"Ladies, I've had some complaints about the way in which you've handled some of the patients who've come into the ER," she said, looking down at her clipboard then back up at us expectantly.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Rikka," I said. "What were the complaints?"
"Apparently, you treated a firefighter yourself?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Is this correct, Miss Pierce?"
"Oh no, ma'am," I said, shaking my head vigorously. "I simply went to the back room to get him some gauze and he followed me."
"And why did you allow him to follow you?" Mrs. Rikka asked. "You are aware that you are not licensed to treat patients in any way, aren't you, Miss Pierce?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said, feeling the heat creeping up into my face as I tried to explain what had happened. "I didn't allow him to follow me, he just did."
"Miss Pierce, when you are working in my hospital, you are expected to follow the rules set out by the board of hospital administrators who are far more knowledgeable and experienced than you are," she said sharply as she tapped out a staccato rhythm on her clipboard. "I expect that you will do what is expected of you and that I will not have to reprimand you again regarding your treatment of patients in this hospital. Right now, you are an intern who is here gaining experience through observation. You are never ever to treat a patient."
"But I didn't--" I protested.
"Do not argue with me, Miss Pierce," Mrs. Rikka said, cutting me off. "Simply acknowledge that you've made a mistake and move forward."
"Yes, ma'am," I said quietly.
Liz cleared her throat, and I quickly grabbed her arm and squeezed it to stop her from letting loose with what I knew would be a torrent of choice words.
"And as for you, Miss Baker." Mrs. Rikka turned her attention to Liz with narrowed eyes. "You have been reported as hanging around the pharmacy far too often. While you are on the ER rotation, you are to stay in the ER unless you are sent out of the department for a specific reason. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Liz choked out reluctantly as I dug my nails into the soft underside of her arm. "I do."
"Good, I'm glad we've resolved these issues," Mrs. Rikka said as she turned to go. "Now, quickly gather your supplies and get back upstairs. There was an apartment fire over on the West Side and we're going to be getting a flood of patients in the next twenty to thirty minutes."
"Yes, ma'am," we said in unison as we quickly returned to the task of gathering supplies.
"I wonder if that hottie you were talking to is going to be back today," Liz grinned as she grabbed a handful of tape rolls and threw them in the basket.
"Liz!" I said as I felt the blush rising in my cheeks again. Secretly, I hoped that Cam Connor would be coming through the ER today because I hadn't been able to get him out of my thoughts since we had met.
I felt a little ashamed of my attraction to him since I knew he was probably a player who chatted up women all over town. A guy that good looking most likely had a string of women, and I didn’t want to be lumped in with all the others, but I still wanted to see him again. I muttered under my breath, "Not like he's been thinking about me."
"What did you say, Alex?" Liz asked. "Are you talking to me?"
"Nothing," I mumbled. "Just thinking out loud."
"About the firefighter?" Liz grinned. "Damn, girl, he was a big, strong, Irish lad! Don't you want to be his lassie?"
"Liz, where on earth do you come up with this stuff?" I laughed as I rolled the cart around and scanned the supply room one last time to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything.
"Look, I like the boys, and I'm not ashamed of it," Liz declared, her voice echoing in the cement room. She twirled around on her toes as she grabbed supplies from the shelves and then approximated being en point as she placed the items in the cart. Only Liz could pull off fake ballet moves in a basement supply room. "I think you should own it, Alex. He's a hot guy and you're a gorgeous, young nursing student. I mean, you can't make this stuff up!"
"You are impossible, Elizabeth Baker," I said, rolling my eyes while secretly hoping she was right. Cam Connor was a handsome man, and I was definitely attracted to him. I just didn't want to be another notch on his bedpost. Or did I?
"That I won't deny." Liz smiled. "But I'm also right much of the time. Mark my words, that boy will be back to see you."
"What are you, psychic now?" I laughed as we pushed the cart into the elevator and headed back up to the ER.
"Psychic or psycho." Liz shrugged. "Same diff, different day!"
Back up in the ER, we found organized chaos as the staff prepped for the incoming injured patients. Liz and I quickly stocked each exam area with as much gauze as it could hold and then went back to the back room to grab IV bags. The charge nurse warned us that burn injuries were pretty gruesome, and that if we felt sick or dizzy, we were to immediately step away from whatever treatment area we were observing.
"We can't afford to have to deal with you or your concussion, too." She smiled. I nodded and turned to ask Liz if she was going to be okay only to find she had disappeared. I frowned but figured she'd found an intern to latch onto for the duration of our shift, so I followed the charge nurse to the outside ambulance bay and waited with her for the first ambulance to arrive.
Our first patient arrived a few minutes later, followed in rapid succession by several more ambulances with the most severe cases while the police brought some of the lesser burns in their squad cars. For the first few minutes, my stomach felt queasy and my head felt light, but soon I was put to work retrieving cooling blankets and medications from the pharmacy and was able to switch my brain from observer to helper.