Page 1 of Big Bold Security

Chapter One

Scarlett

Almost…

Almost there.

“Miss Adams!”

I don’t stop. Maybe if I pretend I don’t hear her, she will call for someone else.

Please let me leave.

“Scarlett Adams, stop right there.” The voice booms loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. People are looking around now, so I clearly can’t ignore her. With a sinking heart, I draw to a halt and turn around.

Standing in the lobby, tapping her foot impatiently, is the woman who makes me dread coming to work. I swear if head nurse Meredith is not the devil, then she must be his faithful servant because her sole mission in this hospital is to make my life a living hell. A job she is doing splendidly, I might add.

I let out a sigh and glance longingly at the exit before walking back into the hospital. My feet are aching, and my legs grow heavier with every step I take. The mean glint in her eyes, paired with a barely hidden smirk, alerts me to the fact that she’s about to give me more work.

I muster what little strength I have left and plaster on a plastic smile to hide my irritation.

“Miss Adams, where do you think you are going?”

“Home.” Obviously.

“You can’t leave just yet. Not when there is so much work to be done.”

“Ma’am, I just finished a sixteen-hour shift. I am exhausted and would like to get home so that I can rest before my next one.”

Her eyes narrow as if she doesn’t believe me, but she has nothing on me. In the two months that I have been working at this hospital, I haven’t missed a single day of work or left before my shift was over.

“Fine, but first, attend to the patient in room 408, and don’t keep them waiting.”

She walks off before I can even argue and I resist the urge to stomp my feet in frustration. I was so close to escaping and now I’ve got to go back.

See, I don’t hate my job, quite the opposite. I love taking care of people, it’s the one thing I am good at but it can be draining. When I graduated from nursing school a few months ago, I had no idea how hard it would be to actually do the job until I spent most of my time wiping blood, vomit, and other fluids off my face.

Despite my love for my patients, I don’t want to spend another minute inside these walls but, according to Meredith, leaving is not exactly an option.

“Damnit!” I curse under my breath and drag my feet toward the nurses’ station. There are so many people around, yet she chooses to stopme, that evil woman. I curse her out under my breath as I study the patient sheet while making my way to the room.

My eyes are on the board as I push open the door, and when I lift my head, all I can see is a massive back.

I freeze on the spot, mesmerized by the huge, heavily muscled, and tattooed torso. I bite my lip and stifle the urge to flee. It’s always these big men that cry and curse you out when all you’re trying to do is help them. Just a couple of days ago, a patient swung his fist at me and would have knocked me out if I hadn’t jumped away in time.

I take a deep breath to calm my mind and step in, closing the door behind me.

“Excuse me, Mr. Coleman? I believe the doctor…”

The man shifts his head to face me and I almost drop the clipboard in my hands. Seated on the bed is the scariest man I have ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. There is a scowl on his face which is a clear testament to his unwillingness to be here. However, the scowl isn’t the thing that has me frozen to the spot.

Instead, it’s the piercing azure eyes that remind me of the ocean on a stormy day. They stare at me with the same intensity as a wild cat would hunt down prey. I know that I should look away, but I can’t stop staring at his naked body. Well, he’s not exactly naked, only his upper half, but with my imagination, he might as well be.

The man raises a single eyebrow at my blatant stare and I flush red. Wow, I really must be out of it to be checking out my patient so shamelessly.

“I…” my voice cracks and my cheeks flush red. Really, could I be any more obvious? “I am Nurse Adams and Doctor Shepherd will be joining us in a few minutes.”

He simply nods at me and I work hard to put my professional face back on.Get it together; I chastise myself and begin to search his enormous body for the wound that brought him here. I walk around the bed and step in front of him. This close, he smells like an enticing mix of coffee and chocolate, it’s unsettling just how much I want to lean into him.

---