Doctor's Orders

Things Definitely Just Got Worse

Justin is working a lot, unfortunately, and it's always that awkward afternoon shift. My only consolation is that he told me he'll be off six days in a row next week. That's six full days of Fire and Ice wrapped goodness, and I literally can't wait for them to get here.

I see him at the hospital occasionally. One day, I get floated to the ER, and it turns out he spends a lot more time there than he does on my floor. Duty calls, I suppose. But what's annoying is how all the female nurses blatantly flirt with him there.

"Dr. Bieber, I have everything you need for the central line," a young nurse says to him. A simple statement, no doubt, but her voice is too damn suggestive for my liking. "Just let me know when you're ready." She bites her lip and smiles before sauntering away.

Oh, puke in my mouth.

I don't say anything to him about the wenches—at least not while we're working—because in his defense, he doesn't really flirt back, and I was the one who warmed his bed last night. He also brought me coffee from the doctor's lounge when he got here, so how pissed can I really be? Two nurses stared at me when he gave me the coffee, but I made it a point to ignore them. I don't mind Cameron and Joanna knowing about us, nor do I dislike rubbing my new relationship in Maryann's face—that's actually a lot of fun—but I don't really care to discuss my personal life with complete strangers. Justin seems to feel the same way. While we talk, occasionally flirt, and sneak peeks at each other often, we're otherwise professional at work. There's no raging sex sessions on a stretcher in the back of the ER, despite my frequent, inappropriate fantasies.

No, we save that for the on-call room.

On an unusually slow night, after shift change, I bump into Justin in the hallway as I'm getting ready to leave. He's still scheduled to work for another few hours, and despite the tired, haggard lines beneath his eyes, he still looks pleased to have caught me.

"Are you going home?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'll probably stop and grab something to eat first. Did you, uh...want me to bring you anything?" I ask hopefully. I've become pathetic, an absolute loser who can't stop thinking about a guy, who wants him to want her to bring him food so that she can see him another whole five minutes.

"No thanks, I'll probably just grab something in the cafeteria," he says dismissively. A nurse walks by but doesn't pay us any attention. He's quiet until she passes, then he leans in close, his voice lowered. "Do you...would you mind, um, staying for a few more minutes?"

I'm intrigued, and pathetically hopeful, of course. "No, why?"

"You'll see. Just follow me."

We take the elevator to the eighth floor, then get off and take the stairs. When we're by ourselves in the stairwell, I say, "Do you fancy smancy doctors have some kind of secret lair up here?"

"Something like that," he replies, smirking. We reach the top floor – the floor that's not available via the elevator – and low and behold, there's another door with a stupid badge-swiping system to keep us underprivileged nurses out. But I'm not jealous or anything.

When we reach the door, Justin turns around and kisses me right there in the stairwell. This was probably a bad idea, because I miss him and had already fallen asleep when he got home last night. Wrapping my hand around his neck, I cling to him, returning his affection eagerly. He pulls away before I can rip all his clothes off, but he kisses me two more times, his hands on either side of my face, and I can tell he doesn't want to stop either.

He turns just enough to swipe his badge, then pushes the door open and allows me to enter, his hand on the small of my back.

I walk straight into some kind of apartment. Well, not technically an apartment. It's all one giant room, and there are two bunk beds enclosed by curtains, making a total of four places to sleep, and they're both aligned on one side of the wall. There's a sitting area with a couch and a decent sized TV mounted onto the wall on my left. To my right is a small kitchen with a refrigerator, sink, microwave, coffee maker, and dishwasher, and to the far left is a closed door which I presume is the bathroom.