Chapter 9 - Countdown to Texas: 4 days

The ringing of his phone awoken Lucas from his slumber. It was only 7 in the morning and today is the start of four 12-hour shifts at the hospital as he and Riley will be leaving for Texas on Friday. He blindly searched for his phone on his nightstand with his hands and answered it.

"Luke?" It was his mother.

He gently sat up and rubbed his face, "Good morning Mom. How are you?"

"Oh I'm doing well sweetie. How are you?"

"I'm fine," He yawned. "Just a little tired and I'm doing 12 hours shifts the next four days to make up for the week I'll be taking off."

"I'm so sorry I called you so early! I thought you'd be awake by now."

"No mom it's actually good you called or else I wouldn't have woken up on time."

"Did you stay up late last night working? Honey don't over work yourself!"

He chuckled and swung his legs on to the edge of the bed, "I didn't work last night. I was just up late talking to Riley on the phone."

"Awww that is so adorable! Nothing bad I hope. I really can't wait to meet her Luke!"

"Oh no no we were just talking about our day and such. She can't wait to meet you too mom,"

"Okay well I just called to make sure everything is set for your trip,"

Lucas stood up and walked towards the kitchen to make himself some coffee on his Keurig, "Everything is set. I'll email you our itinerary and I'll call you the day before we leave."

"That sounds good dear," She paused. "What's Riley's favorite dish so I can whip it up for her when y'all get here?"

"She loves any type of dish mom," He smiled and popped a couple of slices of cinnamon raisin bread in the toaster. "But I think her favorite is my bacon wrapped pesto chicken."

His mother gasped, "Lucas Friar you cooked for another girl besides your mother?"

"Yeah why?"

"She must be really special then,"

"Yeah," He sighed grabbing the cup of coffee. "She is."

"Well I'll let you go now dear since you have to get ready for work. I love you and tell Riley I said hello and I can't wait to meet her!"

"Love you too mom! See you soon," He hung up his phone and grabbed the bread after he heard the ding. With a smile on his face, he made his way back to his room to get ready for a long day at work.


"Good morning Nurse Riley!"

Riley stepped out of the elevator and was greeted by none other than Dr. Friar, leaning up against the counter of the Nurses' Station. She pursed her lips and gave him a sharp stare, "Good morning Dr. Friar." She responded with venom in her voice walked around and into the station.

"Well someone's a little grumpy this morning," He chuckled and pushed a travel mug towards her direction. She raised her eyebrows at him. "It's coffee. Figured you'd need it this morning. 2 sugars 3 creams?"

"Thank you," She took the mug from him and took a sip. She toned her voice down to a whisper so no one would hear her, "But I wouldn't need this if someone didn't keep me up late last night."

"Hey you were the one that kept rambling on about the Knicks," He put his hands up in surrender.

She growled and sat on her chair, "Well that's because you were underestimating their skills!"

"Yeesh," Lucas took a step back. "I'm gonna leave you to drink your coffee now and I'll go make rounds."

"Yeah you do that," Riley snapped.

He walked a few steps away before turning around, "Guess which nurse got my patients for today?" He gave her a smirk and started walking backwards, earning another sharp stare from the nurse.

Riley slumped on her seat and took another sip of her coffee, "He's lucky he's got a Keurig and got my coffee taste right." She whispered under hear breath.

"Wowwww," Emily rolled her chair back towards where Riley was. "You guys are soooo low key."

Riley whipped her head towards her friend and stared her down, "Don't start with me."

"Someone's a little grumpy this morning," Emily laughed. "You two had a date last night or something?" Riley dropped her jaw and scoffed. "Wait a minute, you two are going to need to go to human resources if you have a relationship of some sort."

"Would you just," Riley growled and waved her off. "Go check on your patients."

Emily rolled her chair back towards her side of the station, "Hey Cam. We gotta stay away from Riley until she finishes her coffee." The two turned to see Riley narrowing her eyes at them. "Go check on your patients Riles," The two laughed and went back to their respective work.


"Knock knock," Riley called out as she entered a patient's room, rolling her computer on wheels along with her. "Good morning Samantha! How's my favorite Merida in training doing?" She walked towards her bed and whispered a hello to her parents.

"I almost shot the middle of the target last night Nurse Riley!" Samantha exclaimed with a wide grin on her face. Sam, as most of her medical team called her, is a 6 year old girl that was admitted for extreme dehydration from excessive vomiting due to the stomach flu. She had bright blue eyes and her blonde bouncy curls fell just above her shoulders. She was holding on to her stuffed monkey on one hand and her Nerf bow and arrow was placed on her bedside table.

Riley chuckled at the little girl who was almost bouncing on her bed, "I'm very proud of you Sam! And it seems like you got all your energy back now."

"Yes I do! I feel great!" Sam placed her monkey on her lap.

"Do you think she'll be discharged soon?" Samantha's mom, Lori, asked the nurse.

Riley nodded in response, "I think she will be! The doctor just has to check up on her labs and we'll get started on her discharge papers immediately."

"Thank you so much,"

"Of course! You're welcome," Riley smiled. "Well Sam, the doctor told me that you're doing so well that you don't need the liquid power anymore." Being at a pediatric unit, they have to learn how to explain medical terms using words that the children can understand at their age. In this case, the kids don't panic when you tell them you're about to insert a needle in their veins and have a cocktail of medication run through their body.

Sam's eyes widened, "Really? But then how will I get strong like Merida?"

"You will get stronger like her if you drink your milk and eat your veggies and fish and meat and" A knock on the door interrupted Riley. She turned around to look at who the intruder was and it was Dr. Friar.

"Hello Sam," the doctor greeted and Sam gave him a shy smile, putting her head down slightly.

"Good morning Dr. Friar," Lori greeted for her daughter. "So is she about ready to get out of here?"

Lucas nodded which made Sam perk up and smile widely, "I read over her lab results from this morning and they're all good."

"Really? I get to go home?" Sam asked the doctor.

"Yes Samantha," Lucas gave her a smile. "Well after Nurse Riley takes out your IV. Then she'll go over what you need to do before going home."

Sam switched her gaze towards Riley who was standing towards Lucas' left side, "Can you take it out now?"

Riley chuckled, "That's what I came here to do! I'll take it out just as soon as the doctor finishes talking to you okay?"

"No please I want it out now so I can go home," Sam pleaded giving her the best puppy dog pout she has.

"You know that's the same look you gave me when you wanted chocolate pudding,"

The little girl grinned, "And you gave me chocolate pudding."

"It's okay Nurse Riley," Dr. Friar motioned for her to continue. "You can take it out now. I'll just finish speaking to her parents now."

"Alright Sam," Riley said. "Let's get you home soon." Sam clapped and Riley walked around her bed as her IV line was on her right hand. She put on a pair of gloves and began to remove the tape using an adhesive remover.

"It's not going to hurt right?" Sam asked with worry in her eyes.

"Remember when you were in the emergency room and you had to wait a while before they can put this in you?" Riley began and Sam nodded along. "Well, they had to call me down because they couldn't find the perfect place to put it. But see, I have this special power where I can easily find the perfect place." Lucas turned his attention towards the nurse and admired how she was interacting with Sam, who was now completely in awe at Riley. "Did you feel any pain when I did it?"

"Well," Sam thought. "I only felt a mosquito bite."

"And then what happened?"

"It didn't feel like anything!"

"Here's the best part," Riley smiled. "When I take it out, you're not even going to feel a mosquito bite. Are you ready?" Sam nodded. "Okay, how about you help me out with holding this cotton ball right here," She placed a cotton ball just on top of where the IV catheter had been inserted. Sam looked away for a second not wanting to watch and turn her head back after a few seconds as she was curious.

"All done!" Riley announced removing her gloves in the process and tossing them in the garbage. "Could you hold that a little longer for me while I get you a Merida Band-Aid?"

Sam's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "That was it?"

"Yes Miss!" She placed the band-aid on top of the cotton ball. "I told you."

"Thank you Nurse Riley!" Sam jumped and gave Riley a big hug. "Thank you doctor," Lucas smiled.

"You're always welcome Samantha," Riley turned to look at Sam's parents and Lucas. She locked eyes with the doctor who was amazed at how the nurse handled the situation. Riley moved to throw out the tubings and IV bag in the proper bin. "Well I have to get going and see the other kids now. But I'll be back after lunch to talk to you about discharge okay?"

The nurse rolled her computer out the door with the doctor following just behind her. She moved towards another room but Lucas kept on walking next to her.

"Wow," He began. "That was amazing."

Riley turned and gave the doctor a confused look, "What?"

"I myself started to believe you actually had special powers," He laughed.

She rolled her eyes at him, "I'm a nurse. Of course I have special powers."

"I'm hungry," the doctor announced. "Wanna get tacos at that stand around the corner?"

"Yeah I need to talk to you about our hospital interactions," She pulled over to the side.

"What about them?

"People are starting to notice that we... talk."

"So? We work together Riles. Of course we're going to talk,"

"You know what I mean Lucas," Riley stated. "I just don't want our fake relationship to get in the way with our actual work relationship. Especially that this whole hanging out all the time getting to know each other will end after Texas but our work relationship will still be here. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah I get it," Lucas nodded and pursed his lips. "I guess we should have set boundaries at work. We should talk about those limits. Set rules. We should have in the beginning."

Riley furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, "Lucas that's not..."

He interrupted her and began to walk backwards, giving her a forced smile. "Let me know when we can or you could just text me." He turned on his heel and walked away from her.

"Dr. Friar," She called out but he kept on walking. She groaned and threw her head back, "Damn it."


You didn't think there wasn't going to be any drama now did you? ;) And only a few days before Texas? Tsk tsk tsk.

I just absolutely loved reading the reviews from last chapter that I was motivated to update tonight! Seriously, thank you so much for the kind words and I'm so grateful that you are enjoying this story.

Let me know what you think of this chapter! :)