Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
A NNIE
I’ve been on the job at First City ER for a week now and I’m being trained by the coolest woman I’ve met in a long time. I’m full-on girl crushing on her.
Janie Malone is a gorgeous little spitfire of a thing full of “piss and vinegar,” as my dad would have said. She stands all of about five-feet two-inches, has a petite figure with great boobs that I’m totally jealous of. Her platinum blond pixie haircut and sapphire blue eyes make her just stunning. And for some odd reason, though she’s not British, she seems to prefer dropping British swear words over a good old-fashioned F-bomb.
She’s had my back from the minute I got here, making all the important introductions and shutting down the unit mean girls when they tried to get snotty with me. She’s clearly someone you don’t mess with, and I know I’m lucky she’s taken a liking to me.
Since I’m an experienced ER nurse, I’ll likely be out of training after this week with her as a resource person for me. We’re sitting looking over some labs on the computer when a paramedic with boyishly handsome good looks, sandy brown hair, and baby blue eyes approaches.
“Hey, Janie, who’s the pretty newbie with you today?” he drawls.
I laugh inside, thinking he’s trying to sound sexy. I roll my eyes and look up at him. “The ‘pretty newbie’ can speak for herself. I’m Annie. Annie Brooks. New here from the Columbus area. And who might you be?”
“Name’s Teddy, First City ER’s best paramedic and Elladine’s sexiest firefighter,” he says. He follows his words with a wink.
“Bloody hell, Teddy,” Janie chimes in. “Annie here has half a brain, so she’s not going to fall for your flirty firefighter routine.”
Teddy smirks at her and reaches over the counter to shake my hand. “Aw, Janie, are you feeling a little jealous? Don’t worry, sweetness, there’s enough of me to go around and you’re still my favorite girl.”
“Bugger off, Ted. Annie and I have actual work to get back to,” she says playfully. Then she stands up and heads into the room our triage nurse just rolled a patient into.
It’s Friday night, and Janie and I are walking out of the hospital together. The sky is already black, it’s cold, and it’s pouring down rain.
Perfect weather to start a shit weekend. I just want to go home, get in my pajamas, and sleep through the next two days.
My two weeks of orientation are up, and we’re heading into the first weekend of April. The new job is going well. The ER is a lot like the one I worked at in Columbus, so we have similar patients. It’s one reason I chose this hospital when I was job hunting and it’s made the change easier. That it is also a trauma and burn center helps make sure I get my adrenaline rush and keep my skills up. Bottom line, we take care of the sickest of the sick and the most complex injuries.
Janie and Teddy have both taken me under their wings. Janie has made sure I know everyone I need to in the ER and in the other units in the hospital. Teddy has introduced me to every paramedic and firefighter who comes in. Though a relentless flirt, he’s generally harmless and I think deep down he just wants everyone to like him. He’s a good paramedic, too, and his almost overly friendly personality seems to set nervous patients at ease.
Teddy works over at Fire Station Three on A shift full-time, so he’s only here in the ER once or twice a week while he tries to save up money for his upcoming wedding to his high school sweetheart, Emily. His captain on A shift is Emily’s older sister, Trina, a badass female firefighter.
It cracks me up because the only time Teddy isn’t being flirty, bordering on pervy, is when he comes in on a paramedic run with his fellow firefighters.
Janie and I are convinced it’s because he knows his coworkers would tell Trina and he’s afraid she’d beat his ass for flirting when he’s engaged to her sister.
I’m pretty sure she could take him, too.
“What’s wrong, babe? You’re not being yourself. You haven’t said a word since we left the building,” Janie says.
“Nothing. I’m just tired.” Even I’m not convinced by my answer.
Unfortunately, Janie has this innate ability to sense a lie. I’ve watched her use it on several patients when they weren’t being truthful about what happened to them to bring them to the ER.
“Annie? Don’t make me nag you until you tell me… ”
“Ugh, it’s nothing really. Not a big deal,” I answer, shrugging and trying to avoid eye contact.
She stops dead in her tracks, raises her eyebrows at me, and refuses to walk any further until I answer.
“Come on, Janie, it’s practically a monsoon out here!” I have to yell for her to hear me over the downpour.
She doesn’t budge and doesn’t speak. Just stares at me. God, she’s stubborn.
“Fine. This is a crappy weekend for me. I was supposed to get married tomorrow,” I answer. The defeat in my voice doesn’t escape even me, so I know it’s not getting past Janie.
She stares at me for a few seconds before she walks again. “Excuse me? I’m your new best friend and I’m just hearing that you were supposed to get married tomorrow?” she asks, totally serious.
I can’t help but smile at the incredulous tone of her voice.
“Well, screw this. Best friends don’t let each other mope alone. I’m coming to your house, and we’re going to get toasted while you tell me all about what this wanker did to make your wedding get cancelled. Because you, my dear, are bloody amazing, so it must be his fault.”
Two hours later, Janie and I are on my couch sipping wine, with Beanie between us, and I’ve given her the basics of my breakup with Jason. Her intermittent commentary alone has already gotten me to laugh more than I would have thought possible over the fiasco that was my engagement to Jason.
Once we hit our second bottle, we watch a Bridget Jones’s Diary marathon, at Janie’s suggestion, since it’s her favorite movie. Her vocabulary instantly makes a lot more sense. I must admit it feels good to have some girl time. Sitting here with Janie, I realize I didn’t really have any close female friends in Columbus, even though I grew up there. Honestly, I didn’t have any close friends except Jason. I feel like there’s probably some psychological pathology in there to unpack, but I’m too tipsy to attempt it tonight.
Halfway through our second bottle, I’ve let Janie convince me that, no, I will not be spending tomorrow evening with my friends, Ben and Jerry. Instead, I’ll be joining her and her book club. She makes me pinky promise I will come join the Spicy Girls , as they’ve dubbed themselves, and sends me a link to the name of the book they’re discussing tomorrow so that I can spend the day catching up.
Holy hell, now I understand the reason behind Janie’s book club being named the Spicy Girls .
I started this morning by having a cup of coffee on the balcony, with a plan to skim the book quickly to prepare for tonight’s meeting and then head out for a long run. That was three hours ago, and I can’t put this book down. Typically, my leisure reading has been comprised of dystopian society type novels. But, shit, I’ve been missing out until now by not reading in this steamy romance genre.
I realize mid-afternoon that I’ve read well past the time my wedding ceremony had been scheduled to occur without it even crossing my mind. I’m also damned sure that just reading about the sex in these books is much better than any actual sex I would have had on my wedding night with asshat Jason.
Later, squinting in the dark to see, I finally find the house number to match the address Janie sent me for book club tonight. Just as I lift my hand to knock, the door opens and— What the hell? —Teddy walks out wearing scrubs.
“Ooooh, Annie,” he teases, “are you here for the erotica book club?”
Embarrassed, I lightly push him in the chest. “It’s not erotica! It’s just… steamy,” I answer, trying to explain. “What the hell are you doing here, anyway?”
“I live here, love. This is mine and Em’s place. She’s hosting tonight, and I’m one hundred percent in support of her reading this shit. I must say, I’ve benefitted more than once when those books get her all?—”
“Enough! I’ve heard enough,” I say, covering my ears and walking toward the open door.
Chuckling, Teddy heads toward his car before calling out, “Have fun, Annie. You’ll have to tell me all about it at work.”
As soon as I walk in, I’m able to follow the laughter and cheery voices to find the women gathered in a cozy family room. Spotting me, Janie enthusiastically waves me over to her. “You came! I’m so excited. Let me introduce you to everyone.”
I meet Emily, who is just lovely, her sister Trina, whom I’ve met once before in the ER, and two middle-aged ladies who teach at the same school as Emily. Trina scoots over so I can sit next to her on the couch.
“Would you like some wine? I have white or red,” Emily asks, holding up two bottles.
“Red, please and thank you,” I answer. I smile at her. I’m immediately comfortable and I think I could get used to the idea of having girlfriends.
After we’ve chatted about the book for an hour, Emily brings out another bottle of wine and some snacks for us while we just hang out. I’ve always been one to love people-watching, so I’m enjoying listening to the conversation and observing the facial expressions of each woman.
I’ve just put a cracker in my mouth and bitten down when one of Emily’s coworkers, Christine, casually says, “I don’t know about you ladies, but I’ve been having sex for thirty-three of my fifty-one years and I’ve never seen a penis I would describe as thick, massive, or magnificent. ”
Not able to stop myself from laughing, I inhale a piece of cracker and choke. I take about thirty seconds and several sips of my wine to clear my throat. I’m pretty sure Christine is secretly proud of herself for shocking me into such a laughing fit. These ladies are just what I needed tonight.