YOU BEFORE ME

Chapter 3

Carl

I was sitting in my office, finally getting some rest, when I heard a knock on the door. I sighed but smiled as I looked toward the door.

"Please, come in," I called.

In walked Gretchen, one of the nurses at the hospital, and my smile grew a little more genuine.

"Nurse Gretchen," I said amiably, leaning back in my chair. "What can I help you with?"

Gretchen was a bit on the young side, at least for me. I was a bit of a flirt anyway. But I was acutely aware that I was thirty-seven years old, no longer the hot-blooded young doctor that chased after every skirt. Gretchen was only twenty-five and eager to please the doctor from the city.

"The patient that was brought in is now awake," she said. "She wants to get discharged quickly, too, so I thought you could examine her and we could start the discharge process for her as fast as possible."

I'd figured it was something like that, but I still felt a bit of disappointment. I'd only just come from seeing some other patients, and I'd barely had five minutes to sit down.

"How urgent is it?" I asked slowly. "Isn't there someone else that can go see her?"

"You're currently the only one available, Dr. Wilson. She fainted in the store; she doesn't seem to have hurt herself with the fall. It might be something simple as not eating well, but according to hospital policy, she at least has to be checked out by a doctor before she leaves, unless she refuses the examination, but she hasn't."

"Do you know her?" I asked.

I'd grown up in a town a bit over an hour away from the hospital, though I'd transferred here from the city in the first place. I didn't know the people of this small town, but a lot of the people working at the hospital were local.

"I do know about her, but I don't know her," she said slowly. "It's not my place to say, but I do know she has someone she needs to look after, and I don't know if she's getting help for it or not, but it's most likely why she's in a hurry. The examination won't take too long."

I sighed and got up, then readjusted my lab coat and the stethoscope around my neck.

"Give me a minute to get a drink of water, at least? Just wait in the hall."

"Of course, Doctor," she said with a nod of her head, then stepped out, leaving the door partially ajar.

In the corner of my office, I had a water dispenser, and I walked over to it, pulling out one of the disposable cups it held and poured some cold water for myself, mixing in only a bit of warm water. I drank it down, and poured another cup full, then drank that and tossed the cup. Then, I stretched out my arms and headed for the door.

Well, it wasn't as if I could complain about the workload, but I must admit that I came here for a bit of peace and quiet. Then again, compared to a hospital in the city, it was pretty relaxed out here, there were days when I didn't have that much to do, as there were other doctors around, and plenty of nurses.

I was only doing rounds in this small town while I waited for things to cool down before I went back to my regular hospital and take on a new position as a consultant. If things hadn't gone south over there, I would have gotten the opportunity to join the position sooner, but it had and now I was just biding my time and trying to stay out of trouble.

At least, no one knew about my reputation and this is why as much as Gretchen was flirting with me. I wasn't about to start any problems in this hospital. f**k, once bitten twice shy. I was going to keep my c**k in my pants which was a lot more than my dad had ever done in his lifetime.

I worked my ass off to get to where I was, and sometimes it was hard to hold myself back. Because it was so hard to control myself, I still had a misconduct case outstanding at my old hospital for getting down and dirty with a patient.

So, of course, that sort of thing could not happen again. It was a big no-no among medical practitioners, and I was lucky not to lose my license in the case, though it was thanks in part to the woman agreeing she was an equal partner in the affair. There were a lot of unlucky bastards who had the patient claim to have been coerced, and that was how reputations were ruined. Well, no, people destroyed their own reputations, and it was the same for me, which was why I was trying my best to be careful. But when I caught sight of my new patient, all those thoughts flew out the window.

Be careful, Carl, I scolded myself. No mistakes.

I could hear the beeping of the heart monitor pick up, and the patient's eyes widened, her face flushing a delicate pink, lips parted. It was an incredibly attractive look, and I hardly heard Gretchen as I gave her one of my dazzling smiles.

"Good evening," I said once Gretchen left us alone. "I'm Dr. Wilson, and I'll be overseeing your examination. Miss..."

"It's... Sandra Beatley," she said, her voice quiet. "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

I just smiled and pretended I didn't notice the monitor, though it was impossible not to. I picked up the chart at the end of her bed and looked at it, then took a look at the machines monitoring her vitals. I hummed to myself, becoming a little dangerous, then I grabbed a nearby stool and sat beside her bed. I met her eyes and paused for a bit.

She...is my type.

Even with the sheets over her, her body looked a bit slim but curvy in the right places. She had long, dark hair that fell down her back and over her shoulders in waves and matching dark eyes that I thought I could get lost in quickly if I allowed it.

Fucking focus, she's a patient and that was what got me in trouble in the first place. Maybe I do take after my dad a lot more than I wanted to admit and I f*****g hated it.

"Now, Sandra, I'm going to examine you okay?" I waited for her nod. "First, I'm going to take your heartbeat. Do you think you can sit up with some help?"

After a short hesitation, she nodded.

I leaned forward, pushing one foot against the ground, then got one arm around her shoulders and helped her sit up. She moved cautiously, a frown of concentration on her face even as her cheeks blushed darker. I frowned because she seemed a lot lighter than she should be for a woman her age, height, and size.

"I'll listen to your heartbeat now," I said, pulling the stethoscope from around my neck. "I'll ask you to breathe in and out, and position yourself a certain way. If anything feels uncomfortable, please let me know, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a slight nod.

She was in a dress with a slightly low neckline, which was good. The fabric was pretty light, too, so it wouldn't get in the way, and I wouldn't have to tell her to undress partially. It only took a few minutes, but it still took longer than it should have because there was something strange. Once I was done, I sat back, my mouth set in a grim line.

"Can you explain to me what you were doing before you fainted?" I asked.

"Um, I was shopping at the store?" she said slowly, with this adorable look of confusion on her face.

It was enough to make my lips twitched, and I sighed as I ran a hand down my face.

"Tell me a little more. Like, how you felt before you fainted. Maybe dizzy? Short of breath, your eyesight blurring? And have you been feeling off recently?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, looking indecisive for a moment.

"Well," she started, meeting my eyes. "On my way there, I felt a bit tired, and I stopped at a bench maybe ten minutes or so away to rest a bit. It's a bit of a distance from my house, a thirty, forty minute walk depending on how quickly I walk. I...did feel a bit dizzy once I got to the store, I even stumbled a bit, but I didn't think it was anything serious, just that I needed to eat a little."

"Have you eaten anything today?"

"Um, I had a slice of bread with peanut butter this morning?"

Her voice growing smaller as she talked. "Um, I've also had some water and a few cookies, but that's...pretty much it."

"Okay..." I murmured.

"I felt a little short of breath in the middle of shopping. Then everything went black, and I woke up here, so that must have been when I fainted."

I sighed and made some notes on her chart. "I'm going to call a nurse here. You're going to be asked a few questions; please answer them honestly. I'll be right back with you."

"Am I getting discharged soon?" she asked slowly, watching my face intently.

I gave her a small smile. She looked confused at what was happening. She probably thought it was something simple, and she'd get to leave quickly, but I couldn't just allow that with the symptoms she was showing. While fainting wasn't something so dangerous in itself, her body wasn't responding the way it was supposed to, though she'd been under an IV drip for over an hour already. According to the chart and the monitors, her vitals had improved, but they weren't normal, either.

"I'm afraid we have to run a few more tests on you before we do that, to be safe. Please wait while I get everything ready, a nurse will be coming to see you soon."

Things weren't looking good, and usually, I didn't have a problem telling a patient, but this one was different, and I didn't know why. Maybe it was all in my paranoid mind, but I wasn't going to risk it, and I had to know for sure if she was going to be alright before I let her go home.