Her Forever Fling

by Kimmie Ferrell

  But he wouldn’t. They were supposed to be taking their relationship slow, despite the lingering glances they shared, whether passing through the halls or speaking to one another about a patient or chart, and the longing he saw in the depths of her brown eyes didn’t help. It had been a little over a week since Melissa began working at BCMH and the dinner they shared. After getting over the awkward conversation of her move and employment at the hospital, they decided they would continue with their relationship under the perimeters of discretion. Melissa’s past experience with her ex-boyfriend threatened to stall the progress Elijah made since their time in Chaud. But he was patient, and after those first couple of days of working side-by-side, they’d developed an easy-going rhythm, finding times during their shift to speak to one another, even if only for a minute or under the guise of speaking about a patient.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said I don’t believe your course of treatment for this patient is correct.” Melissa finally glanced up from her clipboard, and her heated gaze connected with Elijah’s. She nervously ran a hand up and down her arm, then shifted the weight of her body from one foot to the other. Her eyes slowly trailed over his six-foot frame before snapping to his. She cleared her throat. “I apologize for interrupting, sir, but I disagree with your assessment. The directions you’re planning to send Mr. Everett home with are not best in the best interest of the patient.”

  “Nurse Gaines,” one of the residents snapped. “Do you know—”

  Elijah held up a hand to cut the young man off. He raised a questioning brow with his feet braced slightly apart and his arms folded over his chest. When he and Melissa agreed to date, Elijah knew working together wouldn’t be easy. On top of ensuring his interactions with Melissa were always professional, to prevent talk of nepotism, Elijah made sure to treat Melissa as he would anyone else. Because of this, there was always the possibility of one or both of them not agreeing with a patient’s care. However, he didn’t expect it to be this early in their work relationship. Still, Elijah was intrigued by Melissa’s confidence in doing what no one, not even the residents, had done—disagreeing with him while advocating for the patient.

  “Why is that, Nurse Gaines?”

  When Melissa shivered just enough for Elijah to notice, he couldn’t help but recall the times when he’d whisper her title in her ear and feel her body quake with desire in his arms. Her eyes would darken with lust, and her nipples would grow harder, sensitive to the touch. Melissa admitted there was something about the way he called her ‘Nurse Gaines’ that turned her on in the worst possible way. And watching the rise and fall of her chest, Elijah wondered how far he could push her buttons.

  Melissa quickly glanced away, scanning the faces of the three residents who Elijah spoke to before hesitantly returning his stare. She cleared her throat. “Mr. Everett has a hypersensitivity to aspirin.” Handing Elijah the patient’s chart, she pointed to the information on the page.

  Elijah turned his attention to the residents. “Nurse Gaines is correct. Mr. Everett is allergic to aspirin, something I mentioned several times today. This info is also located in his chart. This means you all weren’t listening this morning during rounds, and you didn’t read the history of your patient. To be a successful surgeon…” He paused. “No, to be a successful healthcare provider and to give adequate service to those who are looking to you for help, you have to know your patients. It is everyone’s job to know even those minuscule details. This separates those dedicated and passionate about their career choice and those who may only be in this for all the wrong reasons. It also shines a light on knowing when to respectfully disagree with your fellow staff members. Nurse Gaines overheard the treatment, and instead of remaining quiet or keeping the information to herself, like most people would, she spoke up because the patient is more important than a bruised ego.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Elijah saw as a couple of the nurses standing around the nurses’ station slapped high fives with Melissa. His heart skipped a beat, and his chest swelled with pride witnessing the display as a smile threatened to overtake her entire face. Since her arrival, Melissa not only fit in seamlessly with the ICU staff, but she’d made an impression on so many people. From the attendings, residents, other ICU nurses, and several of the patients, they’d all praised her in some capacity or another. Still, Elijah wouldn’t allow her head to get too big just yet. He turned toward Melissa. “How would you treat the patient, Nurse Gaines?”

  Melissa, who walked away from the desk, stopped abruptly. She squared her shoulders before turning to face him, wearing a polite smile on her face, though it failed to reach her eyes.

  “And before you say you wouldn’t because you’re quote ‘just a nurse and not a doctor’ unquote, please humor me.”

  While they stood in line for drinks at the café in the lobby at lunch earlier, something they tried to do often, Melissa told Elijah she overheard a resident, the same one who tried cutting her off, speaking down to a nurse yesterday morning. The young man, a third-year resident, who was known for being overly arrogant and walked around with a chip on his shoulder, berated one of the male nurses and ended his chiding with a terse reminder that the man was not a doctor, just a nurse.

  She arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips together as if in thought. “While I am unfamiliar with the practices here concerning this particular treatment, nor have I had the time to fully study the patient’s medical history, I would choose Acetylsalicylic Acid Desensitization which can be done anywhere between a matter of hours to a couple of days.”

  “Again, that’s correct. We’ll go speak with the patient about this procedure,” Elijah said to the residents, who began shuffling toward the patient’s room.

  Once they were gone, Elijah called after Melissa, forcing her to turn around again. Slowly, he walked over to where she stood, allowing his eyes to travel the length of her body. Had not the steady progression of beeps and blips coming from the machines monitoring the life of patients, the shuffling of nurses and doctors making their rounds, and the overwhelming aroma of antiseptic reminded Elijah of his surroundings, he surely would’ve forgotten when the sweet smell of vanilla wafted to his nose the moment he stopped mere inches from her. His eyes settled on lips he’d been anticipating tasting once again. “I wanted to thank you for your assistance back there.”

  “Oh really?” Melissa placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side. “And here I thought you were trying to be funny, Dr. Grayson. You know, flexing your comedic muscle, although I’m sure I buried your comedy microphone on the beach of Tybee Island, or maybe you were putting me on the spot to catch me slipping?”

  Though her words were spoken with a straight face, Elijah could see the amusement shining in her brown eyes. “None of the above. I will admit I hoped you were ear hustling. But putting you on the spot wasn’t my intent. That,” he motioned with his head behind him, “was a teachable moment. First, no one is above knowing a patient’s information. This proves my residents aren’t thoroughly reading the charts. The second and most important take-away from that exercise was simple. Never underestimate my girlfriend.”

  Without another word, Elijah pivoted on his heel and walked away to join the residents in Mr. Everett’s room, but not before he heard Melissa’s sharp gasp. He chuckled to himself, knowing that although he’d spoken the last word, it wasn’t the last he would hear about this situation.

  Hours later, Elijah stood in front of the vending machine, his eyes scanning the skimpy selections in front of him. He inserted his money and made a choice, and as he bent to remove the PayDay candy bar from the slot, Melissa’s voice from their dinner at Lovely’s played in his head on a loop. Elijah glanced at his watch. The cafeteria and lobby café were both closed, and although he needed more substance than a PayDay, Elijah didn’t want to deal with nasty attitudes only to eat a mediocre sandwich and lukewarm soup.

  Adding another $1.75, Elijah chose his second selection. He grabbed the b
ag of Baked Lay’s BBQ chips from the pick-up slot and headed back to the ICU. Even with his measly meal choice, Elijah didn’t have time to sit down and savor the salted peanuts and caramel-centered candy bar, devour the overpriced bag of chips, or indulge in the Monster energy drink he’d snagged from the gift shop. Between covering his own shift and acting as the on-call cardiothoracic surgeon, since Dr. Banks had some sort of ailment and couldn’t come in, Elijah was swamped all day and missed the opportunity to see Melissa off at the end of her shift, as they’d discreetly done whenever they worked together. Nor was he able to sneak a kiss from her in a back stairwell this evening—that and the lack of sleep left Elijah cranky.

  Rounding the corner to the ICU, Elijah prayed the floor was quiet enough so that he could eat his “dinner” without disruption and sneak in a phone or video call with Melissa. The thought of hearing her melodic voice and seeing her beautiful smile caused a toothy grin to spread across his face. From the minute he walked into the first patient’s room, he’d been going non-stop, chatting with those still awake, updating various family members who’d gotten clearance to remain by their loved one’s sides, and giving out instructions to those residents and nurses on duty. Close to an hour later, Elijah carefully closed Ms. Rheingold’s door, one of the longest, most frequent ICU visitors. The smile he began his rounds with was inches higher after spending the last fifteen minutes talking to the older woman about work, his plans for his upcoming day off, and sports—which was one of her favorite topics to discuss. Anything but her health. She’d even broached the subject of Elijah being single at his age, reprimanding him like she’d done on countless occasions over the years. Thankfully, she didn’t mention knowing a young woman from her church who she thought Elijah would be perfect for. This time.

  “Excuse me, Dr. Grayson.”

  Elijah glanced over. “Evening, Nurse Collins. How are you and the little ones doing?” Recently, Elijah learned Nurse Francine Collins was pregnant with her third and fourth children.

  Francine smiled, rubbing the tiny bulge in her stomach. “We’re doing well but hungry. And whatever’s in these bags that were delivered to you twenty minutes ago isn’t helping.”

  “For me?” Elijah slowly walked over to the nurses’ station and inspected the unassuming brown paper bag. He wasn’t expecting a delivery, and there weren’t many people who he’d expect to drop food off for him. Besides AJ, who was working in the NICU tonight, the only other person would be Melissa. And Elijah doubted Melissa would subject herself and their relationship to questions on why she’d brought him food. One day, Elijah hoped. “Did you recognize the person who dropped them off?”

  “Nope. I guess he was a delivery person. He didn’t say much outside of asking for you. When I told him you were completing rounds, he asked if he could leave them with me.” She shrugged.

  “Hmm…well, whatever it is came at the right time,” Elijah said, lifting both bags. “I’m starving.”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and take a much-needed break? I’ll page you if we need you.”

  “Thanks. Did you bring anything to eat with you?” Elijah looked down at the bags. “I have no idea what’s in here, but I can’t let you starve on my watch.”

  “I’m fine, Dr. Grayson,” Francine said, waving a dismissive hand. “Go eat.”

  With a final nod, Elijah hurried out of the ICU and to the elevators at the end of the hall. His stomach growled in anticipation of devouring whatever emitted the mouthwatering aroma wafting from the bags. The last thing he’d consumed was a smoothie from the cafeteria, and he’d only drank half of it before receiving an emergent page from the emergency department. Unlocking the door to his office, Elijah flipped on the light switch and swept inside, depositing the bags onto his desk, but before he could sit down to begin unpacking them, his phone rang, signaling a FaceTime call.

  Elijah pulled the device from and connected the call. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing much, man. How are things going downstairs?”

  “Thankfully, slow. I just got a break in rotation to sit down and eat.”

  “Me too. Speaking of which, if and when you speak to,” AJ glanced around his surroundings, “your girl, bruh, tell her I said thank you for being a saving grace.”

  “Saving grace?” Elijah asked, his head reared backward. “What are you talking about?” He propped the phone against a pen holder and ripped open one of the paper bags.

  “For the food!” AJ flipped the camera down toward his desk. A white tray was opened and overflowed with different foods: fried chicken, macaroni-and-cheese, collard greens, string beans, potato salad, and what looked like a couple pieces of roasted turkey. He moved the camera once again, this time to a slice of sweet potato pie and a slice of chocolate cake that made Elijah’s mouth water.

  Before Elijah could comment, AJ’s face was back on the screen. “She had Lovely’s delivered to me. Which is crazy since—”

  “Lovely’s don’t deliver,” Elijah and AJ said simultaneously.

  “Exactly. I don’t know how she arranged this, but I’m grateful. She definitely is a keeper.”

  That she was. Elijah knew Melissa was extraordinary the night they’d spoken outside of Ambrosia. “But how do you know it’s from her?”

  “Simple, the delivery came with a card.” AJ held it in front of the screen and laughed. “The message said, Consider this my way of thanking you for dealing with my crazy ass bestie. Also, if your eating habits are like your bestie’s, a PayDay for dinner will never do. Enjoy! Man, I almost had a heart attack laughing as I read it because at least she knows the truth about her friend.”

  Shaking his head, Elijah chuckled. Since Jayla started, he’d heard stories from AJ about things she’s said and done, none of which discredited her as a damn good nurse. He began unloading the contents of his own bags. The first contained a plastic plate with a fancy design around the border, a plastic wine cup, napkins, plastic cutlery that looked like real silverware, thick, paper napkins, and a bag of flameless LED tealight candles. Smiling, Elijah turned his attention back to the screen, anxiously anticipating whatever it was Melissa planned for him.

  “AJ, lemme hit you back. I wanna call her before I get called back to the ICU or ED.”

  “Alright, bruh. Don’t forget to thank her for me.”

  “I won’t.” After disconnecting the call, Elijah pressed a button to dial Melissa. She answered seconds later, wearing a knee-weakening smile.

  “Good evening, Dr. Bae.”

  “Good evening, beautiful,” Elijah replied, his eyes taking in her appearance. She looked fresh-faced and relaxed in an oversized sweatshirt hanging from her shoulders with a black, spaghetti-strap tank underneath. Instead of the natural, thick curls Elijah immersed his fingers within too many times to count, Melissa straightened her jet-black tresses, which framed her face and hung well beyond her shoulders.

  Damn, she looks good!

  She shifted slightly, bringing into view white shaker cabinets, a stainless-steel stove, and a matching hood vent.

  Elijah frowned. “Where are you?”

  “Home. More specifically, the kitchen.” Melissa panned the camera around to show Elijah the room. Unfortunately, because of their schedules, he didn’t have time to visit Melissa’s condo or show her his place, but knew he’d get the opportunity to do so soon enough. “And before you ask me why I’m not in bed or mention what time I woke up this morning, remember you’ve been up longer than I have.” She folded her arms over her chest and pursed her lips together as if awaiting him to say that.

  Elijah lifted his hands in front of him in surrender, the makings of a smile on his face. “Fine, I will refrain from reminding you that you should be asleep and not sitting in the kitchen on FaceTime with me when you have to work in the morning. But,” he held up the card he’d pulled out of the second bag, along with the brown bag with Lovely’s inside, “I did want to thank you for this. Although, I didn’t know who had food delivered until AJ told me t
o thank you.”

  Melissa’s smile returned higher than before at the mention of AJ, and damn it if Elijah’s chest didn’t constrict painfully and he was hit with a tinge of jealousy.

  “Aww, make sure you tell Dr. Jacobson—”

  “Tell Dr. Jacobson what?” Jayla asked, breezing into the kitchen. She reached over, grabbing something off the plate in front of Melissa, and popped it into her mouth. “That he’s a stick in the mud with a stick up his ass. He needs to get some pus—” Jayla glanced at the screen. Her eyes went wide. “Shit! Hey, Dr. Sex Her On Beale Street.”

  “We did not have sex on Beale Street,” Melissa groaned, swatting at her best friend. “We only danced.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, save that innocent story for someone who doesn’t know you,” Jayla said, waving her hand.

  Shaking his head, Elijah laughed at the new moniker bestowed upon him by Jayla. She’d been mixing it up since Chaud, with each nickname more outlandish than the previous one. “Evening, Jayla. How are you?”

  “I was fine until I got a phone call asking me to come in tonight.” Jayla sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Apparently, a nurse left early due to some sort of emergency, and someone suggested they call me. Now, I don’t know if this is some sort of test to see if I’m dedicated or not. Like I’m being hazed since I’m the new nurse on the NICU block, or if your punk ass best friend was trying to be funny, but I’m heading to the hospital.” She grabbed another hush puppy off Melissa’s plate. “You kids have fun, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and trust, I am not above bussin’ it wide open on FaceTime.” Then just as quickly as Jayla breezed into the kitchen, she disappeared, leaving Melissa and Elijah alone.