The Bishop by M.E. Clayton

Chapter 2

Sienna~

I stared into the mirror and did not like what I saw.

My dirty-blonde hair looked lifeless, and my chocolate-brown eyes looked tired. And though my nursing scrubs weren’t flattering-in the least-my average frame did nothing to disguise how haggard I looked. If I’d had a rocking body, maybe no one would notice my sullen face, but alas, I had no rocking body to distract from my haggard looks. At five-foot-four, I had respectable B-cups and more of a subtle slope to my curves, rather than that Holy Grail hourglass figure we all wished for. At twenty-six, I wasn’t anything close to remarkable.

I only had two more hours on my twelve-hour shift, and then I was off for the next three days. I worked at Huntington Heights as an emergency room nurse and their rotation schedules were simple for the nurses; three days on, then three days off. It was a great hospital to work for and I’d been lucky to find this job when I had. Still, I always looked like a zombie’s death by the end of my third day on rotation. Emergency room work was not for the faint of heart.

I moved to Morgan City last year when my aunt, Cecilia Conti, had been diagnosed with acute kidney failure. Having raised me and my sister, Verona, after my parents had abandoned us to go…well, I didn’t know what the hell they’d gone off to do, I’d had no choice but to move here to take care of her. And even after she passed a few months ago, I found I liked Morgan City and had chosen to stay. By the time Aunt Cecilia had passed, I’d made new friends and had a job I really enjoyed. Nursing was always a hit or miss because most hospitals and doctors were about money, but Huntington Heights was one of the good ones.

Raised in Michigan, my sister still lived there. She was a fourth-grade teacher and absolutely loved her life. But with a husband and a daughter of her own, there was no way she could have moved to Morgan City to help Aunt Cecilia, no matter how guilty she had felt over the limited way she could help. So, as the single one with a career choice that was in need everywhere, I had been the one to move from Michigan to Morgan City. I had lived with Aunt Cecilia for about two months before I’d been able to secure my job at Huntington and find a decent apartment on the good side of town.

Now, while me and Verona were no strangers to the less fortunate side of life, we had worked hard to make Aunt Cecilia proud of us. As a single aunt/mom, Aunt Cecilia had sacrificed a lot to raise two children that weren’t her own. She had welcomed us with open arms, never resenting us for her brother abandoning us with her and we had done our best to show her our love and appreciation for all she’d done for us. Verona and I had kicked ass in high school and had put ourselves through college with Aunt Cecilia’s help. The day I had officially become a nurse and Verona had officially become a teacher had been the proud ones.

Verona had met her husband while in college, and a teacher as well, Curtis Swanson was perfect for my sister. They had a solid marriage and my niece, Mila, was the apple of their eye. I tried to visit them at least once a year, but it’s been a while. This past year, I spent all my spare time taking care of Aunt Cecilia and making sure Lester wasn’t buckling from the stress.

A year after I had graduated from nursing school four years ago, Aunt Cecilia had met a nice man online, Lester Carroll, and they had struck up an online relationship. And after a year of correspondence and visiting one another, Aunt Cecilia had made the move to Morgan City to be with him. Lester still lived in Morgan City and we still kept in touch. He’d taken Aunt Cecilia’s death just as hard as Verona and I had, and I still made it a point to check on him regularly.

Splashing some water on my face, I did my best to put some life back into my face, though I knew it was pointless. Nothing short of a million-dollar spa day could do that. However, a girl still had to try. I didn’t want to frighten any small children that may come into the ER.

After realizing this was the best it was going to get-meaning my face-I headed out of the women’s restroom and I ran smack dab into Ryan Trent, a fellow nurse. “Oh, crap.”

His strong arms grabbed me by my shoulders to steady me. “Shit, sorry, Sie,” he apologized. “I almost ran you down.”

I chuckled. “Not at all,” I said. “It was my fault for rushing.”

His hands fell back down to his sides, though I noticed how he squeezed my shoulders before doing so. “No problem,” he replied good-naturedly. “No casualties.”

I smiled “Well, I gotta get back to my station. Two more hours, and then I’m free for three days.” I shook my head. “Only insane people choose this profession, I swear.”

Ryan laughed. “Don’t I know it.” Then that look came into his eyes and I knew what was coming. “How about we get some drinks after our shifts are over? I’m on your twelve this week.” That meant he was on the same shift I’ve been on these past three days and he was going to be on the same shift when I started my next three-day rotation when I came back from my days off.

Ryan’s been asking me to have drinks with him for a while now. When he first asked me a couple of months ago, I thought it had been as friends or like a group thing, but when he had made it clear it’d be just the two of us, I had politely declined. While I didn’t care what other nurses did, I never dated co-workers. It had the potential of getting ugly and with people’s lives on the line, I couldn’t afford to be distracted by a relationship gone bad in the workplace.

And looking at Ryan, it really was a shame how dedicated I was to that one life choice. At six-foot, Ryan was very easy on the eyes. Sandy-blonde hair and soft blue eyes, he had that boyband-look about him. Very nice to look at and the man kept in shape. I’ve seen him change out of scrub tops many times as we were often covered with blood working in the ER, and I’ve seen the details he kept hidden underneath his clothes.

But even if I didn’t have my no-dating-co-workers rule, I was a monogamous-type of girl. While it wasn’t my place to judge how other people lived their lives, I wasn’t comfortable dating multiple men at the same time. Never mind that I didn’t have the time or energy for that kind of juggling act, I just preferred to keep things neat and easy. One man was neat and easy and more than enough for me.

Ryan had a reputation for dating his co-workers, and while I haven’t heard of any theatrical breakups or anything like that, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about working with a bunch of women who’ve had a taste of the man I was dating. While I didn’t need to feel special, I still didn’t want to feel like one of many.

There was also the fact that I started dating someone recently, and while I haven’t told anybody, I was seriously falling hard for the guy. And it was stupid, really. I kind of felt like expectant mothers who keep their pregnancy a secret the first trimester as not to jinx it.

I had been stranded on the side of the road, a flat tire ruining my day, and I’d had my truck open, so that I could change the tire. It had been a little past seven in the evening, but because I lived in one of the nicer parts of Morgan City, I hadn’t been too worried. With my salary and only myself to support, I’d been able to afford a nice apartment in a nice neighborhood.

But while I’d been ready to change my tire, a car had pulled up behind me and one of the most gorgeous men walking the planet had gotten out to help me. In a world where chivalry was on life support, it’d been a nice feeling to have someone help me. After the tire had been changed, he had asked me out on a date, and we’ve been seeing each other ever since.

However, I didn’t want to tell Ryan that. While I’ve made my stance on dating co-workers clear, I didn’t want to rub it in his face that I was seeing someone.

I softened my smile. “Honestly, Ryan, I’m pulling from my reserves right now. There’s no way I’m up for anything other than going home as soon as I clock out.”

He smiled back, expecting my answer. “Fine,” he conceded. “But we’re doing lunch on Monday.” Monday wasn’t really a Monday for us. Our Mondays were whatever day of the week our shift started on. And lunch was fine. I wasn’t opposed to lunch as long as we weren’t alone.

I nodded. “I’ll send out the Ryan’s decree of mandatory lunch,” I teased.

He’d been expecting that, too. “Tell Elsie it’s her turn to pick where we go.”

Just then, the intercom blared over our heads, and with similar groans, we took off running. I was a trauma nurse and so was Ryan, but he specialized in pediatric trauma. If a child was brought into the ER, Ryan was usually the one they sought. He had a way with kids, and it showed.

I was assigned to whoever needed me like most of the other nurses in the ER. Sure, there were nice, neat little charts, and assignments, and organization, but we didn’t always abide by those charts and assignments. If someone was hemorrhaging in front of me, I wasn’t going to ignore them because they weren’t at my station or because I was on my way to break.

That was one of the best things about Huntington, though we did our best to follow protocol and remain legal, we were always given the chance to explain ourselves if things got a little chaotic. A lot of hospitals stuck to their rules, patients be damned.

Two hours later, I was clocking out, the weight of my feet dragging me down, and I couldn’t wait to get home and take a hot bath to soothe my aching muscles.

I really did need a million-dollar spa day.