Chapter 1

There wasn’t much left of her shift when Lorrianna got a call from the staffing department.

“Nurses’ station. This is Charge Nurse Lorrianna speaking. How can I help you?” She answered with as much perkiness as she could manage after a double shift and knowing the call usually meant staffing shortage.

“Good evening, Lorrianna!” Stephanie replied, sounding like she was well rested, had a break, or a great caffeine boost. At least someone did, Lorrianna thought with a scowl.

“What can the humble CICU do for you this fine…” She paused to look at her watch. “.. 5:45 p.m. which means 15 minutes left on the shift, Steph?”

“I see here you are about to come off your shift, but 2 of the nurses there are finishing a double. I hate to ask this, but….” She seemed to pause, and Lorrianna knew before she even finished what the outcome of this call was going to be.

“Actually, 3 nurses and 1 charge nurse coming off a double, but please allow me to answer you before you even finish. I will fill in, but my nurses need a break. This is borderline negligence and poor patient care. I have 3 NSTEMIs, 2 uncomplicated catheterizations, 4 CABG, and a partridge in a pear tree. According to CICU standards, that means we should have at least 5 nurses here, ideally 10. None of us have had more than 10 minutes to inhale food, and I am pretty sure my bladder is going to rupture in protest!” Lorrianna grumbled.

The line was silent for a heartbeat when a husky male voice laced with humor Lorrianna wasn’t aware of being on the line finally answered. “Well, that won’t do. We will be over to your unit momentarily for an inspection. See you in 10 minutes.” The line went dead. Lorrianna blanched in embarrassment and horror. She didn’t know who that was, but it couldn’t be good. She hit the intercom button in a panic.

“All CICU staff to the nurse’s station immediately.” Slamming down the receiver, she sprinted to the break room and woke Dr. Atwood, who was also working a double. “Dr. Atwood, I apologize for the intrusion, but we have a surprise inspection, and I figure we have about 10 minutes before HR and the unknown guy on the phone show up,” she blurted out loud enough to wake him but not disturb the patients.

He grumbled something incoherent and rolled to face her. “I’ll be out in 9.” Rolling her eyes, she sprinted back to the nurses’ station. She wasn’t concerned about the paperwork or documentation. She ran a tight ship. She was known to be fair and got her hands just as dirty as the rest of the staff.  Perfection was a standard she held herself to, but her nurses strove for the same goals. She was more worried about appearances. They were all coming off doubles, and let’s face it, you start to look and possibly smell not the best. Taylor, Sandra, and Juan were all at the ready at the nurses’ station and not exactly looking alive and jovial.

“Who called out? I’ll slash their tires next time they come in so they can work a triple,” Taylor asked angrily. She was Lorrianna’s older sister though like her best friend in the whole entire world. They were polar opposites but both beautiful in their own way. Taylor was tall and slender but filled out as a 38-year-old divorced mother of 3 beautiful boys. She was the golden blonde, sun-kissed skin goddess with light blue eyes that their family was notorious for. Lorrianna, on the other hand, was shorter, much fuller, with dark auburn hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. She giggled at her sister’s question and wit and simply replied, “I would have taken that over the surprise inspection that is occurring in…” glancing at her watch, she finished “5 minutes.”

Sandra and Juan called dibs on the staff bathrooms as soon as the “s” had left Lorrianna’s mouth. Taylor stood there, mouth agape and stunned for a moment as it registered. She sprinted behind Juan to vie for a place in the bathroom to freshen up. Lorrianna yelled, “Baby wipes are in my locker!” Juan looked back to give her a thumbs up, silently cursing when Taylor came around him and made it to the door first.

Lorrianna just shook her head and laughed, pulling out her extra-strength deodorant from her current desk drawer and was attempting to half-hide under the desk and apply it from under her shirt hem when someone cleared their throat above her head and made her freeze. She attempted to think to herself, “Please be Dr. Atwood,” over and over again but apparently said it out loud as she looked up to see the most beautiful Caribbean ocean blue eyes she had ever witnessed.

They were laced with amusement as Lorrianna risked a look at the full lips that smiled at her and said, “I’m here to see about a partridge in a pear tree.”