The nurses’ station is noisy with chatter, tapping and phones ringing.I lean over the counter, flipping through a patient chart, when I hear a snort of laughter from behind the medicine cart.
I glance up at the nurses.Jade and Mira exchange a look, then quickly glance away when they catch me watching.I frown.It’s the kind of look I remember from childhood.Like the time I caught Scarlet stuffing candy in her bag.She’d grinned just like that, like mischief was a language only the two of us understood.
It’s been years, but that expression still tugs at something familiar.And I know better than to ignore it.
I narrow my eyes.“Okay.What’s going on?”
Mira shakes her head, trying and failing to keep a straight face.“Nothing,” she says.
Jade just shrugs.“Just… observing our fearless leader.”
A familiar voice cuts through the hallway.“Let’s focus, team.”
I whip my head toward their focus.And there he is: Dr.Brant Harrison.Suited up.Hair styled perfectly, and checking his watch.Again.
Realization hits me like a sudden rush of cold air.“Wait.Are you playing some kind of game?”
Jade bites her lip, not answering.Her silence is answer enough.
“You are,” I hiss, thrilled.“You’re playing bingo, aren’t you?”
“Shh!”Mira says, eyes wide but sparkling.“We keep it low-key.Harrison Bingo.We don’t talk about it, at least not where he can hear.”
“What’s on the card?Let me guess.Checking his watch, saying ‘no,’ correcting someone’s chart—”
“—adjusting his tie, not smiling,” Jade finishes, pulling a folded slip of paper from her scrub pocket and sliding it toward me.
I scan the bingo card.It’s hilariously accurate.
“I want in,” I say, grinning as I grab a pen and a blank card.“I’m off to a good start; he’s already checked his watch twice this morning.”
Half an hour later, I’m in the pediatric ward, scribbling notes on a patient chart when he walks past, mid-conversation with a nurse.
“I understand your thought process,” he says, “but this charting needs to reflect the full differential.”
I freeze, then quickly mark a square.
Chart correction: check.
By lunch, I’ve got three in a row and two diagonals threatening to line up.The moment he sighs, murmurs “no,” and checks his watch in the corridor, I close a hand over my mouth to keep from celebrating out loud.
“Bingo,” I whisper to myself, biting back a grin.
Back at the station, I slam my paper on the counter with confidence.“I’d like to report a win.”
Jade nearly spills her coffee.“No way.”
“Oh yes.”I flash her the completed card.“Three diagonals.He was on a roll this morning.Might’ve hit a personal best.”
Mira fans herself with her notes.“The man’s consistent.I’ll give him that.”
Harrison walks by just then, glancing at the group of us with a frown.“Is there something I should know about?”
I scramble to keep a straight face.
“Nope,” I say brightly.“Just focusing.”
He eyes us for another second, then nods slowly and moves on, adjusting his tie as he turns the corner.
