Defy Desire

Chapter 31 - Tom

I paced quickly through the bland corridor, the blue blur of scrubs passing by me in the busy first hour of the day. Everyone was rushing around getting set up for their lists and I was on my way to my own.

My mind was still distracted after my night with Maia, remembering her soft, glowing skin on top of mine and the way her nails grazed down my shoulders and back up again to my neck then to my hair.

I had told Anna about her; that we had been spending a lot of time together and Anna seemed wary of this, which I knew she would be. After stepping out from therapy and seeing her so happy and excited to be going away with her friend had made me feel so thrilled for her and I felt happy to see her this way; she was so beautiful when she was smiling. I didn't want to dull her mood with anything negative but I wasn't going to forget about this person who was messing with her and I knew she wouldn't either; I would still be there for her when she was ready to deal with this.

I pushed through the doors of the O.R and headed towards the table pulling out my list.

'Brief!' I called, gently.

The team gathered around and I read through my notes in my head for my first patient.

'Let's get on then, shall we?' I said, deciding to initiate introductions like we were supposed to. It was something I never used to bother with, but now I made an effort to actually know the team I was working with if there were new faces. 'Tom, surgeon.'

The team continued on introducing their names and roles as I listened whilst studying my notes and my head moved up at the sound of a familiar voice.

'Maia, student nurse.'

I looked up at her and she was staring at me, a gentle smile on her face as she seemed amused that I hadn't realised she was here. Once again, she was playing these cute little games with me at work and she knew they were driving me crazy. It took all of me not to cancel my list, grab her and take her home to spend the full day in bed with her. She was the highlight of my day now at the hospital; seeing her gave me little bursts of happiness and only built the eagerness to hold her after we got home.

'Okay then,' I said, trying to keep my eyes from constantly staring at her. 'Let's get on with it.'

I made my way through the list with my team, discussing our patients and making sure we were all prepped and on the same page before the group split and began to set up.

Maia was helping Rachel with the table and I watched her work from behind my notes. She seemed different today...like the girl she had been on her first day here. She didn't look tired or worried or stressed. I hadn't even expected her to be back this week at all. I felt proud that she was making it in after everything she was dealing with and proud that she was getting on with things. Maybe spending some time with her friend had done her the world of good.

I stepped out of the O.R to grab myself a coffee and breakfast before the procedure and returned to scrub up as the patient was being moved onto the table. I gloved and gowned as my reg, Dr. Wilson, prepped the patient's skin. I was working on a Discectomy and knew it wouldn't take too long so I could try and talk to Maia at some point.

I noticed her walk over to me scrubbed up and she turned to open the trays on the trolley. She was my scrub nurse. I smirked behind my mask at the idea of us working together again after everything and I knew she would likely be doing the same. As much as I had told myself I would avoid us working together in theatre, things had been so good between us since then and I saw no harm in it now.

We continued to work through the procedure, holding our professional own and the only words communicated between us were when I requested an instrument. She did perfectly, like I knew she would.