Rohan watched as a young nurse walked into the room. She was wearing purple scrubs that complemented her cocoa complexion. Her hair was in a ponytail, and her hazel eyes shone bright as she smiled at Alynn when she entered. She was gorgeous, and Rohan had to admit he was excited too, just differently from his niece.
2
When she entered the room, Jalen had planned to see Alynn and her father. However, the man who was in there with the little girl almost stopped her in her tracks. To say he was fine would be an understatement. He was beyond that. His jawline was sharp, and it seemed as if she could just get lost in those eyes. She could tell that he was a little older than her, but that just added to his sex appeal.
“Jalen, I didn’t know if you would be my nurse again,” Alynn stated, drawing Jalen’s attention to her.
“As long as you’re here, you’re stuck with me,” Jalen responded, smiling at the cute strawberry blonde. She then turned her attention back to the man, whose eyes had followed her since she had stepped into the room. “I’m Jalen. One of Alynn’s nurses.”
He smiled at her, and that made him more attractive. “Rohan. I’m her uncle.”
Jalen nodded before going about checking Alynn’s fluid levels and taking her blood pressure. Everything was fine, and she was just about to leave when Alynn stopped her.
“Jalen, can I get some apple juice?”
She smiled at the young girl. “Sure. I’ll be back in just a minute with it.”
With that, Jalen left the room to go key in Alynn’s levels. She checked on another patient and keyed in their info before grabbing two apple juices and heading back to Alynn’s room.
“Marco?” she called after knocking.
“Polo!” She heard the girl’s excited voice before she walked in.
“Here you go,” she stated, setting the juice down. She was about to turn and leave when his voice stopped her.
“Do you do that with all your patients?” he questioned. When Jalen furrowed her eyebrows, he elaborated. “Call out Marco before you enter.”
Jalen shook her head and smiled. “Not really. I do something different with each child assigned to me. So there’s only one Marco Polo patient at a time.”
“Why do you do it?” he inquired.
Jalen thought about answering, but then changed her mind as she glanced at Alynn, who was far too in tune with their conversation. She reminded her of Mikael with her nosiness. She watched as he nodded, catching her hint.
“Another time then, perhaps?” he asked, and Jalen nodded at him before smiling and informing Alynn she would be back to check on her in a little while.
Jalen returned to the nurse’s station and looked over the notes she had entered over the last three days in Alynn’s chart. She was looking good, and her doctor was going to release her the next day after her last round of antibiotics. She would be given a prescription for oral antibiotics to be taken at home.
She checked on a few more of the children who were assigned to her. They were all doing better than they had been the first time she saw them. There was one she knew would be with them at least another two to three days, but overall was doing much better.
Jalen returned to the nurse’s station and took a seat at her computer. After entering her password, she updated some charts before leaning back in the chair.
“Hey Jae, do you know if Kodi has plans tomorrow night?”
Jalen turned her attention towards Maria, one of her co-workers. “I’m not sure. I can ask. Did you need her for tomorrow night?”
“If she’s free.”
“I’ll check when I get home and text you to let you know.”
“Thank you.”
Tomorrow was Friday night, and she knew Maria was probably in need of a babysitter. Every other Friday, she worked the night shift, opposite the shifts that Jalen worked, and her husband worked a later shift. So, she would need someone to watch her two children for the hours in between. Jalen knew she could have texted Kodi and asked her, but she was in school, and she didn’t like her texting in class. Though Jalen was not naïve enough to believe that she never did.
Jalen walked through the door of her apartment fifteen minutes after six. She had worked a ten-hour shift that day, and on those days her siblings caught the bus home. When the kitchen came into view, she found Kodi standing behind one of the dining room chairs, styling the hair of a girl about her sister’s age.
“Hey, Jae. How was work?”
“It was good. How was school?”
