Undiscovered

The line in Dunkin’ Donuts was far longer than I had planned for. Before leaving my apartment, I had allotted 28 minutes for the walk to the hospital, including six minutes for a coffee stop. With anxiety, I handed the cashier a couple of dollar bills and took off in a sprint when I exited the store. The sun was creeping its way down over the west side of Chicago, giving the windows a bright orange light to reflect.

I raced down through the crowded sidewalks, careful not to spill my steaming coffee that I had so desperately needed before the long shift I was about to start. Up ahead, I could see the glowing red sign that read: Spencer Gordon Memorial Hospital. Four years I had been a registered nurse in the emergency department, and soon, it would be my fifth year. The hot June night was my first night of two in a row, in which I would be multitasking, running, micromanaging, and yelling, all to ensure that my patients were stable and taken care of.

As I raced into the ambulance bay, I slowed and walked through the revolving doors. I clocked in just in time: 1844. In the middle of the 20 bed emergency room was the “command center”, as the ER staff called it. An arrangement of stations included desks, computers and printers. Gurneys and various medicine and supply carts were gathered around the stations haphazardly. I saw Savannah wave at me, leaning against the counter of one of the many stations. The group of sleep-deprived night shift staff stood in the middle, listening half-assed to the charge nurse going over announcements. Savannah Harris was a fellow RN, who had worked with me from the very start.

“Hallie Peterson! I was worried you weren’t going to show up.” Savannah whispered harshly, her eyes forward on the charge nurse, who was pointing to the large flat screen hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

“Do you see what’s in my hand?” I replied, holding up my coffee.

“You could have just gotten some here, you dork. You’re just a coffee snob.”

“We all have our vices, girl.” I grinned, winking up at my friend. Adam, the broad-shouldered charge nurse, extended his neck over the group of shorter nurses below him to look directly at me.

“Hallie, you’re going to be covering trauma.”

I nodded, exhaling slowly. Savannah patted me on the back as she went to sit down at the station closest to her rooms at the opposite end of the room.

I went off to the break room to put my bag away in my locker, rolling my head around to stretch out my neck. I had been off the last few days and sleep had not been my friend. I put the vibrant purple stethoscope around my neck, slipping a pen, sharpie, pen light and trauma scissors into the cargo pocket of my heather gray scrubs. Unfortunately, all of the hospital staff were assigned a color, and the ER’s was such a depressing color. As I walked over to the sink, I studied myself for a brief moment. Gray, I felt, was not my color. If it had been black, or even the pale blue that the physicians wore, I would be more excited about putting on my scrubs. Leaning over, I splashed cold water on my face, careful not to dampen the fringy bangs that covered my forehead. In the mirror, I checked my teeth, running my tongue over their smooth surface. I then tucked a strand of her chin-length hair behind my ear. Straightening, I tugged the bottom of my scrub top and fixed the name badge affixed to the v-cut collar.

It's going to be a good night. It has to be.

The evening dragged on, I was busy helping the other nurses with their patients, transporting them to and from radiology, or up to the floor if they were admitted. After finishing my coffee, I found myself doodling on a legal pad to the right of the computer. Savannah leaned against the counter, and surprised me with a friendly flick on the crown of my head.

“Ouch! What was that for?” I cried, reaching my hand up to rub the sore spot on my scalp.

“To wake you up! You look like you’re about to fall asleep.” Savannah chuckled, smiling with her wide mouth to reveal a set of white, sparkling teeth. “Have you seen the hot new doctor?”

“Um, there are apparently several hot new doctors.” I twirled the pen in my fingers, my head turned up at Savannah. It was true. There apparently were a group of attractive young physicians, who were either starting their internship, or beginning residency. Part of me hoped that one was a decent guy that would ask me out. But I knew better. There was a strict non-fraternization policy amongst employees. It was not a rule many followed, but I was quite the rule-follower. The rules mattered to me, especially considering it was my career.

I looked back up at Savannah, one of my closest friend for the last four years. Savannah Harris was a force to be reckoned with. Her wide gap-toothed smile and infectious laugh were nothing compared to her smooth ebony skin and warm brown eyes.

“The new general surgery fellow. Dude… He’s all anyone is talking about!”

“I haven’t heard anything about him. Nobody ever tells me anything,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. It was true, thought. I had made it a mission to avoid all of the hospital gossip, as it was a massive fear of mine of mine to have my name brought up negatively.

“I always tell you everything,” Savannah groaned, rolling her eyes aggressively towards me. “He’s the son of Dr. Audrey Ryan, you know… The governor?”

I nodded absent-mindedly, looking over towards the stainless steel doors that lead to one of the trauma rooms. I honestly could care less about the doctor-governor’s hot doctor son. He’s probably going to march in here and sweep one of the young, influential nurses off her feet. Maybe he’s even a playboy? Oh, more than likely. If they’re attractive and single, there’s usually something wrong with them.

“Hello? Earth to Hallie!” Savannah exclaimed, waving her hand in front of my face, which I could only imagine looked horrific. .

“Okay. I get it. But I highly doubt this guy is that hot. And, I may never even get to see him. You know how it goes, different shifts and all.”

“Maybe not... If there’s a trauma, you’ll get to see him without a doubt. He’s on call tonight.” Savannah crossed her arms, her long legs extended out as she propped herself against the counter. The dark-skinned woman had gone to Northwestern on a volleyball scholarship, blessed with mile long legs and a massive vertical.

“For my sake, and the sake of your lady boner, let’s hope there isn’t a trauma.” I replied, dragging my stethoscope off my neck to place it on the desk. Seriously though, if Dr. Ryan walked into the room, I was certain Savannah, as well as half of the women in ER, was going to climb him like a tree.

“Hey Savannah, your patient in Bed 16 wants something for pain!” Someone shouted across the ER, and the tall nurse groaned. She pushed herself from the counter and left me to sit and wait for a trauma. The nights without a trauma are the hardest, as awful as that sounds. If it’s busy, I can stay focused and the night seems to fly. But if there isn’t anything, I find myself dozing off if I’m not helping someone to occupy my time. After midnight, I gave up on paying bills and went to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich. I anxiously checked the pager attached to the waistband of my scrubs, twiddling my thumbs as I stood in line to pay.

When I returned, I made my way over to sit at Savannah’s station, plopping right down in the computer chair, ready to chit chat. Looking around, I munched on a turkey sandwich, pulling the tomato out to rest it on the cling wrap on top of the desk.

“Can I help you?”

A voice startled me and I spun around, suddenly feeling myself falling backwards before I could get a glimpse of the stranger. I landed on the cold tile floor, my black Hoka’s hovering above me. I rolled over and stood, looking down at the desk chair lying on its side. I held a hand over my still chewing mouth, hurrying to sit it up right.

“Erm sergle!” I exclaimed, eyes wide when I then realized the man in front of me couldn’t understand a word I was saying.

“What?” He asked, eyes narrowed at me.

“I’m sorry,” I replied, finishing my sandwich and swallowing quickly.

The man stared at me blankly, his face flat with annoyance.“You’re in my seat,” He said cooly. As his gaze was focused on me, I couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. Well, handsome was putting it politely. There were a lot of very bad things that I wanted to do with him. Shit.

Picking up the remainder of my sandwich, I wrapped cling wrap around it. I glanced up at the man with attitude, my lips pursed. It was exasperating, trying to think of a clever and rude, yet professional response to his asshole-ness.

“No, this is Savannah’s spot.” I had decided on that statement, standing firmly. He was wrong.

“I’ve been here since my shift started at five yesterday afternoon. I think you’ve got the wrong spot.” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I felt my face grow warm, my palms suddenly sweaty. God, he was hot!

“I’m sorry. I must have gotten it wrong,” I blushed, my eyes falling down to the floor. As my gaze traveled, I caught sight of his badge clipped to the waistband of his pale dusty blue scrubs.

Dr. Joseph Ryan. Oh no. The governor’s hot doctor son. Standing in the flesh before me, his wide arms crossed over his broad chest. His bicep flexed slightly beneath his scrubs, a juicy vein popping out in his forearm.

Fuck! Seriously? It was a nurse’s dream, all those veins. I’d tap that.

Noticing how ridiculously attractive he was, I bit my lip, inhaling quickly. Studying him, I noticed the way his sharp jawline was showing signs of neglect, a soft shadow over the bottom half of his face. His dirty blond hair was long at the top, groomed to stand up slightly, the sides of his head shaved into a fade. Dr. Ryan’s eyes were cool blue, his left slightly lazy compared to the right. I swallowed, looking at him for a second longer. He cleared his throat as he moved around me to sit in the computer chair.

Turning slightly, I caught sight of Savannah’s back, sitting at a desk across the command center. I felt the color drain from my face, realizing that I had been wrong. Dammit. He didn’t have to be such a dick about it, honestly. When I turned around, I saw him look at me over his shoulder.

“Looks like you were in the wrong place after all,” Dr. Ryan uttered, clicking the mouse furiously to open a patient’s chart.

That was it! I’m going to go hide forever. How have I managed to not only embarrass myself by falling out of chair and sounding like an idiot, but also offend the new doctor? I mean… Really Hallie!? One job! One. Just be normal around the hot new governor’s doctor son.