CHAPTER SEVEN
Scarlett
How is this my liferight now? Maybe I’ll wake up and it will be last Thursday, and I’ll just make sure I’m on time to work. However, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have met this hottie nurse man, so that would be a downside. I’m not sure a hot guy is worth all this crap, though. I’d still rather wake up in my bed back in Boston.
I see the sign for Radiology at the end of the hall. I’m not sure how I’ve managed to make it twenty-nine years without having an X-ray, but I’m not a bit into activities that might end with stitches or a broken bone so that probably explains it.
“It’s just over here. The technician will take care of the X-rays, and I’ll be back afterward to take you back to triage. Sound good?”
“Okay,” I tell him. In a strange way, I kind of wish he’d stay, but I guess that’s not allowed. Something is definitely broken in my wrist. It’s not a sprain. I feel it. I just hope it’s not too bad. I still have to start work in two days somehow.
“Everything will be okay,” Austin says, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I look up at him—his stupid, pretty blue eyes, and his mess of sandy brown hair. So far, all I’ve seen are bronzed people down here. Must be nice to have a sweet tan in April since I’m still paler than an unripened strawberry. “I seriously doubt that. Do you tell your dying patients that too?”
He looks taken aback by my crass comment. “Not usually,” he says with a raised brow, “but don’t worry. I don’t think your wrist is terminal.”
“I guess that’s good to know,” I tell him.
“Look, let me just give you a piece of advice, okay?”
“I don’t need advice,” I tell him.
“Well, I’m going to give it to you anyway. People down here away from Boston are typically friendly, with a little less attitude compared to what y’all northern folk must be used to. You might want to take it down a notch.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding? I’m in pain. I’m pissed off, and I don’t want to be here. On top of all that, I’m probably going to end up with a cast on my arm for the next six weeks while trying to start a new job, so you’ll have to excuse me for having an attitude.” I’d like to tell him to stop being so damn chipper like the rest of the people down here, but that’ll probably have just as much effect on him as his words have on me.
“Just givin’ you a word of advice—take it how you want.”
“Well, thanks. I’ll keep it in my back pocket in case I need it.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Okay, bruiser.”
I pull in a deep breath, wanting to push this guy out of my way, but I hold the air inside my lungs as he spins me into the Radiology department.
* * *
That was a super fun thirty minutes of life, I think to myself as a nurse from Radiology pushes this stupid chair I’m forced to sit in, down to the waiting area where I find Austin waiting.
“Do you spend a lot of your day waiting on people?” I ask him.
“Actually, I spend my day taking care of people, but whatever you’d like to think of it as is fine by me.”
“You’re like a man handler of sorts,” I tell him. I might be trying to get under his skin, seeing as he was trying to get under mine earlier, but I don’t think it’s working much.
“Sure, I’m a man handler. Is that better?” he gives in. “Why don’t we get you back to triage now.”
“Do you have any other patients, or am I just getting special treatment?” I realize I’ve never had to spend time in a hospital before, but I wouldn’t think I’d have my very own nurse carting me to and from where I have to go.
“The ER is quiet today,” he says.
“So, I’m your entertainment?”
“You are pretty entertaining,” he quips.
“Pain entertains you?” I reply. The conversation ends abruptly, which I would normally call a win, but I might have taken one step too far this time, and I don’t feel like I won. “I’m kidding.”
Austin stops and steps in front of the wheelchair. “Oh,” he says, placing his hand on his chest, “I’m sorry, were you just trying to be funny? I must have missed the punchline.”
