Page 4 of Deal Takers

He lays the cotton over hislap. “Thanks.”

I roll the tray closer to his bed and uncap the needle once I find a viable vein. “This will pinch just a little.”

“Son of a bitch!” he shouts.

He jerks his arm with enough force to pull away from me as the blood begins flowing down the tube. “Mr. Harris, I need you to remain still, so I can get your blood sample.”

He looks down at his forearm. “Oh shit, I wasn’t supposed to see that.”

“See what?” I inquire as I switch vacutainer tubes.

“The b-blood. I don’t do so well with blood.”

“Hold tight, Mr. Harris. I’m almost done.”

His big body begins to sway. “Oh man, I don’t feel so good.”

I look up and watch the color drain from his face. I quickly cap the vial, remove the needle from his arm, and tape a cotton ball over the puncture site. Thankfully, I get a lot of practice with blood draws in L&D so I’m really fast. I lift the guard rails right as his head hits the pillow, and his eyes roll back.

I grab a washcloth from the cabinet and run it under cool water before placing it on his forehead. He jolts awake and tries sitting up the moment his eyes open.

I press my palm against his chest, trying to ignore how chiseled his pecs are, and encourage him to lie back. “Easy there, big guy. You just fainted while I was drawing your blood. Give it a few minutes before you try jumping out of bed.”

“I don’t faint,” he scoffs. “I must have been taking a quick nap.”

“Really?” I challenge. “I didn’t see any notes about narcolepsy in your chart. Should I look into that?”

Mr. Harris glares at me and mutters, “Fucking needles.”

I suppress a smile as I transfer the patient labels to eachtube before placing them back in my phlebotomy kit. “I’m going to send these in and ask for a rush on the results. You just lie back and rest for a while. Whatever you do,do notget out of bed without someone to assist you.” I pull the call button closer to his hand. “If you need anything, press this button.”

CHAPTER 3

Brody

It’s been half an hour since the hot nurse left, and Thor has yet to calm down. Yeah, you heard me right. I named my dick Thor. Actually, my high school girlfriend was the one who bestowed the honor, but I think her reasoning is self-explanatory. You’d think the needle talk would scare him back to Asgard, but sadly, Thor is no pussy. Pun intended.

“Knock, knock.” The raspy, yet feminine voice precedes the tap on the glass door. Thor jumps at the sound, knowing who it belongs to.

“Come in,” I say.

Nurse Rainey slides the privacy curtain over as she enters the room. “I have good news, Mr. Harris.”

“Brody,” I correct.

“Brody,” she repeats with a smile. My god, she’s fucking beautiful when she does that.

“So…did my results come back?”

“They did,” she nods. “And they confirmed Dr. Walker’ssuspicion that we’re dealing with a case of low-dose priapism. In other words, no penis needle for you.”

“Thank God,” I groan. “Thor is very happy to hear that.”

“Thor?” She has the cutest little crinkle between her eyebrows.

“Uh…yeah, you know, Thor is known for hisbig hammer,” I nod toward my lap, waiting for her to connect the dots. I know the moment it clicks because her freckled cheeks turn an adorable shade of dark pink.

“Wow.” She laughs. “I think it’s probably best if I pretend I didn’t hear that.”

---