5. Cole
5
COLE
M y feet pounded the treadmill as I pushed myself. My six a.m. workout routine was almost bordering on a religious tradition. I wasn't a religious man, but I did treat my body like a temple as much as I could. I knew old age crept up too quickly on most folks and they never got ahead of the curve. I wanted to stay as youthful as I could for as long as I could.
The harder I pushed myself, the better it felt. But I couldn’t outrun the stress of the pending litigation. Even the news on the television here at the gym was talking about it now. It appeared they were keeping my name out of things for the time being, but Twin Peaks was taking a beating in the press. The patient who had almost died was very vocal about healthcare reform. I couldn't fault him. I, myself, wanted it.
I tried to ignore the broadcast, but it was quite loud. Everyone in the gym had their eyes on a television somewhere in the room, and I had to stare down at the treadmill's screen to focus on something else. I thought of work and how I'd feel when I got there. I ran harder until I was panting and thought of ways to pleasantly distract myself at work too. The stress there was really getting to me.
Then I thought of the cute nurse I met, Rose—I didn’t get her last name yet. The way we bumped into each other at lunch last week didn't feel like a coincidence. It felt like the universe was telling me that there was something there. Yes, she was new, but how often was it that you bumped into someone twice so casually?
Just thinking of her got me excited to get to work instead of dreading it. I'd have said she was my lucky charm, but after having asked her to do a tour with me and receiving her rejection in such an obvious manner, I realized nothing would ever come of it with her. But the freedom of knowing a woman could spark my soul the way Kate had gave me hope for the future. If not Rose, then someone else for sure. I finally felt ready to move on and start over, and I had Rose to thank for that. It wasn’t a small thing.
I pressed the stop button and the treadmill slowed. Without even looking back up at the offending news broadcast, I slipped out of the gym and into the locker room. I showered and shaved, then dressed and packed my things up. I stopped by a coffee shop on my way to the hospital, and when I got there, I found a parking spot near the front row. I felt like my day was already looking up.
My team greeted me with a few updates on patients, and then I looked at my surgery roster to find out what my day looked like. With nothing on the schedule this morning, I took to rounds early. I carried my coffee with me and my tablet and stopped by my patients’ rooms.
After my third, but definitely not least significant, patient, I had to use the toilet. Too much coffee meant frequent bathroom breaks in the morning. I was rounding the corner to head up the hall to the bathrooms when I smacked into someone walking the opposite way. I dropped my tablet, spilled my coffee, and cussed so loudly I thought the whole floor could hear. Worst of all, the poor nurse took a spill at my expense, landing only inches from the puddle of tepid brew.
"God, I'm sorry," I grunted, swiping at the few droplets of coffee on my scrub pants. When I looked down at her, I felt my chest constrict like a vacuum. "Rose?"
She chuckled and pushed herself up off the floor, and I felt like a fool. "Wow, if you're going to keep running into me, I'm going to need to start wearing a helmet." She stooped to pick up my tablet and handed it to me.
"God, I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I was in a hurry." Thankfully, the tablet was pretty sturdy. It wasn't cracked or chipped. I tucked it under my arm and sighed.
"It's alright. I'm on break and I just stopped to use the toilet." Her thumb pointed over her shoulder right where I was headed, and she crossed her arms over her middle. "I should, uh… I'll get janitorial to clean this up before someone slips."
"Hey, I can do that…" I glanced around and noticed one of the techs pushing a mop bucket this direction. It was time to mop, anyway. I just gave them the starting point. When I turned back to Rose, she was smiling at me and she hadn't left. I thought back to my invitation to show her around and how she resisted, then doubled back with an apology.
"I guess fate has it ordained that we should keep running into each other—literally." She laughed a little and snorted, which made me chuckle.
"I thought the same thing… Maybe I really am supposed to show you around and give you a tour." I tilted my head, and she seemed pleased by the idea.
"Yeah, sure. I have time to kill. Why not?" Rose stepped aside when the tech walked up. "Sorry about this," she told him, and I felt bad for making the mess.
"Just let me empty my bladder and we'll be set." I left her to watch the floor be mopped and went to the bathroom. After washing my hands, I came back and found her standing in almost the same spot.
She joined me and I began the tour. I took her through every wing of the hospital, including administrative. She asked lots of questions, and I introduced her to a few other nurses and doctors along the way, and when we were running out of time for her break, we headed back toward her hall.
"So you know a lot about Twin Peaks and the staff?" She had her hands in her scrubs pockets as she walked next to me, smiling up at me. She really was stunning, a piece of art. Her beautiful smile was offset by dimples, and the crop of freckles across the ridge of her nose was so faint I almost missed them, but I liked them.
"Yeah, well I've been around for a while. I just know it's rough getting settled in a new place, and I wanted to show you the ropes, help you make a few friends." Passing this off as my being friendly was the best way to test the waters. If she wasn't interested in anything, it was the best way to be able to back out without making her feel bad.
"I appreciate that… Honestly, though, having personal relationships with coworkers is sort of the bane of my existence. At the last place I worked, it just led to so much drama. Friends end up backstabbing, and I'm just not interested. I'm more of an introvert in that. I want to keep my personal life private. People at work knowing my stuff just doesn't sound good."
I listened and tried to read between the lines. It wasn't that she was averse to workplace relationships, more so that she'd been burned. "So you'd never consider a relationship with a coworker?" I asked, just hinting around. I tried to make it sound like a friendship with a mutual, but the smile on her lips when she answered made my chest swell a little.
"I guess it would depend on the person and the type of relationship."
I was really beginning to enjoy talking with Rose, and this was the third time we'd just randomly connected. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Not to mention neither of us enjoyed our personal lives being talked about at work. I was sure that was something I had in common with a lot of people, but having it in common with her felt like something important.
"Well, here I am," she said, gesturing at the fourth floor nurses' station.
I wanted to ask her to coffee or something, but my tongue froze. I thought of Kate and how she'd feel. I thought of moving on and what it would mean and how I did feel ready, but I was still not so optimistic. Then I thought of the scandal and wondered what Rose would think of me if she knew I was that doctor. And before I was able to put a sentence together, she reached her hand out for a handshake.
"Thank you, Dr. Hastings, for the welcome tour three weeks late." She snickered and shook my hand, and I nodded.
"That's Cole, and you're welcome. Hopefully, we'll bump into each other again soon." I didn't mean it to be a pun, but she laughed and snorted again. It was the cutest thing in the world. I loved it.
"Just let me invest in a helmet first, maybe some knee pads too." She snorted again, and I found myself laughing with her.
"Well, hurry up. It could be tomorrow." I backed away, wishing I'd have had the guts to actually ask her out, but my mind, while seeming ready to move on, needed a bit more time to process things. Maybe next time I saw her would be the right time.