Page 9 of Deprivation

His beautiful hazel eyes are fixated on my mouth again, his tongue darting out to lick his full lower lip. Momentarily spellbound, I watch as his eyes flick up to meet mine. Again, no smile, no witty banter. Just quietly staring. I realize I’ve stopped breathing, and my skin feels flushed. It’s all I can do not to ask him what the heck he’s looking at. I gather my wits and encourage my legs to move as I continue my short walk to the printer. I need to distribute these discharge papers and get a cold bottle of water.

Heading to the cafeteria for some much-needed sustenance and a break from the tension-filled breezeway, I find there’s a line at the grill. I just can’t stomach another salad today, so I hold my ground in the long line and hope I can get back quickly.Gah! Why do I let that guy affect me like this?I think, stroking my arms in effort to relax my nerves.

“Did you see Dr. Barnes is working here now?” I overhear the bubbly nurse with a blonde bob in front of me inquire of her coworker.Well, color me intrigued.

Her auburn-haired companion replies, “Yeah. Tammy told me he had to leave the other hospital because he wasn’t getting along with the staff and started losing his temper.” She shakes her head. “Apparently, he went through a really bad divorce. Since then, he’s not the same Nick Barnes I remember. It’s a shame. He was my favorite surgeon to work with. He was so kind and easygoing. Well, and easy on the eyes. Maybe a change of environment will do him good,” she says with concern.

“Not likely,” I mumble. Grabbing my chicken wrap and a bottle of water, I return to the ER. Who knows if I’ll have time to actually choke this down now that I’ve spent ten minutes in line listening to the “Bobbsey Twins.” Placing my food in the nurses’ lounge, I scribble my name on a paper towel and cover my plate in attempt to prevent someone from stealing my food. Returning to my workstation to make sure there aren’t several patients waiting to be seen, I turn the corner and Look. Who’s. Still. Here. None other than Dr. Barnes.Must be a slow day in the office. With deliberation, I sit down at the computer, take in a deep breath, and peruse the tracking board to see who’s in the queue to be seen next, when Jake comes around the corner.

“Hey, Kat. I’m leaving soon. About tomorrow… Melanie’s going to be tied up after 6:00, so I’ll meet you at 7:00, okay?” He smiles brightly at me.

Nodding, I just smile back.You gotta love a guy that can weasel his way out of book club.“Gotcha, 7:00.” I grin, noticing Dr. Barnes’ disapproving stare.

“Oh, almost forgot, I left something for you in your box.” I peek over at him and he’s making the universal sign for sleeping, lying his face on steepled hands.

I grin back. “Got it. Thanks. See ya tomorrow.”

Before I can leave the area a strapping, tall, black male wearing a firefighter’s uniform sweeps in and hugs me so hard he lifts me off of the ground. “Nate Mars, put me down!” I squeal, unable to keep from laughing.

Dropping me to my feet, he smirks. “Marty said you were having a day, so I thought I’d slide over and give my Kat some love.” My dear, friend places a kiss to my cheek. Nate and I’ve been close since my EMS days. I consider him one of my closest friends.

Beaming back up at this beautiful man, I announce, “Well, you’ve made my day, sir.” Suddenly, the radio attached to his hip begins to chirp loudly with the tones of an incoming call.

“Man. Duty calls. Gotta run. See you soon, okay?” He runs off toward the ambulance bay.

Before I have a chance to return to my seat, a perturbed voice suddenly interjects, “I’m sure your ‘boyfriend’ would be happy to know you’re spending quality time with firefighters at work.”

I immediately jerk my face toward him, slack jawed, noticing he’s stated this while never breaking eye contact with his computer.Did he really just say that to me? And who exactly is my boyfriend in this scenario?I started to feel a little sorry for him after I heard about the whole bad divorce thing, but I think I know whator whocaused their breakup.

“How do you knowthatwasn’t my boyfriend?” I ask sarcastically, arms crossed in dramatic fashion across my chest.

He suddenly stops pounding on his keyboard and looks directly at me, appearing stunned.

“He’s not. He’s gay,” I underline, not that it’s any of his business.

Dr. Barnes’ mouth falls open, seeming even more shocked.Eh, I get it. I probably had the same expression the first time I found out Nate was gay. Just didn’t see that one coming. Now, irritated by a combination of hunger and continued assholery delivered by Dr. Broody, I decide to just shoot from the hip.Heck, he couldn’t think any less of me.Before departing my once secret area of solitude, I hiss, “And I don’t date. Apparently, I only attract arrogant assholes!”

“Oh, Kat,” Nate darts back around the corner, huffing a bit. “You going to The Sports Page tomorrow night?”

“You bet. Wouldn’t miss it. I need to get my groove on,” I reply, swinging my arms overhead. “Don’t you have a call to get to or something?” I ask, surprised to see him back so soon.

“Nah, they cancelled it right after it went out. It was one of our frequent fliers who claims she fell down, but usually just wants one of us to take her trash out once we get there. Are you almost done for the day?”

“I wish.” I turn my head toward Dr. Broody momentarily. “I have a few more hours before I can wash the stink of this day away and look forward to a much better day tomorrow,” I say as I follow Nate into the hallway.

“Real nice,” I hear muttered from the breezeway.

Good. Direct hit.

* * *

Nick

I gather my things from the computer I’ve been occupying over the last few hours and head back for my office. I should’ve just stayed in the main physicians’ work area, but there’s so much commotion there it’s hard to accomplish much. And to be honest, I’m tired of seeing the nurses who keep strolling by. They all use a similar technique, looking indirectly at me with a shy smile, pushing their hair behind their ear playfully. I’m not sure how to look more impassive. I am not interested in any of you. I’m here to do my job. I’d received word from my PA, Ava, that a prior patient’s son had potentially dislocated his shoulder and was heading to the ER. Thinking I could document progress notes from recent inpatient rounding while awaiting his arrival in the ER seemed like a good plan initially. However, it’s now been over two hours since the call was placed, and there’s been no sign of him. I decide to head back to the clinic for an update.

As I walk toward my office, I can’t help but think of the hostility between Ms. Kelly and myself, and I have to claim full ownership. I just can’t grasp what it is about this girl that brings on this animosity in me.Is her boyfriend married? Maybe that’s it? Who’s this Melanie? Maybe it’s the nanny. If he’s married, that’ll certainly end my fascination with her.I fucking hate cheaters. Although she’s clearly not my type, she seems nice enough with everyone she works with.Hell, she could be the captain of the pep squad the way everyone gravitates toward her.What is it about her that makes me so agitated?

She’s stunning, but I’ve worked alongside plenty of beautiful women, and none of them have had this effect on me. There’s something about that mouth, and I don’t mean the trash that she keeps spewing from it. When she placed that chocolate from the “candy man” into her mouth, I had to fight readjusting my dick in my pants. With her pale skin, long lashes draping over big brown eyes, and the tantalizing pink tongue popping out to lick delectable, puffy lips, I just wanted to grab her by the hair, bend her over, and lap the chocolate from her mouth and tongue right then and there. I had to keep sitting so no one saw the effect she had on me.Jesus, I just need to get laid. Out of this whole entire hospital, this girl is the one who’s pushing me to the brink. I obviously need to get this out of my system before I go back to work in that department.

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