Why she was getting obsessed with Noah again she didn’t know. Sure, Valentine’s Day was probably part of the reason, but for months she’d buried her attraction. She needed to reinforce those walls again. Remain professional around Noah and everything would be all right.
As if she’d conjured him up Noah stepped into the room she was restocking. “I’m almost done, do we have another emergency coming in?” Yes, she sounded professional. Way to go her.
“Uh no. Not that I know of. I was just––uh—never mind.” He turned and walked out of the room again.
What the hell was that all about? It almost looked like Noah was nervous to be near her. She scoffed out loud at the absurdity of that thought. As if Noah Collins was ever nervous around a person of the opposite sex. His skills, not only in the ER, but with women, were legendary around the hospital. And he certainly hadn’t been nervous earlier when their paths had crossed.
Shaking her head, Lisa returned to the task at hand, it wouldn’t be good to have an emergency come in and the room wasn’t ready. She tried to put the interaction with Noah out of her mind, but she couldn’t. There had been far too many run-ins with him today and if she didn’t know better, she’d wonder if Cupid was playing tricks on her.
“So, are you ready for the after dinner rush?”
Lisa looked up and saw Emergency Registrar Dr Alex Scavoni, leaning casually against the counter.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I think.” She said with a laugh. “I’m surprised to see you here, Dr Scavoni. Shouldn’t you be at home enjoying the evening with your wife?”
“It’s Alex, and you know we don’t stand on ceremony here, Lisa. Besides,” he laughed. “Trust me when I say Sophia and I have already had an enjoyable Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s nice,” she mumbled as she felt the blush bloom in her cheeks. Lisa didn’t need any more information to know just how enjoyable his time with his wife had been. Even though he and Sophie had been married for a couple of years now, they still had the newlywed glow about them. It was actually really sweet to see and she couldn’t deny that when she finally found her man, she hoped they would be the same.
Her parents had been married for over thirty years and there were many times she’d caught her dad looking at her mum as if the sun and moon rose out of her. She had no doubt Dad had showered mum with roses and chocolates today and was taking her to a nice romantic restaurant for dinner.
One day.
“Before it gets too crazy, can you please take these files up to Admin for me?”
“Sure.” Lisa took the files Alex held out and headed toward the bank of lifts. She knew some nurses looked at running errands like this for the doctors as a demeaning task, but she was happy to help out when and wherever she could. Plus, she could do with a change of scenery, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Lisa pressed the button and waited forever for the lift to arrive. Surely, by now all of the Valentine’s Day flower deliveries would have been completed. It was well after five, and everyone was home getting ready for their romantic dates, or were already enjoying them.
Yeah, if there was a grinch for Valentine’s Day, then today she was that person. She had no idea why today she was so grinchy about this particular holiday. Sure, over the years she may have been bummed about the non-existence of deliveries for her, but she always moved on and soon forgot about the lack of flowers on her coffee table. Perhaps it was because this was her first valentine’s where she was working and not at school. She hadn’t seen too many deliveries while she’d been studying.
Finally, the lift arrived and she stepped in. As the doors were closing a hand bisected the middle and the doors smoothed open. The smile she had on her face to greet her companion died a slow death when she saw who was about to enter the compartment.
Why couldn’t he have been ten seconds later? Then she’d be on her way up and he’d be waiting for another one to arrive.
“Well, hello again, Nurse Wheeler. Still carrying around files I see.”
She rolled her eyes, and as the door closed she wished the ride up to be swift, painless and conversation-free. The way he was so casual with her made their interaction in the examination room even more confusing. She definitely must have imagined his nervousness because he looked anything but nervous now.
Lisa diverted her attention to gazing at the grubby ceiling—anything so she didn’t look at Noah. Even though he was standing in the opposite corner to her, it was still far too close for her comfort. She counted the seconds, moving her gaze from the roof to the numbers changing on the electronic screen. Slowly, ever so slowly, the numbers were increasing. She just needed to make it a few more seconds and the ride would be over.
A sudden jolting of the car had her losing her balance. She would’ve fallen over if it hadn’t been for Noah’s quick reflexes as he grabbed her by the arms. The files dropped to the floor, pages scattering everywhere. Like before, her flesh warmed under his hands, but she put the tingling feeling flowing through her body, like the fizz from fine champagne, down to the shock of the abrupt movement.
“What was that?” she asked as she pulled herself away from his touch.
“I’m not sure.”
There was an unnatural silence surrounding them and in an instant Lisa knew what the problem was.
The lift had stopped.
She flicked her eyes up to the electronic floor display. Where little red dots formed the floor numbers, there was nothing but black. The lights flickered a brief moment, then blackness filled the space. Lisa held her breath, hoping they would come back on.
She let her breath whoosh out in relief when the dots flared back to life. Only half of them came back on, but it was better than none at all. At least they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark. She made her way to the button panel and stabbed the “doors open” button, but nothing happened. Lisa hit it again, and again, but the steel doors didn’t budge.
“Oh shit, we’re stuck.” Great! That was the last thing she wanted, to be stuck in a lift with Noah Collins.
Yep, Cupid was messing with her.
3
“Tell me something I don’t know,” muttered Noah. “Do you have a phone?”
Why the hell had he gotten into the lift? He never took the lift. But seeing Lisa disappear toward them had him following her like a lovesick puppy. He had to go to maintenance anyway so why not take a ride with Lisa? The fact he needed to go down when she was going up was a moot point.
At least he’d sounded like his normal self and not like the bumbling idiot he’d been when he walked in on her in the examination room. He’d had the random idea of asking her for a coffee after their shift, but when he’d gone to voice his thoughts, he hadn’t been able to form the words, so he’d walked out.
He watched as Lisa patted her pockets. From where he was standing he couldn’t see the tell-tale bulge of a device. She’d probably left her mobile in her locker. “No. You?”
Yep, she confirmed his thoughts. “No.”
“What? You don’t have your phone?” Lisa shook her head in surprise. “Shouldn’t you always have your phone on you?” Her eyes narrowed on the pager clipped to his jacket pocket. Hope flared in her eyes. “Your pager. Use your pager to send a message and let them know we’re stuck.”
He cleared his throat. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s broken.”
“Broken? Are you serious? No phone and a broken pager. Isn’t that convenient?” Lisa’s reaction wasn’t unexpected, he was surprised he was remaining calm, but that wasn’t going to last long. It was no one’s fault they were potentially stuck, but it seemed the prospect of being confined alone with him for an unknown amount of time had her nerves fraying. He should be offended but he had other things to think about. Like not losing his shit in front of her. He was fighting a losing battle, though.
“No, it’s not convenient, I was taking it to get it fixed or get a replacement,” he bit the words ou
t. “You don’t honestly think I want to be stuck here, do you? Dammit, I should’ve taken the stairs like I always do.”
“Perhaps you should’ve.” Lisa retorted. “Shall I remind you that you were the one who stuck your hand through the doors to stop them closing. It’s not my fault we’re stuck here. I didn’t ask for the lift to stop.
“Great. This is just great,” he muttered. His heart was pounding and he could feel the sweat beading on his upper lip. Not succumbing to his claustrophobia was become harder and harder to prevent by the minute.
Damn, this wasn’t the way to impress Lisa.
“I guess we have to press the call button,” Lisa said, resignedly.
“You didn’t think to try that when you were over there before, pressing buttons like there was no tomorrow?” Damn now he sounded annoyed at her. He could’ve easily suggested the call button earlier.
“I figured we should wait and see if they’d make some sort of announcement. I wonder if there are other people stuck or we’re the only ones?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. All I want is out of here. So, are you going to press it now?” He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing.
He really should’ve taken the stairs.
Lisa was getting a little tired of Noah’s attitude. It may be normal for her to take instructions from him during an emergency, but they weren’t dealing with a patient now. He was more than capable of doing it himself.
“No, I thought I’d leave that pleasure to you.” She bent to scoop up the dropped files and muttered under her breath. “Give you something to feel heroic about.”
“I heard that.” Noah took a couple of steps to the panel and pressed the call button. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
Instead of a voice crackling over the line, static was the only response.
“Well, this is just fantastic. This is not how I imagined my shift would turn out,” he murmured punching the button again. “I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.”
Lisa looked over at Noah, surprised at his agitation over their current situation. It didn’t seem to match his take-charge personality. Was he anxious about being stuck in an elevator? No, it didn’t seem possible at all. Noah was way too confident to let an issue like the one they were in bother him. Nothing ever seemed to freak him out in an emergency situation. He handled everything with a cool head. He should be able to handle being stuck in a lift. Besides, it wasn’t like they were stuck in a super-small space, the hospital’s lifts were oversized to accommodate patient beds.
Lisa continued straightening her files and quietly observed Noah. A suspicion forming in her mind. One that was so ridiculous she couldn’t believe it could possibly be true.
The way he was drumming his fingers on the closed doors as he chewed on his bottom lip was telling. If those actions weren’t already a pretty good sign Noah wasn’t dealing with their confinement, the tapping of his foot confirmed her suspicions.
Lisa almost laughed at their circumstances, but knew he wouldn’t appreciate it; Dr Flirty had a weak point. If her guess was correct, Noah Collins was afraid of confined spaces. His earlier comment about taking the stairs suddenly made sense. Jumping into the lift with her, actually stopping the doors closing so he could get in, didn’t make any sense at all.
Why would he do that when he knew he had problems with closed in spaces?
Placing the restacked files neatly on the floor she put her hands on her hips. “You’re claustrophobic, aren’t you?”
He whirled around, like he’d been struck on the back of the head. “What? No, of course not, why would think that?” His attempt at a laugh sounded more like a squeak from a tortured chew toy belonging to a dog.
Typical male, always denying the truth so he wouldn’t show any weakness in front of a woman. Didn’t he know that women these days didn’t care? That they were totally fine with men being a little vulnerable. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s not as if the way you’re drumming your fingers and tapping your foot isn’t a bit of a giveaway.”
Immediately, he went still. “I’m not claustrophobic, that’s ridiculous. I’m worried about leaving the ER short staffed. I’m anxious to get out and back down into the thick of the action.”
He may have stopped his unconscious fidgeting but from where she was standing it looked like a fine layer of perspiration was starting to break out over his forehead and his breathing appeared to be shallower than it was before.
No two ways about it, if they were going to get through their confinement, she was going to have to maintain a cool head. She couldn’t let him panic. The last thing she needed was for him to freak out, and he looked like he was on the precipice of falling off the ‘calm cliff’ in about thirty seconds.
The sound of a fist connecting with the closed door echoed around the small space. “Why aren’t they answering us?” The frustration and panic in his voice wasn’t hard to miss.
So, it was five seconds and not thirty seconds, but it was clear Noah had reached his limit. Lisa walked over to where he stood, stabbing at the call button. She pulled his hand away. Noah shoved it into his jacket pocket. Lisa was sure the action was to prevent her from seeing his fingers twitching.
“Look, I’m sure maintenance is aware the lift has stopped. You know they’re on the ball when anything happens with any of the equipment and machinery around the hospital. Patient care and comfort are a top priority.” She glanced around their metal cubicle, spying the video camera in the corner. “See, there’s a camera, so they probably know we’re in here, and will get to us in time. Guess it’s lucky we don’t have a patient with us.” She injected some humor into her voice, hoping that it would calm him down a bit.
“Yes, it is.” His reply was short and sharp. She reached across in front of him and pressed the alarm button. A loud ringing blared around them, causing her to jump a little. Lisa was surprised that Noah hadn’t pressed it himself with the way he had continually stabbed at all the buttons on the panel. But in his present state of mind it was highly likely he wasn’t thinking rationally. Plus, she’d only just thought of it as well. Looked like both of them were a little vague when it came to pressing the necessary buttons to get help. “Well, if they didn’t know before, they certainly know someone’s stuck now.”
As she was standing close to him Lisa felt the subtle tensing of his body. She could also see that he was still breathing rapidly. If he wasn’t careful he was going to hyperventilate and she didn’t have a brown paper bag on her. She guessed Noah didn’t have one either.
All her annoyance and frustration at their situation and Noah’s flirty nature disappeared in a flash. She couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling. So far, she hadn’t discovered any phobias she might have. Except for the usual spiders, and apart from a scream when she first saw one, she never experienced what Noah was currently going through. “Why don’t we sit down? We could be in for a bit of wait,” she said, using the voice she would use on patients who were scared and not thinking rationally.
Lisa hooked her arm through Noah’s and led him the short distance to where the files were. She gave him a gentle push, but he rested against the wall. It would’ve been better if he sat, but whatever, she wasn’t going to force him to do something he didn’t want. Before she sat down she tried pressing the call button again. This time someone answered, his disembodied voice floating around them.
“Hi, we know you’re stuck. We’re working on getting you out. Our camera in your lift has gone out, so we have no idea of your situation. Can you please confirm the number of people in the lift and if you have any patients with you?”
Of course, the camera would be out in their lift. It seemed like everything was against them. Although Noah was probably relieved about the lack of video feed. No one would be able to witness his melt down. His reputation would remain intact. And that was a really bitchy thought; if she was going through what Noah was, she wouldn’t want anyone to see it either.
“There are only t
wo of us in here. Dr Noah Collins and Nurse Lisa Wheeler from the ER. No patients.”
Static crackled again and Lisa waited to see if they still had a connection. “Right, fortunately, your lift is the only one that’s stopped. We’re trying to get a crew to you as soon as possible.”
Why did she know he was going to say they were the only ones stuck? “Can it be quick, we’re leaving the ER short staffed?”
“We’ll do our best but the service company may treat it as a low priority, particularly if there’s a lift stuck in a high rise with more people on board. Now if you had a patient or a medical emergency, then we’d be given top priority.”
It seemed ridiculous to Lisa that a hospital wasn’t a priority to the lift company and put to the top of the repair list in any situation.
“Wouldn’t a hospital always be given priority?” She asked, voicing her thoughts out loud. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Noah was drumming his fingers against the side of his leg again as he paced in small circles.
“Normally, but today for some reason, there are an unusual amount of lifts breaking down. Must be due to Valentine’s Day,” the man at the other end chuckled as if he’d told the greatest joke on earth.
Lisa heard the groan of frustration from behind her and tried not to join in. An indeterminate amount of time stuck in a tin can. Fantastic, just what the doctor ordered. It was worse than being on a plane. At least there you could watch a movie or gaze out the window. This was a ten-foot by ten-foot staff lift without even a poster on its four metal walls. Even she was starting to feel a little stir crazy and it had probably only been about ten minutes since they’d ground to an abrupt halt.
Hearing the muttering going on behind her gave her an idea. “Look, is it possible for you to contact them and see if they can come and get us next. We’re in a hospital for goodness sake. Beside Dr Collins is suf—”
Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart Page 41
