Navy Nurse Ch. 21

After that weekend with Adrianna Lake, Diana did not engage in any further sex for the remainder of her senior year at the School of Nursing, University of Michigan. As soon as she graduated, and obtained her BSN degree (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) she wrote the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) test and was duly registered as a nurse. She soon thereafter received her commission into the United States Navy. Because of her superior academic record at the University of Michigan coupled with her exceptional dedicated performance in the required extra ROTC training classes, her starting rank was Lieutenant (junior grade) as opposed to the normal initial starting rank of Ensign.

Diana was scheduled to start on July 1st, and was deployed to the navy hospital in San Diego, CA. The official name of the hospital is the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), but it is also designated as the Bob Wilson Naval Hospital, named after a Republican Congressman representing San Diego who promoted military presence in San Diego. However the unofficial, but most common reference for the hospital, that everyone used was, as the Balboa Hospital, since the hospital complex is contained within the Balboa Park in San Diego.

Leaving her home town of Grosse Pointe Farms in Michigan was made easier by the Navy. The cost and actual movement of personal property was borne by the Navy known as the 'pack out'. Her parents arranged Astrid Haagensen to accompany Diana to San Diego for the months of July and August. Astrid would return to Michigan at the end of August, as she had obtained a student's visa to attend Wayne State University in Detroit. Inspired by Diana's education, Astrid enrolled in the College of Nursing at Wayne State. She also had gotten engaged to Robert Morley, so that she would eventually acquire her green card for permanent residence in the United States.

The two months that Astrid was with Diana, gave our heroine plenty of time to arrange satisfactory day care for Laura who was now two years old. Diana obtained a modest partially furnished two bedroom apartment on top of a convenience store, with separate entranceway adjacent to the outer wall of the store. Best of all for Diana. Her residence was in a reasonable close distance to the hospital. In fact to facilitate her commute to work, she purchased a motorcycle as a less cumbersome mode of travel than her GMC SUV. The owner of the party store had initially occupied the premises, but having purchased a home in a nearby neighborhood, now rented the apartment out. Her landlord also intimated that he had a fourteen year old daughter, who would be happy to baby sit. Should Diana have to work a midnight shift, the daughter would be available since the school she attended was within walking distance of the store.

Accordingly when Astrid finally finished her nanny duties, and returned to Michigan, Diana was adequately established as a single mother in active duty with the United States Navy. After her brief orientation at the hospital, she was assigned pursuant to her application, to the ICU (intensive care unit). Diana's character demanded that she strive to excel in difficult situations. She thrived on stressful situations since overcoming them always produced an adrenalin high that was almost as satisfying and fulfilling as a 'Goldilocks Orgasm'.

Diana's work ethic was demonstrably outstanding. She was a quick study in developing her abilities as a nurse, such that within six months, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and also assigned the duties of an assistant head nurse in the unit. Diana's skills in doing her job was so evident that none of her co workers resented her fast rise. No one even joked at speculating at who she had been sleeping with to achieve such a speedy promotion. Her cheerful attitude endeared her to the entire staff, such that no one seemed to hate her. That was great comfort for Diana, and contrasted favorably with her student days at the University of Michigan. There, lots of her friends, and acquaintances were cognizant of her participation at the Frat gangbang orgies. So the friendly atmosphere at the hospital easily took the sting out of recalling her Michigan reputation as a slut and a whore.

One of her hospital co workers that truly intrigued our heroine, was a surgeon named Captain Henry McCord. He was about as a delightful male eye candy as they come! His masculine face commanded respect. To complement his absolutely handsome features he sported a permanent five o'clock shadow stubble on his chin. For him that balance between clean shaven and an actual beard just worked right to make him totally alluring to any female with a pulse.

His body frame was solid and just right. He was formidable in size, a good three inches taller than Diana, which of course made him appealable to her for that fact alone. He was not thin, but neither was he fat. Diana felt that if she closed her eyes and pictured the ideal man that she would love to be associated with, that picture would reassemble Dr Henry McCord. Diana realized that she had harbored a similar notion in contemplating the manly features of Brad Winters and to a lesser extent Hank Doran as well. However, there was a major distinction in that those two were still college students, only mere boys. Dr Hank McCord on the other hand, was a Navy doctor, a real man!

To top it off, Dr Henry McCord had a deep bass voice that was sexy as all hell. She had previously considered Hank Doran's voice as the quintessential male sexual voice that she would always remember. Instead Dr Henry McCord's voice absolutely surpassed that assessment. His voice rivaled that of male Opera singers. Yes, Diana drooled over him, as he was everything she could have desired in a man. She believed without a shadow of a doubt that, if she were to enter into a relationship with him, she would never cheat on him, and never be tempted to do so, no matter otherwise.

As a surgeon at the Balboa Hospital, Captain Henry McCord was in frequent consultation with Diana concerning her ICU patients that needed or had surgery. During those times there were plenty of opportunities to engage in some innocuous banter. Diane never wasted those moments, but flirted with him somewhat subtly, but more often than not truly overtly. To her utter delight, he returned the flirtations in kind, resulting her in believing she was heading towards inhabiting in a sexual heaven. They even shared lunch at the hospital cafeteria on a couple of occasions. Although their conversations consisted merely of swapping work related anecdotes, still the rapport between them was not to be denied.

Notwithstanding such happy banter and verbal byplay, there were three negative factors in their frequent contacts, that dampened the serendipity Diana was experiencing with her association with Dr Henry McCord. First of all, she was soon appraised of his age as being forty-four years of age. She was herself only twenty-two years of age, and that disparity of age troubled her. Of course such age disparity was not a negative if she only contemplated casual sex or a one night stand. But if she were to consider a long term relationship, especially a life long one then, that would be a definite minus.

Another thing she found strange was that she appeared to be the only female on staff, that flirted with Dr Henry McCord. Now that could be taken in two different ways. The preferable takeaway, would be that the other females realized they would have no chance with him, so why bother. Diana was the very new employee at the Balboa Hospital. Ergo, perhaps presumably the other females had exhausted their attempts in implementing seducing enticements on him, and having gotten nowhere had given up the ghost. The trouble with that supposition to Diana was her belief, certainly from her point of view, that if a subsequent new female employee were to arrive on the scene, and start making eyes towards Dr Henry McCord, that would not deter her one iota in her own efforts to allure the good doctor to her own charms. The other takeaway suggested that there was something mysteriously off with Captain Henry McCord, which had dissuaded other females from pursuing him. Such conjecture was too depressing a notion to contemplate, so Diana refrained from considering that possibility.

The third discordant note to Diana's pursuit of securing the good doctor's regard was the fact that he was wearing an obvious wedding ring on the appropriate finger. That was absolutely deflating to Diana's ego as it did not auger well for a hope of a commitment on his part. She naturally gritted her teeth in conjuring the hope that perhaps his marriage must be on the rocks. After all he returned the double entendres of sex that she had signaled throughout their conversations. Surely he must be in the process of seeking a new mate. Rationalizing her feelings, it made sense that he would be wielding his wedding ring to ward off unsuitable replacements. Diana also was cognizant that upon examining the bottom of her heart, that she was willing to be Dr Henry McCord's mistress if he was unwilling to leave his wife.

In any case the friendly exchanges of sexual banter between the two of them continued for several months. Finally the matter came to a head when he asked, "Diana, are you by any chance free this coming Saturday night? I'd like to treat you out to dinner....(at this point he suggested an exceptionally excellent seafood restaurant located at the edge of the ocean)."

Diana was unequivocally thrilled by the invitation by the Adonis doctor, so she responded, "Oh yes I'm off Friday and Saturday, and I don't have another shift until 20:00 hours Sunday. However, you seem to possess a wedding ring on your ring finger, so I'm naturally apprehensive of the appropriateness of your dinner suggestion."

Captain Henry McCord replied, "You do not have to be fearful of any possible negative reaction of my significant other. There would be no question that this is only a mere dinner date. We, human beings, do have to eat to continue to survive. However, there surely is no denying that we seem to get along in a professional capacity, so that there is no real objection to explore such a nascent relationship further."

Diana was plagued by conflicting emotions. She inferred that not only did Dr Henry McCord acknowledge to her, that he was married, but that he suggested that his wife was OK with him taking her out for dinner. How do you reconcile such conflicting circumstances? Maybe the answer is that the marriage is truly over, and the wife is giving Dr Henry McCord carte blanche to explore other possibilities? But Diana could not come to that happy conclusion as it did not compute with his baldly stated insinuation that the date was merely on the face of it a mere dinner date simply advancing their professional friendship. She did though, reply, "I would be naturally delighted with your invitation, so do you want to pick me up, or do you want me to meet you at the restaurant?

"Meet me there at 18:30 hours. I'll make the reservations."

"OK, I'll see you then,"

From that terse acknowledgement, Diana realized that she was not going to experience some great sex, as a result of the dinner date. But at least considering the reputation of the restaurant, she was going to enjoy a terrific meal, so she judiciously hid her disappointment. Once they were seated, and placed their orders, Diana's mood immediately warmed up, as the ambience of the restaurant suited her style for an entertaining date. The good doctor suggested a bountiful seafood platter for a shared appetizer, and Diana ordered for her entrée a dish of sea bass. The good doctor had a Glenfiddich on the rocks while Diana opted for a gin martini for their pre-prandial drinks, and of course a fine California red wine complemented their meal.

As the menu did not list prices, Diana surmised that their tab for the meal would be pricey. Obviously the good doctor could afford the expense, but it would seem to be incongruent for a happily married man to indulge a co worker to such extravagance with no strings attached. There was certainly no intimation from the good doctor that he expected Diana to go Dutch. Diana believed that surely this had to be an authentic date meant to attract, or dare she believe, seduce? If he did have a wife she must not be in the picture. With such conjecture she was experiencing happy thoughts of enjoying a truly splendid evening.

There was initial small talk, exclusively confined to new work anecdotes between the two as they enjoyed their drink and appetizer. Once the main course was served Dr Henry McCord started a new conversation with an innocuous inconsequential question, "So Ms Van Buren, I understand that a Martin Van Buren was a President of the United States. Are you by any chance related?"

Diana was clearly nonplussed by the question, but she still was able to maintain her composure, and replied with sardonic wit, "I haven't a clue! It has never been a subject matter in my family discussions. Considering that President Van Buren is merely remembered as a forgettable President, back in the early part of the nineteenth century, I've never been curious enough to ascertain whether there is an actual relationship."

Dr Henry McCord opined, "I guess that is a sure fire inevitable consequence of the United States eschewing royalty, and or nobility unlike the United Kingdom. No one makes public of family trees of prominent American families. In fact if one is to consult the 'Who's Who', when it was first published in 1899, you will find less than twenty per cent of descendants of that initial list to be included to the current list."

Continuing her impatience with the topic, Diana merely replied, "Oh my! I didn't know that."

Ignoring the disdainful mockery implied by Diana to arguably an insignificant fact of trivia, Dr Henry McCord continued, " When all is said and done, no matter how successful one is, or for that matter how unsuccessful one is, according to society's standards that dictates such success, I would suggest that surely pales against the Divine edict to the importance of reproducing."

Diana interrupted by pointing out the obvious, "But Henry, there is no rocket science involved in reproducing the human race. The densest amongst us, as well as the most brilliant amongst us, can accomplish this simply by engaging in sex. And to reiterate it does not take the knowledge of rocket science to engage in the intricacies of sex."

Dr Henry McCord scoffed and replied, "That assuredly is true as an undeniable fact. There are certainly economic and other concerns that can explain the prevailing birth rate, and for that matter such concerns are absolutely visited upon the individual. Aside from the reality of the actual reproduction tables, there is still no escaping the fact of an inherent desire of any man or a woman to reproduce and leave something of oneself behind."

Now Diana was getting curious at to where this conversation was going, so she asked, "What makes you come to that conclusion? True there is a basic instinct to reproduce in all of us. In fact, although I'm not devoutly religious, still I believe that God has designed sex to be a delightful activity in order to ensure the reproduction of the human race. Of course man has always had the methodology to practice birth control. Nonetheless, I would never have attributed the desire to reproduce to be linked to a passion to pass on one's DNA."

The good doctor now replied in earnest, "I concede that maybe my viewpoint is unique. I'm very satisfied with my career so far, and expect to have many more rewarding years ahead of me. Certainly, my two tours in Afghanistan have been an unbelievable highlight in my life, as I performed surgeries on countless of wounded soldiers who would have died otherwise. The dangers inherent in living in that war torn country just added to the adrenaline high of performing dare I say it, heroic work.

"So yes, I can boast of having made a significant difference in the world, and when I die I can be comfortable in knowing that I've not led a useless life. But once I'm dead, my work and reputation will be forgotten. However, if I had a child then my life force would continue on."

Diana was now developing an inkling of the purpose of his conversation as well as suspecting the purpose of their date. So she replied, "So you're saying that you do not have any children. Is your wife then unable to conceive?"

"My wife?"

"Well you are wearing a wedding ring."

"I not married to a woman. Yes I'm married, but to a man!"

"Oh no! You're gay?"

"Don't tell me Diana that you're homophobic?"

"Of course not. Besides I would be a hypocrite, since I've fucked three different women. One of them being my sister! No my dismay is that you are unavailable to me, whereas I was so hoping to get it on with you."

"I thought you knew Diana. I mean I thought it was common knowledge amongst all the employees in the hospital. Even I daresay the orderlies knew I was gay. Heck when Pres Obama rescinded the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy of the military, and allowed gays to serve in the armed forces openly, the Navy Times did a piece, which included me as an example of what this change in policy meant for active duty gay members in the Navy."

Dispirited by the enlightenment of Dr McCord's sexual orientation Diana bitterly replied, "Obviously that article in the Navy Times appeared before my time in the Navy. I suppose I should have realized that you were too good to be true. If everyone knew about you being gay, I must have been subject of great mirth amongst my co workers considering my shameless and very determined objective to secure your affections."

"Oh no Diana. I have a good ear to the ground of gossip at the hospital. You are highly respected considering that you are already a lieutenant in the Navy whereas most recently graduated nurses would still be Ensigns."

"Well I guess that is comforting to know. Of course since you are gay and married to a man to boot, it does beg the question why you have treated me to such a wonderfully lavish and delicious meal. Mind you, I'm not too dense, so I suspect the answer, but nevertheless I need you to spell it out for me."

Dr Henry McCord replied, "As I've intimated, I want to be a father to a child of my own flesh and blood. To accomplish that I obviously need the services of a woman. My agenda for tonight's date is indeed to canvass the possibility that you might be willing to be that woman; a surrogate mother if you will. A surrogate mother that is, since although you would be the birth mother of my child, he or she will be raised exclusively by me and my partner. His name is Michael O'Rourke, by the way."

"So why don't you two adopt? I mean the gay lifestyle is by this time very acceptable to society in general. Such acceptance has filtered down to both government and private adoption agencies such as they readily will approve adoption to suitable male gay couples. Being a doctor in the Navy surely puts you in the 'A' list of desirable adoptive parents."

"Adoption might be the last resort for Michael and I. However, it does defeat my admittedly selfish desire, to bring a child into this world who would propagate my quintessence."

"So what about your partner, this Michael fellow? Since he has no skin in the game, why would he be a suitable co parent to your flesh and blood?"

"Michael has had a past checkered homosexual life. He was in the closet for all of his teen years as well as up to the age of twenty-six. During this difficult part of his life, he considered himself as truly abnormal, and thus, had no right to dream about becoming a father. As a result, he underwent a vasectomy. He viewed this as his natural duty or requirement in order to continue his lifestyle as a gay man. Now since he has met me and we have fallen in love, his primary concern has been to make me happy. Since my desire to have a child is my paramount desire, he knows that he will instinctively love my child as the child would be a natural consequence of our marriage."