Act two: Once bitten, twice shy.
The clouds cleared the next evening, bringing the light of the full moon sparkling off the wet pavement, like a crystal cave. Christina pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail that made her dark eyes squint. She reached the elevator and was on the seventh floor of the hospital with five minutes to spare, she wouldn't be late tonight. Lori was leaning on the wall next to the nurse's station, sipping a cup of black coffee her eyes staring off into space.
"You made it." She didn't even look down at Christina, who was wrapping her green stethoscope around her neck.
"With time to spare." Christina responded with a chirpy howl. Lori looked down at her, lips turned down and head cocked to the side.
"You're too cheerful for the morning, what's wrong?" She saw the forced determination in her face.
"Here's the note." Christina handed her a piece of paper. "He's finally gone."
"Good riddance for now, but you know he'll be back, he always is." She choked out the words, spitting coffee everywhere. "Now are you staying with me, or am I going to move in with you?"
"Undecided as of yet." She was looking at the ground and pressing the toes of her shoes into the white floor.
An older, heavyset woman with silver hair stepped in front of all the nurses, her navy blue scrubs wrinkled and stained. Everybody stopped and turned toward her, anticipation etched on their faces. The charge nurse began shouting out assignments to all the nurses one by one, everyone but Christina, who stood waiting. Even Lori received her assignment on floor eight, which was genuinely preferred to the seventh, as the patients were a higher level of care.
"Maybe the Emergency Department." Lori shrugged.
"Chris." The old lady spit out, rotating her head and staring over wire rimmed glasses on the tip of her nose. "The dungeon."
"What?" Christina yelled out, not trying to be discreet. "I got the dungeon last night, it's someone else's turn."
"All the patients are the same and you already know them." The charge spat back.
"They are all easy, don't you think you could use my experience somewhere else." She didn't want to return to the dungeon for many reasons.
"Listen Chris." Michelle argued. "I need you there. If the Emergency department gets rushed again, I can send a nurse's aid to look after your patients so you can help. If I have you up here, I'll have to cover your rooms. It just makes sense."
"Whatever." Christina threw up her hands and headed toward the elevator. Lori hurried to catch up.
"Maybe you can get that full body bed bath done tonight." She laughed, as the doors to the elevator closed and Christina disappeared with a sour look on her face.
The old nurse in the dungeon was charting on the computer when Christina arrived. She slid the chair out from beside the old lady and looked into the blank monitor in front of her.
"Any changes?" She asked, not looking at the old woman.
"Nope." The woman returned. "Should be boring all night."
"Great." She gasp sarcastically, then put her head in her palms and blew out a long slow breath.
As the old lady in the long white dress shuffled down the dark hallway, Christina looked toward the rooms. She didn't want to see the man from yesterday at all. She had made a mistake and she wasn't sure she could trust herself around him. I'll avoid him, she thought. If he sleeps all night, then that would be better for him anyway.
She made her way through the first five rooms, making sure everyone was asleep or on their way to sleeping, then she went back to the computer and started searching the internet to pass time. I have got to keep myself occupied, she reasoned. She caught the sharp red glow of a light blinking out of the corner of her eye and looked over to see the call light flashing above the last door on the left.
"Shit!" She muttered.
She fumbled through some papers on the desk and found his paperwork. His name was Jim. She had unwittingly given him a hand job last night, for what reason she could not imagine and she didn't even know his name. Well, he was a fireman, she laughed under her breath, so maybe he deserved it. Besides, he doesn't even know, he slept, drugged up, through the whole thing. She pushed herself up and straightened her red scrubs, then flipped the stethoscope around her neck. Everything will be fine, she inhaled deep and walked over to his door. It creaked open and she peeked her head in.
"Everything ok?" She whispered, not entering the room.
"Yea, do you have a moment?" The voice was deeper than she remembered.
"Sure." She walked in, her hands behind her back, jutting her large breasts out even further. "What can I do for you?"
"Can I get a glass, for some water?" He nodded. "I asked the other nurse, but she must have forgotten.
Seeing him under the light, sitting on the edge of the bed, his broad shoulders, and thick arms, made her gasp a little. His face was strong, jaw line abrupt and cheeks narrow. His dark eyes looked right through her, as if he was staring directly into her soul. Last night seemed like nothing more than a dream to her, as if it didn't even happen, and now the reality of it all came flooding back into her brain, then her breath picked up, face becoming flush. Her stomach swirled in a queasy manner and her knees felt like they were going to buckle under her weight.
"Are you o.k.?" The man asked.
"Yes, of course." She managed. "I'll get you a cup right now." She reached up and opened the cupboard on the other side of the room, over the sink, her face now a pinkish-red.
"Are you the nurse from last night?" Jim questioned, tilting his head and squinting both eyes. "Everything is still a little hazy."
"Yes," She answered, relieved. "I am the same nurse."
"Oh, I just wanted to say thank you for last night." He took the water from her.
"Sure, we don't usually give bed baths," She told him. "I mean the nurse's aides usually do it, but we were short handed, so no problem." She reached back and loosened her pony tail a little, then lowered her shoulders, realizing that she was tensed up.
"Well ya, that too." He tilted his head, staring right into her dark eyes. "But you know... the other thing also. It really helped me relax." Christina's face turned white and she stumbled back a couple of steps.
"You...You remember that?" The words were barely audible.
"It's kind of hard to forget." A smile formed on his taut face. "I mean, it was wonderful."
Christina stood motionless until the room quit spinning around her. She tried to slow down her mind, which was currently racing a mile a minute. How did I let that happen, she pleaded with herself; I should be fired? She grabbed her head with strong fingers, willing the world to stop twirling around, then waited as it slowed to a stop.
"Yes...I made a mistake last night, and I am so very sorry. It shouldn't have happened." She peered at the man, her eyes desperate . "Please don't say a word, I would get fired, or worse yet, lose my license." Her face was now turning a purplish-red.
"I will say nothing, I promise." Jim assured her. "That is why I played dumb when that other nurse came around yesterday morning."
"Thank you." She said nervously.