Wrap It Up

He had never been overly anxious about anything before in his life. There were things he looked forward to, sure, but nothing that captivated his attention and every thought twenty four seven like the end of his first night float week. He had been counting the days until the week was over. Some nights it went painfully slow and others flew by at the speed of light.

It was Sunday night – the last night of his rotation on the night shift at the hospital – and Fitz was in a great mood. He just had to get through this last shift, go home and crash for several hours, and then come up with a plan with Olivia for dinner and sex. Not necessarily in that order either.

The nurses noticed his good mood and commented on it to him. His only reply was bringing a box of doughnuts from behind his back and setting it on their desk with a smile. "You really are in a good mood." one of them remarked.

"If this is how you wrap up your week of night float rotation, we're gonna request that you work the graveyard shift every single week." Another giggled before biting into one of the soft frosted circles.

"Oooooh! Doughnuts!" A nurse coming around the corner quickened her steps and snatched one from the box. "Which angel of mercy brought these?"

"I did." Fitz answered.

"Doctor Grant has my vote for favorite resident." she said between bites.

"It's my way of saying thank you for a great week. I would have been lost without you all helping me like you have. I appreciate our nurses."

"You know, the nurses on the third floor will have a stroke when they find out that you brought doughnuts and they didn't get any." One of them replied.

"What they don't know won't hurt them." he replied. "Also, whoever eats the last one has to take the box outside and burn it to ashes. I don't want to be accused of favoritism at the work place even though the four of you are my favorites." He pointed his finger sternly at them. "But I'll deny that I said that in a court of law."

"Good idea. I'll make sure Cheryl get the last one. She can take her smoke break while the box burns."

"Why are you in such a good mood anyways? Not that I'm complaining. Just curious."

"Yea. What gives?" Another asked.

"Do you have a date with that Alexa girl?" When Fitz shot her a shocked look she added, "Whaaaaaat? Nurses talk."

"He broke up with her a while back, Maureen. You are way out of the loop."

One of the older nurses had been quietly watching him since he presented them with the doughnuts. She might not be well versed on all the hospital gossip, but she knew that look. "It might not have anything to do with THAT girl, but it definitely has to do with A girl. You know you want to tell us."

Fitz grinned at the four of them. No one could ever say nurses weren't perceptive. "There might be a girl."

"Tell us everything, handsome." The older nurse said.

Fitz chuckled at her. She reminded him of his mother somehow. Maybe it was the maternal way she acted? He didn't know, but he liked her from the first night he started this rotation. "Her name is Olivia and she's my neighbor."

"This is already all kinds of interesting." One of them said and rested her chin in the palm of her propped up hand.

"It's not as interesting as all that. Yet."

"Did he just say yet all confident like he knows it's gonna get interesting sometime soon?"

"Gurl, yes he did!"

"You all need to hush up and let the man talk about his new girlfriend."

"She is beautiful and intelligent, and she's definitely interested in me. But she's not my girlfriend. It's all very new right now. She's very special to me."

"So, what you're saying is you haven't kissed her yet?" Momma nurse asked with disbelief written across her face.

"I...didn't say that." Fitz replied grinning proudly.

"Boy, I knew you were a mess. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm." she said, shaking her head. "If this girl is as special as you say, this Olivia, then you'd better be sweet to her and treat her right. Don't be expecting every physical act ever thought up on the first date. You've got to show her that you're invested in a relationship with her and take your time."

Fitz's face fell at her words. He had been eagerly looking forward to the two of them attempting every physical act ever thought up the moment he was caught up on his sleep. Now he was being told not to anticipate that? Maybe he should re-evaluate his thinking? Woo Olivia with romantic gestures and take their time getting to know each other? There was no reason to rush now that they were both single and interested in each other. He'd have to think about that later. Changing the subject, Fitz asked, "What kind of excitement do we have tonight?"

"Not much. Mr. Danforth is back with his heart arrhythmia. It's too fast this time. Doctor Stephens spoke with him about a pacemaker before he left. They are going to make a decision in the morning and go from there."

"Is his son with him?" Fitz asked.

"Yea, he got here shortly after his father was admitted."

"There's a lady in the emergency room getting her arm x-rayed although a blind person can see that it's broken..." The nurse swiped on the screen of the iPad to find the patient she was talking about. "A Miss Pope."

Fitz's brain went on high alert and his eyes darted to the nurse who had just rattled off the information. "Did you say there's a Miss Pope in here with a possible broken arm?"

"Yea." she said in a voice laced with confusion.

"Quick! What's her first name?" He demanded.

The nurse looked back down at the iPad. "Huh. First name is Olivia. Same as your future girlfriend." She brought her gaze up and was met with his wide eyes. "What's the matter?"

Fitz took off like a bullet towards the emergency room, running as fast as he could. Olivia was in the hospital. Olivia had a broken arm. What the hell had happened to her? Did she have anyone here with her? Was she here alone? Scared? Crying? Too many questions flew through his mind as he pulled back the first curtain. He had to mutter his apologies when he saw that it wasn't Olivia. He had to get to her.

He heard her voice before he ever saw her. She was yelling, but not yelling out in pain. She was telling the nurse on duty that she needed to see Doctor Grant. Fitz turned his head and strode to the direction her voice was coming from. He pulled back the curtain and said, "I hear we have a disgruntled patient in the ER tonight?"

"Thank God. It took you long enough to get here!" she barked.

"You know her?" The nurse asked.

"She's my neighbor in the apartment building I live in." Fitz explained.

"She's loud."

He grinned at the nurse and the depths of her perception. "You have no idea."

"Great. I took an x-ray. Miss Pope broke her radius. She'll need a cast put on. I'll leave you to that happy task." She smiled and left them.

"I'm glad you're here." Olivia said. "This thing hurts like hell."

"Are you alright?" He gently gathered her into his arms, just needing a minute. Her clothes were wet. "Is it raining outside?"

"No." She went back to pouting.

"Why are your clothes and hair all wet? What happened? How did you break your arm?"

"You're gonna laugh at me." She pouted.

"I'm a doctor. I've seen some fucked up stuff. Whatever it is that you think I'm gonna find humor in probably isn't even a blip on my radar."

"Fine, but you're still gonna laugh. I was standing on the curb trying to hail a cab on my way to work."

"Yea. Wait. Where do you work?"

"What?"

"I just realized that I have no idea what you do for a living."

"I'm a waitress at an upscale restaurant. Like the one you took me to dinner at."

"What's it called?" he inquired.

Olivia eyed him suspiciously. "Why? You gonna come eat there one night?"

"No." Yes, he was! "I don't have any free time." He'd find some.

"It's called Cavalarie's."

"That Italian place on eighth street? I've been wanting to go there for the longest time."

"But you don't have any free time, right?"

"That's why I haven't eaten there yet." Fitz said with a look. He'd find out her schedule and surprise her soon. "Anyways, back to your story."

"Oh, right. Ummm, so a cab came to a stop just ahead of me. As I stepped down off the curb, my heel got caught in one of those grates and I fell."

"See my face." Fitz said, pointing at it. "There's not a trace of laughter on it is there?"

"That's not the part I thought you would laugh at. I put my hand out to catch myself and that was when I heard the snap. It was really gross." She shuddered at the thought of it. "Anyways, I pulled my foot free from that damned grate and had just stood up, cradling my arm when a shit load of water comes down on me from outta nowhere."

"What? How'd that happen?"

"I look up and see a woman leaning out of a window with a bucket in her hands. The second the bitch saw me, she pulled herself back into her apartment and shut the window." She glanced over at him, watching his face for traces of amusement.

"Still not laughing over here."

"Once my arm is in a cast I'm going back to that apartment and hitting her with it!" Olivia threatened.

"Easy, Rocky. You aren't going to feel like fighting anything other than sleep and pain for a while. Let's get you taken care of and get you home, okay? Are you ready for some pain meds?"

"That would be good. It really hurts." Her voice trembled and that was the moment Fitz knew she had been fighting to keep herself together.

He looked over her chart to get her height and weight and then wrote a prescription for pain meds and gave her a couple to take now. Olivia's arm was wrapped in a cast – a yellow one because it was her favorite color, Fitz learned – and she was wheeled outside by the good doctor himself and safely loaded into yet another taxi.

"Can you make it safely upstairs once you get home?" He was grinning like an idiot at her and had a feeling she wasn't a fan of it.

Olivia held up her hand where her two heels dangled from her fingers. "I took these off, so I think I can manage somehow. It doesn't hurt right now. Feels kinda good."

"That's the pain medicine talking." He chuckled. "You need to go home and get some sleep. I'll get your prescription filled on my way home and bring it by your place in the morning. That way you won't have to go back out tomorrow or wake up in pain."

She rested her head on her arm on the rolled down window in the backseat of the yellow car. "You're pretty."

Fitz shook his head back and forth with a smile. He opened the front door of the cab and looked at the driver's identification, making a note of it. "Charles? Take her straight home. No stops. No scenic routes. Nothing extra. Here's a fifty dollar bill to ensure that happens."

The driver grinned and reached for the large bill, but Fitz jerked it out of his reach until he met his gaze. Fitz gestured to Olivia. "If I don't get a text message from this woman, as well as from you, within the next twenty five minutes with a photo of her walking into her apartment building, I am going to find you. It won't be pleasant for you when I do. She means a lot to me and I expect you to take extra good care of her. You got all that?"

"What? Is she your sister or somethin'?" The cabbie asked.

Fitz scowled at the man. "Do we look anything like each other? She's...my girlfriend. Take care of her I will go to your supervisor. Is that better?"

"Yea, yea. I got it. You gonna give me that fifty and let us get on the road or what?" he asked impatiently.

He threw the bill into the front seat and slammed the door. Looking back at Olivia he said, "Liv? I need you to text me when you get home. It's really important. Can you do that?"

"You want me to text doctor Grant? Or text my boyfriend?" She burst into a giggling fit.

"Ohhh kay. Nite, Livvie. You, drive safely." he watched until the car was out of sight. That fucker better take care of her and get Olivia home in one piece. Trying to let it go from his mind, Fitz went back inside the hospital to catch up on patients. He went straight to the nurse's station for the info. Two nurses immediately appeared, each with an iPad in her hands. "I'm really sorry I left in such a hurry earlier. When I heard that Olivia was in the emergency room I had to go check on her myself."

"I saw her. Your girlfriend." one of them said.

"She's not my girlfriend." He informed her.

"That's not what you told the cab driver." Momma nurse replied.

Fitz cut his surprised eyes to her but said nothing.

The other two nurses were grinning and listening raptly.

"She's really pretty. What does she see in you though?"

"HA! Next time I'm in a doughnut giving mood, I'll head up to the third floor." Fitz teased.

"I'm kidding. Is she okay? She get cast up and sent home?"

"She did." Momma nurse said. "Got the personal treatment like she was the Queen of Spain or somethin' too. He wheeled her outside himself and gave the cab driver a talking to about taking her straight home and sending him a picture of Olivia walking into her apartment building when they got there." She began to laugh.

"Oh my god. You did not do that did you doctor Grant?"

"What? Were you spying on me?" Fitz asked her. He was surprised.

"Of course I was. It was very sweet to watch. You care about her a lot even though its new. It's nice to see that side of you and to see you happy in your personal life. To see you have a personal life at all is somethin'." She chuckled lightly.

Fitz grinned at her. She was a bit of a smartass, but that was another quality he appreciated about her. She told it like it was. "Like I said, she's special. And whatever happens between us, I have a feeling that it could be something special too."

Momma nurse wasn't done giving advice for the night. "Everyone deserves that. But that cab driver is not gonna be sending you a picture of little Olivia at her front door like its prom night. And if you think different, you're fooling yourself."

Fitz grinned at her. "I had to try. If I don't hear from Olivia within the next half hour, I'll call her myself."

"That's a better plan, but until then, you need to keep yourself busy by checking on your patients."

Back to the grind of work tomorrow, so the updates will probably be less frequent. Thanks for hanging with me on this story & letting me know what you think by leaving a review. I love to read all of them.