Irrevocably Yours

Rude Awakening

Charmaine (Maine to her friends) Mendoza is having a good day. She woke up 10 minutes before her alarm sounded. She took her time getting ready for work. It was amazing how an extra 10 minutes can make life so much easier. This is the first shift of her 4day stretch in her rotation after being away for a year, well 15 months to be exact. Looking back, the last year has been the happiest she's been in her 28 years of existence. Sure there were moments when she felt like giving up but she always managed to pull herself together because her life is now revolving around someone else's.

Traffic seems a little bit heavier than usual this morning. "I wonder if there's an accident up ahead", she muses. She glanced at the time on her dashboard and realizes she's got plenty of time. So as she sat in her 2012 Jeep Wrangler, she turned the volume up to the stereo and started singing along to Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself".

After what seemed like an eternity, Maine pulled into the parking lot of Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH) where she worked for the last 7 years of her nursing career. She started as a bedside nurse but has since worked her way up to her current position as a Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) in one of the busiest maternity units of British Columbia, Canada.

After parking, with her purse and lunchbag on each shoulder and her coffee mug on one hand, Maine got on the elevator and got off the second floor. As she walked into the locker room, the smell of fresh laundered scrubs assaulted her senses and just like that, her love and passion for her job came rushing back that she actually got a little emotional. Oh how she missed this part of her life. In the last 15 months that she's been off work, she was so focused on one thing that she's forgotten the feeling of being a nurse. Of being able to help others. Of being a part of such a momentous event in somebody else's life. Of helping in bringing a life into this world.

As soon as she's changed into her scrubs and she stashed her things in her locker and locked it, Maine picked up her coffee mug and walked out of the locker room. As soon as she stepped onto the unit, a bunch of her colleagues assaulted her with hugs and murmurs of "welcome back Maine" and "we miss you Maine". With tears in her eyes, Maine hugged them all back and whispered her "thank you" to everyone. Jenny, her closest work friend approached her and engulfed her in a bear hug. Jenny Calderon is Maine's PCC partner and go to person at work. She was also Maine's confidant when she was going through a rough patch. Jenny knew what she has gone through in the last 2 years.

"Well, Ms Mendoza, are you ready" Jenny asks with a quirk of her brow.

"More than ready. Let's do this" Maine answers back with a smile.

Together, they walked to the report room wherein all the incoming staff met to get report before the start of the shift. There was an underlying current of excitement in the room and the nurses all seemed excited. Maine turned to Jenny but before she could ask, Jenny states "we have a new OB and today is his first day as well. We met him briefly last week. He's very nice and not bad to look at, hence the excitement of the nurses *wink*."
"Oh I see" Maine replies.

Maine was taking a sip of her coffee when she heared an all to familiar voice that she thought she would never hear EVER again.

"Good morning everyone. For those I haven't met yet, I'm Dr. Richard Faulkerson, the newbie....

Maine felt her insides turn cold and her hands started sweating. As she quickly turned to see the source of the voice, she accidentally spat the coffee in her mouth and at the same time, her coffee mug hit the floor. There was a moment of silence as her eyes met the newcomer's. Fear started to overtake her whole being and she started  hyperventilating. Her complexion started becoming as pale as the paper she's holding. Jenny was beside her in an instant whispering frantically in her ear.

"Maine, are you alright? Maine? Maine?"

In the meantime, Dr. Faulkerson couldn't stop staring at Maine. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. Suddenly, a smile broke out of his face emphasizing the lone deep dimple on his left cheek. He stepped forward towards Maine oblivious to the 25 other people in the room that by now are all staring at their PCC and the new doctor. He was zoned in on the wide brown eyes that he NEVER thought he would ever see again. 

Maine could feel her world closing in. Her surroundings are turning black. She could hear Jenny asking if she's alright but it seemed like miles away. As she saw Dr. Faulkerson take a step towards her, everything went black!

Authors note:
I hope you enjoyed reading this first chapter. I will try to update as soon as I can. Credits to the owner of the picture I used above.