Josie had always been an adventurous girl trapped in a practical life. Her dreams of grandeur had been the result of a passion for great literature and an equal fondness for classic movies. Illinois summers were spent in the backyard hammock with a book, while favorite films like Roman Holiday and Bringing Up Baby were reserved for the bitter winters. While she craved a life of risk without regrets, her fear of failure often got in her way and led her to a never-ending quest for perfection, where she would graduate top of her class in high school, take on a sensible major in college, and work towards a safe but reliable career in nursing. Josie's big adventures were on the back burner, seemingly too grand for her to achieve.
However unrealistic those secret longings seemed, they were set to resurface the moment she opened the door into the waiting room at the hospital and called for the next patient.
"John Bender?" she asked, looking out into the lobby. A young man stood up, making his way over to her while holding a dirty rag to his head. He avoided her eyes, stepping into the hallway and towering over her much shorter frame like a skyscraper.
"Right this way, sir." She led him to the appropriate room, where she advised him to have a seat while she prepped the paperwork. John Bender sat on the examination table, looking almost comical at his height; even sitting, he was still taller than Josie by a few inches. She took a seat herself and began to go through his paperwork, glancing up to take a look at her patient.
He was ruggedly handsome, despite the crimson stream of blood flowing down the side of his face. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a strong stubbled jaw, slightly clenched at the moment. His broad, masculine frame wore a black Pink Floyd t-shirt under a raggedy blue flannel shirt, ripped jeans, and worn work boots. Josie suddenly realized she was gawking and turned in her chair abruptly, subsequently knocking a folder off of the counter behind her. Cursing inwardly, she bent over to pick up the mess.
"Hello, nurse."
Josie went beet red, nearly the same color as her scrubs, and hurriedly scooped up the papers in her arms. She wasn't sure what embarrassed her more: that she had been foolish enough to bend over in front of him, or that he had the audacity to throw a catcall at her. The room suddenly felt hotter than Hell itself.
After organizing her papers, Josie composed herself enough to ask, "What brings you in today, Mr. Bender?"
John looked back at her with a mischievous smirk, making her insides tremble. "I do believe you brought me in, miss. You called my name. I'd have been an idiot not to oblige such a beautiful woman like yourself."
Quit blushing! Josie chastised herself, remembering that she was a professional. She'd had outspoken patients plenty of times and handled them all like a champ; this man should be no exception. She cleared her throat and pulled her stethoscope from around her neck.
"How'd you get that cut on your face?" She asked, making her way over to him.
"Bar fight," John replied coolly, straightening a bit as Josie pressed the end of the stethoscope to his chest. Their gazes met briefly, but it was long enough for Josie to recognize his lie. She placed the stethoscope to his back.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes."
"A bar fight at 10 AM on a Wednesday?"
Without missing a beat, John replied, "It's five o'clock somewhere." At this, Josie smiled and put the stethoscope back around her neck. She began to check his pulse, feeling his stare on her. Had it really been so long since she last dated that a random patient was making her giddy? She and her last boyfriend, Will, had only broken up a few months ago, but male attention shouldn't have felt so surprising at this point.
"You wanna tell me the real reason?" She asked while checking his blood pressure on his right arm (his quite muscular arm, she noted). John gave her a knowing look, waiting until she'd unwrapped the band from his arm, and chuckled.
"You don't believe me?"
Josie rolled her eyes and replied, "Maybe stories like that will work on the interns here, but you can't pull one of those on me, I'm afraid."
There was a brief pause of silence, then John raised an eyebrow. He looked Josie over from head to toe, examining her appearance through piercing eyes. She knew she must have looked pretty plain in her raspberry scrubs and tennis shoes, but she was fairly grateful that she chose to throw on some mascara and lipstick today. After a moment, Josie started feeling uncomfortable at his gaze, so she continued the exam.
"Would you mind removing the towel from your head so I can see the laceration?" She asked him, to which he obliged and left the bloody rag in his lap. Josie found a decently large cut in his left temple. It was still bleeding, but not too badly.
"What's your name?" John asked, making Josie aware of just how close their faces were. She looked over to him briefly, then went back to examining the wound.
"Josie."
"Cute name," John said. "It suits you."
At this, she regretfully blushed again. "You're going to need stitches. It's a pretty deep cut."
"You gonna sew me up, Nurse Josie?"
"You gonna tell me how it happened, John Bender?"
Their eyes met once again, a duel of mirroring brown irises, and Josie was pleased when she saw John clench his jaw in what appeared as surrender. Perhaps if she were younger and more naive, she would have melted at his feet, but she was twenty-four and clever enough to spit his game right back at him.
The silence finally broke as John cocked his head to the side and said, "We could always discuss it over a couple of drinks."
Josie chuffed at the remark, cleaning the wound gently, and replied, "I don't think I need to know what happened quite that badly."
John hissed at the stinging sterilization. "Your curiosity will get the best of you." Josie gave an amused half-smile and reached up to push John's hair out of his face. She had to admit that the chemistry between them was palpable, but her good old friend Practicality reared its head and reminded her of her exhausting schedule. That had been a good part of the reason why she and Will split up in the first place. Flings with cute, cocky patients were definitely not an option.
Stepping away from John, she gathered her papers and told him, "I'll send for the doctor. He'll be in shortly." She left just in time to miss the look of slight disappointment on John's face. As she made her way over to the desk to speak with her boss, Dr. Keller, the door cracked open behind her.
"So Nurse Josie wants to be courted, then," came John Bender's voice, booming so loud with confidence that Josie couldn't help but turn to see him. He flashed her a white smile as Dr. Keller and few of the other nurses looked up from their work to see what the commotion was about. Josie was furiously pink by this point but couldn't suppress the growing smile on her lips.
"Hate to break it to ya, babydoll, but I come from a long line of stubborn, bullheaded idiots. Persistence is my specialty, and I'm gonna keep showing up here till you accept my offer."
"You better have one hell of an insurance plan," replied Josie before turning to Dr. Keller. "Your patient is ready. Good luck with that one." As she walked to the break room, she tried to ignore the looks her colleagues were giving her and focus on getting a much-needed cup of coffee in her. Was it so surprising that she had been hit on? Surely everyone at the office had dealt with obnoxious patients before; there was no reason to make such a spectacle out of what had just happened. She was almost offended by her coworkers' gawking. Almost.
"Hey," Jill the receptionist said, popping into the break room. "I know you're on break, but I just thought I'd let you know that Romeo out there left you his number on the exam table paper."
Josie flushed pink and covered her face with her hands. "Oh God, Jill, I'm so embarrassed. I don't know what that was all about. I'm so sorry."
"He also said that if you didn't call, he'd be in again in the next few days with a sprained wrist," Jill added, trying not to look as amused as she really was. Josie shot her an exasperated look. Certainly he was joking. She wasn't worth that much effort.
"Fantastic. Thank you, Jill."
"Just doing my job, dear," replied the receptionist with a smirk before returning to her post behind the desk.
Before bringing the Styrofoam cup of hot coffee to her lips, Josie recalled what John Bender had told her. Your curiosity will get the best of you. She smiled a bit, then took a small sip of her drink. Curiosity had always been her most fatal flaw. Perhaps it was time she finally accepted that about herself and acted upon it. He was totally gorgeous and obviously into her. A date couldn't hurt, right?
When she returned to clean the exam room that John had been in, she found the examination table clean: John's number had been tossed out into the waste bin. Josie sighed and chalked it up to the universe trying to give her a sign. A sign that dating, romance, and drinks with tall dark strangers were not in the cards for Nurse Josie.