"I like a woman that reads."
Piper put down her copy of Gone Girl, turned to her left and was greeted by a dark haired woman smirking at her. Piper looked at her, slightly dazed unable to form a coherent response.
She hadn't seen her come in as the curtain separating the two beds had been drawn upon her arrival.
"So, what are you in for?" The woman pondered.
"Uh, just a minor operation. Nothing serious." Piper responded, not really wanting to let a stranger know the ins and outs of her medical problems. "What about you?"
"My appendix decided to give up on me."
"Ah, I see." Piper gave a sympathetic look.
The dark haired woman pushed her glasses up, removed the blankets, swivelled round and stood up. The woman was a lot taller than Piper had anticipated. Piper's eyes followed her as she took three steps and perched on the edge of Piper's bed. She took the clipboard that was hanging on the edge of the bed and started to read.
"Hey that's private!" Piper gasped. She tried to reach for her chart but the woman stretched out her arm, further disabling Piper's ability to grasp it.
"Ah, Chapman. Piper. Blood pressure, normal. Temperature, normal. Ah, and you've had a bowel movement. All great qualities in a woman."
Piper was stunned, she couldn't believe this woman. Piper wouldn't have had the courage to even start up a conversation let-alone look at someone's private medical chart.
"Who are you", Piper asked, a smile formed that quickly turned into a grin as she shook her head slightly in disbelief.
"My name's Alex", she smirked.
"Alex", Piper repeated slowly. "So, Alex, do you normally go around reading people's medical charts in hospitals?"
"No, not normally. I tend to save that for the pretty girls."
Piper bit down on her lip in order to fight the urge to smile at the word "pretty", this attempt quickly failed and her lips broke out into a heartfelt grin. Alex's eyes lit up in response.
"Hey, Vause, back into your own bed please." A nurse called out. Piper was slightly taken aback by the mass of frizzy hair the nurse possessed.
Alex begrudgingly got up and scuffed back to her bed.
"Hey, blondie, what you staring at?"
Piper, unaware she was staring, quickly averted her eyes. "Nothing, sorry."
The nurse explained to Alex that she would be taking Alex's obs. Piper, staring down at a page in her book but not reading a word, forced back a laugh. She was about to inadvertently get her revenge.
"Temperature and blood pressure are fine. One last thing, have you had a bowel movement yet today?"
Alex started to smile, "yeah. Yeah, I have." She managed to say in between laughs. Piper looked over and smirked. The nurse's eyes darted between the two patients, she looked at them with a slightly tilted head and a confused expression then blinked a couple of times and shook her head. Two patients with an inside joke were the least of her worries right now.