"I'm waiting on the doctor," the nurse said as she typed something into the computer and then ordered the man moved to Exam 2. "She'll be right down and deal with this."
"What's going on?" I whispered to the nurse standing next to me.
"Firefighter cooking accident," she said, rolling her eyes. "We get these every so often. Good guys, but a lot of them are idiots when it comes to kitchen safety. Sometimes I feel like we ought to go into every fire station in the city and give lessons on cooking techniques as a public safety."
"What'd he do?" Liz asked.
"Took his shirt off while frying meatballs," the nurse said with another eye roll. "He's probably got some second degree grease burns."
I winced as she told us what happened, and when I turned back around, I found myself standing in front of a tall man with broad shoulders, unruly rust-colored curls, and piercing green eyes.
"You must be new around here," he said, smiling down at me. "I haven't seen you here before."
"It's...um...my first day," I said, trying to look away but completely unable to stop myself from staring. "I'm a nursing student...new...it's my first day."
"So you said." He grinned. "What's your name, newbie?"
"Me?" I asked, pointing to my chest.
"Well, yes, you," he said as he sunk his teeth into his lower lip.
"Alexandra," I said thrusting my hand forward as I tried to remember my manners. "Pierce. Alex Pierce."
"Well, Alexandra Alex Pierce," he said, taking my hand and shaking it warmly. "I'm Cameron Conner, but most people call me Cam."
"Hi, Cam," I said as I stared up at him, trying hard to control my breathing. If there was such a thing as a beautiful man, Cam Connor was it, and I had no idea how to act around him. Suddenly, I remembered why I was there in the first place and sputtered, "Do you need some help? I mean, are you hurt, too?"
"I'm not as bad as Danny over there, but I do think I got some grease on me," he said as he held on to my hand still shaking it. "Do you think you could give me a gauze pad or two to cover it up?"
"Gauze! Yes! I can do that!" I cried, remembering that I'd been stocking the supplies just before he'd come in. "I'll get some!"
"I'll just come with you, if you don't mind," he said, following me back to the back storage area in the trauma room.
Once inside the room, I became even more unsettled as he pulled his shirt up and revealed his bare torso. He had a lightly hairy chest and abdominal muscles that I would have killed for. The fire department logo was tattooed all the way around his upper bicep.
"Nice tattoo," I said as I wiped off the small area that had been hit by grease with an alcohol wipe. He winced, but said nothing. "Did that hurt?"
"A little," he said, watching me closely. "So, Alex Pierce, what made you decide to work here?"
"It's part of my nursing program internship," I said, looking up at him and noticing that in addition to being mesmerizingly green, his eyes were flecked with gold.
"I see; so, technically you probably shouldn't be treating me?" He grinned.
"Oh my God, no, I shouldn't be!" I said as I stepped away ready to go get a real nurse. "You probably need a licensed professional to look at that burn."
"Nah, it's all good, I've had worse burns that I didn't get treated." He shrugged back into his shirt and stood up. He smiled at me and said, "I just wanted a few minutes alone with a pretty girl."
"Do you use that line on every woman you meet?" I asked, suddenly aware of the fact that a man this handsome was probably used to the constant attention, and that I was most likely acting like every other woman he came in contact with. Now it was his turn to be surprised.
"No, actually I've never used that line before in my life." He laughed. "And I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea now."
"I see," I said, turning toward the door. "Well, it'll probably work if you try it again on someone else."
I walked out of the exam room and headed back to the nurses’ station where Liz stood chatting with the charge nurse as they watched the doctor examine Danny.
"Where have you been?" Liz asked.
"Stocking the exam room in the back," I said, looking away as Cam walked past the desk. "We needed more gauze and tape."