by Mercer Scott
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About the Author
Copyright © 2021 by Mercer Scott
Copyright © 2021 Penelopiad Publishing
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Penelopiad Publishing
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication, and or use, of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Visit the author at www.mercerscott.com.
Chapter One
Natalia
My life is perfect. Every single piece of my life has fallen perfectly into place, and I finally have the normal, perfect life that I never quite let myself dream of having after growing up on a hippie commune with my free-spirited mom. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve being so lucky, but I officially have it all. I have the job – jobs – of my dreams working as an emergency room nurse and doing double duty in the cancer clinic. I have the most amazing, crazy, ride or die best friends – Veronica, Lara, Cassie, and Bridget. And best of all – I’m in love with the man of my dreams.
Dr. Richard Blake. I knew I was going to marry him the first second I laid eyes on him. When he strode through the emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital over two years ago it was like all the air was sucked out of the room. I couldn’t think. Well, at least not about anything but him. The steady hum of fluorescent lighting and machines fell away. The other doctors, patients, nurses, and everyone else in the ER all fell away, and it was just him and me. That’s when I knew. In that very moment, I knew I was going to marry this man. I was going to marry every inch of sun-kissed Australian surgery god walking right past me.
It’s so cliché. The nurse falling for the hot, new doctor. But this is real life, not an episode of a TV show about doctors having sex all over the hospital. We didn’t fall into bed in the on-call room or make out in an elevator… at least not right away. Rich and I took things slowly. It was almost two years before we finally got together, and now we’ve been together for the last blissful six months.
And I want him every bit as much as I did that first day that I saw him in the ER. I’m not even working today, but I can’t stay away from the hospital – because I can’t stay away from him. We’re going on our first trip together this weekend to visit my friends on Maui. And I can’t resist showing off the new bikinis I bought myself today just for him. I even picked up his favorite Chinese take-out to surprise him with. I’m planning an impromptu picnic in the on-call room, and if we end up having sex on one of the bunkbeds after he sees how good I look in this bikini, I won’t exactly be complaining. It won’t be the first time we’ve had sex in the on-call room, and if I have anything to say about it, it’s not going to be the last.
Smiling and waving at my colleagues at the nurses’ desk, I bee-line for the attendings’ lounge. Nurses aren’t technically allowed in there. But I’m not just a nurse anymore, I’m Dr. Richard Blake’s girlfriend. That gives me an all-access pass to the attendings’ lounge.
“Oh, hey Nat. I didn’t know you were working today.” Jamie asks. He’s the absolute sweetest attending in the entire hospital. He knows every nurse by name, as well as all of our coffee orders.
“Hey Jamie, I just came to surprise Rich with some lunch. Have you seen him?”
“I think I saw him heading into the on-call room when I got out of the ER a few minutes ago. Nasty case of dude versus chainsaw. Definitely a do not try this at home situation. I’m starving, and I’m happy to take some of that take-out off your hands if you can’t find him… I did just save a man’s life.” Jamie gives me his big, puppy dog eyes, and I can’t stop myself from reaching into the bag of take-out and rifling around for the egg rolls sitting on the top. Giving him a big smile, I hand over the greasy, white paper bag. “Here you go. I never could say no to you.”
“Please. You’ve been breaking my heart every day since I met you.”
“Ha-ha-ha. You have your pick of any woman in this entire hospital.” Except me. I only have eyes for Rich.
“Thanks for the egg rolls.” Jamie holds up an egg roll in a mock salute before taking a giant bite.
“Bye, Jamie.” Turning and heading towards the on-call room, I’m so excited to see Rich that I’m basically floating.
Not that everyone in my life is as sure of Rich and me as I am. My best friends – Veronica, Lara, Cassie, and Bridget – have never been his biggest fans. And I know that they still call him Dr. Dick behind my back, but that’s going to change if I just give them a bit more time to warm up to him. They love me and want me to be happy. I love Rich, and he’s what makes me happy. When they see how happy he makes me, they’ll get on board. Eventually.
Since I’m here to surprise Rich, I don’t knock on the door of the on-call room. I turn the handle slowly in case he’s sleeping. Surgeons like Rich can be on their feet for tens of hours on a long surgery. They need to sleep whenever and wherever they can.
As I open the door, I let out a soft, sexy whisper as I untie my trench coat to show off my new bikini. “Surprise, Dr. Sexy...”
The door swings open and Rich is standing right there in front of me. It takes a long minute for my brain to piece together what I’m seeing. He’s standing up with his back to me wearing scrubs like he always does at work, but his scrub pants are on the floor around his ankles and his hands are hugging a slender set of hips as he thrusts over and over. I recognize the bobbing head of curly blond hair bent over the small desk in the on-call room. Ashley. She’s wanted Rich about as long as I have. And I know that they’ve slept together before. But that was a long time ago. That was before he and I got together. Long before – or so I thought.
I don’t know how long I stand there watching them with my mouth fallen open, shocked and horrified. Bile rises up the back of my throat, but I’m frozen staring at them as skin slaps against skin and the poor, on-call room desk.
“What the fuck?” Jamie’s voice calls out behind me.
When I hear the shock and anger in his voice, it finally sinks in that I’m seeing the man I’m planning on marryin
g jabbing his dick into my co-worker. My body still frozen, my mind slowly wonders whether it’s better or worse that Ashley and I have never exactly been close. I feel like a frozen river just starting to thaw.
When Rich turns around to face us, standing there naked from the waist down with his hard cock bobbing around, pointing at us aggressively, the ice in my brain cracks and I fall into the cold, wet reality of what I’m seeing. Throwing the bag of take-out on the floor, I rush forward slapping at Rich.
“What the hell are you doing? What are you doing? You piece of shit! You piece of shit! I hate you!” I slap and slap at him until my hands hurt.
Then I turn on Ashley, and I slap her right across her smug face. “You sneaky little bitch! You’re trash! And everyone knows that you’re trash.”
“That’s enough, Nat.” Rich grasps at my hands, but I’m too fast for him. There’s no way this is over. I’m nowhere near done.
“Enough? Enough? I’m just getting started!” Stepping back erratically to dodge him, I pick up the bag of take-out. Grabbing the first container that my hand touches, I dig my other hand in clutching a handful of greasy chow mein noodles. Taking aim, I let them fly at Rich. The greasy noodles and bean sprouts smack Rich right in the face, and then slowly slide down his scrubs to the floor. He still hasn’t pulled his pants up, so chow mein noodles end up draped over his dick as it bobs around the room.
“What is wrong with you? You’re insane!” Ashley squeals, as she wraps her arms around her bare breasts to cover them.
“I’m insane? I’m insane? Sounds like you want some of this, too. You want what I have? Well, here. Have some noodles, Ashley!” Filling my fist with more noodles, I pelt them at her. I hit my target again, and Ashley is sputtering and clawing at the noodles coating her face.
“That’s enough, Nat. Stop it right now,” Rich demands.
“I won’t stop. I won’t ever stop. You complete piece of shit! I hope your dick falls off and you die!” Reaching for more noodles to throw, my hand comes up empty. Tossing the empty chow mein container to the side, I move on to the next one. My hand comes out full of spicy green beans in Szechuan sauce, and I fling a fistful at Rich. He tries to fend it off and that only ends up showering the whole room in bits of green bean, garlic, and chilies.
“You want some of this too, Ashley?” Grabbing a fresh handful, I lob it in her direction. Then I’m digging through the rest of the containers and tossing every piece of rice, deep fried chicken balls, and fortune cookie I can find at the two of them as they cower half naked across the room. I don’t even eat chicken – I got the chicken balls just for Rich. Well, he’s going to have them one way or another.
“This stops now. This is a hospital.” The Chief of Surgery’s deep voice is angry behind me. but it’s too late for me to stop. I’m already mid-throw on the last of the chicken balls. They land with a smacking sound against Rich’s forehead before falling to the ground.
“Enough, Nurse Roy. Cease this despicable display this instant.”
“Despicable display? I’m the one who’s making a despicable display? Do you not see the naked people standing right in front of you?”
“I see them, and I’ll deal with them later. My office now, Nurse Roy.”
In that moment, it sinks in exactly what I walked in on, what I did about it, and what’s about to happen now. And my whole career flashes before my eyes. And then tears fill them, overflowing my lashes and streaming down my cheeks.
“Oh my god. Oh my god.” What did I just do? What did I do?
“My office now, Nurse Roy.”
Turning to look at the Chief, I see that he’s already walking away. Jamie steps forward and takes my arm.
“Come on, Nat. You’d better do what he says.” Jamie pulls me through the crowd of nurses, residents, and patients now standing in the doorway taking in the show I just put on for them. Everyone in the emergency room lobby just got a front-row seat to the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me.
“Oh my god. Oh my god.” As we ride the elevator up to the seventh floor where the hospital’s administrative offices are, I can’t think of anything else to say. In a moment, my perfect life is gone. My perfect boyfriend. My perfect jobs. It’s all gone. “He’s going to fire me, isn’t he? Oh my god. Oh my god.”
Jamie squeezes my arm where he’s still holding onto me. If he wasn’t holding onto me tightly, I think I would probably sink into the floor and disappear. That would probably be for the best. For everyone, including me.
“You’re the best nurse in the entire hospital. I’m sure it’s just a warning or suspension or something. You have friends here, Nat. We’ll all put in a good word.”
“Suspension?” I get being suspended in high school. What I don’t get is being suspended as an adult from the job that means absolutely everything to you.
If Jamie wasn’t leading me, I wouldn’t know where I was going. Nurses don’t exactly spend a lot of time up in the Chief of Staff’s office on the seventh floor. Unless they’re in trouble. And until today, that’s never been me. Not even close.
It’s quiet and office-like up here. There’s a reason that I don’t work in an office. I love the hustle and bustle of the ER. The beeping machines, the constant energy. And I love the hopeful energy of the chemo clinic. That’s where I belong. Not up here. Not up here getting suspended. Or worse, fired.
“I can’t go in there with you. But just explain what happened. Apologize. And throw yourself on your sword. Do whatever he wants you to do, okay? Keeping your job is what matters. Nat, are you listening to me?” The worry in Jamie’s voice is more concerning than just about anything else at this particular moment. Jamie only worries about his patients and his next meal. So, if he’s this worried about my job, then things must be really bad.
Nodding up at him, I squeeze his hand on my arm. My hands are sticky from the Chinese food. Suddenly, I want nothing more than to wash my hands off, but there’s no sink anywhere in sight. So, I walk through the open door of the Chief’s office and close it with a sticky hand.
“Have a seat, Nurse Roy.” The Chief’s deep voice rings out from where he’s seated behind his desk. He looks older when he’s not rushing around running the whole hospital. But his dark eyes are still crystal clear. I bet there’s not much that he doesn’t see, except for the small coffee stain on the front of his white lab coat.
Sitting down across from him, I can’t stop rubbing my hands together, wishing more than anything that they were clean.
“Ummm, you can just call me Natalia. That’s probably easier.”
“I can if you like,” he says with a gentle smile. Then he stands up and hands me the box of tissues sitting on his desk. Greedily, I pull out tissue after tissue and wipe as much of the sticky, greasy mess off of my hands as I can. If only, cleaning up the rest of this mess was going to be this easy.
“I’ve always respected your work in this hospital, Natalia.” He shakes his head, and I know that this isn’t going to be good. “But that display was completely unacceptable. We treat patients in this hospital. We don’t bring our personal lives into work and let it disrupt patient care. Nothing comes before the care of our patients.”
“I know! I know that. No one knows that more than me.” My voice is thin and pathetic in my own ears.
“It didn’t look to me like you knew that downstairs. I didn’t see the whole incident, but I saw enough. You assaulted two colleagues, trashed our on-call room, and disrupted our ability to care for patients. I’m sorry, Natalia, but this has to go to the Board. You’re on administrative suspension until further notice. You can get anything you need today, and after that you are prohibited from being on hospital property until further notice.”
My mouth drops open in shock for the second time today. This can’t be happening. None of this can be happening.
“No. Please, I’ll apologize. I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything.” The tears are flowing down my face again. My entire, perfect life i
s disappearing before my eyes. Now I’m boyfriend-less and jobless. I’m a pariah at the hospital, the place I love more than anywhere else in the world.
“It’s out of my hands now. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. But the Board will investigate the incident and prepare a report. Then there will be a hearing to determine your future at this hospital. I saw in your file that you had some leave days booked off, get out of town and get your priorities straight before your hearing.”
When the Chief stands up, I know this meeting is over. No one wants to hear what I have to say, at least not yet. I made my bed, and now I have to lie in it.
Carrying the contents of my hospital locker in a garbage bag, I head home to my apartment. I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life. None of my friends are in San Francisco right now. Bridget’s in New York for some fancy lawyer conference. Cassie is on assignment chasing down a story in who-knows-where. Veronica and Lara both live on Maui. My mom and my brother both live in Oregon now. So, it’s just me in San Francisco at the moment. An hour ago, it was just me and Rich. Dr. Dick. But now, it’s just me. The last thing I want right now is to be alone with my anger and my fear, which is currently threatening to take over.
But that’s what I have to look forward to. Loneliness, for the rest of my life. Dr. Richard Blake was the perfect man. If I couldn’t even make it work with him, then I’m never going to be able to make it work. I wasn’t enough for him, then I’m never going to be enough for anyone. I’m such an idiot. I was thinking wedding rings and he was thinking cock rings… and putting his cock in another woman’s vagina. That’s the part that hurts the most. How did I not know?
