Carol's Image (4 page)

“You scared me,” she exclaimed.

Walking over, he hugged her. “How’s it going tonight?”

“Busy earlier, but it has slowed down now. Aren’t you here early? Your shift doesn’t start for another two hours.” She closed the last file and placed it in the stack on the nurse’s desk.

“Yeah, but one of the nurses on the graveyard shift got a call; her kid is sick so I volunteered to get some overtime.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a call concerning a policeman with a severe knife wound coming in. Running to her station near the door, she and her team were ready to accept the patient. The ambulance pulled up and Carol noticed a large number of policemen around.

The EMT began shouting out vitals as they transported the patient into the ER. The knife wound was in the abdomen, and he was rushed back to the ER bay, where triage began. She assisted the ER surgeon as he prepped the patient for surgery. When he was taken up to surgery, it was her duty to talk to the family in the waiting room. The wound was serious, and she knew that the surgery would take several hours.

Looking down at her blood splattered clothing, she cleaned up and changed into fresh scrubs. Pushing her hair behind her ears again, she walked out to the waiting room.

Entering, she was overwhelmed with the number of policemen in the crowded room. While there were several women in uniform, the amount of testosterone in the room felt claustrophobic. “Family of James Whitten?” she called out.

*

Tom and his partner Jake raced into the ER, wanting to be there for James and his wife. James had been working with them on a robbery case, and they were close to making an arrest when the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed James. Jake managed to disarm the suspect and he was in custody, but that did not make Tom feel any better. James was a rookie cop and a good one at that. Riding to the hospital, Tom berated himself for not seeing the knife.

“Fuck, I knew something was up when that shithead acted so goddamn calm as we entered his house.”

Driving, Jake looked over at his partner. “Tom, you can’t blame yourself. We were all following protocol. James entered first, and we couldn’t see clearly into the room.”

Tom was still angry as they pulled into the parking lot. How was he going to explain this to James’ pregnant wife? As they were jogging up to the entrance of the ER they saw the ambulance unloading James. Tom stopped in his tracks. His angel was leaning over James, talking to him as they went into the hospital.

Jake looked at him, eyebrow cocked in question.

“It’s her. Fuck man, it’s the girl I’ve been looking for.”

Hurrying into the ER, James had already been taken back to treatment and the blonde nurse was nowhere to be seen, so they settled in the waiting room, making sure James’ wife was cared for when she came. One of the firemen on the rescue team was Rob, who settled in a chair to wait with them.

After college, Rob settled into the life he had always wanted – working with his father, the fire chief. Jake had returned after the police academy when his father was diagnosed with cancer and then his mother became ill. Tom was the only one of the three who had moved away from Fairfield for a few years before discovering that being back home with his familiar friends was important. Following Jake to the police academy, he then returned to Fairfield also.

Rob had never outgrown his frat-boy ways of casual “fuck and run” as he liked to call them. Tom, another notorious one-night stand man, decided several years ago that Jake was right about being a detective and casual sex in the same hometown was difficult. He managed to spend most weekends at a neighboring town, enjoying the night life and bar hookups there.

The ER doors opened. Tom’s breath caught in his throat. The angel was walking through the doors.

A halo of thick, yellow blonde hair framed her porcelain face. Her body, hidden by hospital scrubs, was tiny, almost fragile. Her large, blue eyes widened as she scanned the room filled with policemen. As she called out James’ name her roving gaze settled, directing the bluest eyes he had ever seen just on him. The room appeared empty, leaving only the two of them. Her gaze never wavered from his.

Suddenly, he realized that James’ wife had approached the angel and her attention was diverted. Talking in soft tones, she began to usher James’ wife away. Before re-entering the double doors leading away from him, the angel turned, piercing him with her gaze once again, a surprised look on her face. Tom smiled. He knew she was feeling it too. Whatever it was, he was not alone. She must have noticed his smile as she walked away, because he saw her blush.
When was the last time you saw a woman blush? Too damn long.

Jake looked over at his partner staring at the closed doors then caught Rob’s gaze, both men smiling. Shaking his head, Jake wondered if Tom even knew what hit him.

*

All eyes turned to her, but Carol only saw one pair. Blue eyes, the color of the ocean on a sunny day, staring back at her. The eyes belonged to a Nordic god of a man.
Him. It’s him.
His blond hair, trimmed neatly, stood out in stark relief to his chiseled tanned face. Unlike most of the men in the room, he was not in a uniform, wearing navy pants that stretched tightly over his massive thighs. He was over six feet tall, muscular shoulders pulling at the material of his white dress shirt. Huge arms crossed over his chest, his feet standing apart, she could imagine him standing on the deck of a Viking ship.
He looks so much bigger than he did lying on the pavement.

Carol’s attention was slowly pulled away by the approach of a very pregnant woman, assisted by a policewoman. Focusing on the victim’s wife in front of her, she gently took her by the arm and began to explain what the surgeon would be doing as she led her to the surgery waiting room. Turning, she glanced back one more time at the only man in the room she noticed. This time, she noticed one more thing about him. His smile. His face was illuminated by a beautiful smile. Straight white teeth. Full lips. Breathtaking. And it was directed at her.

*

Carol’s shift was technically over, but she stayed with Sofia and Jon to make sure all the charts were completed. Looking at the clock, she decided to run back up to the surgery waiting room to check on the policeman’s status and see his wife one more time before heading home.

“Guys, I’m going upstairs before I leave. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, same time, same station,” Carol joked.

Jon, raising one eyebrow, looked her up and down. “Uh hmm, are you sure you don’t want to go check out mister tall, blond, and gorgeous?”

“Who?” Carol asked, feeling the blush creep back onto her face.

Sofia laughed, “Oh lordy girl. Don’t think we didn’t see that hunk of a detective staring you down in the waiting room earlier. He looked like you were the last pop-sicle on a hot summer day.”

At that, Carol had to laugh in spite of her embarrassment over being caught ogling the Viking. “Guys, I swear, I’m going upstairs to check on Mrs. Whitten. I honestly never thought about that hunk being up there. He’s probably long gone by now.” Pushing her hair behind her ears again, she wistfully said, “And why on earth would he look at me? I don’t think I would fit his image. He looks like the type that goes for all tits and ass.”

Jon and Sofia exchanged looks.

“Hon, have you looked in the mirror recently?” Sofia asked. “You are drop dead gorgeous. Blonde, beautiful, sweet on top of all that, and hell, you make the rest of us look like chopped liver. What’s not to love about you?”

Carol opened her mouth to speak, but found Sofia’s hand shoved up in her face before she could utter a word.

“And don’t give me that crap about your parents. We all know your parents only love each other, their money, their big ass house, and their country club friends.”

At that, Carol had to laugh again. “I know. Believe me, years of counseling taught me that no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t ever get them to see the real me.” Pausing momentarily, she looked back over at her friends. “But it’s all good, guys. I’m not looking for a gorgeous hunk to fight my dragons and carry me off. I’m fine with who I am and what I am doing now.”

Waving to them, she walked over to the elevators. The fourth floor surgery wing was packed with the crowd of policemen who were in the ER waiting room and had simply moved upstairs. It looked as though Mrs. Whitten was well attended, so Carol turned to leave.

“Miss? Miss?” she heard a soft voice call. Turning, she saw Mrs. Whitten walking over. Moving toward her, she gave her a gentle hug.

“I just wanted to come up and check on you, see how you were doing and see if there was anything I can do for you,” Carol explained.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Mrs. Whitten said.

“Please, call me Carol.”

“I’m Jen,” the woman answered, giving a tenuous smile. “The surgery nurse has been out several times and said that things were going well.”

Reaching over to hug her once again, Carol said, “I’m so glad. I will be back on shift tonight, so I’ll come check on you again. Now make sure you get some rest. You and the little one,” she said patting Jen’s very pregnant belly.

Turning around, she ran face first into a brick wall. A brick wall with arms that reached out to catch her before she could fall. Looking up in shock, she saw what…or who she ran into. Her Viking.

Blushing a deep red, she stammered, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She tried to move away, but found that his hands held her upper arms. His grasp was firm but not in any way painful and would not allow her to move.

“My apologies miss, I was in your way. Are you sure you are all right?”

Carol stood rooted to the floor staring up into a face so handsome it almost hurt to see all of that beauty. His blond hair, like hers, was almost yellow blond. Trimmed neatly, she wanted to see if it felt as good as it looked. His square jaw, slightly stubbled, led to a strong, thick neck. His wide shoulders tapered to trim waist, leading to thick thighs. His clothes were tailored to fit his muscular frame.

Her eyes made their way back up to his face where she found his twinkling blue eyes looking deeply into hers.

“Like what you see, miss?” he asked with a smirk.

Blushing even deeper, Carol jerked back from his hands as she saw the open elevator doors about to close. Jumping inside as the doors shut, she refused to look at the man left standing there. Grateful for the empty elevator, she leaned heavily on the back wall as it descended back to the first floor.

*