Catherine. Catherine! Time to wake up." Someone tugged on the sleeve of my scrub.
"What?" I asked, groggily. I opened my eyes to see Lori smiling down at me.
"It's time to wake up. You've been resting for 30 minutes. We have surgery prep in a few minutes and Dr. Thompson is about to announce jobs." Lori explained. Lori was the closest thing to a friend I have here at the hospital.
I sighed and sat up.
"Why did I sign up for this?" I asked with a laugh. Lori smirked.
"Because you like to help and heal people. That's why you became a nurse." She said walking to the door. "And you're good at it."
I smiled at her before she opened the door and left. She was right. I loved my job. It took all I had to keep myself going to become a nurse. And I pushed myself until it finally became true. I stood up and straightened out my scrubs. I grabbed my tag and clipped it onto my shirt. I walked over to the sink and splashed my face with water before turning to the door.
Doctors and nurses passed by as I shut the sleep room door behind me. I walked towards the workers lounge straight to the coffee machine. I poured some coffee into a cup and drank.
"Slow down there cowgirl." Lori said with a laugh. I lowered my cup. She grabbed a cup.
"So who is this patient that is so special, they get to make me have to stay all night." I grumbled as I chugged the last of my coffee.
"I don't know. They wouldn't tell us the name of the person. Only that it was high profile." Lori said with a shrug. I stared down at my cup. It was odd that they wouldn't fill us in on who the patient was, just in case there were special circumstances for the patient.
"Prep time." Lori said looking at her watch. We stood up together and exited the lounge area together.
"I hope I'm just prepping surgery. I don't want to deal with people right now and have to smile. I'm too tired for this." I complained. Lori laughed.
"Yea, I hope I get the patient. If we weren't allowed to know about the patient, they must be really interesting." Lori said. We neared the desk where we'd get our assignments. There were 4 other attendants and nurses waiting. We stood in the back of the group.
"Ok, sorry for the secrecy, but our patient is of special importance and we were not allowed to share the identity as a means of privacy for the patient. There will be three of you prepping for the surgery and then you may leave for the day. One of you will assist in the surgery. And two of you will be prepping the patient, but only one of you will need to stay to monitor the patient post- op." Dr. Thompson announced. I crossed my fingers and hoped that I would only have to prep surgery. Then I could go home and sleep. Dr. Thompson grabbed his list.
"Ok. Phillip, John, and Maggie will prep for surgery. Ellen you will be assisting me in surgery. Lori and Catherine you will be prepping the patient. And Lori you will monitor the patient post-op. Any questions?" Dr. Thompson asked, looking around. I stared at the ground, pissed. I didn't want to deal with patients today. I had enough last night and this was the longest shift I have ever had to do. At least I didn't have to stay after the patient was prepped. The group dispersed and I sent a look to Lori. She laughed and linked arms with me.
"At least we are working together." Lori said with a shrug. I groaned.
"Come on Catherine."
We walked over to the room where the patient was, seeing that there were security by the door. Me and Lori looked at each other. I reached into the box next to the door to grab his paperwork. Lori entered before me.
"Hello Mr. Style- omf" I bumped into Lori's back. I stared at the back of her head, confused as to why she stopped.
"What the hell Lori?" I said, rubbing my chest. The clipboard made a dent. I stepped around her. She was staring at the patient. My stomach dropped. The patient smiled at me. I looked down at the clipboard to read the patient's name.
Harry Styles.
"Hello." Harry said, looking from me to Lori.
"You're from One Direction." Lori giggled and waved. I looked over at her. Well this is unprofessional. I nudged her side. She looked at me and shrugged.
"Hello Mr. Styles. This is Lori and I'm Catherine. We are here to prep you for surgery." I said, walking over to the bed. Lori followed behind me closely, still smiling.
"You can call me Harry." Harry said, smiling at me. I nodded and started running tests for blood sugar and fever.
"You look too young to be a nurse." Harry said, looking me up and down. I rolled my eyes and Lori nudged me. I glared at her and she hinted towards Harry.
"Uh yea. I got certified right after I graduated high school." I explained, writing down his vitals. He nodded and smiled at Lori who was still smiling.
"So what did you do? To have to have surgery I mean?" Lori asked. I smiled to myself.
"Uh I was performing on stage and I messed up my knee pretty bad. So now I'm here to have surgery during my off time before the next tour." Harry explained. He watched me as I messed around with taking vitals. I tried not to look at him. I just wanted to get out of here and sleep. It would be so much faster if Lori was helping me. I glared at her and she conversed with Harry. Harry caught me and I quickly looked away.
"Ok, Harry. You are all set. All you need to do is change out of your clothes and put this on and we'll roll you to the operating room. We'll leave now so you can change. Press this button when you're ready to go." I said, pointing out the buttons and handing him the clothes he had to change into. He nodded and smiled at me, which I returned with a small smile. I grabbed Lori's arm and left the room, closing the door behind me. I turned and faced Lori, crossing my arms.
"What?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"You were ogling Lori. And you barely helped." I responded. She shrugged.
"It's Harry freaking Styles Catherine. You can't tell me you didn't get nervous and giddy when you saw him?" Lori defended. She stared at the floor.
"I'm sorry I know you wanted to go early. I will help now." She apologized. I smirked.
"It's ok Lori. Let's just get this done." I said. The buzzer linked to the door rang, meaning that Harry had finished getting dressed. Lori took a deep breath and I opened the door. Harry was laying on the bed, with the blanket covering him.
"Ready to go." He said with a smile. I smiled back and started to walk to the other side. Lori caught my arm and signaled me to other end of the bed. I stared at her. She gave me and look and flattened the bed. I realized why she did. This way she wouldn't have to look at Harry all the way to the OR. I smiled and shook my head.
"Something funny?" Harry asked as we exited the room. I looked at him.
"Oh no. Not at all. Just relax and we'll get you to the OR soon." I said in a reassuring tone. Lori hid a smile. Harry stared at me. I could feel the blush creep to my cheeks.
"Are you going to be assisting me after surgery?" Harry asked. I shook my head.
"No. Lori here will be taking care of you. You'll be in great hands."
Harry looked up at Lori who smiled back at him. He smiled and looked down. I couldn't help but noticed a hint of disappointment, but maybe I was just tired. We entered the OR and Maggie and John came into view. They were dressed and sanitized.
"Ok, we can take him from here. Thanks Catherine." Maggie said with a smile. She looked down at Harry and froze before smiling at him. Harry looked back at me.
"Thank you Catherine. And you too Lori." He said. I could feel my face getting hot. Lori smiled at him. He looked at me.
"Oh uh. Good luck Harry." I said, before turning towards the door. Lori followed me out.
"God why is he so freaking hot." Lori yelled after we exited the OR. I shrugged.
"I think he liked you." She said, nudging me in the side. I shook her off.
"No he doesn't." I said forcing myself not to think about it. My head started to hurt.
"I need to go. I'm way too tired to be here." I said with a laugh. Lori nodded. We headed back to the lockers. I grabbed my jacket and my bag, and followed Lori out of the locker room.
"Sorry you have to stay." I said to Lori and I slid on my jacket. Lori shrugged.
"Catherine! Lori! Where you headed?"
We stopped walking and turned towards the voice belonging to one of our supervisors, Charles. We exchanged looks.
"Uh. I'm heading home for the day. They don't need me anymore." I said to Charles. Charles finally caught up to us.
"No, didn't you hear about the change of plans? You are to take care of the patient post-op." Charles said, pointing to me.
"Uh, no. Dr. Thompson said that Lori was doing that." I said pointing to Lori. We both had confused looks on our faces. Charles shook his head and gave me a sympathetic look.
"You were asked to stay behind." Charles explained. I raised an eyebrow.
"What! By who?" I asked, dumbfounded. Charles looked down at his clipboard.
"The patient. Harry Styles."
