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Chapter 2 Amy and Luke

Amy

I am a nurse at a small county hospital in New Jersey. When I was still in nursing school, I dreamt of moving to the Big Apple to work in one of the nice modern hospitals in the city, but my mother begged me to stay closer to home. I love my mom and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her so, I decided to work near home. Maybe if I had said no to my mom, I probably wouldn't be in this bloody mess that I'm in now.

He came in with a stab wound. He said his attacker caught him off guard and he was losing a lot of blood. I was doing ER duty that day and I was the one who helped him on the hospital bed to check on that stab wound he said he had.

I've seen a lot of stab wounds while on duty at the ER and I have never once seen a stab wound like his. Once I removed his blood soaked shirt, blood started spurting out of a gaping hole on his side. It looked more like a pole or a stick punctured him and by the looks of the blood loss, may have hit a vital organ. I look at him and see signs of shock. I call on the attending physician thinking he might need surgery.

"What do we have here?" The doctor asks.

"28 year old male, puncture wound on left upper quadrant, on the verge of hypovolemic shock." I tell her.

She checks the wound, seeing the blood ooze out and makes a quick decision. "Book me an OR and tell them we're on our way." I nod and run to the nurse's station to book the OR as they wheel him out of the ER.

I check his belongings if he had an ID to find if he had anyone I could call to inform them of his situation. I couldn't find anything. As I was putting his things in a plastic bag, a phone in his coat pocket started ringing. I answer it, hoping it was a friend.

"Hello, may I know who's calling?" I ask the person of the other line.

"Wow, Chase has his girlfriends answering his phone now." The other man on the line was laughing so hard, it was difficult to grab his attention.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I am not a...girlfriend. I was wondering if this Chase you say is 28 years old, about 6'1 in height and weighs around 190 to 200 pounds?" I ask him politely.

"Now that's pretty detailed. May I ask who's on the other line?" The man had finally stopped laughing and turned serious.

"I'm a nurse at Brick County Hospital. Your friend, Chase Lockwood, is currently undergoing surgery. Is it possible you could inform his family? He was rushed to the OR before I could get any more information out of him."

"I'm his brother, Luke. Thank you, Nurse-"

"Amy." I answered him.

"Thank you, Nurse Amy. I will be there shortly." He hangs up.

Shortly was exactly 15 minutes. The nurses were all abuzz with excitement when he and his entourage arrived at the hospital.

I didn't know the Lockwood name meant something. They were obviously rich; Chase had some designer labels on his clothing and his shoes looked expensive. The brother even more so. When he entered the hospital, he had a commanding presence which oozed male pheromones. Most of the women and some of the men at the hospital, followed him as he approached the information desk, undressing him with their eyes. I glanced at him when he and some of his men took a seat at the waiting area. He unbuttoned the jacket of his suit, clearly annoyed. Of what though, I didn't have time to speculate. A car accident happened and I was called to assist the doctors at the ER.

By the time we were done with all our patients, it was already night and I was starving. I took a short break to get something to eat at the hospital cafeteria. I was on my way back to the ER when I bumped into a tall man.

"I'm so sorry, Sir." I bent down to help pick up the bag of chips that fell on the floor when I noticed his nice shiny leather shoes. It's him! I stand up, the bag of chips in my hand.

"It's fine. I wasn't looking at where I was going." He showed me his phone and put it in his coat pocket.

"I see. Well, here's your bag of chips. I really need to go." He takes his bag of chips and mutters his thanks. I slightly nod my head, acknowledging his words, and turn to head back to the ER. Wow, he was so full himself. That's the problem when you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth...the entitlement.

Three days had past since that day I bumped into him and I had already forgotten about him and his brother Chase when I was sent flowers. When I arrived at the hospital for my shift, a beautiful arrangement of yellow calla lily flowers in a crystal vase were waiting for me at the nurse's staff room at the hospital. Most of my colleagues were already waiting, whispering as soon as they saw me.

"Amy, those flowers are for you." Lisa, my closest friend among the nurses, informs me as soon as I walked in.

"Yeah? Must be from a patient." I shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I put my bag in my locker and grab a fresh pair of scrubs. I tie my hair back in a pony tail and start changing into my scrubs.

"I know you're going to get mad at me, but I took a look at the card that came with the flowers," she admits, showing me the small envelope she had in her hand.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell me who it's from?" I have never seen any of my colleagues so excited before...well, except that time Luke came to the hospital. I finished changing into my scrubs, folded my clothes neatly and placed them in my locker.

"It's from Luke Lockwood. He says he'll be calling you for dinner!" She squeals and starts jumping up and down in excitement. Everyone starts looking at her so I bang my locker door shut to make her stop.

"You make it sound like it's a date. It isn't. It's just a simple "thank you" for helping his brother. That's all. Don't get your hopes up." I reason with her. I walk towards the flowers and touch the vase. "Nice vase though. I know where I'm going to put this in my apartment." I was envisioning it sitting at the center of my small breakfast nook when I heard my name announced over the intercom. "Ok, Lisa. It's time to work. Let's go."

We rushed over to the ER thinking we were needed, but we were astonished to see the emergency room was quite empty. I was confused. I just heard my name announced over the intercom.

I walk towards the nurse's station of the ER to see why I was needed. One of the nurse's was relieved to see me. She grabs my hand and we exit the ER to the hospital cafeteria.

"Sorry, Amy. I was told to call him once you started your shift. He's been waiting for you." I look over his shoulder to see Luke Lockwood sitting at a table. He wasn't in a suit this time; he was in a simple plain shirt and blue jeans.

"How long has he been waiting here?" I ask my colleague.

"Around 15 minutes. But he's been waiting the whole day for my call. Your schedule said you'd be here in the morning." She bites her lip. Obviously she was scared of Luke. But why though?

"I had my shift changed since I left the hospital this morning. There was a pile up on the freeway last night and we were at capacity." I had been on duty for over 24 hours. After the pile-up, I told my superior that I'd be starting my shift at night. She didn't complain.

"Well, if he sounds irritated. It was because of me." She whispers. We walk towards him and suddenly she bows at him. "Al---, uhm, Sir, Amy's here." She moves aside so I could move towards him. I look at my colleague who was still bending and it gave me the distinct feeling that Luke is a superior of hers.

"Hi Amy! Why don't you take a seat." My colleague pulls the chair for me to sit, and I look at her with my eyebrow raised. Why is she acting like a servant? I sit down slowly, doubting if I should sit with him.

"That's all. You may go," he says curtly. My colleague bows at him one last time and rushes out of the hospital cafeteria with her tail between her legs. My head was averted in her direction, watching her walk out as fast as she could. He drummed his fingers inpatiently on the table to grab my attention. When I faced him, I had a bewildered expression on my face. I could not understand why was he here and why did one of my colleagues act like was frightened of him?

"Let's start over. I'm Luke, Luke Lockwood. And you are?" He extends a hand for a handshake.

"Amy Williams." I clasp his hand and we shake hands. His hand was huge while mine was small. I hastily take my hand out of his. I didn't like where my thoughts were going.

"I have been waiting for you to start duty. I already got your number from your staff, but I believed I would be too forward if I contacted you without your permission." I caught myself staring at his mouth when he finished his sentence and I wanted to slap myself. I can't believe I'm crushing over this man!

Fine, he was gorgeous. Taller than his brother, nice build and he smelled good, too, like fresh rain on a spring day. He had dark hair, chiselled features unlike Chase, who had boyish looks, and he had the most stunning emerald green eyes I have ever seen. The rarest eye color in the world and his eyes were the deepest colored green eyes I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

"Amy, penny for your thoughts? Am I boring you?" Luke snapping his fingers in front of me to break my reverie.

"I'm so sorry. It's not you. I had a pile-up last night and it was really busy. I haven't had enough sleep for the past 2 days." My typical excuse. Good thing it always works.

"May I invite you to dinner? If not dinner maybe lunch perhaps?" He asks me.

"You don't have to, Mr. Lockwood. It's my job to take care of people, your brother included. So, if you're inviting me to dinner to express your appreciation, you really don't need to. The flowers were good enough. Thank you by the way. They're beautiful." I stand up and he follows suit. "I need to get going. I'm on duty. Thank you." I bow at him like how I saw my colleague do it.

"No need to bow...And I'm asking you out so I can get to know you better. You intrigue me." I think I gave a wounded look when he uttered the word intrigue because he abruptly corrected himself. " What I meant to say is fascinate. You fascinate me. If you don't accept, I'll keep coming here until you do."

"What?! That's stalking. I'll call the police."

"I'm sorry. I'm not a creep. Honestly, I'm an ok person. Will you consider having dinner with me?" He bats his eyelashes.

"Alright. But under one condition." I tell him.

"Sure. What?"

"I get to choose the place." He smiles at my answer. "Deal." He extends his hand towards me and I grab it, shaking it to seal the deal.

And that's where it all began for Luke and I.

How our brief relationship started.

During our romance, I expected I was going to live happily ever after.

That stuff only happens in books.

In real life, you're a pregnant woman in premature labor, with a gaping hole on the side of your neck, bleeding on the pavement under freezing temperatures in the middle of nowhere.

Real life sucks.

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