ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘗𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘗𝘶𝘭𝘭

♛♛♛

It has been exactly two weeks since the night her mother had kicked Hazel out of their home.

It has also been two whole weeks since the meeting between her and the mysterious man, also known as Julius.

Hazel would be lying if she said she hadn't been searching for him while walking around town. Well, searching for familiar silver eyes.

The sudden fascination she had towards the sort of stranger was odd to her.

It could be the fact he talked to her when nobody else ever had, or it could be because of the alluring yet intimidating aura he had around him—which also seemed to pull her in.

Either way, she was captured. But after a week, that fascination soon faded and deflated off with the rest of her curiosity's.

Now, she was refocused on her schooling. Classes were already starting to rise with quizzes and indescribable amounts of work she had to take in.

Along with working at the clinic. Her shifts were strictly after college, and on weekends she would work from 10 am to 6 pm.

Though, she enjoyed her job. She loved helping others and it brought a sense of purpose to her.

Her job as a patient's assistant was only soon after the incident last year. She wanted to get out of her home and do something, help someone.

And then she found that job. The clinic was desperate at the time and she was also desperate.

So now, Hazel was almost working at the clinic for two whole years.

Hazel stumbled forward when she tried pulling the door open. The girl almost slapped her forehead for being so naive.

Two whole years here and she still hadn't learned how to open the door.

Push, not pull.

Pushing the door forward, she walked right through—the air-conditioned room, cooling her warm flesh.

Her high ponytail swayed slightly as she walked over to the receptionist desk. The regular young blonde girl, known as Elaine, sat behind the counter.

Hazel had talked to her only once. It was on her first day, she had introduced herself to Elaine, unfortunately, she hadn't ever replied.

Often other girls did that to her. Every time she would try to make conversation or try to make a new friend, they would strictly leave her out or just ignore her existence.

Frankly, she stopped trying. Like always, she smiled at the pretty blonde girl who, of course, ignored her.

Hazel walked around her and went towards the 'clock in' clipboard, jotting down her details and the time she arrived.

After filling it out, she placed the clipboard back in its place and moved away from the desk.

The clinic doors slid open and Hazel walked right through them. She made it into the nursing room, her colleagues at their stations already tending with patients.

Hazel slid into her section, dropping her purse down onto the desk. Her small body sunk into the spinning office chair, twirling around to face the desk.

Logging onto her timeslot she read over the three patients she had today—and for the rest of her shift, she was on emergency duty.

She was glad that her shift was somewhat lighter today. After the exhausting week she's had, all she wanted to do was go home and rest.

Her first patient today was a little boy named Jamie. He was getting his first health check of the year, Hazel's only met him a handful of times but he came off as a very shy boy.

Thankfully, he had grown accustomed to Hazel—making her job a lot easier. After setting up all that was necessary, Hazel sat back and filled out her details for Jamie's health forms, and his guardian would need to fill out their part.

"Hey, Hazel!"

Hazel looked up at the deep voice and smiled at one of her colleagues.

Daniel was one of the few people that actually talked to her and spoke to her genuinely. He was only a few years older than Hazel, he graduated from college last year and worked here full time now.

"Hi Daniel," She beamed. Daniel smiled and sat in the chair opposite her desk, eyes trailing over the woman.

"How have you been?" She asked him, scribbling down her last signature on the paper. He leant back in the chair and watched her curiously.

"Well, love... and you?"

She dropped the pen, smiling and sitting up to face him. "I'm pretty good. It's been quiet for a Saturday,"

Glancing around the room, he nodded his head subtly and returned his gaze to her.

"Yeah, yeah, it is. How many you got today?" He leaned forward, gripping his hands on the edges of the desk as he peaked his head around the computer to see the screen.

Hazel leant back slightly at the close proximity. "Only three," her voice replied quietly.

His eyes glanced back to her and he grinned, nodding and leaning back again. "Anything big planned for this weekend?" Hazel shook her head and nervously played with the previous black pen.

Before anything else could be said, the squealing sound of a child running into the clinic caught both of the adults' attention. Hazel immediately grinned as the small chubby boy ran up to her with a toothy grin.

"Hazel!" She scooped him up and placed him on her knee as he wrapped his small arms around her. "I missed you!" he muffled into her neck and she could only giggle at his cuteness.

"Aye, Jamie!" Another voice erupted into the room, looking up Hazel saw a tall boy—who looked around her age with messy jet black hair, a muscular frame and green eyes that pierced through her and the boy in her arms.

With a glare, he came over and abruptly picked up the boy from her lap and propped him on his hip. Clearing her throat, she looked at them both as he scanned her quickly with cold eyes.

"Are you the doctor?" He grumbled while the boy in his arms huffed and gripped onto the man's shirt. "I told you, Percy." the little boy scolded.

Hazel smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, I'm the nurse. You can take a seat here," she turned towards the now vacant seat in front of her desk—only realising then that Daniel had silently shifted out of the room.

The older boy named Percy stiffly nodded and scooted him and the little boy towards the seat. Hazel started gathering the few forms, taking a new pen and placing it in front of Percy.

"Our mother is out of town so I'm taking care of him," Percy grumbled, fixing the little boys shirt that had riled up.

"Okay. Are you a relative?" Hazel had a feeling he was Jamie's older brother but as it's her job she had to confirm it.

He nodded again, now glancing towards the forms.

"You just have to fill our your parts," She explained, dragging her finger along the two sections. Nodding, he sat forward and began filling out the forms.

Hazel went over to the small hospital bed. She took out the necessary trolley and placed everything she needed onto it.

Turning around, she faced Jamie and patted the bed. "Ready Jamie?" He grinned and carefully scooted off his brother's lap, waddling up to the pretty girl.

Her hands wrapped under his arms and lifted the small boy onto the bed. While she turned the blood pressure machine on, her ears perked up at the sound of Percy's voice.

"Right now?" He muttered, gripping the phone in his hand tightly. Hazel glanced at him once before turning back to the little boy.

Lifting the sleeve of his shirt, she patched the black strap around his upper arm and flipped on the machine. Jamie watched her curiously as she went to grab her clipboard.

"Okay, I'll be there in five." Hanging up, Percy stood from his seat abruptly and faced the young girl who was tending to his brother.

"Uh, I've gotta leave. Can I come and pick him up in about thirty?" He asked the girl, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Hazel frowned but nodded her head slowly.

"Thanks." He grunted and then turned towards his brother, "Don't be a little shit, I'll be back."

Turning, he strode right out of the clinic with his head ducked down—making Hazel completely befuddled. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to her small patient.

"Can you tell me how old you are, Jamie?" She asked him, taking a seat beside him as she unstrapped the blood pressure gauge. He lifted his small hand and concentrate on counting his fingers.

Hazel pursed her lips to the side and suppressed her giggles from escaping. When finally managing to count his age, he held up exactly four fingers.

"I'm four." He smiled and she nodded smiling with him and writing it down on the paper. She continued to ask him questions, appropriately to understand how his mind was working at the time.

After that, she measured his height and his weight and jotted it down. As Hazel finished up the paperwork, a little hand had subtly tapped her shoulder.

She looked up from the information and turned to the frowning boy.

"Are we done yet, Hazel?"

Smiling she nodded, "We are—" reaching over towards the stash of candy hidden inside her desk drawer, she took out a cherry flavoured lollipop and gave it to the boy—who smiled even wider.

"That's for being a good boy," She smiled, ruffling his thick hair. "You're the best Hazel!" he giggled and sat on the opposite chair, fiddling with the wrapping.

Gathering the papers, she filed them into the computer documents and then printed a spare copy for Jamie's brother to keep.

A few more minutes went by and everything was finished up. Hazel took out her packet of candy—skittles—and then munched on them while they waited for the older boy to come back.

"He does this a lot." The little boy spoke, spinning around slowly in the chair. She frowned with confusion.

"Your brother?" She questioned, taking the blue pile of skittles and placing them all in her mouth at once. He hummed, nodding his head up and down.

"Yup, it's his work though—" He huffed and then threw his head back, looking at the ceiling mindlessly, "Always work," he muttered.

Hazel's frown deepened further. The thought of the little boy being alone or upset in general made her heartache.

Bursting through the door, both heads turned towards the grumpy male walking through the clinic.

Hands were shoved in the pockets of his black shorts, an etched frown scruffed on his handsome face as he walked towards his little brother.

"All good?" He asked Hazel, not looking at her as he went over to the small boy and picked him up. Hazel nodded and abruptly stood from her seat, gathering the forms of paper.

"These are copies. If you have any questions just give me a call," She smiled and handed the very tall boy the papers.

Nodding once, he looked at her for the first time and took the sheets of paper.

"Thanks, Hazel," He said in a flat voice while looking at her name tag. The girl only smiled and stepped back, waving goodbye to the smaller boy.

"See you next time, Jamie." She quipped softly. He smiled and shyly hid his face in the older boys shirt—"Bye, Hazel."

Percy glanced at the girl one more time and then strode off and out of the health clinic. Hazel sighed heavily, walking back to her desk and began preparing for her next patient.

♛♛♛

Momentarily, Hazel was relieved she had only thirty minutes left of her shift. The day had gone by painfully slow—especially because there was hardly anyone coming in.

As she cleaned her hands with soap, the door to the nursing room had opened forcefully. Her head snapped towards the older woman standing at the threshold—who was another colleague of Hazel's, though the two have barely spoken.

"Are you free, love? I've got a, um, man... with a deep knife wound and I'm busy with another patient." Hazel's eyes widened at the information and she tentatively wiped her hands and nodded her head.

"Yeah, of course, bring him in." She mumbled while hurryingly grabbing everything she needed.

The woman nodded, relieved that she didn't have to deal with the broodingly terrifying man himself.

Hazel grabbed the essentials, carefully setting everything down. She grabbed the stitching kitt just in case the wound needed to be stitched up.

She heard the door close though didn't turn around as she was still preparing.

"Take a seat, sir. I'll be with you in a minute." Hazel called confidently and grabbed cotton balls and the rubbing alcohol. There was no reply as Hazel had turned around and walked over to the man—head down.

Once she reached the bed the man was seated on, she placed the trolley carefully to the side and then had finally looked up.

Physically, her breathing stopped.

Probably the most handsome man sat in front of her. His physique was contagiously appealing—muscles—bulging biceps that were large but not to the point where it looked unruly.

His skin was a golden-tan complexion, seemingly smooth, silky and flawless.

Tattoos lined upon those arms and conceded to trail up the nape of his shoulder. Looking past that point, she landed on his throat, Adam's apple figuratively against his throat.

A silver chain sat along his slender neck—hanging loosely inside his black shirt. Moving further, she landed on his most extremely etched jawline that seemed to be as sharp as a blade.

The alluring shadow of his cheeks was completely hollow, allowing utterly full red lips to prone against his skin, plumply.

Hazel felt her heart race more when she landed on his prominent, high cheekbones. They were angled to perfection, sharply allowing his straight defined nose to sit also—perfectly, against his skin.

Aligning to his arched eyebrows that were shaped perfectly and dark. Although, what caught her attention was the faded scar that drew across his right eyebrow.

Adding a slit to the arch, it started from the bottom of his brow and ended slightly past the top.

His hair was indefinitely gorgeous. A chestnut-oak brown colour sat untamed on top of his head, flowing down over his forehead and a few strands landed just below his eyebrows.

The style was cropped to the bottom of his ears, cut slightly on the bottom half and then laid thick and straight on top of his head—fluffy and soft looking.

When Hazel caught him moving, her attention snapped right towards his eyes—and her lips parted as shock waved over the girl in ripples.

The same silver, glowing eyes stared back at her. Emotionlessly cold and dark, lifeless and void. And then his eyebrow arched up slightly, in a questioning manner as he stared her in the eyes, deeply.

Her impeccable daze was broken completely, she looked down to his chest, seeing the blood seeping through his black shirt—and gasped.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry," She mumbled and hurriedly pushed her deep red hair to one side and started gathering the tools. With a tomato red face, she turned back to him.

"Could you take your shirt off please," She ordered. All confidence and professionalism had left her as the intimidating yet enticingly intriguing man sat in front of her with his eyes piercing her innocent soul.

He did as he was told. His arms lifted the shirt over his head, smoothly. Hazel gulped heavily when she glimpsed at his muscular chest—tattoos scattered everywhere and a defined six-pack was toned perfectly on his chest.

Sucking in a breath, her eyes went towards the wound that was bleeding on the side of his rib.

She quickly tended towards the bleeding slit. Sitting next to the man, her fingers delicately grazed under the cut—inspecting it. Taking mental notes that stitching wasn't needed, she only had to disinfect it and wrap it up securely.

Hazel noticed how the man immediately tensed. His muscles had flexed and she instantly pulled her hand away—thinking she hurt the bleeding man.

"Do you need any pain relief? If it's hurting a lot I can get some for you," She said as she started to grab the disinfectant and the nurse cotton patches.

He shook his head slowly while watching the girls every move. This made her utterly more nervous than she needed to be.

His piercing gaze was enough to make her squirm—yet she needed to keep her job. As she took the dampened cotton patch she placed it against the cut for a few seconds and then slowly started to wipe it.

Not once did he flinch, squirm, or even make any sort of motion that he was in pain. It was as if the intimidating man couldn't feel a thing.

As Hazel wiped away at his cut, she noticed the many scars along his skin. They were hidden beneath the tattoos—having Hazel utterly curious as to how he got them.

The cotton ball soon was filled with blood, she tossed it into the bin beside her and grabbed another one to clean around the cut.

"Is there any other injuries you are aware of?" She asked, professionally. Her eyes stayed directly on the open slit she was focusing on. It was a large cut, the slit was slightly deep but not deep enough.

"No." He answered and Hazel's breath hitched. She remembered his voice. A beautifully yet scarily deep and dark tone. It was impassive and void of nothingness—yet it was entirely intimidating like himself.

She could only nod in response as she finished with the wound. Her hands moved back to the trolley, taking the white patch and beige bandage.

As she began setting it up, her mind wandered off to the man beside her. Had he remembered her? That question swarmed her mind with no answer in response—but only assumptions.

Maybe he didn't. It was dark after all—and she didn't even know what he looked like until now. Oh, and how she was right about how perfectly handsome he was.

That curiosity that lingered on for a week or so about this mysterious man was finally cured. Though now meeting him officially and looking at him entirely, a newfound curiosity ignited.

The allure and powerful dominance he had around him was definitely enough to want to know more about him. Also to mention, he was probably the first person for a genuinely long time that had listened to her.

Even if it was short and even if he were just a stranger—a dangerously attractive stranger—he was still someone to her that she wouldn't forget.

Wrapping the patch over the wound, she placed the beige coloured bandages on top of the patch, securing it against his wound.

While she concentrated on healing the man, she was completely unaware of the way he was watching her. Silver eyes pierced through her as he studied every movement she made.

Studying her like a piece of artwork in a museum—one of the best of the best. An artwork that had millions of people from around the world come to see—yet his dangerous eyes were only sought on her.

Hazel finished it up. Lightly drifting her gaze around his tatted flesh for any other injuries but only came up with his colourless tattoos and numerous hidden scars.

She moved off of the bed and grabbed all of the rubbish she had left around her.