Dr. Hill watches me from the doorway for a moment. He’s holding a pair of crutches.
“Here,” he says, walking over. He helps me up and gets me situated on the crutches. “Try it out.”
I crutch on down the room and out into the hall. “Not bad,” I say.
“Stay off that ankle. I know it’ll be a pain, but it’ll heal faster if you’re careful.” He watches me crutch around a little and turn back toward him. I think I catch a slight smile as I move closer. “Ice it and elevate it, if you can.”
“Yes, sir, doctor, sir,” I say, grinning at him.
He finally does smile. “Call me Aiden.”
“Aiden,” I repeat. “I’m Ruby.”
“Nice to meet you, Ruby,” he says softly.
“Thanks for taking care of me.”
“No problem. And be careful coming down stairs in the future.”
I smile stupidly. “I’ll try. Although I don’t get to run into handsome doctors when I’m careful.”
He smirks, cocking his head. “True. I guess it is always nice to have a pretty girl bounce off me.”
“Bounce off you?”
“I was like a solid wall.”
“Please.”
“You couldn’t move me an inch if you tried.”
“Not with this messed-up ankle, but normally I could easily shove you around.”
“Please,” he says, grinning now. “You weigh, what, ten pounds? I could toss you across the room.”
“Try it,” I say, grinning back. For a second, I think he might actually do it, and I want him to. I want his hands on my body again, like during that weird examination.
Instead, he turns away. “Have a good day, Ruby,” he says.
“Thanks again, Doctor,” I say.
He shrugs and waves as he heads down the hall, leaving me alone.
I stare after him. I wonder how I got myself into this situation, wearing a hospital gown and using crutches, but it doesn’t matter. I was being stupid and reckless and now I’m paying for it.
I sigh and head back into the room. I pull the curtain, get dressed, and crutch back out to the elevator. I take my time, making ground slowly. The crutches hurt my armpits a little bit, but they’re not awful.
At least I got to run into Dr. Sexy. I know what I’ll be thinking about tonight in the shower. Those blue eyes, those hands on my hips…2AidenOne Week LaterThe nurse looks up at me with a frown on her face.
“Excuse me, Doctor, but you can’t be in here.”
I slowly look at her. I think her name is Mandy, or Tina, or maybe it was Louise. I give her a smile. She’s young and new, and her smile in return is almost hopeful.
I feel bad for a second, but it quickly passes.
“Can you please fuck off?”
Her eyes go wide. I resist the urge to laugh. I bet she’s never heard someone talk like that in a hospital, much less talk like that at her. I know it’s rude, and mean, and a little much, but I’m doing it for effect.
I could sit here and argue with her, or I could help the guy that’s struggling to breathe.
She blinks as I move away. I unlock the crash cart and pull out some epinephrine. I inject the shot into the guy’s leg and his gasping breaths slowly calm down and even out.
“He’s having an allergic reaction,” I tell the nurse. “Take care of him.”
I leave the guy’s room without another word. I commandeered this space when he first came in, his lips starting to turn blue, his eyes wide. They wanted to rush him off to surgery, but I knew better.
I’ve seen it before. I’d bet anything he got stung by a bee.
I sigh as Jackie falls into step with me. “Were you nice to the new girl?”
“Nope,” I grunt.
“Typical. You didn’t make her cry though, did you?”
“Not sure,” I admit. “She looked very deer-in-the-headlights when I left.”
Jackie sighs and shakes her head. Of all the nurses at Jefferson Hospital, she puts up with my shit the most. I secretly like her a lot, although I won’t ever admit it out loud and risk my reputation.
People at Jefferson don’t like me. They respect me because I’m good at what I do. Liza Cutter, the Director of Medicine and my boss, has threatened to fire me a million times for the way I speak to people.
But she doesn’t, because I save more lives than anyone else in this place.
That, and I bring in a ton of business. Rich people seek me out, because I’m known as one of the few doctors in the world that can diagnose them.
She keeps me around because I make her money. If that ever changes…
Well, I don’t care about that.
“Seriously, Aiden, be nice,” Jackie calls after me as I stride away. “Your luck’s gonna run out sooner or later.”
I wave to her as I turn a corner and step into the stairwell.
I sigh and lean back against the wall, closing my eyes, steadying my breathing. Jackie’s right about that, my luck really is going to run out sooner or later.