Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series
Page 55
His words rendered her speechless. It was the last thing she’d expected to come out of him. Noah had been terse, seeming angry throughout the complicated procedure, and Lisa had thought perhaps he was upset that the only available nurse to assist him was a rookie. When they’d finished, he’d left the room without a word to her. His compliment now was unexpected to say the least.
“Thank you. But I think it works both ways.” Lisa needed to get away and process what Noah had said to her. Was there more to him than just being the entitled son of a prominent surgeon? “I need to hand over these files.”
This time Noah let her pass.
“I’ll see you later in the shift, Nur—Lisa.”
• • •
“So are you ready for the rush this evening?”
Lisa looked up and saw Emergency Registrar Dr. Alex Scavoni, leaning casually against the counter.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I think.” She said with a laugh. “I’m surprised to see you here, Dr. Scavoni. Shouldn’t you be at home enjoying the evening with your wife?”
“It’s Alex, and you know we don’t stand on ceremony here, Lisa. Besides,” he laughed. “Trust me when I say Sophia and I have already had an enjoyable afternoon.”
“That’s nice,” she mumbled as she felt the blush bloom in her cheeks. Lisa didn’t need any more information to know just how enjoyable his afternoon had been.
“Before it gets too crazy, can you please take these files up to Admin for me?”
“Sure.” Lisa took the files Alex held out and headed toward the bank of elevators. She knew some nurses looked at running errands like this for the doctors as a demeaning task, but she was happy to help out when and wherever she could.
Lisa pressed the button and waited forever for the elevator to arrive. Surely, by now all of the Valentine’s Day flower deliveries would have been completed.
Finally the elevator arrived and she stepped in. As the doors were closing a hand bisected the middle and the doors smoothed open. The smile she had on her face to greet her elevator companion died a slow death when she saw who was about to enter the compartment.
Why couldn’t he have been ten seconds later? Then she’d be on her way up and he’d be waiting for another elevator to arrive.
“Well, hello again, Nurse Wheeler. Still carrying around files I see. “
She rolled her eyes, and as the door closed she wished the ride up to be swift and painless and conversation free.
Lisa diverted her attention to gazing at the grubby ceiling of the elevator—anything so she didn’t look at Noah. He was standing far too close to her for her comfort. She counted the seconds, moving her gaze from the roof to the numbers changing on the electronic screen. Slowly, ever so slowly, the numbers were increasing. She just needed to make it a few more seconds and the ride would be over.
A sudden jolting had her losing her balance. She would’ve fallen over if it hadn’t been for Noah’s quick reflexes as he grabbed her by her arms. The files dropped to the floor, pages scattering everywhere. Like before, her flesh warmed under his hands, but she put the tingling feeling flowing through her body, like the fizz from fine champagne, down to the shock of the abrupt movement.
“What was that?” she asked as she pulled herself away from his touch.
“I’m not sure.”
There was an unnatural silence surrounding them and in an instant Lisa knew what the problem was.
The elevator had stopped.
She flicked her eyes up to the electronic floor display. Where little red dots formed the floor numbers, there was nothing but black. The lights flickered and blackness filled the space. Lisa held her breath, hoping they would come back on.
She let her breath whoosh out in relief when they flared back to life. Only half came back on, but it was better than not at all. At least they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark. She made her way to the button panel and stabbed the “doors open” button, but nothing happened. Lisa hit it again, and again, but the steel doors didn’t budge.
“Oh shit, we’re stuck.”
Chapter Two
“Tell me something I don’t know,” muttered Noah at her comment. “Do you have a phone?”
She patted her pockets, but they were flat and empty. She must have left her cell at the desk. “No. You?”
“No.”
“What? You don’t have your phone?” Lisa shook her head in surprise. “Shouldn’t you always have your phone on you?” She spied the little black device clipped to his jacket pocket. Hope was not lost. “Your pager! Use your pager to send a message and let them know we’re stuck.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s broken.”
“Broken? Are you serious? No phone and a broken pager? Isn’t that convenient?” Lisa was aware she wasn’t exactly being rational here. It wasn’t his fault they were potentially stuck, but the prospect of being confined alone with him for an unknown amount of time already had her nerves fraying.
“No, it’s not convenient! I was taking it upstairs to get it replaced,” he bit the words out. “You don’t honestly think I want to be stuck here, do you? Dammit, I should’ve taken the stairs like I always do.”
“Perhaps you should’ve.” Lisa retorted. He was the one who stuck his hand through the doors to stop them closing.
“Great. This is just great.”
“I guess we have to press the call button,” Lisa said, resignedly.
“You didn’t think to try that when you were over there before pressing buttons?”
“I figured we should wait and see if they’d make some sort of announcement. I wonder if there are other people stuck or we’re the only ones.”
“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 be
fore.
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.”
“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?