She shrugged. “I happen to have excellent lungs.”
He winked at her. “Well that will come in handy! See you, at high noon.”
Holly teasingly held out her palms and waved her fingers. “Bring it, Shepherd.”
The recovery nurses laughed and said, “Whoa!”
“What? She’s not going to win. I was on my high school swim team, and I have the lungs to prove it.”
Holly jabbed her hands to her hips. “Oh, come on, Shepherd. What was that? Twenty years ago?”
“I happen to have won every swim meet. You’ll see.”
Holly smiled. “The surgical glove has been tossed.” She playfully flipped her ponytail from her neck and left the recovery room. She knew he was watching her.
Holly giggled softly all the way to the women’s locker room. She’d grab her lab coat to wear over her scrubs and then she’d go up to the surgical floor to sign off on her team’s work before heading to Mrs. Shale’s room. About to open her locker, she paused. Her hand rested on the metal handle. Not an eves-dropper, she couldn’t help but listen to the nurses chatting behind their bathroom stall doors.
“Have you checked out that hot new surgeon, Noel Shepherd?”
“Yeah. I saw him at the Christmas party, and today I stood in line with him at the cafeteria. I was about to give him my phone number, but Ashley from ICU beat me to it. She told him that we’re all going for drinks a Callahan’s tonight and invited him to come along.”
“Hey, fair game. He’s single.”
“I hear he’s sweet on Holly Green.”
“Oh, come on. Honestly, there’s no competition there.”
The toilets flushed. Holly snatched her lab coat and bolted from the locker room before the nurses could see her.
***
Her mind stunned and her body restless, Holly ran up the stairwell, bypassing the elevator. Her heart pounded more from the sting of hurt than from the climb. Drawing several deep breaths, she managed to compose herself before venturing onto the surgical unit. She gathered her team, congratulated them on their performance, and then dismissed them for lunch. Sitting in front of the computer screen, Holly grasped her ponytail and wound it around her finger while waiting for her electronic inbox to load. The nurses’ snarky remarks replayed in her head. She rubbed her eyes before reviewing her charges’ notes.
“Are you ready for the challenge?”
Holly jerked at the sound of his voice. She swung in her chair away from the screen to face him.
Noel blinked. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I, uh, was preoccupied.” Why was she, a capable surgeon, stammering?
Noel held up two incentive spirometers. “One for you and one for me. Mrs. Shale has her own. Let’s go see if she’s been practicing!”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you in her room in a minute.”
“Okay, but I’m going to start counting. One. Two. Three.”
She laughed and logged off the computer. “All right, I’m coming. Be prepared to lose, again!”
Noel arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Holly snatched one of the pulmonary flow meters. “Yeah.” She strode past him. “Who says I can’t compete,” she muttered. She’d prove those nurses wrong!
***
Mrs. Shale waved to them as they entered her room. Her eyes tracked to Holly first, her look lingering. It was the kind of motherly clairvoyant stare when a child is troubled. Her gaze shifted to Noel. “So are you youngsters ready?”
“Youngsters?” Noel plopped into a chair. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Holly sat into a chair opposite Noel, Mrs. Shale sandwiched between them.
“Okay. Here are the rules. We each get three tries. Then we’ll add up our milliliters of air moved. The winner gets an all expense paid trip to the hydrotherapy pool.”
Mrs. Shale and Holly “oohed” at the same time.
“Leave it a swimmer to suggest the pool,” Holly said.
Noel shrugged. “I do love the water, especially hot massaging currents during New Hampshire winters.” He smiled at Holly. “Or any kind of massage.”
Mrs. Shale’s face pinked as her lips pulled into a smile. She glanced at Holly and then at Noel. “Sound’s pretty enticing, Dr. Green.”
“Dare to dream, Shepherd,” Holly quipped back.
“Do they sell swimsuits in the gift shop?” Mrs. Shale asked.
Holly and Noel burst out laughing.
“Mrs. Shale, if you win, I’ll buy you a bathing suit,” Noel said.
Mrs. Shale shot her finger at him. “You’re on!”
“All right,” Holly said. “One. Two. Three. Go!”
They exhaled, their breaths transforming the room into a wind tunnel, and stuck the coiled plastic tubes into their mouths. Holly watched her patient far exceed the yellow goal marker she had set for her. She then shot her eyes to Noel’s effort and she sucked harder. After round one, she and he were tied.
“Well played, Dr. Green. But Mrs. Shale’s a close second. Round two. One. Two. Three.”
They inhaled, driving their yellow pistons up the measured canisters.
Mrs. Shale yanked the spirometer from her lips and raised her fist in victory. “I won!”
Holly and Noel nodded in acknowledgement.
About to start the third and final round, a knock on Mrs. Shale’s doorway interrupted them. Holly’s eyes widened. Ashley, the ICU nurse, leaned against the doorframe with a toothy smile on her face. She waved a note at Noel.
“May I see you a minute, Dr. Shepherd?”
Holly rolled her eyes. Noel’s popularity among the nurses was rocketing.
Noel set his spirometer on the bedside table. “I’ll be right back.”
Noel and Ashley disappeared around the corner. Holly craned her neck toward the door.
“Can you hear them?” Mrs. Shale asked.
Holly frowned and shook her head. “I’m wondering if he has forfeited.”
Mrs. Shale patted her hand. “Trust me. He’ll be back. I see how he looks at you.” She smiled and nodded. “And here he comes.”
Noel plopped back in the chair. He grabbed his spirometer, but his eyes were focused on the doorway. “Okay, here goes the final round.”
Holly’s heart plummeted to the growing pit in her belly. I bet she handed him her number. I’ll give him a way out of our date. I’ll tell him I’ve traded call and won’t be able to go to dinner. As Noel started to count, Ashley poked her head into the doorway. Holly gritted her teeth. On the count of three she exhaled, jammed the mouthpiece past her lips, and inhaled with such gusto that the piston popped clear out of the canister. It sailed over Mrs. Shale and landed in Noel’s lap.
“Wow,” Noel exclaimed. “Looks like we have a winner!”
Ashley stared at Holly, her lips pressed upward in a forced smile, and clapped.
Holly slumped in her chair and recovered her breath. Ashley was the real winner.
Chapter Six
Holly relinquished her victory to Mrs. Shale who performed beyond her expectations.
“I’m stepping down as winner of the First Annual Incentive Spirometry Challenge. Mrs. Shale, you are the true champion. Now lean over and let me listen to your lungs.”
She plotted her stethoscope along her patient’s back in parallel, from the apices to the bases, and listened. “Perfect. Nice and clear. And your fever has gone.”
“I did exactly as you ordered, dear.”
Holly smiled. “It shows. I owe you a bathing suit.”
Mrs. Shale plump cheeks reddened. “I haven’t gone swimming in years.” She sighed. “When we were younger Martin and I used to go to Lake Winnipesaukee every summer. We have a cottage there. Now I rent it out. I don’t want to go back there without him. We had such good times.”
“Once your incisions heal, we’ll get you back into the water; heated whirlpool in the winter and crystal blue lake in the summer.”
“Let’s start with the hy
drotherapy pool first.”
Holly nodded. “Okay.”
Mrs. Shale and her were kindred spirits, spirits that avoided their ghostly pasts.
Noel shook Mrs. Shale’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” She waved her hand. “Now you two go on. Far be it for me to rest on my laurels.” She picked up her incentive spirometer. “I need to keep up my skills.”
Noel shot her a thumb’s up. “That a way to go.”
Noel rested his hand on Holly’s back. Holly’s shoulders tensed for the first time to his touch. “Let’s go finish our respective rounds so we can get out of here. Gosh, Green, you shot that piston out like a canon. Do you sing opera, or something?”
“Uh, more like something. Noel, about dinner this evening.”
He lowered his hand to the small of her back. “I’ll pick you up at seven.” He darted off before she could utter her planned excuse.
“Darn him,” she muttered. She wasn’t going to share him with anyone. Holly felt her face sag. Noel hadn’t promised her any exclusivity. Perhaps she had unfortunately expected that was where they were heading.
Holly blinked her eyes several times during check out rounds that afternoon, struggling to pay attention to her team as they stared at her in silence each time she paused. She’d clear her throat and stride past them just so they’d recognize her, the same old demanding Dr. Green. Softening was one thing, but morphing into a mush of an attending, thanks to Noel, was something else. Holly thanked her team and dismissed them.
Holly hadn’t seen Noel on the surgical unit since they had parted outside Mrs. Shale’s room. Sinking into the station’s computer chair, she logged on, and while waiting for her inbox to load, she leaned back, crossed her legs, and placed her hands behind her neck. She spun in her chair in semi-circles, facing the unit secretary during one of her wider swings.
The secretary froze her fingers on her keyboard and squinted at Holly. “Are you okay, Dr. Green?”
Holly jerked up in her seat. “Yes, I’m fine.” She pointed to the screen. “But this computer’s on break.”
“Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Tell me about. It’s been down three times today.”
Her inbox flashed on the monitor. Holly dragged the mouse to the down arrow and scrolled the items poised for her review. She pulled away from the screen. “Yikes! I’ll be lucky to leave here by midnight.”
“If I can input these lab and radiology requisitions by 5, so can you.”
Holly stretched her fingers. Clicking away on the myriad of messages was therapeutic. She finished her list in less than an hour. Holly threw her hands in the air. “Voila! Done.”
“Ha! So am I,” the secretary said. “High five, Dr. Green.”
They smacked hands in the air. In all her years at Granite State Medical Center, no one had interacted with her in such a jovial fashion.
The secretary nodded. “You’re all right, Doc.”
Holly bounced from her chair. “That was fun.” She reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out an unopened roll of mints. Peeling off the foil top, she held out the candies. “Lifesaver?”
The secretary picked off the first one. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Holly popped one in her mouth and waved to the secretary.
With a bounce in her step, she left the unit. She had changed her mind about backing out of her date with Noel. Now she couldn’t wait to see him. Maybe Ashley handed Noel some important lab results. With extra energy to burn, she pumped her legs down three flights of steps. She hummed all the way to the women’s locker room. Holly flung off her scrubs and donned her black slacks and white silk blouse. She shrugged. At least her outfits always matched. Grabbing Noel’s scarf, she folded it into neat fourths and tucked it in her tote. She swung her locker closed and glanced at her watch. It was 5 p.m., still plenty of time to get ready for tonight.
***
Holly pulled her car into the drive. The wheels crackled over the snow. The neighbor boys waved to her.
“We’ll get this cleared out for you in an hour tops, Dr. Green,” they shouted, holding up their shovels like soldiers about to enter battle.
“Come in for hot chocolate when you’re done.”
“Thanks, Dr. Green.”
She fished her house keys from her coat pocket and unlocked the front door. Holly hung up her coat and stomped the snow free from her boots. Easing them off her feet, she padded across the polished oak floors, cooled since her morning departure, and slid into her toasty slippers, sighing as her toes welcomed the warmth. She wiggled them in her furry white bunny slippers, last year’s Christmas gift from Aunt Mae. After long hours standing in the O.R., she looked forward to slipping them on every night.
She tugged the living room window curtains aside and peered through the sheers. The boys scraped the snow with fury, forming parallel mounds on each side of the driveway. Clumps of white flew from their shovels. Holly smiled at their effort. Her quaint Victorian house had been transformed into a ski chalet. The boys waved to her. Holly gave them a thumb’s up sign. She could afford to have her drive cleared professionally, but she championed the boys, having made extra cash shoveling snow in her youth. She tipped her wrist and glanced at her watch. The boys had predicted right. They had completed the job in less than an hour.
Holly let the curtains fall back into place and hurried into the kitchen, her slippers’ bunny ears flopping to and fro with each step. While heating a pot of milk on the stove, she retrieved three mugs from the cupboard, leaving her dad’s favorite one behind. As she closed the cupboard, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in, guys,” she yelled.
The front door squeaked open. Despite the stovetop aglow, a quick chill filled the room.
“Leave your wet boots by the door and come into the kitchen.”
She set the mugs onto the kitchen table and filled them with hot cocoa. The boys rounded the table and sat, rubbing their hands over the steaming chocolate. Holly plunked miniature marshmallows into each mug.
“Thank you, Dr. Green,” they said in unison.
While they sipped their cocoa, Holly went into her bedroom, picked up three envelopes, and returned with them to the kitchen, handing each boy one.
“Go ahead, open them,” she said.
The boys tore into their envelopes.
“Wow,” one exclaimed, holding up his iTunes gift card. “Cool! Thanks, Dr. Green.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome, guys. Merry Christmas.”
“Hey, where’s your tree, Dr. G.?” Sam, the boy who lived across the street asked.
Holly shrugged. “Don’t have one.”
“Oh, okay.”
The boys finished their hot chocolate and washed out their mugs.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No problem,” Sam said. “The next snowstorm is on us.” The others nodded in agreement.
Holly waved to them as they left, the boys still chattering about their planned music downloads. She crossed her arms and smiled. The iTunes cards along with cash went over big just as Holly had hoped. They deserved it, and the small gifts satisfied her urge to make someone happy at the holidays without all the hoopla. And they even tidied up after themselves, which freed her for the next hour to get ready for her dinner date with Noel.
She shuffled in her bunny slippers to the bathroom and slipped them off, leaving them positioned perfectly parallel to the bath mat. Cranking the shower to steamy hot, Holly’s muscles relaxed beneath the spray. Accustomed to the brevity of military style showers, she let herself enjoy a full ten minutes. Tonight was special. The last time she’d gone out to dinner was four months ago, and that was with Aunt Mae to the local diner. Not that there was any wrong with the diner, home of the best Reuben sandwich in New Hampshire, but she looked forward to dressing a bit more formal. Her black cocktail dress begged to leave her closet, even for one night, its price tag still dangling from its sleeve.
Stepping out of the tub, she reach
ed for the stark white bath towel. She pressed its rich piles to her skin, it still pink from the hot water. Knotting the towel between her breasts, she grasped the hair dryer and heated the fogged mirror in concise spirals with surgical precision. Her muted image sharpened as the steam dissolved from the glass. She set the blow dryer down and stared at her reflection. Holly frowned. Maybe the nurses were right. She couldn’t compete with them in that “girly” way. She was ten years their senior, and a decade plus of sleepless call nights was etched upon her face. She puckered her lips and squinted, inspecting her every little line, every flaw of her face, tugging the skin over her cheekbones toward her ears. Holly dropped her hands from her face and placed them on the vanity countertop. She leaned closer to the mirror. The natural look wouldn’t do this evening. She pulled open a drawer containing make-up that was still sealed. Gifts from Aunt Mae.
“You’re a lovely young woman,” she’d say, “but a little on the pale side, always cooped up at the hospital. A smidgeon of blush over a nice foundation comes in handy on a winter’s day.”
She left the drawer open while drying her hair, contemplating just how much to apply.
Her blonde shoulder length hair dry and shiny, she gave the ends just enough of a wave with the curling iron. She nodded to her reflection. A scalpel wasn’t the only instrument she wielded with success. Holly rubbed in a few dabs of foundation onto her face, finishing her efforts with sparing pats of powder and a glimmer of blush. Black mascara and a hint of rose pink lip-gloss completed her makeover. She still looked like Holly Green, but just with a little polish.
Slipping her feet back into her bunny slippers, she pattered into her bedroom, exchanging terry cloth towel for matching sheer black bra and panties, a luxury lingerie impulse buy. She retired Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit for the evening. Holly pulled on hosiery and rescued her black cocktail dress from her closet. She cut the price tag off with a sharp snip of scissors. It was like slicing through an opening day red ribbon. Tonight it would be her and Noel’s opening night. She wiggled into the black dress, stretching her arms through the lacy long sleeves. The “V” neck bodice revealed just enough cleavage, not too virginal, not too slutty. She slid her feet into a pair of black pumps. Wearing operating room clogs and flats every day, Holly practiced walking in heels, teetering a bit in the beginning, but promenading elegantly within the next ten minutes.