After that weekend with Adrianna Lake, Diana did not engage in any further sex for the remainder of her senior year at the School of Nursing, University of Michigan. As soon as she graduated, and obtained her BSN degree (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) she wrote the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) test and was duly registered as a nurse. She soon thereafter received her commission into the United States Navy. Because of her superior academic record at the University of Michigan coupled with her exceptional dedicated performance in the required extra ROTC training classes, her starting rank was Lieutenant (junior grade) as opposed to the normal initial starting rank of Ensign.
Diana was scheduled to start on July 1st, and was deployed to the navy hospital in San Diego, CA. The official name of the hospital is the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), but it is also designated as the Bob Wilson Naval Hospital, named after a Republican Congressman representing San Diego who promoted military presence in San Diego. However the unofficial, but most common reference for the hospital, that everyone used was, as the Balboa Hospital, since the hospital complex is contained within the Balboa Park in San Diego.
Leaving her home town of Grosse Pointe Farms in Michigan was made easier by the Navy. The cost and actual movement of personal property was borne by the Navy known as the 'pack out'. Her parents arranged Astrid Haagensen to accompany Diana to San Diego for the months of July and August. Astrid would return to Michigan at the end of August, as she had obtained a student's visa to attend Wayne State University in Detroit. Inspired by Diana's education, Astrid enrolled in the College of Nursing at Wayne State. She also had gotten engaged to Robert Morley, so that she would eventually acquire her green card for permanent residence in the United States.
The two months that Astrid was with Diana, gave our heroine plenty of time to arrange satisfactory day care for Laura who was now two years old. Diana obtained a modest partially furnished two bedroom apartment on top of a convenience store, with separate entranceway adjacent to the outer wall of the store. Best of all for Diana. Her residence was in a reasonable close distance to the hospital. In fact to facilitate her commute to work, she purchased a motorcycle as a less cumbersome mode of travel than her GMC SUV. The owner of the party store had initially occupied the premises, but having purchased a home in a nearby neighborhood, now rented the apartment out. Her landlord also intimated that he had a fourteen year old daughter, who would be happy to baby sit. Should Diana have to work a midnight shift, the daughter would be available since the school she attended was within walking distance of the store.
Accordingly when Astrid finally finished her nanny duties, and returned to Michigan, Diana was adequately established as a single mother in active duty with the United States Navy. After her brief orientation at the hospital, she was assigned pursuant to her application, to the ICU (intensive care unit). Diana's character demanded that she strive to excel in difficult situations. She thrived on stressful situations since overcoming them always produced an adrenalin high that was almost as satisfying and fulfilling as a 'Goldilocks Orgasm'.
Diana's work ethic was demonstrably outstanding. She was a quick study in developing her abilities as a nurse, such that within six months, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and also assigned the duties of an assistant head nurse in the unit. Diana's skills in doing her job was so evident that none of her co workers resented her fast rise. No one even joked at speculating at who she had been sleeping with to achieve such a speedy promotion. Her cheerful attitude endeared her to the entire staff, such that no one seemed to hate her. That was great comfort for Diana, and contrasted favorably with her student days at the University of Michigan. There, lots of her friends, and acquaintances were cognizant of her participation at the Frat gangbang orgies. So the friendly atmosphere at the hospital easily took the sting out of recalling her Michigan reputation as a slut and a whore.
One of her hospital co workers that truly intrigued our heroine, was a surgeon named Captain Henry McCord. He was about as a delightful male eye candy as they come! His masculine face commanded respect. To complement his absolutely handsome features he sported a permanent five o'clock shadow stubble on his chin. For him that balance between clean shaven and an actual beard just worked right to make him totally alluring to any female with a pulse.
His body frame was solid and just right. He was formidable in size, a good three inches taller than Diana, which of course made him appealable to her for that fact alone. He was not thin, but neither was he fat. Diana felt that if she closed her eyes and pictured the ideal man that she would love to be associated with, that picture would reassemble Dr Henry McCord. Diana realized that she had harbored a similar notion in contemplating the manly features of Brad Winters and to a lesser extent Hank Doran as well. However, there was a major distinction in that those two were still college students, only mere boys. Dr Hank McCord on the other hand, was a Navy doctor, a real man!
To top it off, Dr Henry McCord had a deep bass voice that was sexy as all hell. She had previously considered Hank Doran's voice as the quintessential male sexual voice that she would always remember. Instead Dr Henry McCord's voice absolutely surpassed that assessment. His voice rivaled that of male Opera singers. Yes, Diana drooled over him, as he was everything she could have desired in a man. She believed without a shadow of a doubt that, if she were to enter into a relationship with him, she would never cheat on him, and never be tempted to do so, no matter otherwise.
As a surgeon at the Balboa Hospital, Captain Henry McCord was in frequent consultation with Diana concerning her ICU patients that needed or had surgery. During those times there were plenty of opportunities to engage in some innocuous banter. Diane never wasted those moments, but flirted with him somewhat subtly, but more often than not truly overtly. To her utter delight, he returned the flirtations in kind, resulting her in believing she was heading towards inhabiting in a sexual heaven. They even shared lunch at the hospital cafeteria on a couple of occasions. Although their conversations consisted merely of swapping work related anecdotes, still the rapport between them was not to be denied.
Notwithstanding such happy banter and verbal byplay, there were three negative factors in their frequent contacts, that dampened the serendipity Diana was experiencing with her association with Dr Henry McCord. First of all, she was soon appraised of his age as being forty-four years of age. She was herself only twenty-two years of age, and that disparity of age troubled her. Of course such age disparity was not a negative if she only contemplated casual sex or a one night stand. But if she were to consider a long term relationship, especially a life long one then, that would be a definite minus.
Another thing she found strange was that she appeared to be the only female on staff, that flirted with Dr Henry McCord. Now that could be taken in two different ways. The preferable takeaway, would be that the other females realized they would have no chance with him, so why bother. Diana was the very new employee at the Balboa Hospital. Ergo, perhaps presumably the other females had exhausted their attempts in implementing seducing enticements on him, and having gotten nowhere had given up the ghost. The trouble with that supposition to Diana was her belief, certainly from her point of view, that if a subsequent new female employee were to arrive on the scene, and start making eyes towards Dr Henry McCord, that would not deter her one iota in her own efforts to allure the good doctor to her own charms. The other takeaway suggested that there was something mysteriously off with Captain Henry McCord, which had dissuaded other females from pursuing him. Such conjecture was too depressing a notion to contemplate, so Diana refrained from considering that possibility.
The third discordant note to Diana's pursuit of securing the good doctor's regard was the fact that he was wearing an obvious wedding ring on the appropriate finger. That was absolutely deflating to Diana's ego as it did not auger well for a hope of a commitment on his part. She naturally gritted her teeth in conjuring the hope that perhaps his marriage must be on the rocks. After all he returned the double entendres of sex that she had signaled throughout their conversations. Surely he must be in the process of seeking a new mate. Rationalizing her feelings, it made sense that he would be wielding his wedding ring to ward off unsuitable replacements. Diana also was cognizant that upon examining the bottom of her heart, that she was willing to be Dr Henry McCord's mistress if he was unwilling to leave his wife.
In any case the friendly exchanges of sexual banter between the two of them continued for several months. Finally the matter came to a head when he asked, "Diana, are you by any chance free this coming Saturday night? I'd like to treat you out to dinner....(at this point he suggested an exceptionally excellent seafood restaurant located at the edge of the ocean)."
Diana was unequivocally thrilled by the invitation by the Adonis doctor, so she responded, "Oh yes I'm off Friday and Saturday, and I don't have another shift until 20:00 hours Sunday. However, you seem to possess a wedding ring on your ring finger, so I'm naturally apprehensive of the appropriateness of your dinner suggestion."
