Our time with Harry's parents was truly enjoyable, but I was sufficiently peeved at how it ended. After Anne and I enjoyed hours of small talk, music, and wine, Harry and his father staggered out of their man cave, completely inebriated. Harry said good-bye to his mom with an overwhelming hug and a sloppy kiss. She turned to me and said, "You're driving, right Ellie?" 

"Of course," I said, fishing the keys out of Harry's pocket. 

"Mm fine," he slurred, reaching for the keys. 

"Oh no, you don't!" His mom said, waving his hand away from the keys. She put her arms on his shoulders. "Ellie is driving, Harry. Either that or you'll have to sleep here."

He nodded lazily. "Yup. She's driving." 

I got into the driver's seat of the BMW while Harry climbed in the passenger seat. "Yur so pretty," he said, practically slobbering on my shoulder as he leaned in to kiss me. 

"No offense, Harry, but I don't want to kiss you when you smell like a saloon." 

"Saloon," he said, giggling. "Salooon," he said again. "That's a funny word. Salooooon."

"Shut up, Harry," I laughed, turning onto Lake Shore Drive. He was fairly quiet on the way home, but it proved difficult getting him out of the car and up to the penthouse without practically dragging him along. I hoped no one would see him like this; he was a respected resident of the building, after all. When I finally opened the door to his penthouse, he swamped me with his lanky, drunk body. I practically fell over with his weight on me. I scooted over to the sofa with him clinging to me in a monkey-like hug.

"Why do you do this, Harry?" I whined, peeling his limbs off me and heading to the kitchen for some water and Tylenol.

"Do what?" He called after me. 

I took my time filling his glass before I answered. Then, walking to him, I set the glass down on the table with the two pills. "Take this," I instructed. "You'll thank me in the morning." He sat up and actually managed to swallow the pills. "I was asking you why you insist on getting so drunk."

"Helps me relax," he said, lingering on the x sound at the end. 

"There are better ways to relax," I said pouting at him. I pushed him back against the couch and climbed on his lap. I gently held his face so he could look at me, at least when he managed to keep his eyes open. "I love you, babe. And you know this isn't good for you. Will you let me teach you some better ways to relax?" I kissed his nose gently.

"I know what would help me," he leaned over and mumbled into my ear. 

"What's that?" I whispered.

"I wanna fuck you," he said.

"Uhh," I growled at him, pushing him away. "How romantic." I got off his lap, went to the guest bed and climbed in, not caring if Harry ever got to bed at all. I knew he was drunk, but I was offended by his crude words. I wanted him to make love to me sober not fuck me when he was piss drunk. Perhaps we could be a little more casual about terminology as things progressed, but a drunken fuck wasn't exactly what I wanted at the moment.

I fell asleep easily due to the wine I'd had, but I slept fitfully. I didn't like Harry this way. I wished I knew how to offer him alternatives. And why on earth did he have to drink tonight? It was a great time at his parents' house, not a stressful business meeting. 

I was awakened at around 6:00 AM by the sound of Harry's groans, and then I heard him stumbling around, grumbling under his breath. Good!  I thought, even though it wasn't very kind. Maybe this hangover will teach him a lesson. 

About an hour later, I felt him climb in bed and curl up behind me. His long arms enfolded me and his head rested on mine. "I'm sorry, baby," he whispered. I didn't respond right away, not letting on that I was even awake. "Ellie," he cooed. "Wake up, baby."

"I'm awake," I said coldly, not turning towards him or engaging in the cuddle.

"I'm so sorry about last night. I know I drank too much. I guess I was just having a good time and I lost track," he breathed. "I was stupid, I know." 

"Do you remember what you said?" I muttered.

"I...I don't." 

"Never mind," I grumbled.

"Come on, baby, you're obviously upset."

I rolled to lay on my back, forcing him to move over. He propped himself on his elbow and looked at me with concern. I was glad to see that he had showered, shaved and apparently brushed his teeth. "It's embarrassing. Maybe I shouldn't have let it bother me. You said I wanna fuck you.  I-I don't know, that just sounds so-"

"Obscene?" He interrupted. "Crass?" 

I nodded. "Maybe I overreacted," I said, giving him an apologetic smile. "I mean, maybe it wasn't the way you phrased it so much as the fact that you came on to me while you were so stinking wasted. I love you and I want us both to be alert enough to enjoy each other when we...fuck."

He chuckled lightly at my use of the word and then he said, "No, Ell, I shouldn't have said it like that at all. Please forgive me." 

"Of course, I forgive you. I mean, it's not that I don't like it," I told him with a mischievous smirk.

"I knew that about you," he said, smirking right back at me.

A few days later found Dr. Styles and myself working happily side by side on the day shift. I made an extra effort to look and act professionally, just in case someone was scrutinizing my every move. Luckily, I had developed a rapport with a number of the day shifters already, so I jumped right in. I was always able to disconnect my nurse self with my personal life, not entirely of course, but just enough to keep my focus in the right place and to not get overwhelmed emotionally with some of the patient situations. It would serve me well while I was working with Harry, too. At work, we were colleagues, not lovers.

The morning started off with a bang. The announcement came in that three high school students and an elderly woman were involved in a two-vehicle accident, and all four were on their way by ambulance. 

"You're with me," Harry ordered, and I acknowledged with a quick nod. I loved moments like this when the whole operation moved like a well-oiled machine. Harry and I, along with several others, were on the main trauma team, but clearly others would have to step in with four victims arriving all at once. In turn, those not on the trauma teams would automatically step into our positions until the critical patients were stabilized. 

They weren't kidding when they said the four were coming at the same time. They literally arrived in the emergency bay at the same time, one practically on top of each other. Harry and I jumped on the first victim as soon as she was unloaded from the ambulance, a teenage girl, whimpering in fear. Her shirt had already been partially cut away to reveal a sizable gash from her shoulder to her chest, and her arm was visibly broken. She was bleeding heavily, but it didn't look like she had any damage to a vital artery. 

"Call my mom," she sobbed as I ran alongside the gurney, keeping my hands on the gauze that had been laid across her shoulder. 

"We will, sweetie," I said, reassuring her. "What's your name?" 

"Grace," she wept.

We parked her gurney and I started an IV without missing a beat. "That's a beautiful name. And how old are you?" 

"Sixteen," she said and started crying harder. "My parents will never let me drive again."

I heard the team in the next room call a DOA. Shit! I hoped it wasn't one of her friends. One of the PCT's cut the rest of her clothes away while I covered her immediately with a fresh gown. Then I instructed the PCT to bring a few warm blankets, in case she went into shock.

"Don't you worry about that, Grace. You're going to be fine, the police have your information from your purse and they're contacting your parents."

Dr. Styles took over, examining every part of her body for bleeding, breaks and bruises. It seemed the only break was the obvious displaced fracture in her arm. Just looking at it made me guess that she would need surgery. I made sure she was receiving an adequate dose of pain medication through her IV. She cried out while the doctor examined her arm, telling me that it wasn't quite working yet. 

"Shh," he said softly. "I'm sorry, I know that hurts, honey. Just lie still, I'm almost done." 

While he immobilized her arm for X-Ray, I cleaned up the gash on her shoulder, prepping it for stitches. I soothed her while Dr. Styles did his work and the rest of the team began to disperse as they were still needed to tend to the other victims. Once Dr. Styles was finished, he told her that she would be getting an X-Ray shortly. I told her that I would try to find out if her parents had been reached, but she grabbed my arm and pleaded, "No, please don't leave me alone." 

Harry, of course, nodded and said, "Ellie will stay with you, Grace. I'll check on your parents." 

She was beginning to calm down, but then she asked, "Are my friends okay?" 

Again, I prayed that the DOA wasn't one of her friends. "I can check in a little bit. What are their names?" 

"Jamie and Bethan. It was my first day driving everyone...." She couldn't finish because she started to cry again. 

"Hey, just relax, okay?" I wanted to tell her that her friends were fine, but I couldn't. There was no way for someone in my position to say definitively that her friends had survived or were going to survive, but I hoped and prayed that, for her sake, it wasn't one of her friends who was dead on arrival. Where most people had the natural tendency to say, I'm sure everything will be fine, I simply couldn't do that. It was one of those fine balancing acts between encouraging a patient and giving false hope. 

Grace started to drift off after that, but I stayed put until her parents arrived about twenty minutes later. Naturally, they were beside themselves with worry, but they were glad to know that Grace would be fine. Shortly afterward, she was taken to X-Ray, so I left and texted Harry, "Where next?" While I rushed towards another trauma room.

Harry came out of Room 7 just as I approached. "In answer to your question, you can help me with this patient. The third girl is stabilized and her grandfather is in there with her. Unfortunately, the driver of the other car passed away. They're thinking a possible heart attack caused her to lose control of her car, which led to the accident. But they're waiting to notify family before they can do an autopsy."

"That's awful," I said. "I'm glad the girls are okay, but what a tragic thing to have happen. And I'm glad the accident wasn't Grace's fault since she said she's a brand new driver."

Before we stepped back inside Room 7, he filled me in. "I need you to keep her alert and talking as much as possible. I've ordered a CT scan, but I suspect a subdural hematoma. If she gets confused or starts acting strange in any way, page me immediately."

"Hey, Jamie," he said as we entered the room. "This is Ellie. She's going to hang out with you until your dad can get here, all right?" 

"Hi Jamie," I said, taking over. "Grace was just asking about you."

"Is she okay?" Jamie asked in fear. 

"She's fine," I answered. 

"And what about Bethan?" 

I looked to Dr. Styles who was still in the room entering information into the chart. "Do you know anything about her?" I asked.

He smiled and walked back to Jamie's bedside. "A few broken ribs and some scratches, but Bethan is going to be fine, just like you and Grace. You girls are very lucky. Something tells me you'll all be closer after this."

"What about that old lady? The one who was driving the other car?" 

I could see Harry flinch, not wanting to deliver tragic news when Jamie was still in such a fragile state. "I'll check on her," he said kindly, smoothing his hand down her hair. I smiled at him, supporting his decision to hold off on telling her. 

I finally got around to seeing Bethan, who was one of my assigned patients now that the trauma team was back on their regular routine. "Well, Bethan, it looks like you'll be discharged as soon as the doctor can write the orders and send your prescriptions over." Then I turned to the man seated by her side. "And Grandpa, I want you to make sure she gets a lot of rest. The doctor is giving her a week off of school because we can't set the ribs, we can only make sure she rests until they heal."

"Got it," he said. Then he turned to his grand-daughter, saying, "It looks like we're having a Dallas marathon for the next week.

"Grandpa," Bethan whined playfully, but when she tried to laugh, she froze in pain. 

"You okay, darlin'?" He asked. 

"Fine, Grandpa," she smiled, still clutching her side.

"It will probably hurt for a while when you laugh or cough," I told her. "So try extra hard to relax at home, and put ice on it at home." Then I lowered my voice to a whisper, saying, "At least Dallas will put you to sleep."

Bethan's grandfather shot me a playful dirty look, but I just grinned at him as I left the room

The rest of the day went surprisingly well; I thought I'd be exhausted after handling a couple traumas, but I was energized. I loved working with Harry, especially as part of his team. I loved him this way.

As we drove home, I told him, "This job brings out the best in you."

"Yeah?" He asked, seeming a little surprised by my comment.

"Yeah, you're focused, precise, but you still take the time to reassure people, like those young girls today. They were terrified, but you spoke so calmly to them. And let's face it, you're easy on the eyes, so that helps, too." 

"Ms. Jansen, I'll have you know that I do not use my looks to my advantage. But if they happen to distract a patient here and there, so be it."

"I like you like this." 

He took my hand and squeezed it.

"Will you do something for me?" I asked.

"What's that?" 

"Can you not drink anymore?" 

* * * * *

This chapter featured the lovely doctor_direction, bethan_davies, and GraceStyles1994. Let's give them a round of applause for their fine acting. :D

And WOW! DO was ranked at #35 yesterday! You all make me feel like a rock star! :D xoxo