Love Untouched (Unexpected)

by Anne Leigh

  I shrugged. “I guess.”

  “Guess what, fucker?” Milo had entered the room. He was still in his usual street clothes, blue dress shirt and black pants. His green eyes hinted at anger, laced with a truckload of menace.

  I didn’t say anything. No use responding to his bullshit.

  “Hey, relax, buddy, we got practice.” Leif was trying to diffuse the situation, which would probably turn out to be another locker room incident like the one in Omaha, if Milo continued with his taunting.

  I usually didn’t shower until I was done for the day but I decided to take a quick one just to relax. I opened my locker, took out my clothes, and walked into the shower stalls. It was a habit of mine to bring my clothes to the shower so I could change right away. That, and I got tired of pranksters in college who thought spraying itchy powder on my clothes was a great prank. Duncan was the mastermind of that one and I was the beneficiary of lifelong memories of the traumatic experience that had me itching all over my body for days. I learned my lesson.

  I heard the guys shuffle and leave the room. As the cold water sloshed over my body, I put my hands against the wall. I couldn’t hold the position with my left shoulder for long so I leaned against the wall with my right shoulder, pushing against it. Dang, did I sprain it again? Physio better be able to fix it. I needed my body functioning at its prime at all times.

  The water relaxed me. My thoughts drifted to the scene in the locker room a few minutes earlier. Milo’s hatred for me was not only evident in his demeanor. It practically radiated from him, blasted through the ceramic walls, and warped the plastic lockers with its intensity. Milo has been in the swimming circuit for as long as I have. We were never friends. We were okay with each other. We used to say hi, and since we often competed as part of the relay, we talked as swimmers. But that all changed eight months ago. Eight months ago when Dia happened. I pushed the thought out of my head. I turned off the shower, dried off, and walked outside the door to finish my training for the day.

  “I’d like to be in a video game.”

  ~T.K., age 10, ESRD

  What was it with today?

  It was already 8:30 and the ER was barely humming.

  Tonight would have been a good night for a potluck. All of the staff could actually stop to sit down and eat. Nursing and potlucks were like milk and cookies. They go hand in hand. I had only been to one potluck before I became a nurse. Since then, I have joined, and even spearheaded so many that potluck should be changed to fatluck. I was lucky I had a good metabolism and I went to the gym, time and time again, or those dumplings that Ming brought every other night would be dumped on my butt. And the s’mores that Cheyenne made perfectly would become s’mores on my thighs.

  So far, I had seen a total of four patients, which was a rarity. Usually, I would have seen twice that much by this time, and the four patients that I did have? Two of them were five and six-year old brothers. According to their mom, they were quietly playing with pencils, pens, and highlighters. One of the brothers got mad and stuck the other brother with the pencil inside the ear. The other brother took revenge by sticking his brother’s ear with a pen. Needless to say, they both had something sticking out of their ears. The good news was that the objects didn’t damage their ears; but it was a struggle to remove said objects while both of them were crying non-stop. The bad news was that they were both grounded for weeks, and banned from the use of any writing instrument, unless in school or doing homework. My other two patients had minor cuts and bruises.

  “Go ahead, Jason, take a break. I’ll take any new admissions,” I said to my co-worker who was slumped in a chair, twiddling his thumbs. This was unusual in the ER.

  His gray eyes honed in on me as he replied, “Are you sure?” Jason and I were the admitting nurses tonight which meant that we’d relieve each other for breaks.

  “Yes, go ahead. I know you want to play your Lord of War game.”

  He gave me a quick grin and stood up. He was addicted to that game. It was what he played constantly when he was on break, and every time the game company released a new version, he either asked for time off or called in sick. Men, they stayed kids, no matter what age they were.

  I was reviewing the new policies that the nurse educator, Mina, asked us to finish during our free time, when I heard a voice.

  “Brynn, whose turn is it to take the new admit?” It was Myesha, our admitting clerk.

  “Jason’s, but he’s on break so I’ll take it. What kind of admission is it?”

  “A hot one.” Her hazel eyes were grinning.

  I laughed. “Hahaha, a good one then.” I walked towards the admitting/triage room.

  I was tugging on my ponytail, thinking that I needed a trim, when my gaze landed on meltingly hot, deep brown eyes attached to a familiar dark blonde head. The room had just gotten a hundred degrees warmer.

  I took a few steps towards the hospital bed where he was sitting. He was dressed in a dark blue T-shirt and jeans that made him look utterly delicious.

  Brynn, get ahold of yourself he is your patient.

  I managed to grab the portable vital signs machine by the door without stumbling over the cord, while giving him instructions. “I will take your vital signs and do a quick assessment, and then I’ll put you in a room so a doctor can see you, ok?”

  He smiled, his dimples lightly showing, “Hi to you, too, Brynn.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I was just ahmm... I just want to make sure you know.” Know what? You haven’t even asked him why he’s here.

  “So, Kieran, what brings you in tonight?”

  He tilted his head slightly to the left, and explained, “My left shoulder’s really bugging me tonight. I thought it was going to be okay after the physio loosened me up but it’s gotten worse within a few hours. Last time our team physician, Dr. Freehand, checked he said that I was overusing it and I needed to let it rest. I haven’t been exerting as much pressure on it, resting it more, and focusing more on my core,” he stopped to say, “Sorry, I’m rambling. I could wait until tomorrow to have it looked at but I think I may have sprained it.”

  “Ok, let me take your blood pressure.” I wrapped the BP cuff on his right upper arm and pushed the “on” button on the machine. I could wait for the machine to tell me his pulse reading but I really wanted to be thorough with Kieran. After all, he was the country’s golden boy. I wanted to make sure he was really okay, so I pressed two of my fingers to his left radial wrist and started counting his heart rate manually while looking at my digital watch.

  90 beats per minute.

  The machine beeped, and it showed: blood pressure - 118/76 and pulse - 90. He was slightly tachycardic.

  “Kieran, are you okay?” I asked. I could have read his pulse wrong or I might have counted wrong but when the machine and my own count were synchronous with each other, then the patient must really be having a rapid pulse.

  I removed the BP cuff from his right arm, pushed the vital signs machine to the side, and grabbed an ER admission packet.

  His voice was clear inside the room. “My resting heart rate is 50. After 25 laps in the pool, it may increase to a whopping 52.”

  Why was he telling me this?

  I stared at him for a few seconds.

  He continued, “My pulse is fast because a gorgeous nurse is standing in front of me and she smells like vanilla... I haven’t had vanilla in a while.”

  His dark stare burned through me, igniting a fire inside of me that actually had me struggling to find my next words. “Oh.”

  He gave me a small cocky grin, his dimples slightly showing. I chose to ignore his statement. He was just another patient, right?

  “Umm, can you lift your shirt up for me?”

  He gave me a bigger smile as he followed my instructions.

  Holy hell.

  The muscles on this man were indescribable.

  His shoulders were not bulging but they were solid. Well, they looked really solid, like rock solid, to me. I peeked
lower, and saw his abs, striated with lean, packed muscle. If I had the benefit of pinching this man’s stomach, I was a hundred percent sure that there would not be an inch of fat. He sat up straighter, and I may have caught a sneak peek of the top of his dark blue boxer short with the words ‘Calvin Klein’ across the band.

  “Do you need me to completely take my shirt off?” His voice broke through my dreamy state.

  Yes, please.

  I attempted to speak in-between taking tiny invisible gulps inside my throat. “Umm, no... Just lift it up a little higher so I can check if there’s any evident bruising.”

  He lifted his shirt higher, and while I didn’t find any evidence of bruising, I found his left deltoid, roped with well-defined muscles. I placed my right hand on his skin, pressing tenderly, moving from his clavicle to the flat triangular bone, his shoulder blade, and lower to the side of the shoulder. “Does it hurt here?”

  I thought I might have heard a small groan. “Kieran?”

  “Yeah…” His voice was low, raspy. He must be in a lot of pain. I turned towards his face and his eyes were almost black, he didn’t look like he was in pain. His face was frozen in an inscrutable expression, as if he was engaged in a battle with himself.

  I felt a hand on my cheek. My face was burning up. The outward evidence of the internal combustion that his presence created in me was now on my face. His fingertips grazed my cheek.

  I let him, because I could not find the power in me to stop it.

  “Your vital signs are good and the doctor will most likely order an x-ray to see if you have a sprain.” How I managed to say those words would forever be a puzzle to me, but I was a nurse first, and he needed to be checked.

  His fingertip traveled to the right side of my mouth and his gaze got even darker. “Okay.”

  I was about the pull myself out of this trance-like state with him when I heard a knock.

  “Brynn, I can take the patient now.” It was Jason. He was back from break.

  “Alright,” I replied as Jason opened the door. Jason’s eyes bounced between Kieran and me. I had extricated my face from Kieran’s hand, and turned to the computer on the other side of the room.

  “Kieran Stone?” Jason’s man voice turned in to a fan boy’s voice. This was getting stranger by the minute. I glanced at Jason, who stood by the door’s entrance, his eyes surprised, and his mouth wide-open. Jason, my co-worker, who annihilated aliens, soldiers, and warlords in video games, the guy who lifted a 250 lb. patient by himself when the patient fell on the floor, the guy who wore a “I’m the beef. You’re the cake. Together we can make Beefcake” shirt during the Nurse’s Week celebration was totally awestruck.

  Kieran stood up from the bed, walked towards Jason and shook hands with my co-worker. “That’s me.”

  “Man, Kieran freaking Stone! The Water Cutter. The King of the Pool. The Master of the Strokes!” Wow. Jason looked as if he would squeal and jump up and down in excitement.

  Kieran took it all in stride. I could not see his eyes because his back was to me, but I heard the amusement in his voice. “Thanks.”

  Jason held out his hand and shook Kieran’s right hand. He looked like he was about to tap Kieran’s left shoulder when I let out a stern command. “Jason, don’t touch his shoulder. That’s the reason why he’s here.”

  Finally, striking out of his fan boy moment, he said, “Oh sorry. I’ll take care of my man here, Brynn. Where are his admitting papers? He needs to be seen by Dr. Rees right away.” I walked to him and handed the papers.

  I was about to leave the room when I heard Kieran say, “Thanks, Brynn.” Twin dimples appeared when he smiled.

  Did God give everything to this guy when he made him?

  I returned his smile. “Jason will take care of you. It’s his turn to admit patients now. Nice to see you again, Kieran.”

  His eyes lit up as he nodded his dark blonde head.

  I left the room and headed straight for the break room, I needed a drink. That nursing assessment was the most draining one I had ever had—one that left me gasping for air and parched for some water.

  “See you tomorrow,” I told Malesh, the nurse I had given report to. There wasn’t much to give report about. The eight-hour shift had dragged on forever. Not my type of day.

  I chose the ER because I loved the intensity, the feeling of the unknown, and the constant bustle of activity. Problem solving was one of my best skills. I liked the fast-paced turnaround in the ER. My brother was an adrenaline junkie. He went bungee jumping, skydiving, and free falling during his spare time. Not me. Removing unknown objects from people’s bodies, with the help of a doctor, of course, trying to figure out why a child has a fever of 105, and running around, performing tasks necessary for lab work and diagnostic tests—these things got my adrenaline flowing. It was both exhilarating and immensely satisfying. My best friend, Ava, thought I was crazy. She worked in the Cardio-Thoracic floor, and I thought her unit was as challenging as the ER. She begged to differ, but that argument never went anywhere. We were both doing what we loved.

  I was swinging my purse in front of me as I walked along the hallway. There was no one around and I loved to play this game, the ‘how far could I swing it before the contents would fall out’ game.

  “You might hit someone with that and then you’d have to admit them into the ER.” A voice that I have become quite familiar with, and brought delicious shivers to my spine every time, called from behind me.

  I turned my head to my right and looked up, and there he was. Even at nighttime, he looked all sun-kissed, and his dark blonde head was messy, but oh-so-sexy.

  “Oh, hi Kieran. What are you still doing here? The doctor released you an hour ago.” Oh, shoot. The words just came out. I checked on when he was released. Jason talked non-stop about Kieran while I went back to reviewing the new policies in the computer. So, I might have asked a few questions about him. He was free to go after Dr. Rees cleared him. He didn’t have a sprain and was prescribed painkillers.

  His eyes, lighter in hue right now, were teasing. “You checked up on me?” His grin was back into full cocky mode and, as we continued to walk towards the parking lot, his smell drifted towards me. He smelled of mint, lavender, and musk, a refreshing and masculine scent.

  “Well, I did help admit you and I’m just concerned,” I reasoned before stopping in front of the vending machine by the hospital’s lobby. He stayed where he was, curiosity all over his face, as I fed the machine with a dollar bill and some coins. I punched in the code for the soda, chips, and a chocolate bar.

  “That hungry, huh?”

  I merely smiled at him.

  It was quiet in the parking lot. There were many parking structures in the hospital but I liked to park in 5D. It was an open space and had decent lighting at night.

  We walked in companionable silence and after a few minutes, his voice broke through. “Brynn, where did you park?”

  “Almost there.”

  “Did you park all the way to Timbuktu?” His tone was serious, but it also held a light chuckle.

  I didn’t answer him. We were now in the middle of the almost empty lot. I switched direction and made a beeline for the spot that I stopped by routinely on the way to my car, the sidewalk that ran along the side of the lot.

  Upon reaching the sidewalk, I recognized the familiar figure huddled in a blanket. It was warm tonight so he wouldn’t need much to keep his body warm. I slowly placed the soda, chips, and chocolate bar a few feet away from him, and walked away.

  Kieran stayed by my side the whole time. I could not see his face so I just continued to walk to my car.

  Remembering his earlier dig about me parking far away, I teased, “Timbuktu’s in the Sahara Desert, about fifteen kilometers north of the Niger River in the country of Mali. It would take me years, maybe decades, to reach it, if I traveled on foot...” I smiled in between my words. My shift was boring today, but Kieran’s presence was energizing me.

  “Who
a. Studied geography much?”

  “No. Just Timbuktu. The name fascinated me. And I had a feeling that one day, a guy was going to use that country against me.”

  He let out a full laugh. I stopped walking and turned around to face him. Under the fluorescent lighting in the parking lot, I could see his face pinched in laughter, and as our eyes met, the laughter slowly died. His face became serious as he said, “You’re funny, Brynn.”

  “Thanks. I’m here to make you happy.” Where did that come from? I was acting and speaking all kinds of strange tonight. I blamed it on the hotness before me. Just looking at him burned all the neurons in my brain and made me sound crazy.

  His face became darker and he closed the gap between us. He reached his right hand out and caressed my cheek. “Are you tired?” He asked, his eyes searching mine.

  “No.” It was the truth. I had a light shift today.

  “You have time for coffee?” He was making his intentions clear. For some reason, I was thinking that he was not just asking for coffee, he was asking for time with me.

  I shook my head. “No coffee.”

  He dropped his hand from my face. “Ok, I understand.”

  We walked the four remaining steps to my car. I counted my steps because I didn’t know what else to do. Here he was, standing, walking beside me. It was so uncharacteristic of me to be attracted to a guy I barely knew but with him my nerves tingled with awareness, every time he was near. I couldn’t explain it.

  I pressed the alarm on my Toyota Prius and unlocked the door. I slowly slid into the driver’s seat. He was still standing to the side, waiting for me to go. I lowered the window, and called out, “Coffee will keep me up all night. I have time for a hot cocoa, though.”

  His face broke into a reserved smile.

  “Get in. I’ll drive you to your car.” He slid in and the tiny space in my car just got tinier. His long legs were folded in as he adjusted the seat. We talked about trivial things during the two-minute drive to lot 7B.