THE NIGHTINGALE JOURNALS

A/N: In the opening author's notes for this story, I mentioned that this is loosely based on two of my one-shots. As the UST begins to be resolved, you will notice it unfolding a little differently than in those stories. It makes more sense in the narrative to have it unfold this way. It also keeps the story fresh for you as a reader, so that I'm not just cutting the one-shot and pasting it within the story. Just wanted to make sure this is all abundantly clear.

Things I own: One ticket for the midnight showing of Eclipse (and yes, I AM geeky enough to buy tickets to see the Twilight/New Moon double feature ahead of time).

Things I don't own: Anything Twilight. It all belongs to Stephenie Meyers.

Thanks to Ladyeire72 for pre-reading and being an incredibly kind cheerleader. I love your love of my story.

Thanks to my beta, Trinity/TFX, for giving me her support as I weave this story. ILY, bb.

CHAPTER NINE: MAKE IT SO-SO

The sound of Lauren Mallory screeching at the top of her lungs is the most unwelcome noise I've ever heard. I'm inches away from getting Bella Swan to reveal her erotic as hell nipple piercings for me, and Mallory fucking ruins the perfect moment.

In the far recesses of my mind, I recognize that Lauren did squeal something about Jessica passing out, and, as a medical doctor, I am obliged to check on the situation.

I turn to Bella, giving her the most earnest and sincere look of regret possible. "I need to check out what's going on, but I will have more of that kiss. Agreed?"

She nods her head, and the disappointment written on her face makes me feel buoyantly hopeful. I need her to understand how fucking badly I want her, every solid inch of her. I have every intention of fulfilling my promise.

I sigh and slip out of my tube, followed by Jasper and Bella. Alice appears to be holding down our tubes while we check things out.

I make my way toward Jessica, accompanied by the background music of Lauren's screams. I'm shocked by her response, because she's a trained ICU nurse; she should know better. She is nothing short of a hysterical, sobbing mess, all hyperbole and unnecessary drama.

As I look down on Stanley, however, I realize that Mallory is right to be concerned; her color is all wrong. She's pale and limp. I can see her torso spasm, similar to dry heaves, except that it doesn't reach her esophageal area. Her body is trying rid itself of all the alcohol she has consumed.

I instantly hop into rescue mode; it's the way my mind has been trained to react. Before I do anything, I tell Jasper to contact 911; getting a rig out here, along the river, isn't going to be an easy task. I ask Bella to hold Jessica's inner tube steady so that she can be easily assessed. There are several other nurses in the vicinity, and I ask them to control Mallory. That's the last headache I need to deal with right now.

A, Airway… Her neck is lax, but leaning backwards over the side of the tube with her mouth agape. The airway is clearly open.

B, Breathing… I lean over to listen for breath sounds. Her breathing is irregular and shallow. Not a positive sign.

C, Circulation… I check her carotid pulse to ensure her heart is beating. It is slow and irregular, but still beating for the moment.

Before I have a chance to do anything else, Jessica's stomach is finally able to engage with her esophagus, and she vomits. Due to her position, she aspirates some of it into her lungs, which means she's breathing in vomit instead of oxygen. As a result, she starts to gasp and choke.

"Fuck! Swan, let's get this tube to the side of the river, now. She aspirated!"

Bella looks me straight in the eye, nodding silently. Suddenly, unexpectedly, we're on. Just like at work. We're in this moment together.

I hear her shout out orders as we tug the tube toward the shore. "Angela! Find out from Lauren how much they've had to drink, and how fast. How long have they been drinking? Let me know what you find out."

I have Jessica's head turned to the side now, so if she throws up again, the likelihood that she aspirates will be minimized. She continues to retch, but so far, no more vomit. She reeks of alcohol.

When we're within a few feet of the shore, I bend over to scoop her into my arms, and Bella assists. We find the flattest ground in the area and lay Jessica down. I reposition her airway, listening carefully amid the noise and confusion surrounding us. We need to ascertain if she is still breathing. If she is, I cannot tell. It's too noisy, and her breathing is too shallow to move her ribcage. I check her pulse quickly; if she has stopped breathing, her heart will stop soon afterward.

"Swan, please grab my pack. Inside, there is a rescue breathing mask. I need it."

While it might sound crazy, I never go anywhere without my breather mask. It's the easiest way to deliver rescue breaths in an emergency without becoming contaminated. Call me crazy, but I absolutely do not want to touch her vomit-laden mouth to deliver rescue breaths.

Bella races back with the mask, and we position ourselves over Stanley.

"Please keep her airway open and secure while I do breaths, then we will switch off as we get tired, okay?"

She doesn't even need to answer; she hops into action, securing the airway for me. This is just one of the many reasons this woman is so smoking hot, but right now I need to focus on the patient.

I take a bandana off of Jessica's head and use it to wipe her mouth free of vomit, then place the mask over her nose and mouth. As I deliver a breath, I look for her chest to rise, ensuring that her airway is open and air is getting into her lungs. If I end up aerating her belly, she'll just vomit again, and this time I will be giving rescue breaths. Clearly, I'm anxious to avoid that scenario.

Jessica doesn't fight the breaths I deliver, another sign that her brain function is depressed.

She's an ICU nurse, for christ's sake! How did she let herself get so fucked up?

Jasper is suddenly at our sides. "They're going to try to get a rig over here, but they aren't sure they'll be able to do it. ETA is about ten more minutes."

I lift my head up to answer him, and Bella dives right in to take over the rescue breathing; I don't even need to ask.

"We asked some of the other nurses to question Lauren about how much they've had to drink, and how quickly they drank it. Please go over there and see if they have any information we can give to the medics."

"Absolutely. I'll be right back."

Bella breathes in, preparing to give another breath, and I notice Jessica's body start to lurch. I quickly grab her head and turn it to the side, before Bella has a chance of being hurled on. We turn her onto her side and wipe out her mouth again. I notice that she is covered in goosebumps, and she starts to shake uncontrollably.

Bella screams at the crowd. "Guys! We need jackets, blankets, towels, anything that will help to keep Jessica warm. NOW!"

Goddamn, Bella in take charge mode is the hottest thing I've ever seen.

"Cullen, I owe you big time for catching that so fast—I'm not really up for being covered in vomit at the moment."

"Oh, I'll force you to pay up later. Have no doubt about that." I enjoy watching her eyes get much larger over that statement.

Before we can say anything more, piles of clothing are suddenly handed to Bella, and we spread them over Jessica. After the second round of vomiting, she starts to mumble. We try to get some answers from her to see how oriented she is to her environment. I do a quick Glasgow Coma Scale assessment.

I shake her shoulders firmly. "Jessica, this is Dr. Cullen. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Nothing.

I give her arm a slight pinch, and state once again. "Please open your eyes, Jessica."

Her lids flutter, but remain closed.

Shit.

"Do you know where you are?"

The only intelligible response we get out of her is something that sounds like, "Wha...?"

"Do you know what day it is?"

She starts mumbling again, as if she is having a conversation with someone in a foreign language. Her words are all nonsense.

"Has… ativan… hosp… Laur…"

Bella and I look each other in the eyes, across Jessica's stomach.

"Did you hear what I heard?" Bella asks.

"If I'm not mistaken, she used the word 'ativan.'"

"I know! That's exactly what I thought she said. It makes no sense!"

"Jessica—what do you mean, 'ativan'? It is very important for us to know. Did you take ativan today?"

If there is any possibility that Stanley is mixing a benzodiazepene, like ativan or valium, with alcohol, we need to know at once. The two drugs together are a deadly combination—they can depress the brain function so far, you forget to breathe, and, subsequently, die.

Stanley continues to mumble unintelligibly. I do a quick sternal rub, which is a great way to gauge how responsive an individual is. It hurts like the dickens, since your knuckles are grinding as hard as they can into the patient's sternum. If a patient doesn't respond vigorously to such stimulation, it is a serious sign of cognitive depression. Jessica reaches up weakly toward my hands, but that is the best response I can get from her.

Once again, Bella and I look directly at one another, a silent understanding passing between us.

"Would you say a 9 or a 10?"

"Nine."

"Fuck, she's such an idiot!"

The Glasgow Coma Scale is a tool that assigns a score between 3-15, based on how well a patient is able to respond to stimuli. A score between 3-8 implies that a patient is in a coma.

Jessica Stanley is perilously close to an 8.

Just then, the medics arrive. I give them a quick overview of what we've accomplished.

"The patient became unconscious approximately 15 minutes ago. We brought her to shore, and assessed her respirations. They were shallow and irregular. She had emesis x2, and aspirated during the first incident. Her heart rate was slow, but she was never without a pulse. We assisted with her breathing until her second emesis. She became slightly more responsive after the second bout. We have been unable to ascertain the amount of alcohol she ingested, nor how long she has been drinking. She mumbled the word 'ativan,' but we have no idea if she has taken any or not. Her Glasgow score was 9."

One medic is trying to establish IV access while I give report to the other. As I'm speaking, the nurses gather around the other medic and Jessica. A police officer at the scene is trying to wrangle them away from the patient. Raised voices break into our report.

"She needs an IV in her! Just give her some 'lytes and she'll be fine!"

"Quit fucking around with the IV start—just get her to the hospital. Don't you know what the word STAT means?"

"Do you even know how to put in an IV? Why is it taking so long?"

"Do you need help?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head. Never get on the wrong side of a drunk nurse—it's just plain scary.

The police officer gives the women a final warning. "Ladies, back the hell off, or you'll all be arrested. Do I make myself clear?"

Bella runs over to the group of nurses to intervene.

"Jesus, you guys! You're nothing but a bunch of back seat drivers! Let them do their work! Jessica is going to be just fine."

The officer gives Bella a grateful nod. "She's right, people. Why don't you all go back down to the river. That's the best way you can be of use to your friend."

He turns and asks Bella some questions. I overhear him ask her to accompany Stanley to the hospital.

Not on my watch, buddy. I have a smoldering hot kiss I need to return to, sooner rather than later.

I stride over to where they're standing. "Actually, I think Lauren Mallory should be with Jessica. They've been drinking together all morning, and she has the best background and history information to give the docs. It makes perfect sense for her to be in attendance."

Signed. Sealed. Delivered, Mallory.

To reinforce my intentions, I put my arm around Bella's shoulder, and begin to escort her over to our belongings.

"Cullen, that was very skillful of you, just now," she says with a huge smile on her face.

I put my hands on either shoulder, turning her to look directly into my eyes. "Did I, or did I not, mention something about collecting on a kiss and promise to see some nipple piercings?"

"Do you actually believe I would let you get away without finishing what you started? Because if you do, I think you need to wear the Party Hat for a lot longer."

I can feel her breath on my face, she's so close. I want nothing more than to slam her into the tree behind us and fuck her senseless in every imaginable position. I'm trying to explain to the permanent horndog holed up inside my brain that you don't go straight from redhot kisses to fucking senseless against a tree; that's not how you work your lady into a frenzy. It is at this moment my cock chooses to join the argument, and it is in complete agreement with my brain's horndog center. Shit, it's two against one. Majority rules.

Before I can finish another thought, Bella's lips cover my own. End of conversation. I've only kissed her once, but her lips feel so familiar. It's like listening to Green Eggs and Ham as an adult—you still know all the words from when you were a child, and they come flooding back to you the minute you dive in anew. It's that perfect blend of familiar and new. I know instinctively the only reason I feel this way is because it's Bella. To experience any other kiss at this point would be ludicrous. I want these lips. Always. I know that just as certain as I know my own name.

"But I'm still drunk, and I can't go to the hospital! It needs to be Bella Swan! She's always in charge! Let her do it. I can't!"

Once again, Lauren Mallory's whines have interrupted my date with destiny—namely, Bella's lips. That is fucking enough for one day. Cockblock me once, shame on me. Cockblock me twice, shame on you.

I pull back from Bella and quickly mutter to her, "This fucking ends now. I promise I will get rid of her. You keep my favorite pair of lips right where they are, then we will get back to business." She smiles widely at my comment, which only bolsters my confidence.

I walk over to the medic I gave report to earlier. We give each other a nod.

"Hey, I need you to do a big favor for me."

He raises his eyebrow.

"Okay, you know the nurse who was working on the patient with me?" I motion with my head in Bella's direction.

"Dude, I'm not going to forget her any time soon. Or that bikini."

I clench my fist at his comment, but realize that sometimes you have to give up the battle in order to win the war.

"Ah, yeah. So let me ask you this: If you had the chance to spend 24 hours with that bikini, you'd go for it, right?"

He raises his eyebrows and shrugs, indicating it is a given.

"Well, I seem to have an obstacle in my way." Without naming Lauren's name, I motion with my head in her direction. "She's the one you need at the hospital, I swear. She's the patient's best friend, and they've been drinking all morning. Can you please see to it that she is the one who accompanies the patient to the hospital?"

"Absolutely."

We shake on it. "Thanks, man."

"What are you waiting for? Get over there before she gets away!"

I smile and do exactly as he says.

~xXx~

By the time we reach the end of our river run, we've nearly forgotten about the morning's mishaps with Jessica Stanley. She'll wake up with one hell of a hangover, but she'll be fine. I actually feel like I need to thank her, because she single handedly took herself AND Lauren Mallory out of the picture. Fucking brilliant, if you ask me.

With the realization that we need to pace ourselves a little bit in the hot sun and cool water, we keep our buzz on an even, happy keel. Bella comes up with a grand scheme to get her own beverage from the cooler, but it involves crawling over to my tube on all fours, then reaching over to remove said beverage. In the meantime, Bella's ass is right in front of my face, and it takes all my willpower to keep from ripping her bikini bottoms off and diving straight into her pussy. I opt for the more appropriate solution and run my hands over her round little ass. A man can only handle so much teasing, after all.

Bella lets out a wonderful little squeak, and in the flash of an eye, turns around and falls into my lap. Straddling me. As in, her scantily clad pussy is just two thin layers of material away from my positively delighted dick. He hasn't been this happy in a long time.

I look up from my lap into Bella's eyes to apologize for my body's enthusiasm regarding our genital proximity, but it is readily apparent that no apology is needed. A very self-satisfied smile is plastered on her face. The little vixen decides now is the perfect time to start gyrating slowly over my cock. Thank god my hands are empty, because I need them on her hips immediately to increase the friction. How does Bella respond to all this? She fucking puts her hands on my shoulders, which helps to increase the friction even more. We're locked on each other, grinding away, when the tubes suddenly come to a stop.

Why is destiny determined to screw with my mojo? Every time I'm just getting warmed up with Bella, something intervenes! I refuse to take this as a sign from the universe that I don't belong with Bella. I think I'm going to rationalize that it is simply the universe's way of telling me that good things come to those who wait, and I can certainly wait. At least a little bit longer.

Alice decides she needs to take some action to move our party along. "Let's return the tubes then head over to the hotel to change."

Bella leans over and whispers in my ear, "If you hurry, we can start dancing sooner rather than later."

That's all the prodding I need. With a speed I didn't know I was capable of attaining, I'm suddenly rushing the group, yanking the four inner tubes behind me.

"Bella, what in god's name did you do to the man? He's like Northstar!"

Bella and Alice burst out in giggles over Jasper's cultural reference, but nothing is going to stop me from those pierced nipples. I am a determined man.

"Jasper, only you could bring out comicgeek knowledge after a day of partying on the river. Do you need the Party Hat?"

"Fuck you, Swan. Just wait, some day my encyclopedic memory for comic book trivia will win a game show, and I will be rich. Have no fear that I will remind you of this. Frequently. Every time you have to go in to work, while I sit on the front porch sipping mint juleps."

Bella takes off running, turning around to shout at Jasper, "Only a murse would admit to drinking mint juleps!"

He takes off and captures her, giving her a good, hard noogie on the head. "Shut it, Swan! Take it back!"

In between bursts of giggles, Bella squeaks out, "NEVER!"

When Alice and I catch up with them, Bella shouts out a loud plea, "Edward! Help! Save me!"

I grab my iPhone from my pocket and open the light saber app. I slash it around like I'm brandishing the real thing, and it makes the classic light saber noise. Jasper finds himself backed against the trunk of my car, scared to his core by my dangerous weapon. He sighs and gives Bella up almost instantly. She runs up to me, flinging her arms around her neck.

"See? You are totally my knight in shining armor!"

I whisper into her ear, "Always."

We pack our gear into the Volvo and head over to the hotel. En route, Alice politely reminds me that I lost the bet, so the room is on me tonight.

"My dear Ms. Brandon, I never renege on a deal. Fair is fair, and I lost."

"You know what, Bella? This Dr. Cullen guy is all right. I think you need to hang on to him."

Bella's face flashes scarlet and she quickly turns her face to look out the window. I try to change the topic of conversation so that she feels more comfortable.

"Where are we staying tonight, Alice? The Icicle Inn?"

"Yep, that's the one. Do you want the map?"

"Sure." I grab the map and hand it to Bella. "Would you mind being the navigator, Swan?"

She looks at me bashfully, and carefully takes the map from my hands. She mouths an I'm sorry to me, and I want to set her straight right away. It's fine! I hope she believes me.

I walk up to the registration desk, handing them our reservation information. The clerk looks at me, and back at the reservation several times. "Um, hang on a second, okay?" I nod at her. She returns moments later with her manager.

"Yes, good evening, Mr. Brandon."

"Ah, no, actually, I'm Mr. Cullen. Ms. Brandon is in the car."

"Oh, my apologies, sir. It appears that the room type you reserved has been inadvertently given to another couple. I'm so sorry."

"Huh. No big deal, you can just give us another one. There are four in our party."

"Well, that's the problem, you see. Our hotel is booked for the night, and the room assigned to you only sleeps two."

Now I'm not feeling as generous as I was 15 seconds ago.

"You realize that is completely unacceptable, yes? We have a reservation. You need to find a solution that involves me and all the members of my party in a room this evening. I'd hate to have to call Best Western corporate to explain the situation to them."

"Very good, Mr. Cullen, I'll see what I can do."

"Yes, you will. Should I wait right here for you?"

"Of course, that will be fine."

I cross my arms and lean against the counter, giving my best Don't Fuck With Cullen look. I check my watch every minute or so, just to keep the pressure on.

After ten minutes, I heave an exasperated sigh.

In a perfect world I could have been fucking Bella Swan by now, but I'm surrounded by imbeciles determined to thwart my every attempt!

The manager returns with a sly grin on his face, as if he is the fucking Cheshire Cat.

Bring it, dude.

I don't even say anything, I just give him a look.

"Mr. Cullen, I have what appears to be an excellent solution! We have one suite open for you, so you will have enough rooms for the evening!"

"That is an excellent solution. Thank you for your efforts."

When I return to the car with two sets of keys, I get three confused looks from my passengers.

"I only reserved one room, Edward!"

"Well, due to a certain manager's SNAFU, they gave us a room with only one bed. I challenged him to find a solution for me, and the solution happened to be a suite."

I hear three very happy individuals cheering my efforts.

"To make it fair, I'm going to hide the room numbers—Alice, Bella, I want both of you to remove a key card from my hand to determine who gets the suite."

I turn my back to them and shuffle the cards, then present them for selection.

"Go ahead, Alice. I'll take the one you don't pick."

"Are you sure?"

"It's a hotel room. It's no big."

Alice hastily snatches a key card. She has the hotel room, leaving us with the suite.

With all the reprehensibly dirty ideas floating around in my head, the suite will be just what the doctor ordered. Literally.

Bellas eyes go wide when I show her our key. "Are you sure you're okay with that, Cullen? I know we always said that the four of us could share a room."

Alice whacks Bella on her shoulder at the same moment Jasper pipes in, "As if I want you two intruding on my private sexytimes with my lady."

For the sake of discretion, I half whisper to her, "Swan, I'm not even going to comment on your question. The answer should be plainly obvious."

"Well, then, get ready to go! Let's move, people!" For a little thing, Alice certainly has no qualms with taking command.

"Yes, ma'am!" I say, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

As we open the door to our room, Bella walks in first and stops cold. Expecting her to continue moving, I smash into the back of her, and we both fall to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I didn't mean…"

I look up to take in the scene that caused Bella to stop: We have the Honeymoon Suite.

I hear Bella emit a slight gasp, and then turn her head to face me.

"Edward, it's—"

"Yeah, I know."

Our eyes are locked, waiting for the other person to speak first. While the pause should be filled with an awkward silence, it isn't. If I'm not mistaken, we are both displaying a look of wonder—we're actually alone, together, in a room, and no one around for miles to cockblock us. A few seconds later, we both start cracking up at the same time.

"As much as I would absolutely love to jump your bones this very minute, I know Alice and Jasper are waiting for us. If I promise to molest you later, is that all right?"

After she spills out the words that are music to my ears, she bites her bottom lip, and I'm gone. Suddenly, Bella is pinned against the back of the door and I'm kissing her with a scary level of intensity, attempting to release some of the day's pent up horniness. She slides her hands into my back pockets and forcefully pulls my hard cock closer to her. She mewls out a little moan and it is literally all I can do to keep from fucking her right here and now. I break from the kiss to whisper into her beautiful ear.

"Fuuuuuck, Bella. When you bite your lip like that, it's so damn sexy! I want you so badly, I don't know if I can wait. Between your bikini, the pierced nipples, that incredible thing on the inner tube, I'm dying here!"

"I said this once to Alice, and now I'm going to tell you, so you truly understand my meaning. I want you, Edward Cullen, more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I also know that if Alice and Jasper show up at the bar alone, the gossip will spread and spill to all the other nurses, and it will eventually get back to your colleagues and your father. I can't have your dad's embarrassment on my conscience, Cullen, I just can't. So let's both take a deep breath, calm ourselves with the promise of epic naughtiness later, and get ready for the bar."

The minute she utters the words, I know she's right, of course. I'm tired of being good, and doing what's right. I want to fuck Bella Swan, now. I don't want to wait a few hours. When my father's face pops into my head, however, I know that I can't do anything to create an embarrassment for him, especially if my goal is to follow in his footsteps. I lean my forehead against Bella's, then give her a long, chaste kiss to signal my acceptance. She leans her head back slightly and lifts her hands to my cheeks with such a look of understanding, it makes my heart clench.

She gets it, and I'm damned lucky she does.

I step back and grab her hand, leading her over to our bags. "Do you want to hop in the shower first?"

"Yes, I'd love to wash the river water away."

"I'll hop in after you're done, okay?"

She nods quickly, while she is gathering her things. The minute she shuts the door, I will myself not to think about the fact that Bella is in the same room as I am, naked in the shower, and I've got the hardest dick in the world to prove it. I'm old enough and responsible enough to know that I need to wait, but shit, it isn't easy. There's no way my cock isn't going to be hard all night, especially if I get to watch Bella dance.

Just keep repeating, "epic naughtiness later…epic naughtiness later..."

END NOTE: Before you go all rageball on me for ending things here, please be aware that Chapter 10 will be the epic home run you've all been waiting for. Does that make you feel a little bit better? I hope so.

One of my one-shots, "Love Among the Microbes," has been nominated for a Gigglesnort Award. If you feel so inclined, you can vote for it between May 20-June 4th here (just remember to remove the spaces in the URL first):

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