A/N - Wow you guys. I am absolutely stunned by all the positive feedback I got from the first chapter. I love it, so keep it coming.

Chapter 2

"Hey, Rory," Beatrice said by way of morning greeting. "Who's that soldier? The one over there by the entrance. The one with all the hair."

Rory glanced in the direction Beatrice was pointing. "Oh. That's Jess. Why?"

Her companion sighed. "He's so handsome. Don't you think so?"

Rory fixed her with a withering stare. "Beatrice, no. You know better than that."

Beatrice's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You can't get attached," Rory reminded her as she sorted the shipment of medical supplies they received a few days ago. "It's not allowed."

"I'm not getting attached," insisted Beatrice. "I'm just admiring his beauty."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Well while you're admiring his beauty, go check his wounds, see if the dressings need to be changed. Do something productive."

Beatrice gave a sharp intake of breath. "Oh my gosh, what do I say to him?"

Rory couldn't believe it. Beatrice wasn't usually this useless. In fact, she was one of the best nurses at St. James, so seeing her anxious around a patient was very rare indeed. "How about hello?"

Meanwhile, Jess was playing with a deck of cards from his pocket that had miraculously escaped the carnage of the battlefield relatively unscathed. He looked up when he heard a pair of feet shuffling towards him and felt a sharp stab of disappointment when it wasn't Rory.

"Hello," the nurse said a little nervously. Jess studied her closely and deemed her a hopeless case: her nose was too big, her eyes were too close together, and she had a double chin. Here stood before him a perpetual bachelorette and an eventual old maid. When he didn't say anything in reply, she said very tentatively, "I'm Beatrice. Is there anything I can get you?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. You can get me Rory."

He pretended like he didn't notice the hurt that flashed across her homely features. It wasn't difficult, since a moment afterwards, she was laughing a little. "Of course. I'm not really surprised."

"What?" Jess asked.

Beatrice just shrugged as she checked his dressings. "Everyone wants Rory to take care of them. You know, Dr. Hamilton didn't even want her to be a nurse here, but we were short handed and she works really well under pressure."

Jess cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "Why didn't Dr. Hamilton want her here?"

"Because she's too pretty," Beatrice said simply. "Dr. Hamilton thought that she would be a distraction to the soldiers, but he gave in when he realized that she was really good. And now he can't get rid of her because she's practically indispensible. She's the most popular too."

He detected the hint of bitterness in Beatrice's voice, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he thought carefully on her words. There was no doubt whatsoever that Rory was a beautiful girl, with her wavy, dark brown hair, crystal clear blue eyes, and delicate bone structure. But that wasn't the reason he wanted her taking care of him. No, he liked watching her angrily tuck that shiny brown hair behind her ears in frustration as her aquamarine irises flashed in annoyance at his goading.

Minutes later, Beatrice left to whisper a few words into Rory's ear. The latter turned to look at Jess, who quickly turned his attention back to his cards, and this time, he didn't look up when he heard a pair of shuffling feet.

"Jess, Beatrice is just as qualified as I am," Rory informed him with no preamble.

"I never said she wasn't," Jess said innocently. "I just like it better when you take care of me."

She rolled her eyes. "Why is that?"

"I like annoying you. Your reactions are very cute."

"Keep at it and I'll be the equivalent of a puppy litter in a few moments," she grumbled as she retrieved some gauze from the medical supply shelves.

Jess grinned widely. "Had anyone ever told you that your nostrils flare when you get annoyed?"

Rory's hands flew up to cover her nose. Then she growled in frustration. "You are absolutely impossible!" she cried.

"Rory, is that guy bothering you?" the soldier in the bed right next to Jess' asked.

"Who's bothering Rory?" one of the soldiers on the other side of the room called. "Logan, who's bothering Rory?"

"Whoever it is, you'd better stop," a cockney accent announced. "I don't care if my leg's broken, I'll get out of this bed and kick your ass."

"Finn, watch your mouth," Rory called as she wrapped Jess' leg. "And don't worry you guys, I can handle this guy."

"Aw, come on, Ace. Colin, Finn and I could totally take that guy."

Rory snorted. "Other than the fact that the three of you are bed ridden, I'm sure that you two could beat him up. But I, for one, do not want to clean up after the bloodshed. So sit back and rest."

Jess cocked his head to the side. "Well someone's popular." When Rory didn't say anything, he continued. "I've already had three death threats and it's not even breakfast time yet."

"If you keep being impossible, it'll be four."

He grinned broadly. "Well, Ror—do you mind if I call you Ror?—I'm not usually as annoying as you make me out to be."

Rory's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?"

"Really. I'm actually a sensitive guy that enjoys Italian food, Frank Sinatra, a good book and long walks on the beach with a pretty lady."

Rory felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks and she didn't know why. Get a hold of yourself, Rory, she reprimanded herself. "Good for you," she mumbled under her breath. "Hold still, I have to change the dressings."

Jess tried to catch her eye. "So how 'bout it?"

Rory shot him a confused look. "How about what?"

"That long walk on the beach," he replied with mock hurt expressed on his face. "You'll enjoy yourself, I promise."

She narrowed her eyes. "No."

Jess' grin widened. A challenge, he thought gleefully to himself. This is going to be a lot of fun. "Oh, come on Rory. I'm a fun guy. Just get to know me."

She shot him a withering look. "I'm not allowed to get attached to any of my patients. And besides, I wouldn't go out with you even if I was."

He brought a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt."

She smirked as she tied the ends of the gauze extra tight, just to annoy him. "I know." And with that, she walked away, getting ready to attend to someone else.

Jess smiled as she sauntered off. He wasn't worried about her blatant brush off. He'd get her to say yes to him soon enough. All she needed was time.

"Rory."

She looked up and quelled the groan that arose in her throat. "Hello, Paris."

"Rory, what did Dr. Hamilton explicitly tell you about proper bedside conduct?" the blonde nurse demanded. Rory had long since realized that her superior was not only pushy, overbearing, and competitive, she was also a micromanager with a huge Napoleon complex. It took a lot of adjusting and a lot of pillow punching, but she had finally managed to find a way to handle Paris without losing her mind. And one of her surefire methods was to let Paris think that she was always right.

"He said to remain cordial and detached at all times," Rory replied tonelessly.

"Then tell me why I heard you threatening that soldier in the corner. Because I would love to understand the inner workings of that pretty little head of yours. In what alternate universe would threatening a patient ever be considered proper conduct for a nurse?"

"I was not threatening him," murmured Rory.

"Then why did I hear Finn threaten to kick his ass? You've been getting your loyal following to protect your innocence, haven't you? I might also remind you that under no circumstances are you allowed to entertain any possibility of anything more than a professional relationship with any of these men."

Rory sighed. "I know, Paris."

"If you know, then why are you blatantly breaking the rules? Do you want to get evicted from this hospital? Do you seriously want to waste all that talent?"

"Paris, I didn't break the rules. I didn't flirt and I didn't threaten. He was the one that was flirting. I never did anything."

Paris pointed her finger at the underling and gave her the most threatening glare that she could. "If I catch you breaking the rules, you will be on probation faster than you can blink." And with that, the huffy blonde walked away, leaving Rory to fume at her predicament.

"Oh nuu-urse," Jess' distinct voice called. "I think my dressings are a little tight. I'd really appreciate it if you could loosen them, please."

Rory let out a growl as she balled her hands into little fists, letting her fingernails dig into her palms. This was going to be a long few weeks.

A/N - First of all, I'd just like to say that I know that Finn is Australian, but if I kept him Australian then he most likely wouldn't have been in the war, much less an injured soldier. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, Finn is a young British soldier with a cockney accent. Hey, at least he's still got an accent, right?

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