Page 32 of Scrubbing In
Repressing the violent impulse, I straighten to my full height. She doesn’t need my help, but I intend for him to feel the pressure. If I witness him or hear about him doing this shit to her again after I’ve heard her tell him to stop, there will be hell to pay.
“Alright, Benny, she’s told you that's enough. Time to back off.”
His head whips in my direction. He must see the fury I try to disguise on my face, but attempts to gaslight us both about the situation anyway. “Woah there, tough guy. I won’t compliment her again,” he says with hands raised in mock surrender.
Leena locks her computer, gathers her stack of paperwork and notebook, then heads in the direction of the substerile corridor. “I’ll let you know if anything changes or comes up, Benny,” she says as she pushes the door open.
I take one last sip from my half-drunk coffee cup, never breaking his stare, then dump it in the trash under the desk. “Have a good day, Benny,” I say evenly and walk away. Even though everything inside me screams to stay, to protect her, to claim her in front of him.
I head towards the ortho unit to round early on my patients as a way to take my mind off Leena. She’ll probably be angry I stepped in at the end, but I refuse to have my girl feel uncomfortable at work. For any reason, and that includes me. Since that night at the restaurant, she hasn’t come right out and told me nothing further can happen between us or asked me to leave her alone. But, I will be watching even closer for any tells her body gives that this isnotwhat she wants.
Pretty Girl: You didn’t need to do that.
My heart pangs.
Pretty Girl: But thank you.
Internally, I pump my fist in the air. Yes, I’m making progress! I hope this momentum doesn’t fade while I’m off-duty at the hospital for the next two weeks. I’m off for the rest of this week, seeing patients in clinic early next week, and unfortunately, I also don’t have any surgical cases to add to my first individual Sports Medicine block next Friday. Yet. Crossing my fingers, it would be the perfect opportunity to see her sooner.
I’ve come to rely on our short time together each morning to get my much-needed fix in my ever-growing obsession with her. I missed seeing her over the weekend and yesterday, and with today being my last day on shift, I got a little carried away being so close to her.
Her scent is intoxicating. A fragrant mix of a perfectly ripe fruit I can’t quite place and a hint of something minty. The cool sweetness makes me want to lay her down, spread her out, and gorge myself on her essence—among other things.
Entering the OR suite a little while later, Charlie drapes a towel over my dripping hands.
“Oh look, it's the ortho bro who also plays the part of hero.” She’s teasing me, if the twitching of her mask is any indication.
I roll my eyes as she gowns me. “Ortho bro? Really?”
“I also said hero. I heard you saved Leena from Benny.”
A growl rumbles up my throat, unbidden with a renewed churning in my gut.
I’m a little surprised she’s broached the topic of Leena and me. Since that first morning she made that almost non-comment about my name, we have interacted in relaxed professionalism, never straying too deeply into personalterritory. Especially our shared affection for a certain pint-sized, curly-haired nurse.
Slipping my first glove on, she says in a voice void of any humor, “Thank you for keeping an eye on her. She's strong and she can handle herself, but it's nice to have people remind her she doesn't need to do it alone all the time.”
“You don't need to thank me, Charlie. I'd do anything for her.”
Now Charlie's eyes are alight with mischief. “You've got it bad,” she says quietly. “No wonder you were playing hero.”
“Who are you playing hero for?”
I’m startled by Sarina’s question as she comes up behind me, suddenly nervous about how much of that she actually heard. She quickly ties up the back of my gown.
“He just stopped me from contaminating the back table.” Charlie's quick fib is impressive. “I’m sure it was mostly a selfish move. You know, so he doesn't have to wait while we completely break everything down and reopen.”
Sarina tuts, “Oh, so he's being a selfish hero.”
Handing her the card to finish doing up my gown, Charlie peeks around me. “Typical ortho bro,” she states flatly.
I give her an appreciative look and she winks back at me conspiratorially.
My phone dings with a message. “Can you check that for me, please?”
Grabbing my phone, she calls out, “Your PA says a patient is being transferred from a rural hospital this morning, most likely needs an ex-fix for their tibia. She’s giving you a heads up for the eval before Logan comes on shift.”
“Alright, thank you. Can you give her a thumbs up, please?”
