On the Surface (In the Zone) Read Online Free PDF

was a collision and then the goalie went to his knees with a hand pressed to his neck. He flipped his helmet off and she could see blood flowing pretty freely. No doubt from the jugular.
    “This was before they had neck protectors,” Luke said, after the short video was over.
    “That’s pretty gruesome,” Erin said. “Was he okay?”
    “Oh, sure,” Luke replied. “He was skating a week later.”
    “I heard something like eleven fans fainted when it happened and three players vomited on the ice,” Dr. O said. “But don’t let that stop you from watching the games. That kind of thing is rare.”
    “I’ve never watched a game.”
    Both Luke and Dr. Oliphant stared at her in disbelief.
    “Never? Not one?” Luke asked.
    “What, is that a crime?” she asked.
    “Yes!” they declared in unison. Luke seemed incensed, but Dr. O was smiling.
    “So, I should watch a game sometime.”
    “Yes,” they said.
    “Maybe there’ll be one on tonight,” she said, hoping the good doctor would invite her over to watch it on TV. She’d bring food that she made especially for him, and the rest would be history.
    Luke scoffed. “Nurse Erin, the hockey season hasn’t started yet.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh, that’s right. Hockey is a winter sport.”
    Dr. Oliphant laughed. “What are we going to do with her, Luke? She’s appallingly ignorant. Maybe we’ll have to punish her.”
    “You mean like give her a spanking?”
    Erin’s cheeks warmed when she and the doctor exchanged glances. She looked away, wondering if he was imagining spanking her like a bad little girl. She certainly was—him wearing horn-rimmed glasses and his lab coat and armed with a wooden ruler. Her wearing a very short plaid skirt, white blouse and knee socks, her hair in pigtails. She got a warm feeling down below when she thought about him applying that ruler lightly to her behind. She’d never been spanked before during sex, and she wasn’t particularly interested in trying it, but any contact Dr. Oliphant had with her behind was better than nothing.
    If Dr. O was having similar thoughts, he hid them well with a laugh.
    “No, Luke. We’d probably just put her in the sin bin.”
    That sounded just as naughty. “What’s the sin bin?” she asked.
    “That’s where they put the players when they do something wrong, like elbowing or high-sticking,” Luke explained.
    “Oh, the penalty box,” she exclaimed. At their surprised faces, she said, “Hey, I’m not a complete hockey ignoramus.”
    * * *
    A couple of days later, Erin watched fellow nurse, Alana Levinson, volunteer to get a patient some more broccoli. Any time a child requested vegetables was a triumph, and they’d all been worried about Danny’s appetite. When she saw Alana return a full thirty minutes later, Erin spun on her heel and walked away so she wouldn’t be tempted to have it out with her in front of everyone. Alana never did anything to seriously jeopardize patient health, but snails moved faster than she did. And when God handed out initiative, he skipped that girl completely. She did the bare minimum, always. That meant whenever she was on duty, everyone else had to pick up the slack. Erin could usually deal with this. She believed in karma and that the universe was taking note of how much Erin went out of her way to do her job and Alana’s, but sometimes it just got old.
    Tammy found Erin fuming in the room where they measured out the medications.
    “I’m going to lose it, Tam. I swear to God. What was she doing down there? Growing the broccoli herself?”
    “Seriously.”
    “I just can’t deal with her anymore. I’m this close to shooting her up with 50 milligrams of move-your-ass.”
    Tammy laughed. “Just breathe. Think about your transfer to L and D. When that happens, you’ll be able to go days or even weeks without seeing Alana.”
    If only something would open up in labor and delivery. Erin found pediatrics rewarding. She loved making it easier