Rahim FaceTime called Maryam the next morning, as was usual for them, as they were having their breakfast. Maryam was ready for work - wearing a red knitted crop-top, which exposed her neck and an ample amount of cleavage. Wearing her glasses, with her brown hair and curly brunette hair, Rahim felt he was married to a goddess, and found himself wishing he were there with her right now.
"Where'd you get off to last night then?" he asked with a cheeky smile.
They were both on each others wavelength enough to know when the other was feeling embarrassed or shy. It was clear to Rahim that Maryam was embarrassed about the topic of conversation broached at the end of last night, although Rahim surmised that she must have enjoyed it, at least somewhat, from her facial expressions as she orgasmed.
"Shut up---" Maryam replied back, blushing red on her fair cheeks, failing to repress a smile as she takes another spoonful of her cereal.
Rahim saw the opportunity to try and defuse whatever awkwardness there was, "You know you don't have to be embarrassed about anything in bed with me, right?" laughing and giving a reassuring smile to Maryam as he did. "I mean, I don't think any kink is going to be more weird than my love of feet," he added.
Appreciative of the effort, Maryam gives a smile back through the camera. "I know," she says, again taking another spoonful of cereal whilst blushing red. She half wanted to say something but seemingly stops herself.
"Did it turn you on? I mean the idea of this guy knowing how much of a slut you are?" Rahim asks with a smirk.
"I'm not a slut!" Maryam squealed defensively. Some women had a seeming duality to them - loving degrading words in the bedroom but unable to stand them outside of it, Maryam seemed to be one of those women.
"Okay, okay. But it did turn you on, right? Imagining him? Watching you? It turned me the fuck on..." Rahim said, in the hope that his honesty would inspire some from Maryam too.
"It's not that simple, Rahim..." Maryam hesitated, taking a deep breath. "I just... I don't know if I'm comfortable talking about this." Her eyes darted nervously away from the screen.
"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry," Rahim said, realising that this wasn't a battle he wanted to take on particularly. Rahim paused before changing the subject, "How's today looking at work?"
Maryam sighed in relief, happy that Rahim hadn't pressed further. Although she didn't want to admit it, even to herself, the topic was bringing out emotions she wasn't sure how to process.
She shrugged, "Same old, really." She took another spoonful of cereal, finishing it, trying to seem nonchalant. She continued, "The hospital's so busy lately. I just hate COVID, it's ruined everything. No breaks. No regular wards. The only good thing is that the roads are empty, so i can get out of that place quicker." Her voice trailed off slightly, lost in though. "Anyway, enough about me, what about you?" she asked.
Rahim leant back onto his sofa. "Yeah, same old shit, really. Yesterday's on-call was horrible. Just getting bleeped every 2 minutes, all about patients who are desaturating, I can't wait to move to surgery next month."
"Careful what you wish for, Dr Khan," Maryam says with a teasing smile, feeling more like herself again, pushing her glasses back closer to her eyes. She smiled at him warmly. "Seriously though, I'm sure you'll be great on surgery. It'll be nice to have the time to wind down a little," she added.
Rahim glances at the time on his phone. "Babe, I need to head out, We'll catch up later today, yeah?" he asked, preparing his work bag and going over to his desk to grab his car keys, his phone in the other hand.
"I will babe. Talk to you later - I love you." She blew him a kiss over the phone before hanging up, before realising she herself was at danger of being late. She quickly finished getting ready, applied light makeup and pulled her curly brown hair up into a messy bun. Grabbing her bag, she hurried out of the door and started her car.
Pulling onto the motorway, Maryam turned up the volume of Radiohead's "Creep", belting along to the lyrics. Despite herself, she caught herself replaying Rahim's words over in her head - "Did it turn you on?"
As she pulled into the car park at work, stilling humming the lyrics of the song under her breath, she parked her car, grabbed her bag and headed towards the hospital, feeling the familiar bustle and energy of the building enveloping her.
A well rehearsed routine by now, she entered the changing rooms and swapped out her jeans and top for a pair of dark blue scrubs, and walked onto the ward, where the junior doctors were standing around, on computers-on-wheels, near the nurse's station.
As she approached the nurses station, she noticed Andrew's eyes flicking upwards to meet hers, glancing quickly down to her cleavage before meeting her eyes again. He offered her a casual nod and greeted her with a polite, "Morning."
"Morning," Maryam responded, returning the polite greeting with a small smile. She noticed how his eyes lingered on her chest just long enough to make her blush. Immediately, she felt a streak of anger and irritation, shocked at how blasé he was about looking at a colleague in such a manner.
As Maryam settled in behind a desk at the nurses station, she could feel Andrew's eyes burn into her back, undoubtedly still fixed onto the curve of her hips, outlined beneath the tight fit of her scrub pants. She tried to concentrate on the list of drug charts for new admissions in front of her, but couldn't shake the feeling of Andrew watching her every movement.
Suddenly, the ward doors swung open and Dr Burns, the consultant of the ward, strode in with purpose and a coffee cup in hand. His eyes landed on Maryam and he gave her a brisk nod. Maryam felt Andrew's gaze shift away from her as Dr Burns walked past, barking orders and greetings simultaneously.
Dr Burns walked to the group of junior doctors and handed them a list of administrative tasks that he had been emailed about, before turning to Maryam, asking for a quick update on the day's medication rounds.
Maryam began updating Dr Burns on the day's medication rounds, whilst casting occasional glances at Andrew, still sitting at the desk, on the computer, who seemed to be deliberately avoiding her gaze.
"Okay, guys, I have a meeting at 1pm, so in the interest of both of our time and energy, can we start the ward round?" Dr Burns announces, which leads to the group of four junior doctors on the ward, half carrying around the paper notes of patients, ready to write down whatever Dr Burns dictated whilst the other half were on computer-on-wheels, ready to dig out whatever information they needed to about patients.
Andrew went along as part of this delegation, without a computer or any paper notes, thinking he was above such a lowly task of documenting for a medical ward round.
Maryam finished reviewing her drug charts quickly and joined the ward round. Andrew followed Maryam and the rest of the team, as they wrapped up the round, matching his pace to hers, making small talk.
"Thanks", Maryam replied softly, walking beside Andrew as they continued down the hall towards the staircase, leading to the intensive care unit (ICU). As they reached the stairwell, Andrew slowed his steps again to match Maryam's. "Busy day today, huh?" he commented.
Maryam glanced over at hime, her eyes meeting his for a moment. "Yeah, seems that way," she murmured quietly, wondering why he was bothering with her today; he usually kept his distance.
Their footsteps echoed through the stairwell as they climbed, side-by-side, behind the other junior doctors. "So, how do you like working here?" Andrew asked, surprising Maryam.
She hesitated and looked taken aback by the sudden interest. "Uh... I guess it's fine," she managed to reply. "Just the same as any other hospital, really." She avoided looking directly at him as she spoke.
Andrew smirked. "Sounds boring," he teased, showing off a charming smile. "You should come to the operating theatres sometime."
Maryam glanced up at him, catching his playful expression. She raised an eyebrow, "Boring is good sometimes."
"You'll never be bored with me," Andrew short back, a twinkle in his blue eyes. Maryam was taken aback, suddenly feeling a little defensive about her job.
"I actually hate the operating theatres. So cold and sterile." Again, she avoids looking at his eyes directly.
"Oh, I wasn't talking about the surgery," Andrew said with a smirk, watching as Maryam blushed.
Maryam wondered if she should have answered differently, or just stopped talking to him altogether. She felt outraged and irritated by such a blatant attempt to flirt with a married woman.
Andrew held open the door to the ICU for Maryam, and she stepped inside. As they approach the desk, Dr Burns talked to the nurse-in-charge and enquired about one of his patients, as the delegate is ushered toward the relevant bay.
Maryam glanced around the unit and realised Andrew was no longer behind her, instead, spotting him standing a little way off, leaning against the wall with his phone in hand.
She continued staring blankly as Dr Burns continued the ward round, occasionally stealing glances at Andrew, who was still on his phone but seemed to have his attention somewhere else. She even forgot that she technically wasn't even covering the ICU, so didn't need to be there.
As the ward round concluded, Maryam seized the opportunity to escape Andrew's immediate vicinity, making her way back to the main hospital block, checking her phone and realising it was lunch time, making her way down to the cafeteria. She grabbed a table near the window, overlooking the greenery outside the hospital, sitting with a colleague, whom she had arranged to meet for lunch today.
