?”

  “I don’t mind Valentine’s Day, but let’s just say it was easier to say yes to a night shift than having to sit through my mother’s infamous ‘Valentine’s Day Speed-Dating Extravaganza’ at the sailing club.”

  Lisa burst out laughing; she couldn’t help it. “Speed-Dating Extravaganza? Are you kidding me?”

  He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “It’s for charity. I love my mum but this year, I just couldn’t tolerate sitting for two hours while girls fought over wanting to date a doctor and other, really nice suitable guys, sat shooting daggers at me.”

  Lisa clucked her tongue, faux-sympathetically. “Oh, poor Noah! It’s tough being the handsome doctor everyone dreams about m—.”

  A sudden jolt to the elevator car had her swallowing the rest of her words and grabbing onto Noah’s strong forearm. The muscles beneath her hand shuddered and tensed. For a few minutes, she’d forgotten how difficult being cooped up in here was for him.

  “Oh God, I wish they’d hurry up,” he muttered beside her.

  Lisa checked her watch and saw that they’d been stuck for only half an hour. She certainly wasn’t going to let Noah know that. It would be the last thing he’d want to hear.

  “I’m sure it won’t be long.” She needed to keep him talking. Talking kept him distracted. “So tell me, how many speed-dating events have you been to, and have there been any great romances to come out of any of them?”