2. Gabby
2
Gabby
G ripping my extra-large caramel coconut cold brew from Portside Perks, I head into work, ready to start my shift at Starboard Beach’s Emergency Department, only to discover a small crowd hovering around the curtain of Room 2.
“What’s everyone doing?” I ask Dr. Cody, one of the attending physicians who doesn’t seem to care about the commotion behind him.
“Mr. February’s getting a tetanus shot.” He rolls his eyes and walks away.
Mr. Feb—Ah! He’s talking about Alex! That’s been his unofficial nickname since he posed for a firefighter calendar last year. I run toward the crowd as I hear a yelp and a “That’s what you get,” from Hilda.
“Man, I didn’t get to see anything,” Rebecca, a nursing assistant, whines as she and the crowd disperse.
I pull back the curtain to see Alex rubbing his right butt cheek while Hilda disposes of the syringe and walks away with a scowl .
“Now you show up?” Alex looks at me with disappointment as he zips up his pants.
“I just got here and haven’t even started my shift yet. What in the world did you do to earn yourself a tetanus shot?”
“I was trying to save a kitten from a rusty drainpipe and got scratched.” He lifts up the sleeves of his T-shirt to show me his bandages. “I’m pretty sure she used sandpaper and lemon juice to clean my scrapes.”
“Oh, pobrecito .” I feign sadness as I walk up to him and place my arms around his waist. My hand rubs along the spot of his injection. “Does this feel better?”
“A little.” Alex dramatically pouts. He places his hands on my hips. “But I think the pain is traveling a little bit around to the front.” A mischievous smile plays on his lips, and I know he’s about to bring out those dimples of his that make me swoon.
“Not happening.” I playfully smack his chest. I usually don’t get this touchy-feely with Alex, but I didn’t like how there was an audience trying to get a glimpse of him with his pants down. My roommates and I see him in his underwear all the time, but somehow, that’s different.
“Fine.” His grasp on my waist gets tighter. “I know something else that will help me feel better.”
“I’m also not going out on a date with you.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“No?” I raise a brow.
“Nope. I was going to say you should marry me.”
“Alex!” I groan. If he’s not asking me out on a date, he’s proposing. The man is incorrigible.
“What?” He pulls back to look at me. “Let’s just skip the whole dating thing and go straight to marriage. We can date each other once we are betrothed.”
“Betrothed?” I chuckle .
“It’s a good word.” He shrugs.
A voice clearing has both of our heads whipping around to meet the sound. My nurse manager, Gail, stands near the curtain. “When you’re done with whatever this is, Ms. Ramirez, I’d like to see you in my office.” Her gaze shifts from me to Alex for a minute, but she says nothing more before walking away.
“Oh God! That was my supervisor!” My eyes go wide. “I can’t lose my job!”
“Relax. You’re not going to lose your job for grabbing my ass. I know Gail. You’ll be fine,” Alex says matter-of-factly. I’m convinced he knows everyone who lives in Starboard Beach. As for me, I just moved here a little over a year ago and I’m not as gregarious as Alex. “Gail is a good one. Unlike Nurse Nightmare over there.” We step out of the room and walk down the hallway in comfortable silence until we reach Gail’s door.
“Want me to wait out here for you?” Alex leans against the wall.
“No, I don’t know how long I’ll be and I’m sure you have to get back to the firehouse.”
“Nah, I’m done for the day. I guess since you’re just starting your shift, I won’t see you later.”
“Nope, but Michelle told me if I saw you to let you know that she’s making some type of stir-fry tonight and pineapple upside down cake for dessert.”
My roommate, Michelle, is the youngest out of all of us on 3rd East. She’s in law school, but I have a feeling she’d rather focus on her culinary skills. She’s constantly trying new recipes and loves to feed all of us. On days when she’s too busy to cook, Aly or I pick up the slack. Aly was our roommate for a while, but she ended up marrying Jax, who lives across the hall. Thankfully, she didn’t have to move too far and our 3rd East crew is still tight-knit .
“Best neighbors ever!” Alex does a little happy dance. “But you know you’re still my favorite.”
“I know.” Secretly, he’s my favorite too. I give Alex a little wave as he walks down the hall. I turn toward Gail’s door, take a deep breath, and knock.
“Come in!” Gail says in a pleasant tone. Well, that’s a good sign, I hope. Still, I’m nervous as hell, wondering what she wants to talk about.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am!” The words spill out as soon as I step into the office. “I know that looked extremely unprofessional. I wasn’t on the clock yet, not that it matters. I mean, I still shouldn’t have been messing around with Alex. It’s just that I know him. I mean, we’re neighbors…and friends—”
“Gabriella!” Gail holds up her hand to silence my rant. “You’re not in trouble.”
“I-I’m not?” Air refills my lungs.
“No, not at all.” She shuffles around some papers on her desk and motions for me to take a seat.
“I thought when you called me back here—” My voice trails off as I sit down.
“I called you back here for something completely unrelated to whatever that was I walked in on.” She waves her hand nonchalantly in the air. “I wanted to catch you before your shift started. How would you feel about a change in departments?”
“A change?”
“Mm-hmm.” Gail nods. “One of the nurses from Pediatrics will be going on maternity leave soon. We need someone to fill her spot, and I think you would be the perfect person for the position.”
“Peds?” I never thought about working on the pediatric floor, but I know I can’t be an emergency room nurse forever. I can handle the fast-paced environment, but sometimes the stress of certain cases keeps me up at night. Some hit too close to home.
“I’ve seen how you are with young patients. You have a gift, you know. Kids feel comfortable with you. I hate to lose you here, but I know you will be a perfect fit for them. If you want the job, of course.”
“Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!” I pause. “Are you sure you’re okay with what you saw between Alex and me?”
“You mean Mr. February?” She flips her calendar back three months to the picture of Alex posing shirtless in front of a fire truck with a hose wrapped around his broad shoulders. “Honey, if I were twenty years younger and single, I’d be all over that man.”
I laugh as she stands up from behind her desk. We walk out of the office together and cross paths with Hilda pushing a code cart.
As soon as the world’s grumpiest nurse is out of earshot, Gail leans into me and whispers, “The moment an opening becomes available in the ICU, I’m sending Hilda there. That way most of her patients will be comatose or too drugged to remember her.”
I laugh again and my shoulders relax. I can’t wait to tell Alex and my friends about my new position. As I head toward my station to finally start my day, Dr. Cody taps me on the shoulder.
“Miss Ruby is back,” he says when I spin around to look at him. “Room 5.”
Miss Ruby is what we like to call one of our frequent fliers. She’s here several times a month but not for your typical ailments. At eighty-eight years young, she’s a woman who has an affinity for living life on the edge. In the short time I’ve worked here, I’ve treated her for minor burns from setting off fireworks and whiplash from a ziplining adventure gone wrong. As crazy as she may seem, she’s a delight to work with.
“Hello, Miss Ruby! What did you do to earn yourself a trip to the ER today?” I step into the room and notice an extra person standing in the corner. “Alex? What are you still doing here?”
“I was getting ready to leave when I heard the familiar voice of the beautiful and vivacious Miss Ruby. I just had to check on her.”
“Oh, you are one of my favorites.” Miss Ruby’s hazel eyes twinkle as she turns to look at the tall, dark, and handsome man beside her.
I don’t even need to ask how Alex knows Miss Ruby. He’s brought her in several times since I’ve been here.
“I was out watering my garden when a few of the neighborhood kids came by on those things that look like a skateboard, but you don’t push them,” Miss Ruby starts to explain.
“Hoverboards,” Alex answers.
“Yes, that’s it.” Miss Ruby nods. “It looked like fun, so I asked if I could go for a ride.”
“And you fell?” I assume.
“One of the kids tried to catch me.” She lifts up her bedsheet to reveal a nasty bruise on her upper thigh. “It was a soft fall and I landed in a grassy area, but the neighbors insisted on calling an ambulance so I could get checked out.”
“I understand,” I say, stepping a little closer to her bed. Typically, elderly patients have brittle bones, but not Miss Ruby. She’s stronger than most.
“I’m fine,” Miss Ruby continues. “But that doctor with the poor bedside manner insisted I need these things.” She points to the heart monitor. “I hate these wires.”
“I get it, Miss Ruby, but while your bones are as tough as nails, you do have a history of heart disease. Dr. Cody just wants to make sure you’re in tip-top shape before sending you home.” I grab a pair of gloves to inspect the hematoma closer.
“Do you think this bruise will heal by next Thursday? I volunteered to be a nude model for a sculpture class at the art institute.”
“Oh! Umm…” I snap my head up and immediately regret making eye contact with Alex, who has gone pale. It’s not often he’s stunned silent. I chew on the inside of my cheek to hold back my amusement. “It might not be entirely gone by then, but I’m sure a good concealer will take care of that.”
“Well, I think I’ve overstayed my time. I don’t want to be late for dinner.” Alex finds his voice and an excuse for a quick exit. “Miss Ruby, as always, it was a pleasure to see you.” He does a little bow, then turns to me. “And you have a wonderful and hopefully uneventful night.” He places a chaste kiss on my temple before sauntering away. My eyes can’t help but follow him as he walks out of sight.
“If I were younger, I’d be all over that man,” Miss Ruby says, pulling me out of thoughts I should not be having.
“Funny, you’re not the first person to say that to me today.” I turn back to my patient.
“It’s the truth. Alex is quite the catch and I’m not just saying that because of his charming good looks. He is always the kindest when it comes to helping out. About two years ago, before you moved here, I twisted my ankle while rollerblading. Alex came over every week with bags of groceries. I told him I had neighbors and friends to help, but he insisted it was no trouble at all.”
“That’s so nice. I didn’t know that.” Although I’m not surprised. While Alex is probably one of the most sarcastic people I’ve ever met, there’s another side of him that’s as sweet as can be .
“I know he’s a lot of talk—acts boastful and such—but there’s a heart of gold underneath all those muscles…those big, rippling—”
“Miss Ruby, your heart rate is spiking!” I run over to silence the beeping monitor.
“Ah.” She brushes me off. “Sometimes it’s good for this old ticker to get the blood pumping. So tell me, why don’t you go out with him? He seems to have taken a liking to you.”
“Yeah, well, you know Alex has a bit of a reputation.” I keep my tone casual. It’s my go-to excuse whenever the topic of why I don’t take Alex up on his numerous offers comes up. Since he is Starboard Beach’s biggest flirt, no one ever challenges me on my explanation. In truth, I couldn’t care less about his history. My reasoning goes much deeper than that.
“Hmm…that excuse sounds good. But I’ve been around a long time, Gabby. You can’t fool me. There’s something else. Isn’t there?”
“I-I,” I stumble on my words. “It’s just that… Things have happened in my life that make me hesitate to get into any relationship…” My voice trails off and I hope what I’ve said is enough to appease the woman.
“I see.” She solemnly shakes her head. “You know, you remind me a lot of my younger self in many ways.” She pats the side of bed for me to sit down.
“I do?”
“Oh yes, always working and tends to keep to herself. I was a telephone operator for the county back before they had all this new technology.” She waves her hand around the room with a wistful look on her face. “Oh, I loved my job. I worked every chance I could get…nights, weekends, holidays. I took every extra shift so my coworkers could spend time with their families.”
The typical light in Miss Ruby’s eyes begins to dim. “Everyone assumed I was just a strong, single, independent woman who loved to work. The real reason I worked so much was that I hated coming home to an empty house.”
I adjust my position on the bed to face Miss Ruby as she continues. “I was only a year old when I lost my mother. She passed away shortly after the birth of my little brother. My father couldn’t handle the stress and drank himself to death by the time I was five. I went to live with relatives for a while, but then my brother fell ill and passed away. The grief of losing my family was too much. I acted out a lot and was sent to live with other relatives until they got tired of me and passed me off to an orphanage.”
I gasp and place my hand over my heart. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Gabriella. I’m telling you this for a reason.” The creases surrounding her eyes grow deeper. “I shied away from relationships for a long time. I had a lot of acquaintances but never any true friends. I was afraid to get attached to anyone because I figured I would eventually lose them. That fear was paralyzing.
“But then something happened to me on my eighty-third birthday. I woke up and realized that not many people make it to my age. What did I have to show for it? Not much. I was eighty-three years old and never really lived…or loved.”
“So that’s why you skydive and go streaking?” I nervously fidget with the hem of my scrubs.
“I never would’ve gotten injured streaking had that sprinkler not popped up. But yes, and I’m happier than I have ever been. I’m finally experiencing life the way it should be lived. The way it was intended to be enjoyed. I may not have any blood relatives left, but I’ve surrounded myself with wonderful people. They are my found family and bring me so much joy. Don’t wait until you’re eighty-three to start living your life.”
“How do you know I’m not?” I tilt my chin up.
“Like I said before, you remind me of my younger self. I can see it in your eyes. Those are the eyes of someone who has experienced a lot of loss. So tell me, dear, who did you lose?”
I look down at the floor, wondering how to answer the question. There’s no sense in lying. She’ll see right through me. I finally respond, “Everyone.”