Carly's Story

Dear reader. This one's a slow burn romance. Also, there are mentions of assault and slurs against the LGBT community used, though sparingly. Thanks so much!

I stood at the charge desk, mentally preparing myself for the evening. Saturday night in a big city, you never know what will roll in the doors of the ER, and with the warmer weather, people were getting out more to enjoy it.

My shift started at 7:00PM and would run all the way until 7:00 the next morning, I'd see hundreds of people pass through the ER over the course of the night, patients, families, doctors, medics, and even police officers from time to time. I didn't know it at the start of shift, but one patient would change my life that night.

I should start by introducing myself. My name is Jason, and I'm an ER trauma nurse. I've heard that male nurses typically catch a lot of shit for their professions, but I haven't really heard much on that line. It may have to do with the fact that I stand 6'4", 225 pounds and I keep myself in great shape, lifting and swimming. The other staff in the ER like to have me around when things on the night shift get a little rowdy, because I act as a deterrent for people who show up to the hospital thinking they want to act up.

I've been a nurse for 6 years, all in the trauma department, meaning that I've seen quite a bit. I'm at the point where I'm almost desensitized to injuries, and I try not to act surprised or shocked when a really serious injury comes in.

The evening was proceeding as predicted, slow to start, but got busy after about 10PM. A mix of different injuries came in, car accidents, falls, a guy that got stabbed in the chest by a jilted lover. He got lucky, she underestimated how much force it takes to drive a knife into the human body, and the knife glanced off of his rib cage, so rather than hitting any vital organs, his skin was slashed deeply from his chest to his armpit. 62 stitches later, he was happily sedated and heading to observation for the night.

The next patient I worked on was a kid. Man, kids get me every time. I hate to see children in pain, and she was no exception. A 7 year old little girl was sitting in the backseat of a car in an intersection when it was T-boned on her side, breaking her right arm and leg. She was in terrible pain when she rolled in, and I went to direct the medics on moving her from the stretcher to the ER bed.

"Hey sweetie, my name is Jason and I'm going to take care of you and help you start feeling better, ok?" I said to her.

"O-ok..." she said through her sobs. "Where's my dad?"

"He's right next door, he got a bump on the head but other than that he's going to be ok."

She looked a little more relieved at the news, and we set to work, getting her IV and x-rays done. An Orthopedic surgeon was paged and came down to look at the x-rays, determining that she needed to be in surgery right away. He went off to the Operating Room and I returned to the little girl.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked her.

"I'm doing a little better, it doesn't hurt so bad now. My daddy just came over from his bed," she said.

"Awesome, I'm glad to hear it! Hey, I just talked to the doctor and they are going to fix you right up. Before too long you'll be good as new. I'm going to give you some medicine that's going to make you really sleepy, and when you wake up, the doctors will have already fixed your arm and leg. What do you think?"

She looked at me with wide eyes, unsure at first, but I smiled at her. "Can I tell you a secret? If I ever get hurt, I hope I can come here. Because the doctors here are the best! And when you wake up in the hospital room, the nurses up there always carry candy, so make sure you get some from them!"

She returned the smile. "Ok, I will!"

I pushed the meds through her IV line and less than a minute later, she was asleep. The surgical team came and picked her up, and she was gone. It was a little after 2:00AM.

I reset the ER bay the girl had been in to get it ready for the next patient. When I was finished, I took a quick break and then headed back to the charge desk to see what was next.

No sooner had I walked back to the desk when there was a commotion at the ambulance door. The charge nurse yelled out.

"Jason, got a nasty one incoming, I need you with her in trauma bay three!"

"Got it," I replied, and made my way to the automatic doors, which were coming open already, three paramedics pushing a stretcher, with the fourth rushing behind them holding an IV bag. The patient was so tiny that I could hardly tell there was someone on the stretcher under all the gauze and equipment.

"Carly Sims, age 23, 5'4" and 115 pounds, repeated blunt force trauma and lacerations to the head and face, possible broken ribs, concussion, and a broken wrist. She's in and out of consciousness, pulse is weak but steady, BP 107/66." The lead medic reported.

I looked over his report to see what drugs had been pushed en route to the hospital, made a few notes, then turned to the medic.

"Do we know what happened?" I asked.

"Not real sure. Someone found her in a parking garage downtown just like this. When she was conscious we tried to ask her questions but I think she's either in shock or delirious from the concussion. It doesn't look like she was robbed, nothing out of the ordinary was missing from her purse, that's how we found her name."

"Do we suspect sexual assault?" I asked

"It's possible. Honestly we were just trying to get her to stay awake the ride here. You may want to run a kit on her when she wakes up."

With that, the paramedics left. The ER doctor came in to verify meds, then ordered a head and chest CT, and x-ray to confirm the broken bones.

I looked at the poor girl. She had a black eye and bruises all over her face and neck. Her makeup was smeared on her face and the dress she was wearing was tattered. I could tell through all of it that she was a really attractive girl, and it made me wonder even more what happened to her.

As I changed the dressing on her head, she moaned quietly. Standing back a bit, she opened her eyes slightly and saw me looking at her. Then her eyes widened in panic, even fear. I recognized it immediately, and stepped back even further from the bed, trying to make her feel safer in all her confusion.

"Hey, my name's Jason, I'm a trauma nurse and you're at the emergency room at Central Hospital downtown. The first thing you need to know right now, is that you're safe."

I saw her relax a little and look around the room.

"S-sorry for freaking out," she stammered, her voice quiet. I could hear how much pain she was in.

"No need to apologize, it looks like you've had an ordeal tonight. It's Carly, right? The medics found your ID when they picked you up."

"Yeah," she said. I lowered my voice and tried to be as comforting as possible.

"Do you know what happened to you?" I asked her.

Carly instantly froze. She looked up at me, tears welling up in her eyes, and nodded.

"Can I ask if it was someone you know?" I said.

"It- it was... or at least I thought I knew him," she said, looking dejected.

"Boyfriend?"

"No. It was a first date."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had to be missing something here.

"Ok Carly, before he hit you, do you remember feeling woozy or lightheaded?"

"No, I wasn't at all. I haven't had anything to drink tonight either," she said.

"Ok, thanks for telling me. We did draw some blood so they can double check on a tox screen, but I believe you." I said, injecting as much sincerity in my voice as I could.

She was quiet after that, and I could tell that she was still processing everything that happened to her.

"Carly? I'm going to go and check on some medication orders for you, but I'll be back in a few minutes, ok?" I said to her.

She tensed up a little, and looked at me. "No! Don't leave...please."

I moved to the head of the bed and lightly placed my hand on her shoulder.

"I promise, I will be back," I said, and gave her a smile. She smiled back at me, the first one since she came in. She really was pretty, despite the situation she was in.

"Ok."

I walked around the curtain and back to the charge desk where I found Brandi, one of the other nurses. Brandi's a little firecracker, smart as a whip and wits to match, can out drink anyone that challenges her, hot as hell, but most importantly, one of the most compassionate people I have ever met.

"Brandi- you have anything going on right this second?" I asked her.

"Nah, what's up?" She asked.

"I need an assist... actually I need you to do something for me. My patient in 3 is a female, 23. Got roughed up pretty good by a date and left there. Her body language when she first woke up and saw me makes me think she may have been assaulted. Can you ask her if she wants to have a test done?"

Brandi's eyes went dark. She was an absolute warrior, and hearing that Carly may have been sexually assaulted immediately put her on edge.

"Absolutely. Consider it done," she said, walking toward the curtain Carly was behind.

Five minutes later, she walked back up to me at the desk. "No go on the test kit," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said she knows for a fact she wasn't raped, and she said it wasn't necessary."

"Alright, thanks for trying anyway." I said.

"Jason... I know I don't have to tell you this, but be very easy and gentle with her. She went through it tonight, but she asked me if you were coming back." Brandi warned me.

"Yeah, I definitely will, thanks," I said to Brandi.

Walking back behind the curtain, Carly saw it was me and cracked a small smile.

"Told you I'd come back! Any new pain or anything like that?" I asked her.

"No, and my head isn't hurting quite like it was," Carly reported.

"Excellent," I said, grabbing her chart and making note of what she said. I put it back at the end of the bed and sat in the chair next to her.

"Hey," I said to her, keeping eye contact with her. She had striking bright blue/gray eyes, that even with her swollen eyelid I could tell could easily pierce someone's heart.

"I want to tell you that you don't have anything to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, ok? We just want to help you every way that we can."

"Thanks," she said to me. "I really appreciate it. I'm telling you the truth, though. I wasn't raped tonight... I'm not sure if the other nurse believed me."

"That's ok, I believe you," I said. "I brought a hospital gown for you to change into, your dress is ripped and has a lot of blood on it. I'll call Brandi back in to help you change."

"No! I mean...no, that's ok. Can you just help me?" She asked, her eyes pleading. "I'm more comfortable with you here."

"I can if that's what you want, I just wanted to give you the opportunity to have a female help you, for modesty purposes," I explained.

"It's ok... you're not going to perv on a poor injured patient, are you?" She asked me, with a small sly smile.

I laughed, and replied to her, "Nope, not me. I've seen it all!"

With that response, she gave me a quizzical look, then smiled and said, "Well, ok. It's settled. What's the best way to do this?"

I helped her get to a sitting position on the bed. As I slowly raised the backrest, she winced in pain and grabbed her side.

"Ribs, definitely bruised, maybe fractured. That'll be the hardest thing to recover from, because there's not really anything you can do but just wait for them to heal," I explained.

Carly sighed and said, "Oh, joy..."

Now sitting up, I untied the back of the gown and draped it over Carly. The gown was so big that it looked as if it would swallow her tiny body.

"So your dress is already ripped. It would be a lot easier on you to just cut it, rather than trying to have you wriggle out of it," I said.

"That's fine... I'd want to trash it anyway after tonight."

Without another word, I grabbed a pair of medic shears and cut the side of her dress, from under her arm all the way down to the hem, which would have fallen midway up her thigh had she been standing. I then snipped the spaghetti straps over her shoulders and pulled it across her body, gathering the front of the dress to her side, then helped her lift her back away from the bed to free the top, then lift her hips to get it out from under her. As her hips lifted, the hospital gown shifted slightly and I caught a flash of a pair of black, lacy panties, saw the curve of her hip and the paleness of her petite leg. Maintaining my professionalism, however, I got her covered back up, the hospital gown tied and situated her into a more comfortable position.

"Thanks so much!" Carly said, smiling at me.

"Nothing to it, ma'am," I replied, causing her to blush slightly. "Hey, I know you're here by yourself, is there anyone we can call for you?"

Looking crestfallen, she sighed again. "No, that's ok... Don't worry about it."

Not wanting to press the issue, I said, "Ok, let me know if that changes."

"It probably won't."

At that point the ER Doctor walked in, holding a tablet with orders.

"Ms. Simms, I'm Doctor DeLeon. I'd like to admit you to the hospital for a couple of days so we can keep an eye on your concussion symptoms. I also want to make sure there's not a brain bleed developing."

Carly looked at me as if for assurance, and I nodded to her.

"Ok, that's fine."

"Great. Jason is going to get everything straightened out here and finish up the charts, and we'll get you moved."

"Thanks, Doctor," She replied.

I walked back up to the charge desk to get started on the orders, when a woman in plain clothes walked up to me.

"Hi, is there a Carly Sims here?" She asked.

Carly had gone through hell tonight, and I was feeling somewhat protective of her as she trusted me.

"Nope, never heard the name, sorry," I said quickly, hoping the woman would just leave.

"Oh, ok. I must have gotten the wrong place. I'm Detective Shepard and I'm with the Sheriff's Department. I got a report that a Carly Sims was worked over pretty good downtown tonight and that she was transported here." She showed me a badge and ID.

"Wait here, detective. Sorry, I didn't know who you were at first. Let me go and ask her if she wants to talk to you now. If not, she's being admitted and may speak with you tomorrow."

"Thanks a lot- sorry, I didn't catch your name?" The detective asked.

"Jason," I said, reaching out to shake her hand. "I'll ask her and I'll be right back."

Going back around the curtain, I saw that Carly was settled in and looked tired.

"Jason!" She said with a weary smile. "I thought you abandoned me forever!"

"Never would I do such a thing!" I grinned back at her. "Listen, I know you might not want to do this, but there is a detective here that wants to ask you some questions about what happened tonight. I already told her that you might not want to talk right now, so she can come back later if you'd prefer."

She thought for a moment, then furrowed her brow and looked at me in the eye. "Yeah... I'll talk to her."

"Ok, I'll go get her and send her in."

Carly talked with the detective for about 20 minutes while I finished up my reporting. Detective Shepard appeared from around the curtain when she was done and walked up to me.

"Thanks for letting me see her, Jason. I got all I needed. She's pretty shaken up still, but she remembered everything that happened."

"You going to catch the guy that did this?" I asked.

"Yeah, I really think we will. The garage she was found in has a ton of cameras, we already have her walking into the garage with the guy, it's just a matter of time before we have footage of the actual assault."

I shook her hand again. "Happy hunting."

By the time I went back to Carly, she was asleep. I made sure her belongings were gathered up, and got the hospital bed ready to move. I was trying to be quiet but Carly stirred, and then opened her eyes lazily.

"Hey..." she said.

"Hey," I replied. I walked to the side of the bed and put my hand on hers. "I wanted to say that was a very brave thing you did, talking to the police tonight."

"I don't feel very brave about it," she said.

"Believe me, it was. Carly I don't normally say this, I'm good at keeping my personal feelings out of things at work, but man I'd love to run into this asshole and give them the same treatment he gave you."

At that, she smiled and turned her hand over to grab mine and give it a squeeze.

"I believe that you really would, Jason."

At that time, the nurses from the inpatient wing upstairs arrived and I finished getting Carly ready to move.

"Jason, one more thing," Carly said.

"Anything, shoot," I replied.

"Can-can I have a hug?"

Careful to avoid any areas I knew were hurt, I moved to the bed and hugged Carly. She was a little tense at first, but then relaxed and melted in my arms. When we separated, she had tears in her eyes.

"Thanks, Jason... for everything."

"Anytime, Carly. I hate that you're in this situation but I'm happy to have met you."

The nurses moved her out of the ER, and with a tiny wave from Carly as the elevators doors were closing, she was gone.

I looked at my watch, and it was 6:45AM. Time to go home. I waited a few more minutes until the day shift nurses came to the floor, then packed up my stuff and went home.

I was dog tired, dragging into my apartment. I shed my clothes and started the shower, waiting until the water got hot before stepping in. It's my little ritual after work, to decompress and shut my brain off so I can get to sleep and get up for the next shift...

But I couldn't get Carly out of my mind. I reasoned with myself that as a compassionate person, I was sympathetic to her situation, upset that it happened to her, and confused as to why anyone could do that to another person, much less a person you took on a date?!

But from another part of my brain, came the reason that I was trying to hide from myself. -dude, she's exactly the type of chick you go for. And, you're kidding yourself if you don't think she's into you, she totally is!

Frustrated with myself about having the hots for a patient- the penultimate example of unprofessionalism- I got out of the shower, dried off and crawled in bed, laying there for an hour with my mind swimming before I finally fell asleep.

---------------------------

I woke up in the early afternoon. When I work nights, I don't sleep long, but my body seems to do fine so I don't try to fight to stay in bed. I walked into the living room of my apartment and picked up my phone, where I saw a text message that had been sent to me a few hours earlier. It was from the Hospital's Nursing Director.

-Jason, it's Diane. Give me a call before you come in tonight.

Shit. I didn't know what she wanted but it couldn't have been good. I called her back.

"Hey Diane, it's Jason. I just woke up and saw your text. What's up?"

"Jason! Hey! First of all nothing's wrong, I know that sometimes me asking for a phone call before work doesn't look that good," she said.

Relieved, I laughed into the phone. "Mindreader!" I said to Diane.

"Ha, I wish, it might make my job easier!" she said.

"Jason, did you treat a patient named Carly Sims last night in the ER?" She asked.

There she was again... the girl that I couldn't get out of my mind.

"Yeah, I did. Is she ok? She was in good condition when she left my care for the floor."

Diane replied, "Oh yeah, she's doing just fine! I think she took a liking to you last night, she is telling us that she trusts you more than anyone else in the hospital, and she's asking for you to be her nurse until she gets out of the hospital."

My mind was racing now... the plan for me tonight was to go into work and immerse myself in the nights cases, so I could finally get this woman off my mind.