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Mickie
I practically tripped over my feet, stumbling up the stairs while rushing to get to the hospital’s entrance. I was late after my car broke down on the freeway; the damn thing overheated three lanes in and gave up the ghost.
The commuting traffic was thrilled to see my car was the reason there was one lane less to use, causing a lot of people to be late today and many bosses to be pissed off at their employees.
“You missed out on all the action,” Yashi, one of the maternity ward nurses, said as I rushed through the maternity ward, heading to the lockers.
“Great,” I answered, pulling my hair into a ponytail while holding my badge between my teeth. I pulled the thing out, clipped it on my scrubs, and looked at her, “John will give me shit for this. I already know that.”
“Never,” she chuckled. “I think the doctor might have a little bit of a crush on you.”
“Let’s not get crazy.” I eyed her as I planted my foot on the locker room bench, prepping to change my shoes, “Dr. Aster and I had fun camping, but that’s as far as it went.”
“No, you don’t understand,” she insisted. “That man does not date anyone at this hospital. He may flirt and take us out for drinks or dinner, but it’s all good fun. He’s different with you, though.”
I glanced at the adorable young nurse fresh out of college and working here with her brand-new degree.
“How long have you been working here?” I questioned. I was remarkably late, but I didn’t want to walk out and start my day, which was already off to a hellish start, with a bunch of side glances from the staff as if I’d snatched the gorgeous doctor and was the only woman who could do so.
“Almost a year,” she smiled. She grabbed stuff from her locker, looking like a nurse who hadn’t slept a wink after a twenty-four-hour shift.
“That’s not long enough to form such an assumption,” I said, not wanting to make her feel low, but I didn’t need everyone’s speculation. “He and I are just friends. We’re both dead set on not having a relationship.”
She chuckled. “You might want to tell that to him.” She gave me a funny look as she closed the locker and virtually skipped out the door.
What the hell? The guy was arrogant, as had been proven repeatedly, but if he was running around, intentionally fueling the gossip brigade, I had to find a way to stop it. Sure, I enjoyed the flattery, but I knew that everyone reacting to this information would have just as much to say when things between us went south.
And let’s get real for a minute. It was hard enough to get some goddamn respect as a woman in the workplace. Only one of us would have a sullied reputation if things fell apart, and it wouldn’t be John.
I had to get out on the floor and get caught up to speed before finding the singing canary, shutting him up, and throwing him back in his cage. Certain things about John cracked me up, and just as many things irritated the shit out of me.
My mood was edgy at best, and I didn’t want to say something I would regret, so I forced my irritation into the floor through my feet. I would not be a bitch, but I was feeling like one, and I didn’t know how I would handle this.
Fucking John Aster. If only he could keep things under wraps now and then.
“Hey, Jan,” I said, walking up to the charge nurse, seeing she was the only one around who could catch me up. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“Car problems, we know.” She grinned, giving me a sly look after she glanced over her half-moon reading glasses from her iPad. “Dr. Aster was quite upset about that happening to you this morning.”
“Well, of course, and I completely understand why since he’s the one getting everything dropped in his lap.”
She clicked off the iPad, tucked it against her broad chest, and grinned. “Oh, no, sweetheart,” she arched an eyebrow at me. “He was upset that it happened to you. He wasn’t worried about himself.”
“Oh?” I questioned.
“He is quite smitten with you,” she smiled. “And everyone knows he’s not one to look around Saint John’s for a lady. In fact, he’s made it clear that he’s not in the market?—”
“I understand,” I said, not knowing how to react. I was doing my best to put a cap on the bitchy responses, but I was in no mood for this.
“Don’t be upset, sweetie,” she said. “It’s not his fault.”
“I don’t know what he’s telling all of you, but?—”
“Oh, no,” she said with a knowing grin. “He doesn’t have to say a word. All he did was vocalize—more than once—his concern about you breaking down today. And when I finally called him out for it, his cheeks turned bright red. As God is my witness, I’ve never seen that boy embarrassed before.”
“How has everyone jumped to the same conclusion, then?”
“I’m not the only one noticing his new behavior. He’s one happy and spirited individual, but this is a side of him none of us have seen.”
