Epilogue
“The new nurses are talking about your man again,” Maren says as she steps behind the desk at the PICU nurses’ station.
“You say new nurses like I am not also a new nurse,” I say as I work my way through my charting.
“You’ve been here six months,” Maren says. “You aren’t new. At least not as new as they are.” She drops into a chair next to me and reaches for her iPad.
Maren is my closest friend at Northvale General and has been since my first day.
She’s funny and chill and easy to work with and was hugely instrumental in helping me learn the ropes, so she has my undying loyalty just for that.
But she is possibly a tiny bit obsessed with relationship drama.
Hers. The other nurses on the floor. Mine—even when I really don’t have any.
“Let them talk,” I say. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
She huffs. “It doesn’t annoy you even a little bit? That they’re brainstorming reasons to sneak down to the ER to catch glimpses of Dr. McHottyPants?”
“Is that really what they call him?” I say, feeling more amused than annoyed.
It’s not like they actually stand a chance with the man.
I’m the one wearing his engagement ring.
Well, not currently. It’s a hazard at work, so I leave it at home whenever I’m at the hospital.
But I know it’s mine. I know he’s mine. I can’t fault them for finding him handsome.
“It’s exactly what they call him,” Maren says. “And I really, really think you should let them know to keep their eyes to themselves.”
“I can’t stop them from looking, Mare.”
She rolls her eyes. “Trust me. If you had heard the kinds of things they were saying, you would feel differently.”
I close out my last patient’s chart and stand, pressing my hands into the small of my back to stretch. “I think you just like drama.”
“Or maybe I just want you to rub it in their faces a little that he’s yours.”
“Like I said,” I repeat. “You just like drama.”
“And you love me for it!” she calls as I head down the hall.
I’ve got a ten-year-old patient named Lily who will hopefully be moving to the stepdown unit today, which is a big deal.
She was Noah’s patient first, after she came into the ER critically injured in a car accident, and things were pretty touch and go for a while.
Even though Noah is no longer overseeing her care, he’ll be excited to hear about her progress.
I glance at my watch, wondering if I’ll be able to run downstairs to see him during my next break. Before I can look back up, an arm is around my waist, and suddenly I’m in a supply closet, my fiancé’s arms holding me against his chest.
“Where did you come from?”
He leans down and kisses me long and hard. We’ve been working opposite shifts lately, so we haven’t seen much of each other. “I missed you,” Noah says, pulling me close enough to press a kiss against the curve of my neck. “This weekend can’t get here fast enough.”
I sigh and lean closer, tilting my head to give Noah better access to more of my skin.
As soon as my shift ends on Friday, we’re driving over to Silver Creek to spend the weekend at Stonebrook and finally try Lennox’s restaurant.
I’m excited to see the farm in the summertime and visit the goats, but mostly I’m just excited to have thirty-six uninterrupted hours with Noah.
“Hey, Lily is moving into the stepdown unit today,” I say, and Noah lifts his head.
“That’s great news.”
“Yeah. I thought you’d think so.” I lift my hands and wrap them around each of his biceps, pressing up on my toes to kiss him one more time. “It’s nice to see you in the middle of the day like this, but it’s dangerous having you on my floor.”
“Yeah? Why is that?”
“The new hires are calling you Dr. McHottyPants.”
He rolls his eyes. “Oh, geez.”
“I think it’s funny,” I say. “I mean, you are. So…”
“But do they know we’re engaged?”
“How would they know? I can’t wear that ridiculous rock at the hospital.”
“You could tell them,” Noah says. “It would at least shut them up.”
“You sound like Maren,” I say. “And I barely even know them. They’ll figure it out eventually.”
Noah frowns and lets out an endearing grumble. “I don’t want anyone calling me Hottypants but you.”
“It’s Dr. McHottyPants. And too bad, buddy. You can’t walk through the hospital looking like you and not cause a reaction.”
He leans against the supply shelf behind him and pulls me against him, settling his arms around my waist. “Let’s talk about something different.”
“Okay. Evie just sent me new pictures of the baby. He just cut a new tooth and when he smiles, he looks exactly like Alec’s baby pictures.”
“Send them to me,” Noah says.
“I will. Now you go.”
“Hmm. Let’s see. Oh, you remember when you speculated that my dad sounded like he was itching to retire?”
“Is he doing it?” I ask.
“He just texted this morning. He’ll stay on through the end of next month so the hospital has time to find his replacement, but then he’s done. Said something about wanting to spend more time at the winery.”
“Can they even call it a winery if they aren’t making any wine?”
“Apparently, they’re making really good grape juice, which is a start, I guess?”
“Oh my gosh, your brothers. They make me laugh.”
“I don’t know,” Noah says. “I think they may actually be onto something. Okay, your turn. Anything else?”
This is often how we spend the first few minutes whenever we’re together. Catching up on news and family business. Making sure we hit all the most important pieces when sometimes, we only have a few minutes together.
Eventually, I’ll be able to pick better shifts. Work fewer nights. And we’ll be able to sync our schedules more easily. But for now, we’re just making it work as best we can.
“Oh! I do have one more thing,” I say. “I know it seems totally ridiculous to make this work right now, but I’ve been sort of maybe a little bit stalking this one particular dog rescue and…there is a puppy there that I think would be perfect for us.”
“Megan,” Noah says. “A puppy?”
“I know. I know! But you just have to look.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and pull up the Hope Acres website, quickly scrolling to find the puppy’s pictures.
“Her name is Holiday, after Billie Holiday, which I think makes her extra special, and just…look at her cute face.” I hand Noah the phone, watching as he studies her, his eyes growing just soft enough that I can already tell he wants her.
“She’s mostly poodle, so she doesn’t shed,” I say, “and she won’t get much bigger than thirty-five pounds.
And apparently, she has the sweetest disposition and she’s already crate trained and they’re working on her potty training and I really, really want her. ”
Noah sighs. “You can’t tell me that. Because you know I can’t say no when you want something, but Megan…we can’t get a puppy right now.”
“But we can,” I say. “I talked to Mel this morning, and she all but guaranteed I’ll be off night shift by the beginning of next month. We will have so much more time together after that. And I’ll have more time to be with Holly.”
“You’ve already given her a nickname?”
I grin. “It’s cute, right?”
His shoulders drop and he shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
“So…we can go see her this weekend? She’s in Lawson Cove, which is only an hour away from Silver Creek.”
Noah breathes out a highly exaggerated, long-suffering sigh. “Yes,” he says with a grin. “We can go see her.”
I throw myself into his arms, then pull back, taking his face in my hands so I can kiss him thoroughly. Far more thoroughly than I usually would in the hospital, but he definitely earned it. If I were on an actual break, I might be tempted to lock the closet door and—
“I have to get back to work,” Noah growls, his voice raspy enough to make my blood heat.
“I know,” I say with a sigh. “Me too. I’ll see you tonight?”
He shakes his head no. “Alder called out, so I’ll probably be here until tomorrow morning. But Friday is the day after that and then…” He kisses me one more time. “Then I’m all yours.”
When we step out of the supply closet, I expect Noah to go one direction while I go the other, but he surprises me when he threads his fingers through mine and walks me all the way back to the nurses’ station.
The two new hires are there now, as well as Maren, who watches us approach with wide eyes.
Noah stops right in front of the desk and turns me to face him, then lifts his hands to my cheeks and kisses me right there in front of everyone.
It’s not like we keep our relationship a secret.
We’ve filed all the appropriate paperwork with HR.
Checked all the boxes to make sure we’re keeping things above board.
But we don’t exactly flaunt it either. Noah is a very private person, and I love him enough to do whatever makes him most comfortable.
So this is very uncharacteristic.
When he pulls away, his eyes sparkle with humor as he says, “I love you, fiancée. I’ll see you at home.”
I press my lips together to keep from laughing as he casts a pointed look toward the nursing station, then turns and heads toward the elevator. As I watch him walk away, I gotta say, the way he fills out those scrubs, he really is Dr. McHottyPants.
When I turn back to the nurses’ station, the two new nurses are staring at me with wide eyes. “We didn’t…” one of them starts.
“If you heard us talking,” the other says. “We didn’t know.”
“And we wouldn’t have,” the first one says. “If we had known.”
“You’re totally fine,” I say with the warmest smile I can muster. “Don’t even worry about it. Just…maybe stick to calling him Dr. Hawthorne?”
“Right. Absolutely,” the first one says.
I appreciate how readily they agree, so I decide not to tell them that Dr. McHottyPants is my new favorite nickname for my fiancé.
I hope you enjoyed Megan and Noah’s story!