"What?" I nearly screeched. I felt Lori shake her head beside me.
"No, she can't stay. She's been here all night Charles. Isn't there a law about the number of hours she's allowed to work? She's still only 20." Lori argued. Charles gave me a look.
"I'm sorry. There's really nothing I can do except tell you to head back to the sleep room and get a few in before your patient gets out of surgery." Charles said with a shrug.
"Charles, please. There has to be a way I don't have to stay?" I pleaded. Charles didn't respond.
"Why does he want me to stay?" I said, my voice rising. Charles stared between me and Lori.
"Spit it out Charles." I said, very forcefully. It surprised Charles. I've never pushed authority before. He gave me a warning look.
"Mr. Styles said that you were more professional with how you handled things instead of 'ogling' as Ms. Ford was. He wants to make sure that his assistant is not distracted by him and focused on giving him a good recovery period." Charles said, sternly. I felt Lori shrink back as he gazed at her. I glared at Charles, displacing some of my anger on him. Harry ratted Lori out just to get me for a nurse.
"What difference is it going to make? I'm way too tired to properly function let alone take care of a patient post-op and you know that Charles." I argued. Charles cleared his throat.
"I understand, but it's out of my hands. You were requested and we must deliver for the patient." Charles said, rubbing his forehand.
"What? You're making me sound like a freaking pizza Charles."
"Catherine calm down." Lori warned. Charles looked down at me, but I wasn't finished.
"I've been here since 7 am yesterday morning Charles, with less than an hour of sleep time. There is no way I can stay any longer Charles. Harry can get over it." I said, taking a breath at the end of my hissy fit. Charles stood completely still. I felt Lori's hand land on my shoulder, calming me. Charles took a step forward.
"You seemed to forget your place here Ms. Henderson. You are never, under any circumstance, allowed to speak to a supervisor in that manner. If you hurry now, you can get at least a half an hour of rest before Mr. Styles' surgery is complete and you are needed. I suggest you get some rest to take care of the irritability you may be feeling right now." Charles said, looking down at me. I took a deep breath as he turned. He stopped and faced me again. He had a stern look on his face.
"I suggest if you have any care about preserving your job, you will stay and perform the necessary duties that are asked of you." He looked at Lori.
"You are free to go Ms. Ford." And he walked down the hall. I looked up at Lori.
"Well, that is the only time I think he's ever been confrontational like that. I hate listening to him. He's only a year older than me, but thinks he's a hotshot. He's only mad because you turned down a date with him." Lori said, looking at me. I swallowed back tears and started towards the locker room again.
"Catherine, honey. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been ogling. I'm 24 years old for goodness sakes. I shouldn't be ogling Harry Styles. This is my fault you're stuck here." Lori said, following me into the locker room.
"It's not your fault Lori. He requested me. It's his fault." I said, my voice going edgy. Lori grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't do anything stupid." She warned. I looked back at her.
"You seriously think I have the energy to do something to him?" I asked. Lori shrugged. I laughed.
"No. I'm not going to do anything to him. I'm too tired. Now I'm going to go so I can get some shut eye. I'll talk to you tomorrow." I said, heading towards the sleep room. Lori waved goodbye.
I woke up to my pager beeping, signaling that they were moving Harry back to the recovery room, where he would be monitored for the night before moving him back to the room we prepped him in. I got up and rubbed my eyes. I got an hour of sleep, which was better than nothing, but I would've much rather gone home to my apartment to sleep in my comfy bed. I walked over to the fridge and grabbed the energy drink I stored in there before I fell asleep and chugged it as I grabbed my nametag and clipped it to my shirt. I took a deep breath and left the sleep room again.
"Hey Catherine! I thought you were supposed to be gone?" Maggie asked coming from the locker room. She was putting on her jacket.
"Yea, well the patient asked to have me assist him in recovery instead of Lori so now I have to stay." I said, irritated. Maggie picked up the hint and gave me a sympathetic look.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you could take it as a compliment that he wanted you instead of Lori?" Maggie said. I didn't respond.
"Ok, well I guess I'll see you later Catherine." Maggie said, before turning and leaving the hallway. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the recovery room. Right. I should take it as a compliment. No. That made me feel worse since he chose me over Lori. Lori is the closest friend I have here and seeing how I was able to become a nurse in two years after graduating high school. I didn't have a lot of friends in the first place. I was not going to take that as a compliment.
I entered Harry's room right as the post-op team was leaving. I walked over to monitor his IVs and make sure all the machines were functioning properly. Harry was still knocked out from the anesthetic. Thank goodness for that. I'd get some quiet time before he woke up. After I made sure everything was working. I grabbed my pager and synced it to the monitors so if anything was wrong, I would be notified. New technology was always my favorite thing about working in a hospital.
I checked one last time on Harry, before I exited the room. If I calculated correctly, I'd have another 30 minutes before Harry woke up, and I planned to sleep. I was heading back to the sleep room when my pager went off. I looked down at it to see that Harry's oxygen levels were dropping. Was he not breathing?
I took off running towards his room, pushing people out of the way. When I got there, I spotted Harry with the oxygen clip in his hand.
"That's supposed to stay on your finger Harry." I said, out of breath. I bent over and grabbed my side.
"Did you run here?" Harry asked, a hint of humor in his tone. I glared at him.
"Yes."
"Why?" Harry smirked.
"I thought you weren't breathing. Put that back on your finger." I said, walking over to the monitors.
"You thought I wasn't breathing? Do you really care about me that much that'd you'd run?" Harry said smugly. I knew it was the pain meds talking, but those only bring out the things people wouldn't usually say out loud. I laughed.
"Don't get a big head about it Harry. It's my job. If you die, it's my responsibility. So yes I ran here because I thought you weren't breathing." I said, trying not to glare at him. He smiled up at me, before looking under the blanket. He looked up confused.
"I'm not getting a big head." Harry said sadly. It took all I had to not bust out laughing. I pursed my lips together.
"Ok Harry. Since you're awake, I'm going to do some tests to see how you are doing ok?" I said, grabbing the blood pressure cuff. He nodded, still sad. I smiled in spite of myself. The pain meds definitely got the best of Harry.
"Why are you mad?" Harry asked, looking up at me.
"I'm not mad."
"Yes you are. I can tell." Harry said. I looked at him.
"Can you read minds Harry?" I said in a joking manner.
"No, but I can tell you're mad. Did I do something?" Harry asked. He looked like a lost puppy dog. I took a deep breath.
"No. I was mad, but I'm not anymore. Took too much energy to stay mad." I explained watching the monitor. Harry stared at me, before he turned away and started to laugh. I raised an eyebrow.
"What's so funny Harry?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"There is obviously something funny Harry. Just tell me." I insisted. He looked up at me.
"We are going to have fun together for a long time." Harry said, cryptically. I frowned.
"What are you talking about Harry? They're letting you out tomorrow afternoon." I said, after checking the clipboard for his expected departure. They decided that he was going to have to recover at his house because people would try to break into the hospital once they knew he was here. They figured his recovery would be better fit at his house with a small team of doctors and nurses. Thankfully I wasn't one of them.
"They didn't tell you?" Harry said with a laugh. I was growing impatient.
"Just spit it out Harry." I nearly shouted. He smirked.
"You're going to be my personal nurse at my house." Harry said, smiling at me. "We're going to be best friends!" He shouted, sounding much like a five year old, right before he fell back on to the pillows and fell asleep. I stared in disbelief at the boy, man whatever you call him, in front of me. No one told me anything about being on his personal recovery team. I knew one thing for sure.
Harry Styles is ruining my life.
