Noah

"You're okay," I repeat, holding onto his small figure. I hear the heart monitor slowing, signalling to me she is calming down.

I should tell her she can move in with me! Woah- wait. Thats is a bit too fast... but I will be able to keep my promise. To keep her safe-

I look over at the monitor, and it reads 64 BPM. I look down at her chest, and it's moving up and down slowly. She is asleep. She actually fell asleep on me- I grab the remote next to her hip and lower the volume. If I move now, she will wake up. So I just lay there, holding onto her and flipping through the channels.

I look down at my watch, and my rounds start in ten minutes. I ever so slowly, move out from under her. I am making sure not to get caught up in all of the wires and cords attached to her. Once I am free, I look at her beautiful face all covered in cuts and bruises, feeling so much anger boiling inside me.

When she was talking about her experience... I could barely contain myself; if I weren't holding onto her, I don't know what I would have done.

I grab the blankets and tuck her in, making sure she doesn't get cold. I grab the tablet filled with my patient's information and type down her vitals, what happened to her surgical sutures and for the Nurses to keep a close eye on her since her runaway incident.

I turn off the lights in the room except for the one above her head so we can come into the room safely. I close the door leaving it cracked open since I will be coming back after I check on my patients. I walk to the Nurses Station and bump into a familiar face.

"Doctor McGuire." Doctor Olivia Wilson, a doctor who assisted with Phoebe's surgery, says, "You haven't gone home?"

"No, I haven't." I sigh deeply, just wanting to work-

"Well, you should go home and get some rest." Olivia leans closer to me, looking up at me. "You look exhausted, Noah." I take a step away from her.

"I'm fine." I walk past her to the Nurses Station, telling the Nurses to watch Phoebe closely. She nods her head, writing it down on a sticky note.

"Doctor McGuire," Olivia runs up next to me, "Why are you still here?" She follows me into the elevator, "Is it because of the women you brought in?" She crosses her arms, facing me looking curious.

"Doctor Wilson," I sigh, staring up at the elevator numbers, "All due respect, it's none of your business." The doors ding open, as I leave her in the elevator.

I head to the ICU to my amputated patient, Maria Rodriguez. I walk up to the glass doors seeing she has finally got off the ventilator. The Nurse walks up to me and helps me put on the yellow protective gown, and I scrub my hands. She puts the gloves on my hands and ties the mask over my face. As I walk in, Maria's eyes flicker open. She still has significant burns on her arms and face, so I have to wear protection to protect her from any infections.

"Hello, Maria. My name is Doctor Noah McGuire." I say softly, walking closer to her hospital bed. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"No." She says softly, "What happened?" I pull the tablet closer to my chest, pretty pissed no one has told her. I hate this part...

"Maria." I step closer to her, "There was a fire at your home. Don't worry; your parents are okay. But you have fourth and third-degree burns on your face, abdomen, arm and leg." She starts to tear up. "The burns were so bad, I had no choice but to amputate your leg, or the injuries could have ended your life." She is shocked, then a loud sob escapes her mouth.

"Maria. It's okay. It's hard but try to relax and breathe." I grab the oxygen mask from the side of the bed, moving the nasal cannula from her nose and gently pressing it against her face. "Slow deep breaths." I look down into her eyes, smiling softly.

She grabs the mask, barely holding it to her face. I move to the whiteboard on the wall and see it's time for her medication. I walk to the Nurse's cart, grabbing a syringe and filling it up with pain medication. I grab another needle filling it with a sedative so she can sleep. I walk to her IV bag as she watches me through weak eyes. I put the pain medication and sedative into the bag. Quickly her hand falls limp, and the mask falls off her face. I toss the syringes into the puncture-proof container on the wall and adjust the oxygen mask to her face.

When I leave her room, I pull off the protective gear and gloves, tossing them into the waste bin. I undo the surgical mask on my face letting it hang around my neck. I walk to the Nurse's station telling them I gave Maria her medication.

I walk to my other patient- James, who got into a fistfight and broke his jaw. Kaitlin, who has type two diabetes and last night I had to remove her big toe. And a little girl Ella who got hit by a car- I had to reattach her head to her spine... I also got called to assist in emergency surgery for an older man named Edward; an artery ruptured in his heart.

I specialise in Trauma; it's what I'm used to from the Military... But I want to practice in a new field, Orthopedics. Putting bones back together and cutting bones off.

The Doctors didn't want me to operate on Phoebe because I'm not a general surgeon, but I brought her into the hospital. She is my patient.

I specialise in this, being rushed to save someone's life in stressful situations. I just couldn't let any doctor operate on her- There's plenty of times I've had to perform surgery on a buddy of mine in the field. Phoebe is no different than a battle buddy. If only that were true-

I brush off these thoughts and look down at my watch. It's eight in the morning, and I am too exhausted. I clock out, and I start walking towards Phoebe's room. A nurse stops me in front of her room.

"Doctor?" I look down at the Nurse, "We saw these on Miss Marshall's heart monitor over ten minutes ago." She hands me the tablet, and I quickly wake up.

"Why didn't you page me? Is she is still asleep?" I ask, looking at the fluctuation in her heart monitor.

"I did- Um yes, she is still asleep." She looks at me, then at the tablet in my hands.

"Hmm. Okay- Let's keep a close eye on her monitor." I hand her the tablet and walk into her arm. I need to sleep...

I sigh in relief as I sit down in the recliner. I am off today and able to keep a close eye on Phoebe during her recovery. Luckily, half of the day will be her sleeping.

I stare at Phoebe's monitors, wondering what that fluctuation was in her heart. I lean back in the recliner, watching her sleep peacefully. This makes my eyes get heavier, and my head falls limp welcoming sleep.

-

• If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote and answering the questions below. •

-

Hiya! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and all the other ones before this. This Chapter is the big 10! Yet, sadly, it's nothing interesting. Sorry...

Questions:

1. Do you think he will ask her to move in with her? Or do you agree with him- wayyy to fast!

Yes, just one question for this chapter. Thank you, guys!

- Anna