It was the eleventh hour of my twelve-hour shift and my feet were really feeling it now. Three in the morning at the ER could be really slow and a quick power nap would help me get through to the end. I went to an empty room and shut off all the lights, closing the blinds. The hospital bed was hard and smelled funny but it felt better than anything in the world right now.
I let out one big breath and my eyelids slowly fell. Sleep was much needed.
Not even a moment later, the door opened and a burst of light blinded me.
“Doctor Holmes, we got incoming.”
I shielded my eyes and noticed it was Nurse Fiona. “Okay, I'll be right out.”
I rubbed my face and combed my hair with a little travel comb I kept in my pocket. I knew I looked like a mess but I didn't have time to fix myself up. At least my appearance might keep Dr. Green away from me.
The ER was in a stir as nurses ran around frantically trying to prepare for the 911 call. I found Nurse Fiona behind the desk. Her short brown hair barely grazed the top of her shoulders. She wore the same blue scrubs with white sneakers that all nurses wore.
“What do we have coming?” I asked, putting my hair in a ponytail.
“Bar fight at the Stinky Goat.”
It figured. Where else would lowlifes be this late at night? At least with bar fights, the injuries tended to be minor—concussions and lacerations to the face from broken glass—nothing I couldn't handle.
Doctor Green sidled up next to me. “You're looking really good tonight, honey .” I was wrong about my looks deterring him. Green was the sleazy doctor that tried to sleep with every nurse—he was successful most of the time. His smug look and wandering eyes were the biggest turnoff.
I was the only female doctor at Sacks General and Green made sure to focus on me like I was the ultimate conquest. I hated how unprofessional he was—always calling me by a nickname that made it seem like we were lovers—we weren't. Why couldn't he call me by my last name like everyone else?
I never let men get the better of me. I had been put through everything imaginable while at med school. One arrogant doctor was nothing. “Please Dr. Green. We need to focus on the 911 call.”
Green put his hands up in defense. “Sorry, just trying to give a lady a compliment.” Luckily he was harmless.
The ER doors opened and a gurney with two EMTs burst into the hallway. I swung my stethoscope around my neck and ran to them. “What do we got?”
The young EMT yelled out. “Male in his late twenties—two stab wounds to the back.”
Stab wounds. Fuck. Most bar fights were broken hands and bloody noses. Tonight was going to be interesting.
Another gurney with a man with a broken face came rolling in. “Dr. Green, you take that one.”
He winked at me and checked the man's pulse.
I quickly checked my patient's pulse and it was faint. He had already lost a lot of blood. “Get him to OR Two right away.”
The EMT rushed him away and Nurse Fiona came over. “What do you need, Doctor Holmes?”
“We're going to need some O-Negative right away.”
Fiona nodded.
“Try to keep Dr. Green away from me too while you're at it.” Fiona smiled and ran off.
A whole herd of bikers came in through the doors and tried to rush past me. “Everyone stop,” I yelled, looking at the security guard by the door for help.
“Where's Breaker?” one of the men with long hair asked.
I recognized the leather jackets they wore as the same as my patient's. “Breaker is being taken to the operating room now. I'll give you all an update when I have one.”
The security guard held them off as I went to go wash my hands. I entered the OR and Fiona helped me put on my disposable surgical scrubs and mask. I was so used to them that they felt like my armor. I spent so many hours with this uniform on that real clothes felt foreign to me. I'd wear scrubs all day long if I could.
The patient was already vented and breathing normally. A crowd of nurses were running around with their heads cut off. One nurse was poking his arm with an IV to give him a blood transfusion. He would need more than one tonight if he was going to survive.
First order of business was to cut off his clothing to see how much damage there was. His leather cut slid off but I needed scissors to cut away at his bloodied wife-beater.
Oh my. His skin was covered in tattoos. A huge Devil's Hellions spider dominated his chest. I lost my breath for a moment as I stared at his perfectly formed pecs. This man must work out—a lot.
“Doctor, we need to flip him over,” Fiona said, snapping me back to reality.
I nodded and helped flip him over. Two stab wounds lay at the bottom of his back—right above his nice ass cheeks...Holy shit, Natalie! Get a hold of yourself. It's just a man. You've seen a million of them before. Nothing special about this one.
I needed to focus. My drought of men couldn't interfere with my job. There was so much blood that I couldn't see the full extent of the damage. “Nurse, I need some suction.”
Fiona came to my side and used what she called “The Little Sucker” to vacuum up some of the blood. I got a clearer view of inside and realized that the major organs were all intact. Whatever he was stabbed with missed everything. The patient was going to be fine and all he needed was a good sewing job.
With the blood transfusions, his vitals were returning to normal. I stitched up his wounds gently, not wanting to add to the enormous amount of scars that already decorated his back. This man had been through a lot. I looked down and saw the leather cut on the floor that resembled the ones I saw outside. A white patch with the words Devil's Hellions MC sat below the spider. No wonder he had so many scars.
I finished stitching his wounds and the nurse dabbed the sweat from my brow. “We're all done here,” I announced.
A man with blond hair burst into the OR wearing the same leather cut as the patient. “Sir, you can't be in here,” I calmly said. We always got a family member or friend who didn't follow the rules.
“How's Breaker? Is he going to be all right?”
I led him back outside. “Breaker is going to be fine. He lost a lot of blood but they were merely flesh wounds.” The man smiled and I noticed a Vice President patch on his left breast. These men thought they ruled the world. They believed they were above the law but these outlaws always ended up behind bars.. “We'll be moving him to a private room shortly. Please go back to waiting room.”
“Thanks, Doc,” he replied.
I tore my scrubs off and threw them in the medical waste trashcan. I only had ten more minutes of my shift left. Just enough time for a cat nap to keep me energized for the drive home. I went back to the empty room to find Dr. Green sitting on the bed.
“We could sleep here together,” he said, rubbing the spot next to him.
My face contorted out of disgust. Just the thought of his hands on me made me want to vomit. I closed the door and walked down the hallway but Green chased after me.
“Come on, beautiful. One date. I promise you won't regret it.” His hand slipped down my back and grabbed my ass.
My open palm cut through the air and slapped him across the cheek. Red-hot anger flashed across my eyes. “Touch me one more time, Doctor, and I'll file a complaint.”
Green rubbed his hurt cheek and grinned. “I love a strong woman. You'll come around.”
I walked away, my hand still stinging from the slap. There was more where that came from. My lips stretched into a smile. That felt good—really good. Green would think twice before trying that again.
I walked into the employee locker room and began changing back into my normal clothes. My long day was finally over. All the stress in my shoulders finally released.
“Everything okay?” Fiona asked me, opening up her locker.
“I'm fine. Just dealing with Doctor Green.”
Fiona cringed. “Now that's one mistake I wish I could take back.” We both laughed. She wasn't the first nurse to make that mistake. “Keep up the defense and he'll soon get discouraged.”
“I hope.” What would I do if Dr. Green tried again? A sexual harassment suit would only cause me a bigger headache. All I could do was hope that he would back down. “I'm done for the night. I'm going home now. Thanks for all the great work, Fiona.”
“Drive safe, will ya? I don't want you falling asleep on the road.”
I nodded. I was tired but not that tired.