I nodded. “I thought she was going to die.”
“Well, thank goodness you were there. Not everyone can stay as calm under pressure as you.”
I laughed humorlessly. “That’s the thing I struggle with most. I always feel like I’m on the brink of panicking during emergencies. You’d think that in all my time working in this field, especially in a military hospital, I’d be better at it.”
“That’s interesting because in my time working with you, I’ve never seen you lose your cool during an emergency. Maybe you freak out on the inside, but it doesn’t show. And it definitely doesn’t impair your judgment. You’ve got amazing instincts, Kylie. Knowing that you panic on the inside just makes what you do all the more impressive. You’re going places, honey. Mark my words. There’s only great things in store for you.”
“You make it sound so impressive.”
“You are impressive.” Megan nudged my arm. “No wonder he likes you.”
“Does everyone know…?”
Megan shook her head. “No. I’ve only heard muttering from the people that saw him snap at the security guard who was giving you a hard time yesterday. But it’s just speculation. I don’t know what you’re worried for though! As gorgeous as Max is—if I had anything going on with him, I’d probably get a t-shirt made, declaring it to the whole world!” She laughed.
“You are crazy, Megan! The policy though—I don’t want to risk my job.”
“Oh, stop it. Human Resources could care less about that handbook. Hell, if they opened it every once in a while themselves, maybe they’d be better at their own jobs. So stop worrying!”
I sighed, knowing she was right. No one would probably even notice our little affair, or even really care, for that matter. So I needed to just relax and enjoy it.
“Have you seen Max today, by the way?” I asked.
Megan wrinkled her brow. “Come to think of it, I haven’t.”
I pouted. He hadn’t said anything about taking the day off.
“He must have taken the day off. Maybe you wore him out.”
“Megan.” I slapped her arm, causing her to give another hearty laugh. She pulled away from the table. “Well, it’s time to report for duty.”
“Yeah,” I said, standing also. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure thing,” she said, throwing away her pop-tart wrapper and heading out the door. I left shortly afterwards, deciding to head back to the on-call room to make a cup of tea as I waited for my help to be needed.
When I entered, a few nurses were inside—two making coffee and one watching the news on the television overhead. They all smiled and nodded at me as I came in.
“Slow day today, huh?” I said. It was unusual for there to ever be more than two people in the on-call room at any given moment.
“Yeah,” one of them responded. “Let’s hope it stays that way!”
“I hear you,” I said with a chuckle.
“Good job yesterday, by the way,” she said. “I heard you helped paramedics save a woman’s life, and you weren’t even officially on-duty.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “It was nothing. Just doing my job. The way I see it, when someone needs help, I’m always on-duty.”
“You should totally think about teaching nursing students. Or at least mentoring them,” one of the other nurses said.
I retrieved a tea bag and a mug. “Who knows.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe one day.” I finished making my tea and then took a seat, using the down time to check my email, text messages, and voicemail to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. While I wanted to pretend I was looking for work-related messages, I was really checking to see if I had anything from Max. My heart sank a little upon seeing that he hadn’t called or messaged me at all.
Exasperated, I ran my hand through my hair, recalling the silky feel of his hair and how in contrasted to the rough stubble on his cheeks. I raised my cup to take a sip of my tea, wanting to hide any indication of how hot I felt at the thought of him.
“You used to work with Dr. Nehru, right?” one of the nurses suddenly asked.
I lowered my cup. “Yeah.” I leaned forward. “Have you heard from her lately?”
She shook her head. “No, I was going to ask if you had. Rumor has it that she may be transferring to another hospital, somewhere offering her more money.”