Fat, Old Cow

This story is published for the 2024 On The Job Challenge 2024.

-----

The intern Dr. Benjamin Smith arrived a few minutes early for his first month of work on the surgical team at Mercy Hospital. He had finished four months on the medicine ward and was looking forward to four months of surgery. Later in the year he would do a couple of months each on pediatrics and gynecology before switching over to emergency medicine, his chosen specialty, for the following two years.

He had enjoyed his surgery rotations in medical school and was looking forward to his next few months on Three West and Four West, the surgical wings of the hospital. Because he was not going to specialize in surgery, he knew he would probably not spend much time in the OR but would be working primarily on the two wards doing pre-op and post-op care. He was hopeful his time would help him with his evaluations in the emergency room in the future.

After the rest of the team assembled and introductions were made, the attending surgeon, the resident and the two interns started out on rounds. Every morning the team would go together with the head nurse to assess the patients, make team decisions about care needs and discharge plans. There was a lot of routine paperwork, except it was computer work now days, to make sure everything was done correctly, the right meds were prescribed and the correct wound care was ordered.

Ben's co-intern was going to specialize in surgery so he naturally would spend more time in the OR than Ben, something which didn't bother Ben at all. He enjoyed meeting and talking to the patients, which couldn't happen when they were under anesthesia. Because he was on the ward extensively, he got to know the nursing and ancillary staff well. One nurse in particular named Hannah caught his eye and he enjoyed working with her but he had long believed he should not get too familiar with the nursing staff he was working with. If feelings were hurt, for example, patient care could suffer. But he still enjoyed talking with her and ruminating in the back of his mind was the idea of asking her out once his four months were over.

After his first night on call where he slept in a quiet 'call room' just downstairs from the wards, he woke up to the faint hum of a vacuum cleaner in the hallway outside of his room. As it was time for him to get up anyway, he shut off the alarm on his phone, washed his face at the sink, tidied up the room and opened the door. The woman in the hallway appeared older than him, had ash-blonde hair and a warm smile.

"Good morning," he said as he smiled at her.

"Hallo, Doctor."

He noted a fairly strong Eastern European accent, returned her smile and introduced himself. "I'm Ben, working on the surgery team."

"I am Svetlana but people call me Lahna."

"I thought I detected an accent. And you say it like 'Lah-na' and not 'La-na,' right?

"Da."

"Nice meeting you, Lahna. My room's ready for you and thank you for keeping this place so clean."

On his way upstairs he thought about her. How did someone get to their hospital in their city in the middle of the country all the way from Europe, probably from Russia. Maybe if he had some free time someday, he might ask her.

The next two days were busy but he was able to keep the work under control. On the third day when he was again on call, he went down to his call room around three pm to rest. Two things an intern always does is rest and eat whenever there is a lull in the action. He was stretched out on the bed reading on his phone when he heard a soft knocking on the door.

"Yes?"

"Hallo, Doctor, I forget trash this morning. I empty it now. OK?"

"Sure thing, Lahna. Thanks."

When she brought the can back to his room, he sat up, smiled and asked, "Lahna, if I may ask, where were you born?"

"In Russia, near Moscow."

"Do you miss it?"

"Da, sometimes. I have no family so I not go back."

"Me, I'm from Maine and I don't get much vacation so I won't go back for a year. But you, it must have been a long time."

"Da. Twenty years."

"Twenty years! Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe someday you can go to visit."

"Nyet.It is now bad. I no wish to go back."

"Oh, I see. Well, thanks for the trash pick-up. I'll see you around."

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"You nice to me. Most doctors no talk to me."

"Well, my mom always told me I was the most talkative of her kids. I guess I like to get to know people."

"OK, I go now. Good-bye."

After she left, Ben wondered why people wouldn't talk with her. The cleaning crew was an essential part of the hospital. Sure, they didn't have tons of training and many were poor but if they didn't exist, the place would be a pigsty and infections would be a major risk. He also noted she seemed sad and didn't talk much but perhaps that was due to the language issue. But she was attractive. She kept her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face featured blue eyes, prominent cheek bones and a cute nose. She also had a nice figure with large breasts. Maybe she sported a few more pounds than ideal but he was sure she attracted some guys' attention.

Over the next month he would see her working on Four West but never on Three West where the cleaning crew consisted of a Hispanic appearing man and a tiny Asian woman. When he saw her on Four West, he would always greet her with a smile and ask her how she was doing. One time he thought he saw her blush after he met her in the hallway. 'What was that about?' he asked himself as he walked past her on his way to the ER.

On another day on call he was finished with his routine work by one pm and there were no scheduled admissions. If the emergency room stayed quiet, a word no one liked to use for fear it would jinx them, he could see himself getting a full night's sleep. He had learned never to plan on it but he did head to the call room to rest, just in case. As he entered the hallway to the call rooms, he ran into Lahna.

"Hey, Lahna. How're you doing?"

"Good, Doctor."

"Uh, I have a favor to ask."

"Favor?"

"Yeah. Maybe you can call me Ben. Please."

"No, Doctor. I must call you Doctor. They tell me."

"OK, how about when it's only the two of us?"

"No. I forget and call you Ben and get trouble. I call you Doctor."

"OK, I understand. Are you busy now?"

"No, I finish. I go home soon."

"Oh, where do you live."

"In trailer in Happy Acres."

"Oh, right down the street. That's convenient for work, eh?"

"Da. I walk here. I have no car."

"How do you go shopping?"

"I have bike and take taxi."

"Well, I won't keep you from going home."

"You nice to me. Can I ask question."

"Sure, what is it?"

"How old you are?"

"Twenty-five. And it's only fair you tell me how old you are."

"Forty-two."

"Wow, you were only, what, twenty-two when you came here."

"Twenty-one. I have birthday one week after I am here."

"I've always wondered what it would be like to move to a completely new country and start over. It must be hard. Why did you come here?"

"Is long story. In my family, my ottsa, uh, my father was dead. We have no money and we were hungry. I heard American men like Russian girls. A company helped me meet American man. I send letters, he send letters. I send pictures. He ask me to marry him and pay for trip. I come to America and marry him."

"Did you love him?"

"Nyet.I need money."

"Are you still married."

"Nyet.Bastard cheat. We get divorce after seven years."

"Why did you stay here?"

"No money to go home and they have no money. I am citizen now. I stay here."

"Wow. That's quite the story. Do you, uh, do you have a man now?"

"No man want fat, old Russian cow!"

"Lahna! You are not fat. In fact, I think you are very pretty."

"Doctor, you crazy."

"No, I'm not. Here, look in this mirror." He gently led her into his call room, a closed the door behind them and stood behind her at the sink, their images reflecting in the mirror. "Look here. You have beautiful hair. Nice color, thick and wavy. Do you dye it?"

"Dye?"

"Uh, you know, color it."

"Nyet.Is mine."

"There you go, a natural blonde. And your face is gorgeous. You have those beautiful Russian cheekbones and lovely lips. And look here: your figure is wonderful."

"No, too fat."

"You are not fat. You aren't skinny like a model but you are not fat. You have a nice waist and your, your rear end is..."

"Rear end?"

"Uh, your butt. Your ass."

"Oh, you like my zadnitsa? My bum?" she giggled as she backed into him, which caused his pelvis to touch her buttocks.

"Oh, God, Lahna, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's OK. Long time since I touch man," she said with a hint of redness in her cheeks.

"Zadnitsa, huh? The first word of Russian you teach me is for the butt," he laughed, "Yes, I think you have a nice zadnitsa."

He saw a slight grin cross her face and figured she had probably not heard a positive thing about looks in years. She came to the US desperate to survive and later she was divorced and barely hanging on.

He went on. "And your breasts, you have wonderful breasts," he added as he stood behind her.

"We say grud," she responded as she stood a little taller and thrust her chest forward. "You like my breast?"

"Breasts, we say breasts, two of them and I like both of them."

"Oh, Doctor, you too nice."

"No, Lahna, I think you have no idea how attractive you are. I know there are men who would love to be with you."

"No! Nobody like me."

"Lahna, look at me. You were treated wrong by one man. There are many men out there who would be attracted to you."

"Who, Doctor?"

"Well, me. I'm attracted to you."

"But you so young."

"I may be younger than you but I know what is pretty and you, Lahna, are seriously pretty."

"Oh, Doctor, you crazy but you make old lady happy."

A few tears trickled down her cheeks as she looked at herself and at Ben over her shoulder in the mirror. She reached behind her and grabbed his hands and pulled them around her waist. There was a slight fullness to her belly but no one could honestly call her fat. As she stood there smiling through her tears, Ben realized he was responding to her. He had not had a sexual partner in many months and the nearness of an attractive woman, a woman who was holding his hands on her, was causing a slow engorgement. He gently tried to pull away but she held him even tighter.

"Lahna, I, uh, I can't be doing this. If I get caught, uh,..."

"You get trouble?"

"Yes, big trouble."

"Trouble because you make old lady feel good for first time in years?"

"First of all, you're not old but secondly, I'd be in trouble for touching you like this. We doctors can't be doing this. It's not proper."

"My belly not proper?"

"No, your belly is fine. I mean it's not right for a man to touch a woman like this."

"How about this?"

To his absolute shock, she pulled his hands up to her breasts, holding them there with her hands. He could feel a bra through the thin cloth but it was clear she had nice ones. They felt bigger than they looked and more importantly, they felt great. The semi-erection he had been fighting suddenly morphed into a full-on erection and he knew he had to extricate himself from the situation.

"Lahna, no! Please, we can't do this."

"Why no?" she asked as she backed her buttocks to him, rubbing herself into his crotch.

"I could get into so much trouble. Please take my hands off yourzadnitsa."

"Nyet, this is grud," she reminded him by squeezing her hands, forcing his onto her breasts even more. "This is zadnitsa," she emphasized as she thrust her butt back to his pelvis. She seemed to pause once she brushed up against his erection before she swirled her ass around a few times, stimulating him even more.

"You like zadnitsa?"

"Yes."

"You likegrud?"

"Yes."

"You like Lahna?"

"Yes, very much. You are so sexy."

"Oh, Doctor, you make fat, old Lahna feel good. Spasibo. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Uh, Lahna, you need to go, please. I don't want to get into trouble."

"I go. I see you maybe tomorrow."

"Yeah, Bye, Lahna. See you tomorrow."

Once she left the room, he gently closed the door and threw himself on the call room bed. What had just happened? An innocent conversation ended up with him holding her breasts, well, she was holding his hands on them, and with her rubbing her wonderful ass against his erection. He had trouble figuring out if she was totally naïve or was a scheming woman who knew what she was doing. Maybe she was going to set him up for blackmail! You know, get him compromised and bleed him for money to keep her from talking about it. But he truly didn't think so. She seemed beaten down by her circumstances and appreciated his positive remarks about her. He resolved to be very careful in the future. In the meantime, he dealt with his erection in the most expedient way possible by shaking hands with Yul Brynner until he spewed into a tissue.

-----

Several weeks later he was surprised to see her in a forest-green scrub suit. And she looked great! There was a nice swelling peeking out of the low neckline, her bare arms bore no trace of flab and her ass filled the bottoms out nicely.

"Lahna, you've got a new outfit."

"Da. Hospital make us wear this now. All cleaners."

"Do they pay for them?"

"Da. That helps with money."

"I bet it does. And," he neared her subtly, "It shows off your nice sadnitza."

"Zadnitsa," she laughed, "And my zadnitsa is not sad!"

"Oh, aren't you the funny one?"

"You make me laugh. What other word you learn?"

"Uh, uh, was it grud?"

"Da. You remember. You like my grud in this clothes?"

"I'd like yourgrud in anything."

"Maybe I'm not ugly. You make old lady very happy," she said as she turned her cart down the hall.

He wanted to answer but was concerned someone might hear him, so he kept quiet. Later that day he was eating in the cafeteria when she came through the line with several others clad in their new scrubs. When they walked by his table, Lahna turned and said, "Doctor, this is Miguel and Annie. They work on Three West."

"Yes, yes, we've met. Hi, Miguel, Annie."

After their greetings, the cleaners went over to a large table in the corner. Once they sat down, he became aware of Lahna looking between the others directly at him. One time when he smiled at her, she sat up straighter and it appeared she thrust her chest forward slightly. 'What was that all about?' he wondered.

He was back on call the following day and night. It was busy and he didn't make it to the call rooms until right before dinner. He was surprised to see Lahna vacuuming the call rooms.

"You're working late."

"Da.We have sick people and I work extra."

"You get paid extra for that?"

She nodded her head saying, "One and one half."

"That's great. A little extra cash never hurt."

"Which room is yours?"

"Number four."

"I do it last."

"Why?"

"We can talk."

"Great. I'll come back in fifteen minutes."

When he returned, she was doing the final vacuuming in his room. She put all the gear back on her cart before turning to him. "I am finish. We talk."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want," she said as she gently closed the door behind her, "I want to show you this."

She moved towards him and pulled up her scrub shirt until the bottom hem was right below her breasts. He could see her belly clearly, a belly which was full but shapely and sexy. "This. What is it?"

He saw a small swelling the wall of her belly. "May I touch it?"

She nodded nervously before he lightly touched her warm skin. The mass was small, soft and easily moved under her skin. It was immediately apparent she had a completely benign thing called a lipoma, a so-called fatty tumor.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. It's only a lipoma."

"Lipoma? No cancer?"

"No, not cancer. These are little clumps of fat under the skin."

"I have fat clumps? I told you I am fat, old cow."

"You're not fat. Here," he rubbed his hand lightly across her belly, "No more fat clumps and you're not fat."

"You like touching me?"

Quickly, he jerked his hand away. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry, Lahna. I didn't mean to."

"I like you touching me. Make me feel young."

"Uh, I shouldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"We, I could get into trouble."

"No one here."

"But if anyone came by..."

"Door is closed."

"But if they heard us..."

"No sound go through walls. I vacuum here and no one hears me," she added pointing to the next room. She was right. The soundproofing was superb. There could be a full conversation in one room and it was not heard on the other side of the wall. "Touch me more."

'What was going on with her?' he wondered. 'Why was she being so blatantly seductive?' Then his mind ran back to the fear she was setting him up for blackmail. He backed away, shaking his head. "No, Lahna, I really shouldn't."

"You say I am not fat cow but you act like I am."

"Look, you are attractive, sexy even. But we can't be doing this."

"I think you sexy too."

"Thank you, I guess. But still, no, we can't be doing this." He opened the door with the implied message she should leave.

As she left the room with her head bowed down in defeat (or was it shame?), he heard her whisper, "I like you, Doctor."

"I like you, too, Lahna," he answered softly as he gently closed the door behind him.

Two weeks later as he was checking in on a sleeping, post-op patient on the fourth floor, Lahna walked in. "I pick up trash."

"Sure, go ahead."

Something seemed off. She went around the can to the far side instead of simply picking it up. He glanced at her as she bent over to the can only to see her top fall open, exposing her chest and bra-covered breasts to his view. At times surgical scrubs are more revealing than women, and even men, realize and he wondered if she had any idea how much of her he could see. When he peeled his eyes away from the glorious sight and looked back at her face, he noted she sported a broad grin.

"You like what you see?" she asked in a barely audible voice.

"Uh, Lahna, you may not know how much you are showing."

"I look in mirror, Doctor. I know."

And it became rapidly apparent this was all planned for his benefit. She had worn a sexy bra, checked herself in the mirror and had placed herself such that he could see down her top.

"You like fat cow?"

"You are attractive and you are not a fat cow."

At that very instant he became aware of someone behind him and Lahna suddenly stood upright, taking the can with her to her cart outside the door.

"Hi, Doctor Smith, could I have a word with you about this gentleman?" asked Hannah.

"Sure, what's up?"

They had a brief discussion about his temperature and whether it was unusual enough to warrant extra testing. They agreed to watch him for another two hours and reassess at that time. As she went to leave, she turned to him and asked, "I thought I heard you say the word 'cow' to the cleaning lady right as I was coming in. What was that about?"

"Oh, you mean Lahna? No, I was saying something about her getting 'that now' since the can was pretty full."

"Oh, I see. My ears must be playing tricks on me. Anyway, I'll call you in two hours with an update."

"Don't bother. I'll swing by." He smiled at her as he turned away only to see Lahna frowning at him from the doorway of the room two doors down.