“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but when you call me darling, it makes my heart do a flip. I was just being mean to you yesterday because that’s what girls do when they like a boy, right?”
“I thought that was just something parents tell their kids to make them feel better, but if that’s true, it’d make me think twice next time a girl’s mean to me.” He laughs again, but I’m trying to have a serious conversation with him. Typical guy. He just thinks everything is funny.
“I see you’re coming out of your haze a bit now,” he says.
“What haze?” I ask.
He clears his throat, positioning his fist a couple inches in front of his mouth. He’s trying to hide a smile I can still see by his deep dimples. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” I don’t understand what he means and now he’s picking up a phone that looks like it’s from the fifties. “Hi, it’s Austin. Can you send a patient’s guest by the name of Brendan … ” He covers the phone with his hand. “What’s Brendan’s last name?”
“Harkins,” I tell him.
“Brendan Harkins,” he repeats. “You can tell him to come on down to room fifteen.” Austin gives me a thumbs up. “Thank you, Miss Daisy.” He hangs up the phone and walks to the sink to wash his hands. After a quick minute, he returns to the seat next to me, grabbing a pair of gloves on the way.
“I’m not dirty,” I tell him.
“What if I am?” he asks. “We don't want none of them germs being passed around here now, do we?”
“You’re not dirty,” I tell him.
He raises a brow. “Darlin’, don’t go around talking about things you know nothing about.”
His words make me feel hot and I suddenly have the urge to tear the sheets off my body, but I thankfully remember that I’m pretty naked under this nearly see-through gown I have on.
“I’m dirty too,” I tell him.
“Dear God, make it stop,” he says, throwing his head back.
“That’s rude,” I tell him.
“You need to watch what you say, Miss Scarlett. You’re going to get yourself into trouble.”
“Maybe I like trouble.”
Austin leans in toward me. “You don’t know what you’re asking for, sweetheart.”
I grab his scrub shirt and pull him in a little closer. “Yes, I do.” When I realize what I’m doing, I release his shirt, watching him pull back with imposed wrinkles creased into the v-cut of his collar. “Sorry,” I say, now coherent enough to be slightly embarrassed.
“I need to go ahead and get your blood pressure reading. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He wraps the cuff around my arm and secures the Velcro. He then places the earbuds of his stethoscope in place and presses the cold, metal part of the thing under the black cuff. He twists his head to look at the dial as he squeezes the bulb quite fast, over and over. While he’s watching the numbers, I’m watching him, and I don’t know why. It feels like I’ve known him longer than I have.
“Scarlett!” Brendan walks in with his hands cupped over his mouth, a bit overdramatic for the situation. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay so far,” I tell him.
“The anesthesia is still in her system so when it wears off completely, we’ll give her some pain meds and send you two on your way.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
“Are you in any pain?” he asks.
“Not really. I feel a little sore.”
“I’m going to give you a few more minutes to relax here before we start the discharge papers.”
I lean back into the bed and try to get more comfortable. I’m not ready to be discharged. I just want to lie here and relax. Brendan comes around to my side, opposite of where Austin is and runs his fingers through my hair. “I’m so glad this is over and done with,” he says.
