by Lila Lacroix
* * *
Though she worried a little about the results of her exams over the course of the summer and whether or not she would be able to register as a nurse, Tina tried not to let it dampen her spirits. There was a lot she wanted to do, though getting her house sorted, and finally finding the time to relax and enjoy herself for a little while was the best part.
Her mother called her often, though Tina would often pretend she was out so that she wouldn't have to deal with anything, but when she did pick up, thankfully her mother just wanted to see her sometime in the future.
Tina constantly promised that she would be over and see her as soon as she had time – something she felt a little bad about considering it was the summer and there wasn’t a lot to do anyway. But Tina thought seeing her mother would just remind her of what she had done back in the hospital, and the lie she’d told afterwards. Whether or not her mother knew the details, Tina absolutely did not want to dwell on her failed relationships; she had enough to worry about when it came to the result of her exams.
Thankfully, distracting herself with friends, family and going out a lot of the time, she was able to ignore the weight of the exam results hanging over her head, but when she returned home towards the latter end of the summer to find a heavy, padded envelope on the doorstep, she was almost afraid to open it. The fact that it was heavy was a good thing, right?
Tina was finally a pediatric nurse.
She had been ecstatic when she had received the notification of her results, immediately contacting the hospital where she had done her residency and asked if they had any vacancies she could fill. She was worried that they wouldn't be willing to take her on, but was pleasantly surprised when they snapped her up in a heartbeat.
Riding the bus down to the hospital was familiar, and she chose a seat near the front as it was a Tuesday, and the bus was crammed with commuters. Today was only going to be a re-acquaintance and to see what had changed in the hospital while she had been gone. There had been a new transfer of power near the top, and she was confident that things would be changing for the better. At least, she hoped so. She hadn't been able to express many opinions about the hospital when she had been there – it was bad form to criticize the hospital where you were taking your residency, but that didn't mean that she didn't have feelings about the way the hospital was run anyway.
Mary had long since moved on, so there wouldn't be many people there that Tina knew, but she didn't find it terribly difficult to make friends, so she wasn't worried that she would find the hospital lonely now.
The bus stop was right outside the hospital, and Tina was greeted warmly by the reception staff when she entered. Apparently, she hadn't been forgotten.
“Are you coming back?” Rosie's shifts had coincided with Tina's on many occasions, and Tina was glad she was still around.
“I'm going to be working in Pediatrics,” Tina told her. “Fully fledged nurse.”
“You'll be turning heads in no time.” Rosie smiled, but was quickly distracted by arriving patients.
Tina made her way towards the elevator at the end of the hall, blushing a little at the comment. Making herself welcome in pediatrics, Tina was pleased to see that she would be working under some lovely doctors, and one who she had often worked with before. He was happy to see her, commenting about her previous record, and how she had always been his preferred student nurse.
When she was finally done with introductions, uniform, and getting her schedule for the next two weeks, she made her way back down to the staff desk. The attending nurse on duty wasn't the attending nurse who had often been in charge of Tina. She waited until the woman was gone before asking one of the women at the desk, someone she vaguely recognized from her residency, whether or not the attending nurse on the floor had changed.
“Oh, she was transferred out of the city,” the nurse said. “Scarlett is lovely. If you ever have to deal with her while you're here, you won't find her problematic at all.”
Tina smiled at the reminder of the previous attending nurse, though she wouldn't celebrate too much just yet. Even though the nurse on station seemed to like Scarlett, Tina had worked with too many people to believe that everyone would be welcoming and easy to deal with.
Saying goodbye to the nurse, Tina was ready to leave and go back home. As she sat on the bus, squashed up against the window due to a woman and several shopping bags, she mused that the only person she had gotten close to and had actual feelings about had been married, unavailable and tantalizingly exciting all at the same time. She was beginning to think that nothing about her life was going to be simple anymore, but at least with all the shifts she would be taking at the hospital, there would be plenty to occupy her and she wouldn't have to worry about her love life.
Maybe she would get lucky again, and someone would drop into her lap. Though she supposed that if someone did drop into her lap, then she would have to check before she slept with them whether or not they were married and expecting a child – not that she could guarantee she would resist. Hadn't she already been in that position? She chuckled to herself, not caring when the woman with the shopping bags gave her an odd look. Tina had to laugh, otherwise she would despair over her relationship status.
* * *
Settling in at the hospital took a little bit longer than she expected. She had already done her residency there, though she now knew that training in a place and becoming a fully fledged nurse, was completely different in the long run. She already knew the doctors, and had done the introductions the fortnight previously, it was still difficult discovering just where she fit amongst the staff. It was familiar, though, and she settled into the work she had missed while being in the classroom. It was a delight to familiarize herself with the children and mothers, and work up a rapport with them.
When she was done with work, she would go home and immerse herself in a good movie or book, settling in for the night. She really did need to get out a little more if she was actually going to have a life, but the difference between classroom and hospital shifts was enough that it was taking her a while to get back into the flow of everything.
Her girlfriends seemed to be off in their own job worlds, and she was making enough friends at the hospital, that it wouldn't be long before she was going out with them – so her personal life didn't have to suffer on account of work.
She was working the night that news filtered down from on high that there was a new sponsor on the horizon. Tina didn't really concern herself with staffing changed above her own floor, mostly because if things changed, she would take them in stride and not worry about them. She was happy enough where she was.
“He's young,” Rosie said. Tina was taking a short break between her rounds, and leaning against the reception desk. “Apparently he's new money as well.”
Tina nodded. “I haven't heard that much about him, to be honest. What do you know?”
“Just that he's a trust fund baby.” Rosie gestured at the doors. “I don't even know why he decided this hospital, but he's donated it all to pediatrics. They're even going to be naming this building after him, as far as I know.”
Tina made a face. “I never much cared for people with too much money. Maybe they should work for it for a change.”
Rosie snorted. “Point. Though, I did hear that he was here with his sister a while back, so we might have met him and not known about it!”
“I doubt it. I've been in the classroom since then,” Tina reminded her. “Still, rounds beckon.”
Waving a hand at Rosie, Tina left the reception behind her. She had little interest in pandering to a trust fund baby, though she was respectful of the fact that he was giving money to the hospital – and to her part of it in particular. Ten million was a lot of money, and she didn't know what she would do with that much money, but she was ashamed to admit that she probably wouldn't donate it anywhere, much less to a hospital.
Still, there was too much to do to worry about sponsors of the hospital. She had
rounds to do and needed to get her list of jobs done before she went home. Still, if there was a party, she could at least be safe in the knowledge that there would be cake to eat.
The hospital seemed to get busier from them on. By the time she got back home, Tina lacked the energy to do much of anything except eat, sleep, and occasionally relax a little. Her feet ached in the way that meant she was working hard and it was worth it; thinking about all the children that she got to work with on a daily basis, and doctors that were, for the most part, willing to help her expand on her existing knowledge. She was pleased with the way she was settling in, and if the reports she was getting back from her superiors was anything to go by, so were her superiors.
It was a Saturday, and Tina was rushing from one station to the next, clipboard in hand. She could feel her hair coming out of the bun she had hastily shoved it into that morning, and her heels were starting to ache from the constant running around. She wasn't looking where she was going, but she collided with someone coming around the corner. Her papers scattered across the floor, and she was already apologizing as a hand reached out to help her out. The man she had collided with was giving her a smile, but Tina had frozen, her eyes widening as she stared at the man she’d just run into.
Hot Husband raised his eyebrows.
“I'm sorry,” Tina blurted out. Her heart froze as she realized who she was staring at: a man she never thought she’d see again in her life, a man who was already sending her blood boiling, just by glancing at him embarrassedly in a hospital corridor. Holy shit, what is wrong with you? Get it together, Tina scolded herself.
“Don't be,” Hot Husband told her. “It was my fault.”
Tina didn't believe him for a second, and she was about to say so, when she noticed the hospital director was staring down at her in disapproval. Tina was horrified. She couldn't believe she had done something so stupid in front of the hospital director. This was just perfect – she could only hope that he would see that it was an accident and wouldn't get reprimanded for it; she was starting to settle into things at the hospital, and she didn't want to give that up for anything.
“You should be looking where you're going,” the hospital director chastised her, as Tina reached for her clipboard and papers.
“I know, I'm sorry,” Tina said. She tried to look as contrite as possible. “It won't happen again, sir, I promise.”
“Yes, well,” the director sniffed.
Hot Husband didn't look to put out by the accident, but Tina was too busy trying to get her wits about her. Her face was flushed and her heart rate had gone up a good 30 beats, but none of that had to go with the accident. She had never expected to see Hot Husband again, and yet there he was, in the same hospital once again. Suddenly, Tina connected the dots: if Hot Husband was here, that meant that he was the trust fund baby. Startled that he was rich enough to give money to a hospital, and that he had slept with her, Tina was already feeling elation; if he was the trust fund baby, then that meant that the woman he had been in the hospital with was his sister and not his wife. She hadn't been the other woman at all! It took her a moment to realize that Hot Husband – and she would have to change that now that she knew the truth – was talking to her, and she blushed.
“I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said.” You’re ruining this. He’s going to hate you. If he doesn’t already after you stood him up.s
The director looked unimpressed yet again, but thankfully, the Hot Husband was amused.
“I was just checking that you were okay before we moved on.”
Tina could feel her cheeks flushed with heat, and she shuffled the papers a little, trying not to make eye contact with the guy. “Um, yes, thank you. I'm sorry again.”
“I think we should move along now,” the director said. “Thank you.”
He put a hand on Hot Husband's elbow and guided him down the hal. Tina watched them leave, and didn't quite know what to do when the guy turned and winked at her over his shoulder. She put her head down and hurried down the corridor, away from them. Overwhelmed and confused by the encounter, she hurried down the corridor, though she didn't quite know what to do with herself. She knew she still had work to do, but she was flustered, so she decided taking an early break was probably best. Handing the clipboard over to the staffing desk, she assured them she would back on shift as soon as she was done with her break, and grabbed her phone from her locker.
It seemed that she had some searching to do.
Ryan Wilson, a self-made technology billionaire, was apparently not a trust-fund baby, but was donating the money off of his own back. Tina was surprised by the information, though it was doing nothing to prevent her liking the guy more than was probably good for her. Of all the people she could hook up with, it would have to be someone who was otherwise completely out of her league.
Tina imagined for a moment that her mother found out about this. She could almost hear the excited chatter now, commending Tina for her success. Not that it was success. She didn't even know if he remembered her, much less enjoyed their time together. Shaking her head and slipping her phone into her pocket, Tina resolved to push it from her mind. If he was a sponsor of the hospital, there was no way he was going to want anything to do with her anymore, and that was fine by her. At least now she knew everything, she had a starting point from which to put him out of her mind altogether, something that she knew was going to be necessary if she wanted any chance of getting on with the rest of her life.
Making her way back to the locker room, she had to deposit her phone and purse back in her bag, hoping that she could avoid Ryan and get out of the hospital quick enough that she wouldn't have to face him at all. Even though she did all her work, Tina couldn’t help but bring her mind back whenever she had a spare moment to those deep eyes, his soft hands grabbing her gently as they collided, the wink he gave her as he left. It all sent flutters going in Tina’s stomach once more, and even though she knew he was way out of his league, a part of her still wanted him.
The staffing desk was empty when she had finished all of her tasks for the day, and she was able to get her paperwork done before she had to leave. She was just checking the schedule for the next day when she saw Ryan approaching. Feeling her heart pound in her chest, she scrambled around for some papers, hoping that she could avoid talking to him. She thought that pretending she was busy would make him avoid her, but for some reason he was not buying it, and leaned against the desk, giving her a smile. Short of hiding under the desk and hoping that he got the message, there was not a whole lot she could do.
“Hi,” Ryan said. He crossed his arms against the counter, leaning over slightly to talk to her.
Tina flushed, taking in the look on his face. It was almost as though her body was reacting to the memory of being with him, even if that was the last thing that she wanted right now. Placing the paperwork back on the desk, she rested her hands on top and looked down and away, feeling her cheeks heating up with the force of her blush. “Hi.”
“Look,” Ryan said, waving a hand in the air between them. “We obviously got off on the wrong foot to start with, and I know that you didn't call. I was kinda hoping, though, that you were maybe regretting that?”
Not knowing what to say, Tina swallowed. She wanted desperately to say yes, but knew that if she did that, then it would potentially put herself in the situation to get hurt; the last thing that she wanted was to get rejected by someone like Ryan – especially as she couldn't figure out why someone like him would want someone like her.
“I mean,” Ryan continued. “I could give you my number again if you really wanted to go out with me sometime?” He flashed her a million dollar smile that made her heart churn. Or is it more like a billion dollar smile, when he’s that rich?
Tina didn't know what she wanted to do. Before she had slept with Ryan she had been in a serious relationship with someone, and though she was doing a really good job of pretending that she was over it and that everything was sorting itself out,
she knew that she wasn't. Sleeping with Ryan and then running out of there – especially when she considered him a married man - had more than shown her that. She had hooked up with a couple of people, yes, but she didn't know if she was really ready to start actually dating someone seriously. Especially someone like Ryan, who she couldn’t even trust would have her best interests at heart. She had had friends who had dated trust fund babies in the past, and it had always turned out badly. Still, Ryan had been willing to comfort her – seriously, if not sexually – when she was upset about something, so maybe he was different.
Figuring that at least she could get out of it if she really felt as though it wasn't going anywhere, Tina replied, “Yes. Okay. You can do that.”
Ryan grinned at her, and she was startled to see that it made him even more handsome than before. Tina couldn’t believe she’d said yes. Oh my God, you just got the phone number of a billionaire. Ryan grabbed a piece of paper from the desk and scribbled down his number, and quite uselessly, his name.
Taking the piece of paper from the desk, Tina gave him a tentative smile and slipped it into her pocket.
“So when do you want to go out?” Ryan asked her.
Tina blinked. Thinking fast, she glanced down at the schedule, a bit too frazzled to remember when her days off were. “Oh, I'm off tomorrow. So tomorrow night would be better.”
“Perfect,” Ryan said. He pulled back from the desk. “I'll see you then.”
With another dashing smile, and without waiting for her to reply, he walked away from the desk. Tina stood gaping after him for a moment. Shaking her head to clear it, she blinked and then turned. It was definitely time to get moving. She had some phone calls she had to make when she got home, mostly because she didn't trust herself not to freak out for the next however long.
* * *
Thankfully, the bus arrived quickly, and Tina would be able to get home before it was too late. She would have enough time to make dinner and to call Maria. They had been best friends since they were kids, and they had even decided to enter the same profession, though Maria ultimately wanted to be a surgeon. She worked at a hospital on the other side of the city, but they still managed to meet up as often as possible. Over the summer, it had been Maria that Tina had spent most of her time with in an effort to deal with her feelings about Ryan, even though she had never told Maria exactly what had happened. Even though Maria was her best friend, she still couldn't bring herself to admit that she had slept with a married man, though now that Tina knew he was never married, there was something funny about the whole situation. She had to hope that Maria would find it as funny as she did.
