Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“You’re still here?” he says in surprise, laying those blue eyes on me.
Usually, I work three 12s a week. With Kara gone on maternity leave, we’ve all had to shift our schedules a bit. I prefer to not tally up my current weekly workload; it’ll only be depressing.
“I’m on from 3 to 11 today. The night is young, I’m afraid.” He gives me a sympathetic smile as I continue, “What about you? Usually you’re gone by now.”
“Lot of patients today.”
Bianca leans toward me and cuts in, addressing Michael, “Ms. Matthews was looking for you earlier.”
“Yeah, I just came from PT with Jamie.”
Bianca nods then stands to head off. “Want me to leave that?” she asks, motioning to her phone.
I take it and pass it to her. “No need. I can keep track of the highlights online. Thanks though.”
“All right. Let me know if our boy hits any more home runs.”
Michael looks to me with a faint smile. “Our boy?”
I know she’s referring to Grant Navarro, but I shrug. “No idea.”
I like Michael a lot. Not only is he handsome and nice, he’s also a hockey fan. He grew up playing in Canada. Baseball holds no appeal to him, which is slightly intriguing to me considering it’s such a big part of my life.
Michael glances down at my half-finished dinner, and I get the sense he feels like he’s bothering me. He’s not, so I speak up, leaning forward on my elbows as I look up at him.
“So? How were the babies today?” I ask, trying to encourage more conversation. “Did they give you any trouble?”
Michael and I get along really well, but it’s always been strictly business with us. He had a pretty serious girlfriend up until a few months ago. I don’t know the terms of their breakup or anything—I’ve never asked—but I do know he’s single now. At least that’s the word on the street.
“Babies were great. We’ve almost got Jamie rolling over by himself.”
I smile, proud to hear it. Michael’s job can vary drastically depending on a patient’s age. With the little ones, he works on tummy time, head control, grip strength. With older patients, his focus shifts to big picture: standing, walking, in-bed exercises for strength and conditioning. I’ve seen him in action, and he’s so good with the kids. He makes his physical therapy sessions fun, like a game with goals and prizes. Our patients love him.
It’s sweet. He’s sweet.
“Did you hear Cece got discharged?”
His eyebrows shoot up with delight. “Really? That’s great.”
Cece will be back, of course. Most of the children that pass through our ICU were born with congenital heart conditions that mean they’re in for the long haul: multiple procedures, hospital stays, cardiology appointments. But we were able to send Cece home for now, and a win is a win.
He leans forward, dropping his elbows on the counter. “We should celebrate.”
“Totally agree.” I lower my voice. “Think you can sneak a bottle of champagne in here? I won’t tell if you don’t.”
I add a conspiratorial wink so he knows I’m kidding.
He pats the pocket on his scrub top. “No can do. There’s nowhere to hide it.”
I laugh. “Ah, well, there goes that plan. Tell you what…I’ll let you pick out a cookie down in the cafeteria on me. You know if you go first thing in the morning, they’re still warm. Straight from the oven, in fact.” I nearly drool thinking about it.
He scrunches his nose. “Not a big cookie guy.”
My jaw drops. “That’s…not possible.”
He shakes his head. “I think we should stick to drinks, maybe dinner too? On me, that is.”
“Oh.” My dumb ass did not see this coming.
He’s amused by my reaction. “Was that rusty? Sorry. I’m not great at this.” He stands back up to his full height and rubs the back of his neck, glancing briefly down the hall before peering at me again. There’s a little blush building on his cheeks. “I haven’t asked a girl out in like four years.”
My eyes widen.
“I was dating Liz and we broke up a few months ago.”
So the rumors are true then.
“You haven’t been on a date with anyone else since her?”
“No.” He smiles sheepishly. “I’ve actually had a little crush on you for a while. I’ve been working up the courage to ask you out—almost did it last week. Remember when I ran into you in the break room and I talked your ear off about coffee for like ten minutes? I think I went on and on about how they produce and ship it? Yeah…that was me trying to work up the nerve to ask you out. I don’t really care about coffee all that much. Half of that was total bullshit.”
He grimaces like this is a little painful for him to admit, but I’m charmed by his honesty. It hasn’t escaped my notice that Michael fits the bill for what I’m looking for (i.e. he checks off most everything on my exhaustive list of boyfriend requirements), and he works in healthcare! He understands the ins and outs of my job! That wasn’t even on my list. He gets bonus points!