Chapter Text
“Any questions?”
I looked around the Cook County ER one more time and then back at Carol Hathaway, the charge nurse who had just shown me around my new workplace. I couldn’t believe I was actually here right now. Moving from Ohio seemed scary enough, but to actually be in the job I had moved for was almost surreal. I clapped my hands together and shrugged. “Uh, probably. But nothing is popping into my head right now.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. The ER can be overwhelming at first, but you’ll get the hang of it. Especially with how smart you are.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You looked at my transcript?”
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. But, top of your class? What made you choose the ER? You could have gotten a job in any department. Anywhere.”
“I wanted something fast paced, a place to use my brain. Plus, I grew up in a small town in Ohio and didn’t want to stick to the family medicine route my aunt wanted. Chicago seemed like a good restart. Even though County scares the crap out of her.”
“Overprotective family I get, trust me.” She scoffed and shook her head. “Well, you’ll be shadowing me for a little bit while you get the hang of things, so hopefully it won’t be too scary. And I’ll introduce you to the rest of the staff as we go.”
“Sounds great.”
“Oh, speaking of.” Carol gestured forward to a tall, serious looking man and a slightly shorter man as they walked up to the admit desk. They both had to be doctors; they were too handsome not to be. “This is Dr. Peter Benton, surgical resident who covers the ER. And this is John Carter, medical student. Guys, this is Genevieve Monroe, our new RN.”
“Nice to meet you.” Dr. Benton replied, short and to the point. He shook my hand strongly.
“Same here.” John held out his hand and I took it. “You can call me Carter.”
“Well, then you can call me Gen. Or Evie. No one calls me by my full name.”
“What about Genny?”
I scoffed and laughed. “Oh, no. Absolutely not. No one’s called me Genny since junior high.”
He smiled at me and nodded his head. “Duly noted.”
“Carter if you can stop flirting for a moment,” Benton started and looked at Carol, causing Carter’s face to go red. “I was paged for a consult.”
“Yes.” Carol confirmed. “Exam Two.”
“Let’s go Carter.” And with that, the surgical resident took off. Carter stuck around for a moment, looking me up and down.
“See you around.”
I smiled back at him and nodded, feeling a warm flush run through my body as he left. I bit my lip, knowing my cheeks had to be red. I turned to Carol and her eyebrow was raised. "Word of advice: don’t sleep with the doctors or the med students. Trust me.”
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That had been five years ago and so much had changed since then. I was a fully functioning nurse now, holding my own amongst the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day grind of the County ER. It was tiring and riveting all at the same time. I had made some amazing friends working here at County, including one Dr. John Carter, now a second-year ER resident after a failed go at surgery.
No, we did not get together. I took Carol’s words to heart and maintained a healthy friendship with the handsome doctor. After I finally realized what Carol meant when I learned what happened between her and Doug Ross, that was not a bridge I wanted to cross. Though, occasional flirting between friends was fun.
Wasn’t it?