"Noel"
My feet ached, my back was crying out from standing up for so long slightly hunched over at an odd angle, and my eyes stung from looking at monitors all day. Even though I was uncomfortable, I loved every second I spent in the hospital, not as a patient. I sat on a computer compiling notes that I had made on an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) patient who had given Dr. Houdeck a few problems during surgery but had pulled through and hopefully wouldn't be back anytime soon. The administrative portion of my job was honestly the least exciting part of my day, but it was important that the chart reflected everything so that the night crew was aware of a patient's most recent medical state if something were to happen when all of the main staff were at home. As my hands pushed the buttons mindlessly as if on autopilot from years of training Dr. Houdeck walked over to me to speak about something.
He had on a fresh set of clothes, and I could smell the scent of his amber cologne. He was a handsome man, but that didn't do much to shroud his overweening personality and god complex. Years of being touted as the best neurosurgeon in the Midwest region had gone to his head. He sometimes referred to himself as the superior and made his intern and newer residents call themselves subordinates followed by whatever number he gave them since he felt it was needless to remember their names since most of them would be weeded out through the intense journey of becoming a neurosurgeon.
"Hey there hopefully soon to be Dr., but for now Nurse Noel," he said leaning over the counter with a flirty smile that did not affect me. He along with management had been urging me to apply to medical school. We had a shortage of anesthesiologist, and they were working to convince all of their qualified, motivated, and over performing CRNA's to go back to school to be trained. It would be at the hospital's expense along with an incentive of receiving our regular salary just for going to school and keeping an acceptable grade point average. I had graduated high school already with all but ten credits to get my bachelors through advanced placement courses, college classes during the year and summer. I had managed to obtain my bachelor's degree during the summer of my high school graduating year. After that, I got into the CRNA program from which I graduated third in my class and then went into training.
I was honestly sick of school and loved doing my job since we had some of the same duties and I wasn't hurting for money. I knew the smart thing to do was to get the free degree, but I was holding out for as long as possible. I wanted to enjoy a little bit of time not worrying about test and deadlines. I hated the anxiety I would get before test, practical, and exams.
"Leaving Dr. Houdeck," I asked him as I revised my written notes making sure I hadn't missed any important details. My eyes never left the screen in the hopes that he took the hint.
"Yeah I have a subordinate do my post-op rounds, and I told you to call me Rashaad. Anyway I'm going to get a drink, would you like to join me you've had a long day yourself haven't you," he said with a smile.
"I'd love to, but I have things to do here, plus Nurse Oreman asked me to cover part of her shift tonight so she could be at her daughter's school's open house," I told him.
"Well next time hopefully I can catch you," he said giving me a wink. I stared back at him awkwardly waiting for our exchange to come to an end.
"Hey Noel," I heard a familiar voice say from further down the hall. I turned to see Austin holding a rose, a cup of Starbucks and a pastry bag from Silvia's bakery, a small French place in town that had the best macaroons. He walked over to me with a smile on his face. I could see a black leather book bag on his back and assumed he had gotten out of class or study group not too long before he showed up at the hospital.
"Hey Austin," I said shyly as he walked up. I noticed a visible change in Dr. Houdeck's posture, he had become stiff and defensive.
"So glad to catch you I've been walking around for fifteen minutes trying to find your workstation. Here I got you something," he said and handed me the contents in his hands.
"I got you some pistachio macaroons which sound disgusting, but you like them so whatever a large hot chocolate. Plus I stooped to get you some flowers. I didn't know if you would like them, but I got them anyway," he said to me from the side of the counter. The smell of the chocolate beverage was so enticing that I immediately took a sip. Thankfully it was warm enough not to scald my mouth and cause me embarrassment.
"Who is this Noel," Dr. Houdeck asked me his tone showing that he wanted me to introduce Austin to him.
"Hi, I'm Austin we've met I was one of the firefighters that brought Noel in after he saved that little girls life. We brought him in, and you asked me if he had hit his head while in our car."
"Oh really, I don't remember you. So you're a firefighter hmmm, and you are what exactly to Noel," Dr. Houdeck asked looking at me.
"We're good friends," Austin said his tone changed obviously picking up on the subtle disrespect that Dr. Houdeck was throwing at him," The kind that goes on dates and spends the holidays together."
"Dr. Houdeck don't you use the valet; I'm pretty sure one of the orderlies called your car to the front for you. You know if they wait more than ten minutes it's twice the charge," I said wanting him to leave before anything escalated.
"I'll see you around Mr. Firefighter," he laughed to himself before walking away.
"I don't like that guy," Austin said as soon as he left.
"Nobody does, but thank you for the food. You're off for the day," I asked him feeling a little more comfortable around him then our previous encounters especially after our New year's kiss twelve days ago. It was nothing special just a peck on the lips.
"Yeah just got out of an Advocacy study group like an hour ago. Night classes are killer when I have day shifts. I'm so happy my boss works with me when it comes to hours or I would be fucked. When do you get off," he asked while coming behind the counter and taking the open seat next to me.
"Ten thirty she said she be here, so another twenty minutes. I've been here since five in the morning I can't wait to get home," I said to him.
"Cool well I will wait around for you then I guess," he said which confused me.
"You don't have to do that, go to bed you have work in the morning," I said to him.
"How else are you going to get home then," he asked me.
"I drove here," I responded.
"Oh I see, Chloe must not have told you that she used your spare key to take your car after her car battery died on her or something. She told me to pick you up so you wouldn't have to take an Uber or something," he said, and I rolled my eyes reaching for my phone that was powered down to conserve the battery. I turned my phone on and waited for it to receive a signal. After a few minutes, I got a bunch of text notifications from Chloe saying that she would take my car to get to her new job at this marketing company. She got it after broadening her search to companies that were offering less than what she was looking for. Eventually, she found this company who was looking for an Art director with good ideas which she had a lot of. In the text, she said something about spending a lot of money on a new work outfit so she couldn't use any ridesharing applications.
"I guess you're taking me home," I said still scrolling and noticed that nurse Oreman had texted saying that she was in the pediatric ward but was on site so I could leave my position. I responded to her then took a deep breath of relief before closing out my notes and signing out of the computer.
"Hey, she's here we can go now," I said bending over and grabbing the lunchbox that I kept stored there since we had a bunch of lunch thieves and then stood up clutching my fleece from off the back of the chair.
"Really," he asked, and I nodded. With the confirmation, he stood up and grabbed my fleece holding it open so I could put it on. Then took my lunchbox and flowers.
"Thank you," I said to him.
"You're welcome," he said and began walking after grabbing my hand. He lead me out the emergency room exit which was pretty quiet meaning that something would probably happen later and have the night staff bustling around. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with that. Austin led me to his car and waited for it to heat up before he pulled off and drove me to my building while I finished my hot chocolate and food making it all the way up to the floor I lived on and parking next to my car. I got out and looked inside seeing she had left an empty, flattened fast food bag on the passenger's seat. Austin got out and walked over to me flowers in hand. God, he was tall and towered over me making my cheeks warm.
"So I'll see you Friday night right?"
"Yeah," I said in a breathy tone as he brought his face closer to mine.
"I'll be here at eight to come to get you, figure out what movie you want to watch and it's on me," he said before placing a gentle kiss on my lips and pulling away.
"Get inside those scrubs are thin, and it's cold out here," he said before handing me my flowers and getting back in his car. He waited for me to walk into the building entrance before he pulled off. I couldn't seem to tame the smile on my face not that I even particularly wanted to...