Chapter 5
Wyatt
One week later
Wyatt tried to keep his gaze fixed on the patient board, which was already lit up this morning with plenty of red.
There were still overnight patients who needed to be seen, and the lobby was packed.
He knew they had a full load today, and he needed to be efficient and quick.
When the ED got swamped like this, it meant everyone became more focused, more intentional with their treatment.
And Dr. Donnelly became the tip of the spear, leading them through, steady and reassuring.
This was when he was at his absolute finest as a leader.
And irresistibly fucking sexy.
Wyatt’s eyes flicked over to the man now, who was consoling an elderly woman in a gurney in the hallway, while her adult daughter cried, restlessly shifting from foot to foot.
Dr. Donnelly’s beard was tidier today than it had been in a while, his short dark brown hair tousled, sprinkled with the attractive hints of gray. His hands were secured to the stethoscope around his neck as he patiently listened to the elderly woman, who had a bruised jawline and bleeding ear.
Dr. Donnelly’s warm gaze was understanding and patient, never looking away, listening to every word.
There was something about having Donnelly’s full attention that seemed to still a person.
He’d felt it the other night in the hotel room, as though the universe had stopped and all there was was his fixed, mesmeric gaze.
Clearly, Wyatt wasn’t the only one effected by this, as the woman beside Dr. Donnelly began crying harder, and he signaled to a passing nurse.
“Could you help Mrs. Mayner get a cup of tea or coffee from the kitchen, Liz?”
His tone was kind, without a hint of judgment. Even though everyone in the ED suspected this was an elder abuse case, and it was only a matter of time before he called for Jasmine, their hospital social worker.
The nurse nodded at once and gestured toward the elevator, leading Mrs. Mayner up to the hospital cafeteria.
Reyes was working with Dr. Donnelly on the case, and Wyatt felt his fingers tap impatiently against the nurses' station barrier, trying not to feel ridiculously jealous of Reyes.
Steph, the head nurse of the ED, caught his attention by tapping the end of her digital tablet over his drumming fingers. “Eyes up, Lawson. We’ve got a full board. I need you focused.”
Wyatt immediately jerked his gaze away from Dr. Donnelly. “Sorry, yeah.”
“Room two needs to be discharged, and we’ve got a metal head in room five that needs a fractured nose popped back in,” Steph informed.
Wyatt sucked in a breath, steeling himself for another round of patients, his eyes flicking back to Dr. Donnelly, unable to stop himself even if he tried.
Ever since their secret night together, Dr. Donnelly had seemed lighter, not as moody or tense. And it fucking thrilled Wyatt to think that he had a hand in that. The only problem was that Dr. Donnelly had been ignoring him the entire week. A price to fucking the captain, he supposed.
Steph leaned forward and tapped him firmly on the top of the head with the tablet.
Wyatt jumped and was about to dart away when she shook her head and beckoned him closer with a parental finger. He obeyed, knowing that one did not disrespect the nurses in the ED, or else it was hell trying to get back into their good graces.
“Lawson, could I give you some advice?” Steph asked, though Wyatt had a feeling he had no choice but to accept it.
“Sure.”
“I know you got a crush.”
Wyatt stiffened, alarm spreading through his limbs like wildfire. He was careful to keep his gaze away from Dr. Donnelly and hoped to hell his flushed cheeks wouldn’t give him away.
“Most of the nurses here think you’re cute and want your number.
I, on the other hand, figured you had other priorities,” Steph tilted her head toward Dr. Donnelly.
“It’s normal, I’ve seen it before. Plenty of residents tripping over themselves tryin’ to impress him.
I get it. He’s something special, our Johnny, and we’ve never had a senior resident like him…
” Steph hesitated, looking stern. “And if you keep lookin’ at him like that, he’s gonna notice, and so will the rest of the team.
So, eyes down and chin up. Whatever you’re feelin’, I suggest you let it pass, all right? ”
Wyatt was about to apologize, which would be somewhat of an admission, and stopped himself. He didn’t want there to be a whisper of anything connecting them because he couldn’t—wouldn’t—jeopardize Dr. Donnelly’s career.
Dr. Donnelly, too, had carefully evaded him all week and was only in the room long enough to make sure Wyatt wasn’t royally fucking up.
In fact, he was giving him so much space that Reyes asked if they had a beef.
Before, Wyatt had walked on pins and needles whenever he got too close to Dr. Donnelly. Now, he ached.
He pined like a kid at prom, hoping his crush would ask him out on the dance floor. Because, fuck, he couldn’t get their night together out of his head. All he wanted was for Dr. Donnelly to look at him longer than two seconds, but he intentionally kept an invisible wall between them.
Most of the time, Wyatt didn’t mind a one-and-done scenario, especially when he was in college.
He had more time to explore, taste, sample, and take risks.
Hookups were common, and forgetting names the next morning was normal.
Now, it was taking everything in his power to keep himself away from the handsome older doctor with the sexiest crinkles around his eyes and the sluttiest glasses that he left at his workstation for paperwork.
And, fuck me, the sounds Donnelly made!
Wyatt couldn’t unhear it, letting it play on repeat in his head.
And the times he had to be close to Donnelly this week in the ED had been an unbearably sweet torture.
Bumping shoulders with him, catching that faint musky scent, and hearing him reluctantly acknowledge his good work.
He was even more addicted to Dr. Donnelly now, and it was getting damn near crippling how hard he sometimes got, having to run to the bathroom, hating how thin his scrubs were.
Every day after his shift this week, Wyatt would try to convince himself that the shower would scorch away remnants of his day and of Donnelly, but it never worked.
He would usually end up masturbating under the hot spray, hearing those ragged, cock-inflating moans, and climaxing all over his fist within seconds, gasping under the water, needy for more.
He felt so fucking restless. Like a horse that needed a good hard run.
Wyatt wondered how many other residents had become ensnared by Donnelly’s soothing warmth as he had, and the only person who knew that was the short, curvy woman before him, her curly black hair pulled back in a thick ponytail, her face etched with the unbothered expression she wore daily.
“How many others?” Wyatt asked.
She smirked, “Oh, at least a couple dozen over the years.”
“Really?” he asked, surprised and yet not.
“Someone in each new rotation,” Steph drawled, glancing at the patient board, chewing the end of her pen cap.
“That’s…”
“…a lot of crushes,” she finished, eyes sparkling with amusement. “The nurses have a whole betting pool on it. Donnelly doesn’t know, or Samuels. Walsh figured it out last year and started betting on it, too, the devil. The nurses were too scared to tell him no.”
Wyatt nearly laughed. He’d only ever met the night doctor, Dr. Walsh, once in passing. He had heard the rumors, though, that he was a bit unhinged, unfiltered. He figured someone would have to be a bit mad to work the night shift in the emergency department.
“Like I said, it’s normal,” Steph said with a shrug. “Donnelly sometimes figures it out, sometimes he doesn’t.”
“What happens when he figures it out?” Wyatt asked, throat tightening.
“They get rotated to the night shift with Walsh, or to a different hospital.” Her eyebrows arched at his expression, which he couldn’t hide unless he covered himself with his hoodie.
“Don’t worry, hon. Your secret is safe with me, handsome.
Besides, I always thought betting on impressionable young pups was wrong. ”
She tapped her flashy red-painted nails on her digital black tablet, letting the phone at her desk ring.
“Hey, I forgot to mention, it’s Dr. Williams’s retirement party tomorrow.
The whole crew is invited. We’re meeting at the Hot Dog Palace.
It’s a place we sometimes go for happy hour—well, more like midnight hour. ”
“Dr. Williams?” Wyatt asked.
“Cardiology. Rarely comes by these days, and now even more so with the whole retirement thing. Starts at eight sharp, kid. Bring Reyes, or better yet, bring a date.”
Wyatt studied himself in the mirror for the millionth time before letting out a frustrated sigh.
He was going to be late. This was his tenth outfit change before settling on his nicest pair of dark blue denim jeans, his worn but comfortable black cowboy boots (the same ones Donnelly had commented on), a plain white undershirt, and his favorite tanned leather jacket.
He even put some of Jin’s fancy hair product in and slicked his hair back a bit.
He got a haircut after his shift, trimming the sides and top.
He closed the door to his room, hoping to sneak out before Jin saw him, but halted with his hand on the front door of their apartment when he heard a low, catcalling whistle.
“You can salt and burn my ashes any day, Dean Winchester,” Jin drawled.
Wyatt pivoted on his boot heel, exhaling slowly.
Jin had been walking from the kitchen to the living room when he spotted Wyatt in the hallway.
He was cradling a large bowl of popcorn, wearing a blue silk kimono, and the sounds of people laughing from the television in the living room told him Jin was having a movie night instead of going out.