Page 21 of Platinum Pressure

“That’s so inappropriate, Platinum.”

“It’s just us in the room.”

“I’m going to blame your medication for your vulgarities, but try to censor those questions. I don’t want to put my license in jeopardy by playing games with you.”

The board of nursing viewed nurses who dated patients a huge breach of professional ethics. There were so many risks because not only was it an imbalance of power, but it was messy as hell. I could lose my job and the ability to practice nursing anywhere ever again. It wasn’t worth the risk of playing those games with him, especially when I had huge plans for my future.

I rubbed my hands together. “You don’t find me attractive?”

“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t. You are a patient under my care, and I couldn’t, in good consciousness, cross that line with you.”

“Ever?”

“Huh?”

“Is that a for now thing or you gon’ stand on business forever thing?”

“It’s a forever thing. The board would still side-eye me if I dated you in the future because you were under my care. Plus, when you get back on that field again, you’re going to forget all about me. I’ll have completed my job, and we’ll both go on with our lives. Eventually, you’ll forget about me.”

Before I could respond, the doctor entered the room. Meadow let out a sigh of relief and stood up from the recliner. She shook the doctor’s hand before he spoke.

“I heard there was a security issue after your surgery. On behalf of the hospital, we sincerely apologize for the privacy breach you experienced. The nurses should not have been able to sneak into your room. Your safety is our main concern, and we hope this does not affect your support in the future.”

I shook my head. “Nah. It’s cool. They know the system and could exploit it for their selfish gain. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future, though.”

“We will work diligently to make sure it doesn’t. As far as your recovery is concerned, I want to get you home as soon as possible. The surgery went well, as expected. How is your pain level?”

“Manageable.”

“Great. I will release you under the care of Miss Edwards. As you both know, you shouldn’t do any independent movement on your own for the next twenty-four to seventy-two hours. No exercising or strenuous pressure on your knee until follow-up next week.”

My head spun as he explained what the process would look like, like how Meadow had done multiple times over the last few weeks. Everyone kept reiterating the twelve-month healing process, and I felt defeated. I had something to prove, and a long recovery would put me too far behind.

Football was my first love, my only love, and my life.

My faith in getting my team another ring before I retired felt more like a lost dream than a potential reality. The darkness slowly crept into the back of my mind and spread through my entire body. The light dimmed. My hope disappeared.

“What the fuck is this?” I looked around the living room and saw all the changes made to the area. The pullout couch was in bed formation. They moved too many things in my living room without my approval.

“Since your recovery will be a lot of resting, we figured you would rest better with the bed pulled out than on the sectional with the chaise, especially since your actual bedroom is out of the way right now. You have everything within your reach. Chargers, snacks, gaming controller, and everything else Seddrick said you’d like.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t y’all discuss this with me before I went into surgery?”

Seddrick helped me sit on the couch before he adjusted his clothes and shrugged. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Well, it does.” My attitude was bad. I wanted to go to sleep and not wake until my recovery was over.

“Seddrick, can you give me a minute with Platinum, please?” Meadow asked as she walked over to me and grabbed some pillows to elevate my leg.

“Fa sho.” Seddrick looked between the two of us, then walked down the hall.

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my back against the large pillow.

“Talk to me, Platinum.”

“About what?”

“I saw you check out at the hospital before the doctor finished talking. Now you’re picking fights with your best friend over something trivial. What happened?”