Stern Desire Love Redeemed Read Online Free PDF

trash. She sure knew how to irritate me, but I could not ask for a better friend.
    Back on the floor, I did the rounds on my patients. I opened
    the door to 825, hoping that he was asleep, and it seemed like I lucked out. J.C. was in the recliner by the window on his phone. Did he ever sleep? He constantly watched over his friend. I silently closed the door and walked over
    to the bed. Mark looked so peaceful and angelic asleep. I gently touched the top of his left foot; he had a very strong pulse. The warmth from his foot traveled through my fingers. I looked at his pain pump. He had not pressed it since the
    last time I was here. As I placed my hand on the door handle to open it, I heard: "Thank you, Kyra."
    It was Mark, and he had not been sleeping.
    "You're welcome," I mumbled, pulled the door open,
    and stepped out.
    .
    Seven o'clock could not come fast enough. I needed an escape from the hospital, Mark Stone, and hopefully, my conflicting feelings for him. My body and brain were fatigued and I could not think straight anymore. Maybe
    after getting some sleep I'd realize how ludicrous all this was. A patient...how could I feel this way about a patient? Sophia would be Mark's nurse today. I know she shared my exact sentiments about VIPs, but she was a
    very good nurse, with a great personality, and would take excellent care of him.
    I loved to see the day shift in the mornings. It signaled an end to my stressful twelve-hour shift. I finally got to go home.
    "Kyra, am I getting two VIPs?" Sofia asked, a
    worried look on her face.
    "The VIP is in 825, and his family has 826."
    She was baffled, just as I had been. "Who is he?"
    Sophia asked.
    "Nobody knows."
    "I hate taking care of VIPs," she mumbled under her breath.
    "Likewise, and we always get stuck with them, but we do our jobs the best we can, and it is such a good feeling when we convert that
    terrible patient, and he or she requests you as their nurse. Otherwise, there is nothing you can do to make them happy."
    "By now we are experts at kissing butts and smiling
    through the pain." She fidgeted with her pen nervously. "So, is he a bad one or a good one?"
    "I think he is a good one," I assured her.
    Relief washed over her face.
    We'd had patients that were so demanding, inconsiderate, and rude that we had to rotate nurses to take care of them. Nurses refused to take care of them, and would even call off from work to escape that assignment. With the VIPs, the stress was greater because of who they were or who they knew.
    Nobody wanted to be the one that dropped the ball.
    I gave her the report and we both walked to the room, so that I could introduce her to the patient. Maybe I should have given her a
    heads-up on his attractiveness. I knocked quietly and stuck my head in to see if he was sleeping. Mark and J.C. were awake, and watching soccer.
    "Come on in, Kyra," Mark said and turned the light on.
    "Mark, this is Sophia. She will be your nurse
    today."
    "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sophia."
    "The pleasure is all mine," Sophia replied, staring at him.
    "Sophia, can you please check the pain pump?" I
    asked, before she started to drool.
    "Uh...okay," she said, and walked over to the pump to check the settings.
    "So, will you be back tonight?" Mark asked.
    "Yes, I will."
    "And will you be my nurse?"
    "I'm not sure." I knew Amanda was going to give him back to me tonight, but I didn't want him to know that yet. "I'll see
    you tonight," he said. "Get some sleep."
    "Thank you and have a good day," I said politely.
    "He is so gorgeous," Sophia said, as the door
    closed behind us.
    I smiled. "See you later, Sophia."
    It was always such a relief to walk out those hospital doors in the morning. This morning, it was a bit different. I felt like I had
    forgotten something, and could not remember what it was. I flashed back to Mark's reaction when I offered to look at his bandaged left wrist, and wondered why he had been so abrupt and guarded. Why wouldn't he let me take a