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“I’m so glad you’ll be taking care of Dad today.” She smiled wanly when her gaze met Madison’s. “I was worried it might be your day off. Dad responds better to you than the other nurses.”
“Thank you.” Since Levi was examining Mr. Ridge, Madison checked the IV pump, making a mental note of when a new bag of fluids would be needed. “He’s seen me more than the other nurses. That’s why he responds better to me.”
“Possibly,” the woman agreed, “but he asks where that pretty blonde nurse is when someone else comes in. He’s quite taken with you.”
Madison smiled, let her gaze cut to the man she wanted to be quite taken with her. He wore navy scrubs with a white T-shirt peeking out through the V at his throat. He’d paused from checking Mr. Ridge and was watching her. He even had the gall to smile when their gazes met.
Smiled as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t sent his text, as if she hadn’t sent her text, as if he was quite taken with her for real.
Wowzars. No matter how frustrated she was with him, the man did it for her. Big time. Oh, yeah, she wanted Levi taken with her. Definitely, she wanted to be taken by him. As in, Take me, Levi. Take me now!
Or maybe she should just take what she wanted. Take him. Take him now. She was the player now and it was time the world—Levi, in particular—took note of that fact.
“Can’t say I blame you.” Levi’s gaze didn’t leave hers. “If I was in the hospital, I’d want Madison as my nurse, too.”
Interesting. He was flirting with her again. But wasn’t flirting supposed to lead somewhere? He’d had opportunity to kiss her and hadn’t. Then he’d broken their plans on Monday and hadn’t responded to her text. Which meant what exactly?
She shot him a smile so sweet he’d need to schedule an appointment with his dentist to avoid decay. “I’ll be sure to let Administration know, Dr. Fielding, so if you’re ever admitted, they’ll get assignments correct and I can do your enemas.”
And his sponge bath.
She gulped, trying to prevent the image of her sponge-bathing Levi from taking over every last brain cell in her possession. Too late. He’d be the cleanest man on the medical floor. Her lips twitched at the thought. As did other, lower, body parts.
“You do that, Madison.” He laughed, not seeming to take offense in the slightest, then turned back to Mr. Ridge. “Your lungs are sounding much better than earlier this week. Amazing the difference time and proper care makes.” He shot Madison a quick glance, then patted Mr. Ridge’s hand. “If you keep improving this way, you’ll be able to go home in a couple of days and won’t have to endure any more of Madison’s enemas.”
Mr. Ridge gave a toothless smile, his dentures in a cup on the table next to his bed. “Ain’t had no enema, but going home would be good. I miss my dog.”
Levi nodded as if he understood and Madison wondered if he had any pets. During dinner on Saturday night he hadn’t revealed much about himself. Oh, he’d answered questions and talked, but when she really thought about his answers, they’d been general, vague, non-revealing. Unlike her gluttony of Madison Swanson’s fun-filled, non-stop broadcast prior to him practically forcing her into her car.
No kiss. No going to second base. No home run. Definitely, no grand slam. Levi was a known playboy. If he’d wanted to kiss her on Saturday night, he would have.
And then some.
All he had to do was smile and women came running out of the woodwork like hungry ants at a picnic.
Which made her what? Just another ant lining up to chase after his sugary goodness?
Pathetic.
She really should just forget about the man. Move on. If only there was someone else she wanted.
Madison recorded Mr. Ridge’s vitals, stood and talked to his daughter for a few moments, doing her best to ignore Levi’s gaze on her more than once while he chatted with their patient. When she turned to go, she waved at the elderly man lying in the hospital bed. His wise old blue eyes watched her curiously and she wondered if he’d picked up on the sparks between her and his doctor.
“I’ll see you later,” she promised the older man she’d taken to, and purposely avoided looking at Levi.
Otherwise she just might really take the good doctor. Take him by dragging him into an empty patient room and having her way with him. Just take him and take him now.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Karen mused when Madison returned to the nurses’ station. “I guess you ran into you know who. I was watching for you
so I could warn you, but got called to help Tanya in Room 214.”
Not wanting to discuss Levi, or even to think about him, Madison absently nodded. “He’ll discharge Mr. Ridge in a couple of days. He’s really come a long way since Monday when his aspiration pneumonia was diagnosed.”
“Yeah, thank goodness.” Karen smiled, clearly not fooled by Madison’s intentional steering of the conversation away from Levi. “But if you hadn’t caught the change in his breathing as early as you did, he might not be here now.”
Grateful Karen was giving her a pass, Madison shrugged. “Any of Angel Creek’s nurses would have done the same.”
“Still, you’re an asset to the hospital, Madison. An asset to any man smart enough to recognize your finer qualities, too, in spite of this crazy personality make-over you think you need,” Karen added with a serious smile. “Did he talk to you?”
