Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
A NNIE
I’m ripped from a peaceful sleep by the obnoxious blaring of my alarm clock at four-fifty.
Everything in me screams to reset the wake-up time and go back to sleep, but I stretch and stumble out of bed. I’m working today at seven a.m. and if I want to get a run in, I have to do it before work since it’s been too hot lately in the evening.
I go to the bathroom, then throw on my running gear and put Bean in his harness and attach his leash before we head outside. It’s a beautiful morning so far—warm but not hot, the quiet sounds of night still in the air. I throw my earphones in and start running. As I find my groove in a moderately fast pace, my mind wanders, and I think about the recent events in my life.
The three weeks since the Fourth of July have been amazing. I told Kelly about Jack when we talked on the phone yesterday but haven’t been able to bring myself to tell my mom yet. I think about the conversation with Kelly, and it makes me laugh out loud in the middle of my sleeping neighborhood.
“Ooh a firefighter! That’s sexy. Tell me about his fire ‘hose’.”
“Jesus, Kelly, you perv. Don’t you have enough sex of your own making all those babies?”
“Ugh, fine. Then tell me the boring stuff. What kind of dates is he taking you on?” She sighs loudly.
I laugh at her. “I don’t know. We do lots of stuff. Restaurants, lots of hikes, sometimes we just hang out and watch movies or Schitt’s Creek reruns. He’s not just my boyfriend—we’re friends too.”
“Okay, now that I’ve listened to the obligatory sappy stuff, tell me about the sex.” She giggles.
“You’re insufferable,” I tease. “All I’ll say is that we have our fair share of sexy sleepovers and I have no complaints about the physical aspects of our relationship.”
“That’s really all you’ll tell me?” she whines. “Now who’s insufferable?”
Bean and I are thirty minutes into our run and the colors of the sunrise are peeking over the horizon. Today, the sun is treating us to a palette of lavenders and pale pinks. Between the runner’s high and this treat, it’s shaping up to be a glorious morning.
Life’s looking pretty great right now. Love life: finally have a good one. Work life: just got notified of my promotion to Assistant Manager. Yep, things are looking up and the move to Elladine is proving to be an outstanding life choice.
Bean and I round the corner and have one block left to go on our run. This is his favorite part of our runs—when we sprint at the end. His ears perk up as I give him the words he loves to hear. “Come on, boy! Let’s… go… fast!”
We’re both energized by the time we climb the stairs to our house, and I feed him before jumping in the shower to get ready for my workday.
It’s been a good day in the ER so far. I met my trainee, Sadie, yesterday, but today’s the first day she’s with me all day.
We actually have a few minutes to sit and talk about things today, so we’re back in the break room where we can have a little privacy.
“So, Sadie, tell me about your nursing experience and what made you decide to transfer to the ER.”
“Well, I graduated last June from nursing school, and I’ve spent the last year working on the medical-surgical floor. Mostly because I had to get the experience to apply for ER.” She smiles coyly and it makes the heart shape of her pretty face even more pronounced.
“Don’t worry, almost everyone does that.” I smile.
“So, I’ve always wanted to be an ER nurse. I like the energy, the fast pace, and never knowing what’s going to come through the door. Getting to see all the cute firefighters doesn’t hurt either.” She chuckles. “But if you meet my boyfriend, don’t tell him that part,” she adds quickly, twirling her long blond ponytail around her index finger.
Janie walks in just then to take our planned break together, and Sadie stands to go have lunch with one of her friends from her old unit. Anytime we have a trainee, we always make sure they get lunch since it’s not guaranteed once they’re counted in staffing numbers. Honestly, most days we’re lucky if we get enough time to pee, let alone a meal break, so this alone makes it a good day.
As Sadie steps through the door, I notice how tall she is. I’m guessing she’s at least five-foot-eight or-nine inches and she’s got a figure to die for.
Janie’s eyes are trained on her as well.
“Ugh,” Janie says. She puts her head down dramatically on the table after Sadie walks out .
I look at her, surprised. It’s not like Janie to be judgy.
“What’s that about? She’s nice.”
“I know she’s nice. I don’t care about that,” she says. “I care that she’s so gorgeous and young and she’s got a bangin’ body. When did we become the old frumpy ones in the ER?”
Now I can’t help but laugh out loud at her. “Janie, we’re hardly old. She’s twenty-three and we’re only twenty-seven. I’ll give you she’s beautiful, but we aren’t hags and you, my friend, are gorgeous,” I chuckle.
“That’s why you’re my best friend.” She beams. “You always know when to tell me I’m beautiful.”
She’s just telling me about her latest fling when a trauma alert is called overhead, signaling our short-lived break is over.
“Well, it was good while it lasted,” I say. We both get up and make our way to the trauma bay.
JACK
Fitz and I roll into the trauma bay with our patient—a forty-year-old male who fell twelve feet off a ladder. He clearly has a lower-leg fracture, but we’re most worried about the potential for neck injuries in these kinds of cases, so we have him on a backboard and in a neck collar.
I smile as I walk into the room and see Annie is among the ER staff waiting for us. It’s my first time seeing her today, and it brightens my day. She always says that she looks like a hot mess at work, but she doesn’t realize how damn beautiful she is.
Some of the young nurses wear their work scrubs so tight, I guess it’s the new trend.
Annie wears normal scrubs that fit her but aren’t too tight, not too loose. It’s still obvious she has an impressive body, but I love that her scrubs leave a little to the imagination and I’m the only one in here who knows what she looks like underneath them. She wears minimal makeup to work and has those curls up in a messy bun.
I swear she couldn’t look better to me.
Teddy is working here today, too, so it’s good to see him. I feel bad because we haven’t been spending much time together this summer. When we were both on A shift, before I had to switch stations and shifts for the possible promotion to captain, we used to do something at least once a week. I catch myself feeling nostalgic for that “bro time,” as Teddy always called it.
I remind myself I need to be more intentional about making sure we talk regularly. Hell, we’ve been best friends since eighth grade. I need to make sure I keep up my end of the friendship.
Fitz and I help the ER staff get the patient settled, then head to the desk to finish our run report. When we’re almost done, I stop back at the trauma room so I can talk to Annie about tomorrow night. I pull the curtain aside slightly, and she looks up, says something to the nurse with her, then comes to talk to me outside the room.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to talk to you sooner rather than later. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stay the night tomorrow. Shayna messaged, and she’s on an overnight call shift and needs a sitter for Tommy because my parents are sick.”
“Oh man, I’m sorry they’re sick. It’s up to you and your sister, but if you guys still want to come, we could have a sleepover in the living room with us all and the dogs. But, if not, I totally understand. I’ll miss you, though.” She smiles.
“You really wouldn’t mind that? I could check with Shayna, but I think she’d be fine with it. I was really looking forward to seeing you. ”
“Of course I wouldn’t mind!” she answers. “Obviously, the night would be rated G but, once your sister picks him up in the morning…” She winks and smiles as she brushes her hand against mine, discreetly.
God, she’s adorable.
Fitz walks toward us and we say our goodbyes. I wish I could kiss her now that she’s got me thinking about what might happen after Tommy gets picked up from our sleepover, but I don’t.
Fitz and I head out to the rig. When we get in the ambulance and start driving back to the station, Fitz seems quieter than usual.
“Are you okay?”
He hesitates, but then speaks. “You’re still good friends with Teddy, right?”
When I nod, he continues,“I know he has a big personality, but sometimes I don’t know how to take him,” he says.
“Oh no, what did he say today?” I ask.
“I guess it’s not a big deal, but I was trying to finish the run report and he came up and kept talking to me about how hot he thinks Annie’s new trainee is. Kept asking if I had a chance to ‘check her out yet.’ I tried to ignore him, but he just kept going on. It was weird, and it’s like he didn’t care that I clearly wasn’t into hearing about it.”
“Oh, man. Yeah, that isn’t cool. I’m hoping he was just trying to engage with you or something. Annie says he flirts a lot here, but I think he and Emily are doing fine.”
“You know Trina and I are best friends. Maybe I’m just being pissed for Em on her behalf. I know she’s really protective of Emily. But, Jesus, I walked Emily down the aisle, man. What makes Teddy think I’d be okay listening to him talk about another woman that way?”
Fitz and Trina have been best friends since they went to the fire academy together over ten years ago, so it’s no surprise he feels this way.
“I don’t think you’re wrong for being annoyed. If he says anything to me about her, I’ll try to talk to him. Hopefully, he’ll stop once the newness of her wears off.”
“Hopefully.” Fitz shrugs and flips on the sirens as our radio goes off, dispatching us to another call.