"I mean the scans! It's insane, right?" Bella's excitement is contagious, and there she is, practically skipping down the hallway with me. I waved to a few colleagues, who stare at this vibrant stunning woman beside me, and badge us into the OR.
"I won't lie, I can't wait to see it," I say, chuckling at her excitement, as I toss her a cap and shoe covers. As she puts on the white bunny suit, I force myself to look away from her perfect figure. I swallow, trying to switch my thoughts to anything pure. "I'll see you in the OR - I'm going to touch base quickly with my chief resident." She nods, shooting me a smile. I turn away from her unable to repress the smile on my face.
This woman. Consuming more of my thoughts every single day. When I had seen her at the hospital gala months ago, I had to stop myself from staring slack-jawed as she gracefully glided to us in a blue satin dream, her beautiful brown eyes, button nose and full lips. And there was Esme, a notorious hard-ass, shining proudly at her, with Bella modestly and humbly refusing praise.
I had to know more about her after that. She seamlessly fit into our group of friends of junior faculty. This research project was a godsend - I learned more about her and she brought her wit, joy, and pure brilliance to work. Before I even realized it, I found myself anticipating every moment we would spend together.
I head into the OR. As I scrub in, I can't help the flare of jealousy as I see her through the OR window talking to the anesthesiologist, Jake. I refocus, taking a deep breath and getting into my ritual of going through the case in my mind. I push open the OR doors with my back - the scrub tech immediately ready to help me. Bella turns to me, in her bright white suit and I could see her grin even through the mask - her eyes giving it all away.
"You ready," Bella smirks, coming behind me to tie my gown, first at my neck and then my waist. She was barely touching me but it was as if I felt the vibrations of her voice through my whole body. I snap my gloves on and give her a grin as I turn around and tie up the final piece.
"Born ready," I say with confidence. It was true - the OR was my home. I never felt more alive than when I was deep in the middle of a challenging case, using every bit of mental and physical strength and intelligence I had.
"We have Dr. Isabella Swan joining us in the OR today to observe," I announce to our staff, smirking at her. "Please forgive the medicine attending if she gets in the way."
"Yes, please, forgive me if I step on Dr. Masen's huge ego a few times," Bella shoots back. I barely hear the laughter of our OR staff. Green and brown eyes meet, blazing. Sterile clothing or not, I knew it - I burned for this woman.
We timed out. Bella and I switched into complete professionalism. Deep breath. "Scalpel." I cut into our patient's knee and soon enough, expose the deformed joint to Bella. She looks intently at the area, her brilliant mind running through ideas, and together, with her guidance, we explored the area thoroughly.
"It just looks different than what I'm used to. Let's take some samples to run at the lab," Bella suggests.
"Agreed - I've never seen anything like it before," I muse, picking the small fragments of bone in the joint and placing them in the sterile container. I snap off my gloves and page my chief resident to close the surgery.
As I rip off my sterile gown, I stare at Bella examining the samples. She really did fill out that bunny gown - a Jessica rabbit to say the least.
Bella turns to me, a radiant smile on her face.
"Well, you'll have to tell me what you find," I say, smiling back, as we walk out of the OR.
"I know the pathologist rather well. Angela just happens to be one of my best friends from residency," Bella smirks, her excitement palpable. "Why don't I come by your office later? With the results, of course."
"My office is always open to you," I say, running my hands through my hair, trying to remember the busy clinic I had to get to, "but later sounds very good." I try to stop staring at her mouth, failing spectacularly.
And then Bella jumps into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck, taking me completely off guard as I instinctively wrap my own arms around her.
"Edward, I seriously can't thank you enough for this," Bella whispers in my ear, "This is going to change everything for me, for the patients, I just…" as she gets audibly choked up. I squeeze her into me tighter, reveling in this amazing feeling of her in my arms.
"Bella, you are brilliant. I'm honored you let me be a part of it to be honest," I told her softly as she lets go and slides herself slowly down my body to the ground. I gulp. This woman was dangerous and perfect and with those smoky eyes boring into mine, I was ready to pull her into any supply closet in this hospital and give into this fiery tension between us.
Bella bites her lip and my breath turns shallow. Dear god, I…
"Eddie" I hear a shriek down the hall.
I whip my head around and of course, there was Tanya Denali, hustling over to me. Bella sighs and puts space between us. I squeeze Bella's waist and let her go.
"That's my cue - I will see you later, Edward," Bella says to me quickly, before waving to Tanya.
Later couldn't come sooner.