Submission

Chapter 47

Molly was on her honeymoon, so Lorelei had to work without her for two weeks. Her replacement was Candy, who was a new nurse who was floated to the ICU to cover. Lorelei could see the fear in Candy's eyes when she could not get the pumps to stop beeping. Lorelei helped her all night, remembering the panic she had when she first started.

Monica and Benson were arguing about who would get to go on break last, and Lorelei giggled while she watched. She wondered how they felt when they watched Molly and her fight.

Candy sighed and leaned back in her chair once she had finally finished charting. Lorelei pulled her phone out of the pocket of her scrubs to see that she had three messages. One from Jesse, Molly, and one from an unknown number. She opened the message from the unknown number first as it piqued her interest. Jesse had insomnia and Molly was in Fiji, who else would be messaging her in the middle of the night?

Her eyes went wide when she saw the photo of her in lingerie that was barely hidden by a robe. There was a message underneath, and she knew that the message was from Mateo.

Mateo: Here's your photo, gorgeous

Lorelei did not like Mateo calling her gorgeous. She sent back the simplest message that she could think of.

Lorelei: Thanks.

Lorelei looked at the photo again. She assumed that Mateo edited it because it looked flawless. She was uneasy with the thought that Mateo must have been working on this photo and staring at her near naked body for a long time.

She messaged the photo to Molly. She wanted her approval of the photo. She knew that Molly would be awake because of the time difference.

Lorelei's heart fluttered when she thought about sending this photo to Jesse. She was sure that he would like it, but she had never sent a photo like this to anyone before. Matthew often asked her for photos, but she never sent one. When she did show it to Jesse, she wanted to see his reaction.

Her phone vibrated with a message from Molly.

Molly: Hot! Hot! Hot!

Lorelei smiled down at her phone. When she looked up, all of her colleagues were staring at her. She bit down on her lip and slipped her phone back into the pocket of her scrubs.

"Is it your boyfriend?" Benson asked.

"No." Lorelei shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Are you not seeing him anymore?"

"No, I am. This is just something else."

Benson's eyes dropped from Lorelei's as he nodded. She shifted her weight in her chair before getting up.

"Is it okay if I go on break?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course," Mona said. "Give me report."

Lorelei gave Mona a run down on her two patients before going into the break room. She pulled her salad out of the fridge before sitting down at the table. She pulled her phone out to see that Jesse had not replied to her last message. She hoped that he had managed to fall asleep.

The break door opened and Candy walked in. She let out a huff of breath as she sat down in the chair across from Lorelei. Candy's blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but strands had escaped making her look even more stressed. She clutched at the stethoscope around her neck.

"This is a stressful night," Candy said.

"It's half over now," Lorelei said. "You'll make it through it."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"I have been a nurse for almost four years. The last two years I have been in the ICU."

Candy's eyes went wide.

"You've only been doing this for two years?" she asked. "I would have thought way longer."

Lorelei raised a brow. Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth.

"Did you just call me old?" she asked.

Candy laughed and shook her head.

"No," she said. "You just do everything with such ease and confidence. You're good."

"Thanks," Lorelei said before shoving her fork in her mouth. "You should see Molly. She's like an angel. Her patients make miraculous recoveries."

Candy chewed on her bottom lip. She had such a tight hold on her stethoscope that her knuckles were turning white.

"I want to take more training," she said. "You know, to get better."

"Why don't you?" Lorelei asked.

"My boyfriend doesn't want me to," she said.

Lorelei furrowed her brows, encouraging Candy to elaborate.

"He hates my schedule as it is," Candy said. "I can't add courses to that."

"You're young," Lorelei said. "Don't let a guy dictate your life. Trust me."

Candy nodded. Lorelei took the last bite of her salad.

"Did you let a guy control your life?" Candy asked.

Lorelei sighed. She thought that she should have kept her mouth shut, but Candy was young. She didn't want Candy to make the same mistakes she did. Besides, night shifts are always when co-workers have deep talks.

"My ex did," Lorelei said. "He would control who I could see and when. He wouldn't let me wear certain clothes. He wouldn't let me pick up overtime shifts."

"I hope you dumped his ass," Cody said.

"I only did after I caught him cheating," she said.

"That's rough. I hope you've got someone better now."

Lorelei smiled as she thought about Jesse. The more she thought about him, the more her anger at him disappeared. She didn't recognize the Jesse that punched Bryan, but that was not the real Jesse. The real Jesse was the man that she fell in love with.

"He's great," Lorelei said.

--

Lorelei struggled to pay attention to the movie Jesse put on. They were in Jesse's apartment and both were on the couch. Jesse had his arm around Lorelei. She kicked her feet up onto the couch and leaned into Jesse. Her fingers traced the ink that decorated his skin. Jesse smiled as he looked down at her.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"I was thinking about getting a tattoo," she said.

"Oh yeah? A tattoo of what?"

Lorelei shrugged.

"Something pretty," she said. "I like butterflies."

Jesse laughed.

"Every white girl gets a butterfly tattoo," he said. "What's next? An infinity symbol?"

Lorelei flicked Jesse's arm. He kissed the top of her head and tightened his hold. Lorelei snuggled into the side of his chest and closed her eyes.

"Don't fall asleep," Jesse said. "I want to have fun with you later."

"Why not now?" Lorelei asked.

She opened her eyes when she felt Jesse move to lean forward and grab the remote. He paused the movie.

"Get on my bed, baby girl," he said. "I have plans for you."