Ice Cold

Chapter 3

Thankfully, the rest of the night went by uneventfully, meaning Elliott Ryan and I kept our lips apart. That was mainly due to the fact that I stayed away as far as possible and made sure there was never an empty seat next to me. The two hockey players left shortly after one o'clock in the morning, and it was bittersweet. I was sad to say goodbye to Jase, but his promise to come out and see us later in the year helped ease the sadness I felt. And I was ecstatic to have Elliott Ryan out of my life and back into the magazines which was how I liked him. It was a relief knowing that we had no reason to ever interact again, but it was an annoyance to keep thinking about the kiss we shared.

I had Sunday off from the hospital, which I spent nursing a hangover from all the vodka cranberries I had. This just goes to show that after college, going out and drinking just isn't that much fun. Or maybe I'm just old and washed up. College was truly the good old days and life just goes downhill once you turn 23.

As nice as it was to have Sunday off, I was more than grateful to be back at the hospital on Monday and back into my routine. Working in the Labor and Delivery Unit was truly a dream come true, and I enjoyed it so much. Even on the worst days, I was still glad to be working and still couldn't believe I had the opportunity.

"How was your weekend, Nora,?" my coworker, Julia, asked. She was in her late twenties and we got along really well. She started on the unit a few years ago and has been a mentor to me since I started working here.

I thought back to Saturday night, and the kiss Elliott and I shared, something that I've been doing a little too much. I spent all four years of college with the dude and not once had I let myself even have so much of a conversation with him. And now here I am, practically a real adult, someone who is supposed to make smart decisions, and I feel way more stupid now than I ever felt in school.

I jumped slightly as Julia cleared her throat, clearly lost in thought. I tried to gather my thoughts, gauging how much of my weekend I should give away. Deciding to keep my answer as truthful and vague as possible, I simply replied, "It wasn't too bad, I just went to the Wild's game with my roommate and then got some drinks after. Then I spent yesterday recovering from said drinks."

"My husband loves the Wild. All he's been talking about is getting that new guy. Ugh, I can't remember his name," she mumbled, clearly displeased with herself.

"If I knew anything about hockey, I would offer to help you out. Unfortunately, the only thing I know about hockey is that the ball is a puck," I joked, fully knowing that the new guy was Elliott Ryan.

"I thought you went to a lot of hockey games in college?" Julia questioned.

"I did go to a lot of hockey games, but I don't remember a lot of those hockey games, if you know what I mean," I winked and then laughed as Julia's face heated up.

Thankfully we had a new admission come up to the unit and it was my turn to get a patient. I walked into the room to get the soon-to-be mother and father settled in and get the baby on the monitor to make sure both of my patients were doing okay. After making sure everyone was fine, I went back to the nurse's station to get caught up on some charting.

Almost as soon as I sat down, the phone rang. "Labor and Delivery Unit, this is Nora speaking, how can I help you?" I answered.

"Hello, Nora, you have a visitor," replied the receptionist. That confused me because the only person who would ever visit me at work was Gianna, who was off today and wouldn't be caught dead coming into work. Besides, she has a badge that would let her onto the unit so she wouldn't even need to go through the receptionist.

"What's that all about?" Julia wondered.

"Apparently I have a visitor?"

"Who is it?"