Dana
“On the count of one, two, three.” My partner and I got the guy moved from the stretcher to the gurney with minimal issues because he was out cold. Jimmy nodded leaving me to take care of any transfer paperwork that came with dropping off our patient. We were only six hours in on a twelve hour shift and this was our third delivery to the emergency room tonight. My back let out a tiny sigh of relief as I stretched as tall as I could. Being a professional paramedic was fulfilling but hard work. I still wasn’t sure this was my forever career, but for now it made me happy.
We were slammed back to back with calls, and I would be singing a different tune once my shift was over. I’d be so tired by the time I got home the odds were pretty high I would slip into my bathtub fully clothed to drink a glass of wine with no shame. It had to be five o’clock somewhere and I didn’t give a darn where in the world I was mentally spending my time off. It was probably somewhere in Australia and my mind already jumped like a kangaroo into action mode.
We had two major car wrecks and then this guy; an elderly dementia patient who fell in his bathroom with no pants on. We found him sprawled out and there was no hiding his shriveled nuts and berries which would give me the willies until the next patient came along with some new visual to block this one out. Some days I couldn’t get over how glamorous my job was with every call a new adventure into the weirdness of humans.
“Ms. Rossi, tell me what we have here.” Dr. Brandon Avari sauntered into the patient room for an update and I couldn’t get out of there quick enough. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the good doctor, it was more of a case of I liked him far too much. He was hot in a chiseled jaw and panty melting way that was reminiscent of General Hospital, something I’m not ashamed to say I grew up watching. But his good looks clouded my judgement and made me afraid I’d screw up patient care with the way my tongue tied being around him.
My eyes transfixed on his tan bear paw of a hand reaching for the patient chart as his other brushed against the small of my back shifting me deeper into the room. It wasn’t overly sexual but tell that to my lady parts downstairs that flooded at the mere contact. His hands were powerful instruments that saved lives and made me shiver thinking about other things he could competently take care of I’m sure. His physical body blocked me in and the faint aroma of his cologne sucked me down the rabbit hole of fantasies I harbored about him. My senses overloaded and suddenly the room was too warm, too closed in, and my uniform shrunk at least two sizes rubbing me in all the right and wrong places.
My friend Ryland, a firefighter I did my medical paramedic training with teased me mercilessly about my crush on Dr. Avari. It served me right since I gave him equal amounts of grief after finally hooking up with Summer, the love of his life. We joked about the doctors here being complete douches like the one Summer used to date when she worked in the ER. My problem was that Dr. Brandon Avari was no Dr. Beau Lassiter. Of all the times I saw him in the ER he was kind, respectful, and genuinely interested in what I thought about the incoming patient. He specialized in cardiology, and fixing hearts which left mine aching. When he was down in the ER on rotation it was a real treat to work with him and watch his calm expertise handle most anything that came through these doors. Lord knew he made my heart go pitter-patter at a dangerously high level.
The last time I saw him was nearly a month ago and I jilled myself off to fantasies of him checking my blood pressure directly between my thighs. It sustained me for the last three weeks and four days, not that I was counting or anything because that would just be weird. I bet that while he was a perfect gentleman in person, behind closed doors his fine peach of an ass was down and dirty. At least that’s how all my fantasies played out. I’d never know because I wasn’t brave enough to cross the line no matter how much Ryland encouraged it or I saw my colleagues hook up and find love.
I dated. I was twenty-four years old, but when you twisted the original hot cast of ER with Grey’s Anatomy to get the love child that was Dr. Brandon Avari, I didn’t have a dry set of panties. A part of me knew we were doing this delicate dance where he asked me questions, professionally of course, and now teased me subtly, in my fantasies at least. There was only so much a girl could take before I pushed him against the counter and hopped on the obvious bulge in his scrubs like a rock star groupie. Those pants didn’t hide shit and if my last anatomy refresher certification taught me anything it was that the good doctor was packing down below unlike my last transport.
I swallowed answering him, “Male in his late eighties, dementia, and recent fall. We arrived at the residence and found him in his bathroom on the floor unconscious.” I moved to fix his IV line as the nurse came in to take over for me switching the saline bag to a pole.
Dr. Avari lifted the sheet, “Ah no pants, huh?”
“Nope.” I grimaced not wanting a flashback to the shrunken balls when a perfect specimen was less than a foot away from me. Dr. Avari was my untouched sacred statue of David and the hospital was the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. No touching, only discrete peeks when no one could see.
He dropped the sheet and moved on to his head poking around as doctors were wont to do. “I’m not a neurologist, but I’m guessing head trauma, possible concussion.” He used a pen light checking his pupils and sure enough one was larger than the other indicating head trauma.
“I agree.” The cut on the back of his head bled all over the floor where we had found him. Jimmy, my partner nearly slid in it and for a hot minute I thought we might have to call Ryland and the guys to get the doorway cut open wider so we could get him out.
“Good, I’ll have them page Dr. Masin then.” He scribbled notes on the chart and I took that as my cue to leave right after I watched him click the pen and his broad fingers flexed making my lady bits quiver.
Clearing my throat, “Okay then, see ya around.” I moved to exit the room as blasé as possible. I planned on heading straight back to the truck where Jimmy waited probably chomping on his ham sandwich while he had the chance. Dr. Avari grabbed my forearm and pulled me back into the room.
“Not so fast, Ms. Rossi.”
“Dr. Avari, what the heck.” Startled by his action, but no less impressed by the firm grip of his hand around my bicep he stopped me from going anywhere making me shiver. I’m on the shorter petit side and his digits wrapped fully around my arm, almost loosely like a cuff. Even through my uniform I felt the heat and my center danced with excitement. This was either a deeply kept secret fantasy coming true or the closest thing to what I wanted most.
“Can you give me a minute?” He asked directing me away from the hallway and pulling the privacy curtain closed. I looked down to see our unconscious patient and he turned facing me away. Last thing I wanted in my peripheral vision was a bloody head of white hair and the smell of urine. The chaos outside the room seemed to slow down as he directed me to look at him and only him.
“Dana.” His deep voice muted everything out but the beating of my heart that seemed extra loud.
I picked my head up to look in his eyes that seemed bent on telling me something. Startling blue eyes captivated mine and I gave him my undivided attention praying I didn’t ruin the moment or shit the proverbial bed with my mouth.
“Yes?” I squeaked.
He seemed to pause considering his words.
“Dana Rossi, I want to take you out on a date.”
“Right now?”
He chuckled, lips pursed and the sound carefree reminding me of U2’s Beautiful Day. It had been an exceedingly long one and my last few days working blurred together until this moment in his presence. “While I don’t think our patient would mind. I do. I’ve been wanting to see you in a dress and heels since I met you.”
Words I never expected came from his grinning mouth throwing caution to the wind with a fuck all to the world. It was Jack and Rose on the deck of the Titanic and I was sinking fast. It was demanding, hot, and I couldn’t for the life of me get my head together to give him a proper answer.
“Uh, what?” My eyes nearly popped from my head and his megawatt smile made my legs unsteady under the bright florescent lights. If one of the cops here had asked me to walk a straight line and concentrate I would have failed miserably with all the blood rushing to my head thinking about Dr. Avari and how close he kept inching toward me.
“A dress, Dana. The uniform is hot, but a guy has fantasies and I want to know how long those legs of yours really are, not what you have hidden in all those pockets.” He smirked flicking his fingers at my hip and I was toast.