Silent Strings

Chapter 2

Around us, the nurses were practically buzzing with curiosity, but Jackson seemed utterly unbothered. He stepped back, his hands lingering on my arms for a moment longer before letting go. The weight of his gaze remained, though, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something I wasn’t entirely prepared for.

As Jackson finally released me and stepped back, his entourage of residents and nurses trailed after him like ducklings following their mother. He glanced over his shoulder one last time, a smirk playing on his lips as our eyes met. I could practically hear the unspoken “See you around” in his gaze before he disappeared down the corridor.

I exhaled deeply, trying to collect myself. My heart was still racing, and I was pretty sure the heat in my cheeks hadn’t faded. I barely had a second to process the whirlwind that was Jackson Huáng before I noticed the way the nurses at the station were eyeing me.

The moment he turned the corner, they pounced.

“Ines! What was that?” one of them squealed, her excitement bubbling over. It was like a dam had broken, and suddenly I was surrounded. Their faces were alight with curiosity, eyes sparkling as if they’d just stumbled upon the juiciest gossip of the century.

“You know Dr. Huáng? Like, personally?” one nurse asked, leaning in as if proximity would help her extract the truth.

“Wait, did he just hug you? In front of everyone?” another chimed in, her tone pitched with disbelief, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

“Are you two secretly dating? Oh my god, are you married? Do you have a kid somewhere?!”

I blinked, completely overwhelmed by the barrage of questions. That’s a bit close. “Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, come on!” the curly-haired nurse teased, narrowing her eyes like she could see right through me. “The way he looked at you just now? That was not a casual ‘hey, good to see you’ look.”

Another nurse, clearly the romantic of the group, sighed dreamily. “Honestly, it was like something out of a movie. He practically lit up when he saw you.”

My cheeks flared under their scrutiny, the warmth creeping up my neck no matter how hard I tried to keep my composure. “Guys, really,” I insisted, my tone as firm as I could manage. “It’s not like that.”

But the interrogation didn’t stop.

“So, how did you know him?” asked a nurse with a sleek bob, leaning forward like I was about to reveal the plot twist of the year.

I sighed, realizing there was no escape. “We’re just friends. Good old friends,” I said, keeping my tone as neutral as possible. “We met in college, like, years ago. We’re not dating at all.”

A collective groan of disappointment rippled through the group.

“Friends don’t hug like that,” one of them muttered, crossing her arms.

“Or smile like that,” added another with an accusatory tilt of her head.

I fumbled for an explanation, the weight of their stares making me feel like I was on trial. “Look, Jackson—uh, Dr. Huáng—is just... an affectionate guy,” I said, tripping slightly over his name. “He’s always been like that. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and he got excited. That’s all.”

The curly-haired nurse arched a brow, unconvinced. “Uh-huh. And you’re telling me you’ve never thought about it? Are you seriously saying you’ve never had a thing for him? Not even a little crush?”

Her words hit harder than I expected, and for a moment, my throat tightened. I quickly glanced down at the clipboard in my hands, pretending to check something, but the memories were already seeping in.

Of course, I’d thought about it. How could I not? Jackson had always been... Jackson. That magnetic charm, the sharp intelligence behind his teasing remarks, the way he’d always made me feel like I was the only person in the room when he looked at me. He was a force of nature, and back in college, I’d been swept up in his orbit before I even realized what was happening. No s**t. I still am in love with that man.

“Ines,” the romantic nurse said softly, breaking through my spiraling thoughts. “You don’t have to lie to us, you know. It’s okay if there’s something more there.”

“There isn’t,” I said quickly, the words tumbling out before I could think them through. “We’re just friends. Really.”

The group exchanged skeptical glances but finally seemed to relent, their attention reluctantly shifting back to their work. I took a steadying breath, grateful for the reprieve.

But as I turned back to my own tasks, one thought lingered in my mind, stubborn and insistent.

I was still grappling with my racing thoughts when Clara, the head nurse, appeared like a guardian angel, clipboard in hand and eyebrows raised.

"Alright, that's enough gossiping for now," she said, her no-nonsense tone cutting through the chatter. "We’ve got patients to care for, remember?"

The group dispersed reluctantly, their glances lingering as they returned to their tasks. I let out a long breath, grateful for the reprieve, but the quiet only gave my thoughts more room to swirl.

But before I could settle back into the rhythm of my shift, a sudden commotion erupted down the hall. Clara’s voice pierced the air. "Code Blue in Room 412!"

Adrenaline surged through my veins. Without hesitation, I grabbed a pair of gloves, my mind snapping back into professional mode. As the team rushed to the patient’s room, all the noise from before faded into the background, replaced by the intensity of the moment.

Inside the room, chaos unfolded. A man in his sixties lay unresponsive on the bed, his skin pale and his breathing nonexistent. The room seemed to spin with frantic energy as we prepared for the life-saving efforts ahead.

"Code blue!" someone shouted, and the space erupted into motion.

I stepped forward, my focus narrowing to the task at hand. "Starting compressions," I called, positioning my hands at the center of the man’s chest. My arms burned with each press, but I didn't stop, counting under my breath to keep the rhythm steady. This was what we trained for—this was where I thrived.

"Bag him!" I instructed, glancing at the respiratory therapist who swiftly placed the Ambu bag over the patient’s mouth. Sweat dripped from my forehead as the seconds dragged on, feeling like an eternity.

"Pushing EPINEPHrine," another nurse called out as she injected the medication into the IV line. The monitor remained a flatline, but we didn’t stop. Not yet.

"Let’s switch," Yvonne said, stepping in to take over compressions. I stepped back, grabbing the defibrillator pads. "Charging to 200 joules," I called out, placing the pads on the patient’s chest. "Clear!"

The room fell silent as I pressed the button. The patient’s body jolted, but the flatline remained.

"Resume compressions," I ordered, my voice steady despite the rush of adrenaline. Yvonne moved back into position, her movements smooth and practiced.

And then, the miracle we’d all been waiting for. "We’ve got a pulse!" someone shouted, relief washing over the room like a wave. The monitor flickered to life, steady and rhythmic.

A collective breath of relief filled the room as the patient was stabilized. I stepped back, my heart still pounding with the intensity of the moment. As I peeled off my gloves, a familiar figure stood in the doorway—Jackson.

His gaze was unreadable, but the glint in his eyes... it was different. There was something deeper there, a flicker of pride mixed with something else that I couldn’t quite place. He nodded at me, his lips curling into a faint smile.

Despite the exhaustion and chaos of the moment, a small spark of satisfaction flared inside me, quickly followed by an even more unexpected feeling.