The following story is a fantasy.
*****
I was having lunch in the staff restaurant when I heard my name called: "Thom! Hey! I didn't know you worked here!" I almost choked on my tomato soup when I looked up to see who it was. "Brie, Hi" It took me a second to regain myself, Brie was my first ever head over heels love, years ago back in my first years of uni. And like is so often the case with first loves, she left a tiny scar on my soul. "I've worked here for the past two years, what about you? since when do you work here?" I'd never seen her in the hospital before, but then again, she was a dental surgeon and I a medical doctor, our specialities don't mix much.
She shrugged, "I started yesterday, but it is just to fill in for a pregnancy leave, so I'll be here for a few months. Can I join you?"
"Sure, grab a chair..." How is it that someone you haven't thought about in years can still bring you of balance so easily? She hadn't changed one bit. She had the same blonde ponytail, still wore a dark blue polo shirt under her white doctors coat and sported the same careless air I fell in love with so many years ago.
"How have you been, Thom?" she asked. Damn, even her smile hadn't changed, it still had the power to make me feel queezy. I gave myself a mental kick, come on, I wasn't an eighteen year old boy anymore, was I?
"I have been great, this is a very nice place to work, you'll see!"
We talked for a while, it turned out she still lived in the city we both studied in, which was an hour drive from the hospital, and hadn't found a fixed job yet. We reminisced about our student days for a while, but didn't touch on the subject of our short-lived romance. After a while my pager inevitably started beeping. I looked at her apologetically: "seems like duty calls, I guess I'll be seeing you around!"
She smiled, "Sure, want to meet for lunch tomorrow?"
"I wish I could, but I start a block of night shifts tomorrow, next week?"
"Oh cool, I have my first night shift in three days, see you then!"
I smiled, dental surgeons almost never have to come in during night shifts, especially not in a small local hospital like this. "yea right, like you lot ever have to actually come in."
She grimaced, "No, We don't, I was smart when I chose my speciality, however..." She sighed deeply, "As I live an hour drive from the hospital, I have to sleep here just in case something comes up." Her grimace turned into a grin when she added: "Still, I will be sleeping and you will be working your ass off"
My pager started beeping again, "really gotta run, Brie, good luck with your hospital sleep-in!" The rest of the day flew by in a haze and I was glad to be able to spend the next day relaxing and napping in preparation for my night shifts. My thoughts went to Brie and her wonderful smile a few times. But I managed to fix that with a long shower.
The first two of my night shifts were rather uneventful. I would arrive the hospital to find the ER swarmed with people, worked my way through the slowly dwindling list of patients, having to run up to the ward occasionally if there was a problem there. Usually at four o'clock most of the work was taken care of so I sat around at the nurses station, chatting or napping, occasionally being paged to solve a small problem.
When I arrived for my third and last night shift I ran into Brie in the parking lot. "Here for your hospital slumber party?" I joked. She stuck out her tongue and pulled a book out of her bag. "Go and run to the ER, doc," she said teasingly, "I have a nice book to read."