Chapter 10
Geneva sighed as she walked inside The University of Washington Medical Center, not believing she'd been paged 911 to the pit out of a dead sleep. Barely an hour of sleep after a forty-eight hour shift, that was the beauty of being a surgical intern. She hated this part about her internship as she hurried to the elevator, spotting her friend Lance, who looked just as drained and slid inside before the doors closed.
"What happened?" She asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes and stifled a yawn. It was two o'clock in the morning; she had a right to be a little tired after her grueling shift.
Lance Bryant shook his head groggily, letting out a weary sigh. "I have no idea. I'm not sure I even want to know." He grumped, wishing he could have four solid hours of sleep. That would be the best gift anyone could give him at this point.
He was an attending at the hospital, having transferred his firm from New York to Seattle a few years back. He was also one of the best ENT's in the country. Waiting patiently as the elevator descended, Lance prepared himself for the pit. Not exactly his favorite place in the hospital, second only to the morgue. He blinked when he seen a slight crowd around one of the beds.
"Now come on already, it ain't that damn bad!" Came a gruff voice from the middle of said crowd.
Looking at Lance briefly, Geneva continued on her way and arrived in the pit a few short minutes later. They slipped on their covers with gloves, her corkscrew curls pulled back in a ponytail before heading inside. She stopped upon seeing the carnage in the pit and went to Martha Gaines, her chief resident.
"Go to trauma room one. He has a severe laceration across his forehead and he may have some internal bleeding. Take him down for a CT and MRI." Doctor Gaines instructed, walking away from Geneva to tend to other patients.
Her ocean blue eyes swept over a few men pouring out of the room and sighed heavily, wondering who she pissed off this time and went to tend to the patient. Lance received his instructions, arching an eyebrow when he realized everyone he needed to see had some sort of disfigurement, though not in the holy hell serious sense. He began to really look around, taking in the people and injuries.
"Come on, just lemme go on back to the hotel. Nothing a towel and some ice won't fix." Steve all but growled. He hated hospitals and yet he seemed to be spending quite a bit of time in them as of late. "It's just my damn knee..." He trailed off, looking up when the door opened.
"Just your knee, huh? Then why do you have a laceration across your forehead that looks like it's going to need staples instead of stitches, Mr. Williams?" Geneva retorted swiftly, looking down at the bald headed man and glanced down at his chart, sighing gently. "You went through a table..." Her eyebrows drew together, feeling her stomach twist a little and flipped the chart back over, setting it in the plastic slot at the foot of his bed. She then took her flashlight out of her pocket, checking his pupils. "They're a little dilated so you might have a concussion. The MRI will let us know more." Another intern, Ciara Lyons, walked in causing Geneva to turn around with a smile. "Please get me a sewing tray and kit." She instructed, turning back to the patient and ignored the other bulky men surrounding her at the moment.
"Yes Doctor Foley." Ciara replied before rushing off to do as instructed.
"The laceration ain't from goin' through the damn table." Steve said, his voice still a bit gruff, though that was partially his natural tone. "It's from gettin' hit in the damn face with a ring bell."
"You want to shut up and let her do her job?" One of the men gathered round chuckled. "How often do you have a beautiful woman tending you?"
Steve cracked a small smile. "Good point Dwayne."
Geneva tensed when she heard that name, arching a brow at the man her patient just called Dwayne, immediately recognizing him. 'Oh man, that means…' Her thoughts were interrupted by Ciara with the supplies she requested. "Thank you, Doctor Lyons. Why don't you see if Doctor Gaines or Bryant needs assistance? I got this one."
Ciara nodded, walking out without a word to anyone.
"I'm going to need everyone out of here." Geneva ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument, raising an eyebrow as if daring ONE of these men to disobey her.
She smiled when they all began filing out, wishing Steve well and saying they'd see him later on. Closing the door once all of them were out, Geneva rolled a stool over and sat down, beginning to clean his cut with substance that would prevent infection. Geneva had to keep her mind focused on her patient, even if he was a wrestler, already knowing just by the type of laceration she was dealing with.
"So how did this happen?" She asked, trying to strike up a conversation, having ignored a 'beautiful woman' comment from one of his friends. She'd heard it all before and was used to it.
Steve's blue eyes were shocked a little before sparkling good-naturedly. "You really don't know who I am, do ya?" He murmured, more to himself then to her.
"No, can't say that I do. Should I?" Geneva couldn't recall meeting him when she'd been on the road with the WWF two years ago with Uncle Mick.
That was interesting and different. "A guy I was wrestlin' decided he was going to jump script and clocked me with our ring bell. Bastard got me pretty good, didn't he?" He sounded almost happy about it, though the happiness was from the thought of how HE planned on jumping script next.
"No, I have no idea who you are except your name is Steve Williams and you have a laceration the size of Alaska on your forehead." Geneva replied with a wry smile, raising a brow when he mentioned wrestling and jumping script. "Why would he clock you with an object if you were wrestling him?" She asked, curiosity burning too fiercely, wondering when that started happening.
"Because it's sports entertainment. We mix the wrestlin' with a bit of everything else. Though he jumped script because he's an ass-" Steve caught himself. "He's a moron." He finished, flashing an apologetic smile just as she began injecting his forehead with a numbing solution.
"I resent that."
Steve probably would have leapt off the table if not for the needle. "What the hell are you doin' here?" He snarled angrily, blue eyes icing over.
"Checking out my handiwork."
Geneva turned around to see whoever was in the doorway upsetting her patient, her eyes widening at who it was. No, it couldn't be! The beautiful dark auburn hair had been replaced with inky black that flowed over his shoulders and down his back, his once emerald eyes nothing but acid slits. Geneva blinked and quickly recovered, narrowing her eyes slightly at him, wondering if he recognized her.
"Sir, I'm trying to do my job here and you're upsetting my patient." She stated in a firm even tone.
"I would hope so." He replied in a flat voice, not seeming the least bit perturbed by the doctor, his eyes too focused on Austin to give her a second glance.
"Get the hell outta here, Taker." Steve said, trying to keep his voice even, beginning to physically shake with rage.
That proved Taker didn't recognize her, or if he did, he didn't say anything. "Everything alright here?" Lance asked, appearing in the doorway beside the sleeved tattooed monster, wondering if the circus had come to town.
"Everything's fine, Doctor Bryant." Geneva replied, turning around to continue on her patient's forehead, sighing when blood gushed out of it when she tried doing stitches. "Okay, hold still." She ordered, injecting another dose of the numbing solution. "I was right, you need staples." She completely ignored Undertaker in the doorway as she worked, taking the staple gun from the tray and began doing what she hated most, suturing. "Sir, I'm giving you to the count of 5 to get out of here or I'm calling security. Do not make me repeat myself." She said over her shoulder, knowing Lance would handle him, seeing how pissed off her patient currently was. "Steve, look at me." She turned his face to stare into her eyes. "You need to calm down. Your blood pressure is rising and you have a concussion, do you understand me?"
"Yeah Doc, I hear ya just fine." He replied, blue eyes shooting back to Taker. "You heard the lady, get the hell on outta here, son."
"See you, Austin." Taker almost smirked, his lips curving just a tad. Acid green eyes narrowed on the female doctor for a moment, chuckling quietly. He turned and walked out without a second glance, proud of his handiwork.
"I'll make sure he leaves." Lance said quietly, slipping out the door after the freak.
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine, we're used to it."
Geneva smiled down at him reassuringly, beginning to staple his forehead shut and had a sinking feeling Taker was the reason why her patient currently lay on a bed in the pit. She still couldn't believe the WWF was in town, wondering why Uncle Mick hadn't contacted her so they could see each other. That hurt just a bit. When she finished, Geneva wrapped deep thick gauze around his forehead to stem the bleeding and cleaned up her mess.
"You're used to it, huh? How many near 7 foot tall freaks of nature do you get comin' in here like that?" He asked half-jokingly, hiding a smile.
Geneva chuckled back at him, having to admit he had a point. "Not very many, but we do have drunks and lunatics come in here from time to time and we have to have security escort them out. Most of them are with a patient that they've hurt and so on." She finished up his staples and wrapped his head in thick white gauze. "Okay Steve, let's get that CT and MRI done to see if there's anything else you need fixed." She unplugged him from the wall and wheeled him down the hallway with his IV intact.
"You know Doc, I can walk." Steve laughed, a bit too used to this, but that was life in the ring and it came with the territory. However, he wasn't normally this well-behaved for other doctors. Not that she needed to know that.
Geneva wheeled him down to the CT scan room and smirked, helping him lay on the cold padded surface. "And I know you can probably walk right now, but it's required by law that you don't until discharged, so just bear with me on this okay?"
"Oh, you're one of them." He commented, winking at her when she shot him a confused look. "A stickler for the rules." He was quiet throughout the scans, holding still even though all he wanted to do was get up and go find that jackass that sent him here in the first place. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins. "How's it lookin', Doc?" He asked finally.
"Almost done Steve, hang in there." Geneva called through the microphone, knowing there was one in the machine before going to the MRI.
After that was done, Geneva looked at the scans and sighed, seeing he had some internal bleeding going on in his abdomen, probably from the table he went through. It wasn't serious to the point of needing surgery, but he would have to stay overnight for observation. She sighed, knowing this wouldn't bode well with him and took him out of the CT scan room, heading to the elevator to admit him. This was going to be a long night, Geneva could already feel it. Steve cocked an eyebrow when he seen the admission desk, groaning and tilted his head back to look at her.
"At least promise me I don't have to wear no damn paper gown." He pleaded gruffly. "Lemme call a buddy and have him bring me my bag." He was pretty certain he could tolerate staying over night with this beautiful doctor, providing he wasn't flashing his ass around.
Geneva sighed gently, raising an eyebrow down at him, and finally decided that could be arranged. "Very well, I'll let you use the phone in your room when we get there." She chuckled when he kissed her hand, telling the nurses at the third floor station he was being admitted and filled out the paperwork. He signed it reluctantly and then Geneva wheeled him to his room. "Okay here we go, Steve." Clipping his bed to the wall, Geneva set his IV in the proper place, noticing the water was almost gone from the bag and ordered a nurse to come change it, handing him the phone. "I'm breaking the rules technically by doing this, so please hurry."
Steve nodded, calling Dwayne and then had to bribe the man into coming back to the hospital. "Yes, I know...I owe you..." He snorted into the phone then hung up. "Come on now honey, it wouldn't be good for me to be-" He groaned when a nurse walked in and promptly dropped the IV bag she carried. "To go almost naked."
"Y-You're S-Stone Cold!" The nurse scrambled to pick up the bag, stammering. "I am so, so sorry!"
"Stone Cold?" Geneva had to raise a slow eyebrow at that, blinking at the nurse named Kylie and growled, snatching it from her. "Get out. You're a ball of nerves. Go do something constructive." She shook her head, muttering something about 'pathetic nurses' and replaced the IV bag, looking down at her patient. "You're very popular. What you do must be well-known." Deciding to play stupid for the moment –she knew exactly what company he worked for, thanks to Taker's appearance-, Geneva checked his vitals. "I'll wait to give you your sedative until after your friend drops your things off. Remember, be quick about it."
"Sure-sure." He nodded, blue eyes twinkling. "You mean to tell me you never heard of the WWF? You don't know who the Rock or the Undertaker is?" He found this woman both amusing and refreshing all in one. It was nice not to be harassed the hell out of by crazed fans that worked in hospitals. "Wait- what's the sedative for, honey?" He frowned, eyebrows drawing together. "I can sleep just fine without it."
"Judging by how high your adrenaline and blood pressure is, you won't be falling asleep for quite a few hours and you need to sleep that concussion off." Geneva replied, writing in his chart and placed it back in the slot, staring back at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "The Rock, Undertaker? God that sounds morbid." She commented, lying through her teeth and shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "So let me guess, whatever you do in this WWF place, your name is Stone Cold?" She smirked when he nodded, shaking her head. "No I've never heard of any of it. I don't watch television. I basically work, drink, eat and sleep. Welcome to the life of a 2nd year surgical intern."
"You're gonna put me to sleep with a concussion?" Steve asked incredulously. "From my understandin', you're not supposed to sleep with one of them. And yeah, my ring name is Stone Cold. You can call me Steve." He teased again, snorting when Dwayne walked back in. "Thanks man."
"So this is why you're staying overnight." Dwayne chuckled, glancing at the doctor and suddenly felt as though he knew her from somewhere. "Hello, ma'am. Need anything else, Austin?"
"Nah, maybe a lift in the morning."
Geneva swallowed hard, hiding her nervousness at the site of Rocky –Dwayne Johnson- again and smiled. "Actually your friend here has a MINOR concussion, but I'd like to keep him overnight for observation. Not to mention he has some internal bleeding going on that we'll monitor, just to be sure it's not anything surgical." She explained professionally before turning to her patient. "And I'm giving you a sedative because it's only a minor concussion and you need to sleep. Now if you can promise me you'll fall asleep within the next hour, I won't administer one. I know how to do my job so please, don't question it, okay?" She winked at him, walking out of the room and left the men to talk for a few minutes alone.