Falling For Mr Dominic In 30 Days

The hospital was never really quiet. Marisol Vega had worked the night shift enough to know that. There was always something going on. A machine beeping down the hall a family member pacing back and forth the hum of the hospital that kept people alive. Tonight was pretty quiet though. It was 2 AM on a Tuesday and the ICU recovery wing of Harisol Medical Center had settled into its routine. Marisol had three patients who were stable one chart to finish. She was really tired. She had been awake for eighteen hours. Would not be sleeping for three more. She was walking back from the supply room when she heard crying. Not the kind of crying where someone is trying to hold it. This was raw and desperate. It was coming from behind the door of the family bathroom at the end of the corridor. Marisol stopped walking. She was not supposed to go there. The executive wing had its rules, its own staff. Room 14 belonged to Dominic Crane, a billionaire. He was in the hospital after being pulled from a river for two days. His fiancée had arrived hours earlier. Marisol went in anyway. Because she was a nurse and nurses help people who are hurting. She opened the bathroom door. Genevieve Ashworth was sitting on the floor back against the wall knees drawn up. She was holding something in her hands. Her hair and makeup were perfect. Everything about her was perfect except her face. In her hands was a pregnancy test. It was positive. Their eyes met. Genevieve stared at Marisol for two seconds. Then she got control of herself. She straightened her spine. Looked at Marisol with clear eyes. Marisol was still holding the door open. She should have backed out. She should have said sorry. Walked away. She did not do that. "I'm sorry " she said. "I heard. Are you all right?" It was the question. Obviously, Genevieve was not all right. She was sitting on the bathroom floor with a pregnancy test at 2 AM. "Close the door " Genevieve said. Her voice was steady. Marisol closed it. Now she was inside the bathroom. Genevieve looked at the test in her hands. Then she looked back at Marisol. "You're his nurse " Genevieve said. "Marisol Vega. Night shift." "Yes." "How long have you been on this floor?" "Seven years." Genevieve nodded slowly. She stood up from the floor. She smoothed her dress. "I need you to understand something " she said. "What you saw in this room stays in this room." Marisol said nothing. Genevieve picked up her phone. Her fingers moved across the screen. She turned the phone toward Marisol. A banking transfer screen. Ten thousand dollars. Marisol's name was in the recipient field. "You have access to him every day " Genevieve said. "I need him calm. The doctors need him calm. That is all I am asking. If he asks for me tell him I'm outside. If he starts asking questions you cannot answer redirect him." Marisol looked at the screen. Ten thousand dollars. She thought about the letter that had arrived yesterday. Her mother's physical therapy provider had returned the payment unpaid. Ten thousand dollars would cover six months of therapy. It would cover the specialist appointment her mother had been putting off. "That's all?" Marisol said. "That's all." Marisol looked at the number on the screen. She pressed confirm. She hated herself before the transaction finished processing. " Genevieve said. She picked up a bag and moved toward the door. "He's been asking for me. I'll go in now." She left. Marisol stood in the bathroom alone for a moment. She looked at the pregnancy test on the edge of the sink. Face down. She turned it over. Two lines. The kind of result that did not leave room for interpretation. She put it down. Walked to the sink. Washed her hands. Looked at herself in the mirror. What did you just do? She didn't answer herself. She turned off the tap dried her hands and walked out of the bathroom and down the corridor to Room 14. Room 14 was quiet and dim. Dominic Crane was not fully awake. He had been drifting in and out since the surgery. He was coming up now. She could see it in the movement of his head the change in his breathing. She moved to check his IV line. Her movements were. Quiet. His hand came up. Touched her wrist. She stilled. He was looking at her. His eyes were barely open. "Genevieve " he said. His voice was rough. He was wearing an expression she had never seen on a patient's face She opened her mouth. She should have said: I'm not Genevieve. I'm your nurse, Marisol. She said nothing. His hand dropped back to the bed. His eyes drifted closed Marisol stood in the light of Room 14 and understood that she had just made two mistakes. The first one had cost her ten thousand dollars. The second one had cost her something she couldn't calculate yet. She finished checking his vitals. She updated his chart. She walked back to the nurses’ station. Sat down and looked at the wall for a moment. Her phone buzzed. Her mother's name was, on the screen. She let it ring.