By eleven PM, even though her shift wasn't over yet, Olivia was exhausted. The calm day she had hoped had been far from being that way. They'd had a few traumas come in and then she tended the rest of the time to more casual medicine like she had started her morning off with. The thought of Jake insinuated itself in the back of her mind as she sat down in the on-call room. Every time she thought of him, she remembered the sound of his suave voice, his gorgeous smile and how his beautiful green eyes seemed to search deep within her soul.
She closed her eyes and sighed as she let herself fall on her back on the mattress of the lower bunk.
Even with her eyes closed, his face popped up in her head. She closed them tighter, hoping to make him disappear.
She suddenly opened her eyes as she heard her cellphone vibrate.
She leaned over and grabbed it from her coat pocket that was on the chair next to the bunk.
It was a message from Beau. It was short and precise. He was needed on an aircraft carrier for a couple of days minimum. He'd call her when he had the chance.
She quickly responded that he be careful before putting her cellphone back in her coat pocket and leaning back down on the bed.
She pondered for a few minutes than realized the strangest of things. The fact that he was going to be gone didn't bother her. She wasn't disappointed the slightest bit and she found that odd.
She stepped out of the hospital at around eight. It was two hours longer than planned but she had been busy on an incoming trauma and hadn't wanted to leave Seth to handle it on his own, until the patient was in surgery. She had showered in the locker room and changed. She wasn't tired yet, but that was merely explained by the adrenaline of the past hours on the trauma. Once she settled in at home, she knew she wouldn't have issues to find repose.
Even if it was early, the sun was already shining brightly and she stopped just after the door, leading outside, to look for her sunglasses in her bag.
She found them and placed them before resuming her walk for the bus stop. Even though she had a car, the hospital was only a few stops from her house, and she didn't mind the public commute, quite on the contrary, she got to work or home even more relaxed.
"Hi."
She turned around and saw him sitting on a bench. He was smiling at her, and her breath got caught in her throat. He was something else. It could have been the uniform, but she had seen enough men in uniform in Guam for it to not really have much of an impact on her. He stood, removed his sunglasses hanging from his pocket, placed them and walked over to her.
"Hi," she answered back. "Is something wrong with your wound?"
He casually put his hand up to his forehead. "Oh no. It's fine. I was hoping to bump into you."
"You don't need to thank me, it's my job."
"I wasn't going to thank you."
She blinked. "You weren't?"
"Well yes, obviously I want to thank you, but…"
He grimaced and passed a hand in his hair.
"Ok," he said, "this played out so differently in my head when I imagined it."
She gave a light laugh and he did the same.
"Well, how did it play out in your head?"
"I was going to offer you breakfast."
"And why would I agree to have breakfast with you?"
Yep… definitely not how it had played out in his head… He hadn't thought she would say that.
"Well, you've got to eat right? After a busy shift I'm sure you're hungry. I know I am after flying for a couple of hours."
He was right, she was starving. The last meal she'd had worth mentioning had been lunch the day she had met him in the bar.
He cocked his head to the side, seeing she wasn't answering him.
"Unless you already have plans with Admiral Simpson, in which case, I'll head back to base."
"He flew out to an aircraft carrier 2 hours ago for I believe to be an undetermined duration."
"I didn't know. I'm sorry."
She laughed realizing how fake he sounded. "No, you're not."
He burst out laughing as well. "You're right. I'm not."
"I'll make a deal with you."
"I'm listening."
"I'll have breakfast with you only if you promise that only the truth will come out of your mouth."
He gave her a side smile. "That could be dangerous."
She eyed him very seriously. "I work in a Naval Hospital where I treat incoming traumas and live in a country where there are approximately 21,700 military members… I think I can handle danger."
"Deal," he replied. This was a game he could easily play and win at.
"Ok, so where to?"
"The Kracked Egg," he answered as he showed her toward the parking lot.
They stopped in front of a jeep, and he helped her inside the passenger seat. She turned and put her bags on the back seat as he sat down in the passenger seat.
"Have you ever been to Guam before?" she asked as they drove.
"Only once a couple of years ago, but it was just an overnight layover. What about you? How long have you been in Guam?"
"My whole life."
He snuck a peek at her.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. Hey, I can't ask you to speak the truth and not to the same."
"Touché," he replied. "Why Guam?"
"My father was in the Army. Generally, they get stationed all over the world, but he had a lot of assets for this geographic area and well he managed to stay here for his entire career, until he retired as a three-star general."
"You never wanted to go to the States?"
She shrugged. "Didn't really need to. My entire family was here and to be honest, aside from the military aspect this is a beautiful place to live in."
She looked out the window and even though he could have done the same, he preferred looking at her.
"I didn't know there was a medical school on the island," he said.
"I did my pre-med and med studies in Australia."
He pointed a finger at her. "Ah ha! I thought you said nothing but the truth."
She laughed again and he loved it. He could have listened to her laugh all day.
"I wasn't lying, I just forgot to clarify."
"I'm pulling your leg. And since then, you've worked in the Naval Hospital."
Before she could even answer, he suddenly did a double. "Wait, are you Navy?"
"Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?"
"I don't know. From your father's point of view, I'm not sure he'd get it, from mine… I don't know."
"I'm a civilian doctor, hired and working for the Navy. I'm not sure the uniform would suit me."
"I liked your uniform yesterday morning," he replied, "it suited you."
They pulled up in front of the Kracked Egg, walked inside and sat down at one of the available tables.
He spoke a bit about where he was from and how he had gotten into the Navy as a fighter jet pilot. She listened with real interest. It was different for her than with Beau. He had always been more reserved about his life and even about the Navy.
"OK," he said once they had ordered. "You said we needed to play the truth game and I would like to add a game to it."
"What? No, that's not how it works."
"Now come on, you're setting up all the rules here… let's make this fair."
"Fine, but if you tell me, it's 'spin the bottle', I'm walking out and hitchhiking back."
"It's not, 'spin the bottle'. It's twenty questions."
"What category do I need to find the answer to?"
"That's where it gets a bit different. I'm just going to ask you twenty random questions and I just want truthful answers."
She leaned back in her chair and eyed him.
He leaned in over the table and beamed. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"OK."
She leaned in on the table and they were only a few inches apart.
"Last name?"
She grimaced. "That is the first question?"
"I'm starting things slow."
"McKinney, but then again you should know that because I told you when I walked in to take care of you."
"You're right, my bad."
"Middle name?"
"Don't have one."
"What?! How is that even possible? Everyone has a middle name."
"That is so not true. I know a lot of people who don't have middle names."
"Nickname?"
"Don't really have one either. Although my colleague calls me OMK or Livi, and Nurse Fallon calls me sunshine."
"OMK? Is that supposed to be the name of a rap group I never heard of that you lead?"
"Haha… You are hilarious. No, it's the initials of my first and last name."
"Favorite color?"
"Blue."
"Favorite animal?"
"Dolphin."
"Favorite pet?"
"Dog."
"Favorite season?"
"Summer."
"Favorite type of food?"
"Japanese."
"Siblings?"
"None."
"Would you prefer going to a movie or walking on the beach under the moonlight?"
"Beach."
He found her answer quite interesting… If a guy knew that and he had the opportunity of taking her out every day on the beach to walk in the moonlight, why the hell was Cyclone taking her to the movies? The only possibilities were that; one he didn't care or two he had never asked her what she liked to do.
"Favorite sport?"
"To watch or play?"
"Play."
"Tennis."
"To watch?"
"Soccer."
"Have you dated a lot of navy or army guys?"
"Yes."
"How long have you known Beau?"
"6 months."
"Do you live together?"
"No."
"Is it serious?"
She paused for a second, turned her head to the side and looked at him. "I don't know."
It was his turn to be taken slightly aback.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"We've never discussed it openly. I assume we're exclusive."
He put his hands in the form of a T in front of him. "Whoa, wait a minute. Time out."
She leaned back in her chair.
"If I understand correctly your last answer, you're telling me that you don't know if he sees other women?"
"Yes."
"Yes, he sees other women or yes you don't know that he does?"
"I don't know if he does."
"And you're OK with that?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want him to be exclusive?"
"I don't know."
"Why do you go out with him then?"
"I don't know."
This was his opening. Not only was Cyclone going to be away for a couple of days, but she didn't even seem to know what she wanted out of their relationship. It puzzled him. She didn't seem like the kind of person who didn't know what she wanted in life. He was missing something, something important, but he couldn't figure it out.
He was about to say something when she eyed him. "You've used up all your questions."
"That's not fair, I said time out."
"How convenient."
"Fine, I only have two more questions."
"You're pushing your luck."
"I'll take my chances," he said as he leaned back in over the table.
"You always get your way, don't you?"
"Let's say I'm persistent."
Without waiting for a comment, he fixed his eyes on hers. Those beautiful cinnamon-colored eyes.
"If another guy came and tries to sweep you off your feet, would you take a chance?"
Maybe it was the fatigue, maybe his gorgeous green eyes or his handsome face, but she didn't care. She wasn't without knowing that the answer she would give him would change everything.
"Yes," she replied as she leaned back toward the table, their hands merely a few inches away from one another.
"Would you have dinner with me tonight?"
He held in his breath in anticipation, until he heard her half-whisper response.
"Yes."
He was about to let his fingers graze her hand when the waitress showed up to the table with their order. Both sat back in their seats as she placed the plates in front of them.
"Enjoy."
When she had disappeared, they looked at each other and smiled.
