The nurse smirked and moved away from the refrigerator. I saw from her name tag that she was Mrs. Crandle. She had light brown hair trimmed at the nape of her neck, hazel eyes and a firm mouth that dipped with annoyance at the corners. She wasn't unattractive, but her nose was a little too sharp and too long. The intern spun around in his chair and smiled widely when he saw me.
"Well now, who have we here?" he asked.
"She's the new nurse's aide," Sophie explained. "Her name's Pearl."
"Well, hello," he said. "I'm Dr. Weller. My mother always thought I should be a doctor because of our name. Get it? I make people weller." He laughed, but Mrs. Crandle grimaced as if it pained her to hear his joke again.
"Hi," I said. He rose to his full five feet eleven inches and extended his hand. He widened his smile to show me his very white and perfect teeth. His dark eyes sparkled wickedly when I put my hand into his. He folded his fingers over it quickly. His skin was as fair as mine, though in contrast to his dark hair, it made him look a little too pale. His strong chin sported a devil's cleft and another dimple in his right cheek flashed in and out apparently at will.
"About time we dressed up this place," he said, still grinning from ear to ear. He shot a look at Mrs. Crandle, who raised her eyes toward the ceiling.
"Just what we needed," she remarked, "another thing to distract you from your work."
"Don't mind her. I'm never distracted from anything I put my mind on," he said, keeping his gaze fixed on me. He dropped his eyes slowly and raised them with a look of appreciation. "That's the sexiest nurse's aide uniform I've seen," he added.
"There aren't any that fit me better, but . ." I began, feeling my face grow warm as my cheeks turned crimson.
"Hey, I didn't say this doesn't fit you." He laughed. He was still holding my hand.
"We've got to start bringing the juice to the patients," I said.
"Sure." He flashed another amused smile and released my hand.
"She gonna be a doctor too," Sophie bragged. "Is that right?"
"Yes," I said.
"Not a nurse, a doctor?"
I looked at Mrs. Crandle who had turned back to me sharply when he asked the question.
"I think nurses are just as important," I said, "but I'm interested in practicing medicine outside the hospital too."
"Oh? Very ambitious." He frowned, putting ripples in his forehead. In a deeper voice he asked, "How are your grades in school?"
"I was class valedictorian," I said.
He raised his eyebrows. "Impressive. We better watch our p's and q's, Mrs. Crandle," he joked.
"I would say you should watch the whole alphabet and not just the p's and q's," she remarked. "I have an I.V. to hook up. Don't you have anything to do, Doctor?"
"Whoa," he said. "Yes, I do. Well, good luck, Pearl. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions," he said and reluctantly followed Mrs. Crandle.
"He's always making jokes," Sophie said. "Mrs. Crandle says some of his patients will laugh themselves to death. Can people do that, laugh themselves to death?"
"I don't think so," I said. She looked
unconvinced,
but nodded and then showed me where everything was located. I loaded my cart and began my rounds. There were two elderly women in my first room, one of whom was on a heart monitor; a man with a broken leg in the second, and a woman in her thirties undergoing tests for a stomach problem in the third. Her name was Sheila, and she was obviously very nervous and concerned. "I have to fast for a day," she told me. "Tomorrow morning I'm having another test."
"What's wrong with your stomach?" I asked.
"I get terrible pains right here whenever I eat," she said, pointing.
"They're looking at your gallbladder?"
"Yes. How did you know? Did the same thing happen to you once?" she asked hopefully.