A Walk on the Wild Side

Chapter 5

Jasmine's POV

My alarm went off at 6:15 and I rolled out of bed. With my eyes still half-closed, I wandered over to the bathroom, hitting my foot on the corner of the table in my room which caused me to mumble a string of swear words. I brushed my teeth and put on jeans and a hoodie, knowing I would be changing into scrubs as soon as my shift started.  I made some toast and coffee, checking my phone as I ate peacefully. The events of the night before played on repeat in my head and I begged for something to distract me. Seeing the time, I grabbed my bag and a coat before slipping on my shoes and searching for my keys.

"Fuck" I groaned when I realised my car was still at Tony's. "Thanks a lot Alec" I muttered, his name sending involuntary shivers up my spine.

I checked the bus schedule on my phone, bolting our the door once I realised the next one was due in 4 minutes. The day went by quickly, mainly due to my mind being elsewhere. At lunch, some of my coworkers and I headed down to a nearby restaurant for lunch, where I ordered a sandwich and some fries. Eating out with my colleagues was something we tried to do once a month, we could only handle so much of that canteen food.

When we got back to the hospital, a knot began forming in my stomach and it wasn't until Brian told me, I hadn't notice my nose bleeding. Quickly applying pressure just below the bridge of my nose and grabbing a nearby tissue, I stopped it from bleeding. Looking down at the tissue I noticed my blood was darker than usual, but then again I hadn't had a nose bleed since I was 4. Cleaning myself up I carried on working.
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I managed to finish my shift slightly early today, finishing at 4 instead of 5, as we had extra staff in today. I decided to use my time productively and head to the gym.

Changing into my workout clothes in the changing rooms, I headed out the mats and grabbed some weights. I did a short circuit before noticing Peter, my workout buddy, over by the treadmills. I put my weights away and headed over to him. I tapped him on his shoulder and he turned to face me, his confused face morphing into a wide grin.

"J! Long time no see" he said, hugging me tightly.

"Ew sweaty" I struggled against his grip as he laughed my discomfort. Pete was a tall guy, very muscular, and I'd been working out with him since I joined the gym a few years back. He had short brown hair and hazel eyes and a grin that was contagious. Despite his intimidating form he was the biggest softie I knew.

"Weren't you supposed to be here yesterday?" He asked, his smile never leaving his face.

"Yeah... I decided to be lazy and sleep instead. I was on the night shift last night"

"Ah I guess caring for sick people is an ok excuse" he said teasingly and I punched him in the arm.

"Ow" he pouted, rubbing it. "

"Baby" I stuck my tongue out at him.

"No that actually kinda hurt" he said inspecting it. I furrowed my eyebrows, my eyes widening as a small bruise appeared on his bicep.

"Shit I'm sorry. I didn't realise I hit you that hard." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Bruises don't affect me that much, it'll be gone in no time. Come on, let's spar."

Pete was knowledgable enough to be a personal trainer and so he would often help me with self-defence by sparring with me. I always wanted to be able to protect myself and with Pete working in security, he was very helpful. We sparred a few times and usually he would take me down no problem, but today I was putting up more and more resistance. One time I even managed to knock him down, which was like knocking a stone boulder to the ground.