All She Ever Wanted Read online

  “Hysterical, dear,” she remarked dryly. “What happened to the healthy cereal I bought for the girls? Why is Kaylee eating that crap? Furthermore, why is she eating it in the living room?”

  Josh studied his paper intently as he mumbled, “Aren’t you late?”

  Julie glanced at her watch. 6:58. Good Lord, yes, she was late. She darted to the front door, nearly smacking into Molly. Molly was the older twin by three minutes. She was the bossier and more level headed of the two girls, but at the moment, she looked more like a circus clown. Julie leaned down to kiss her daughter’s overly rouged cheeks.

  “Goodbye my love. Be a good girl.” Julie turned to close the door behind her, calling to her husband, “Josh! Molly needs a bath before school!”

  Chapter 2

  Julie’s ride to work was uneventful, other than the fact that she could not get the fight with Josh out of her head. They had heated discussions of that nature at least once a week. Josh always played it off as joking around and busting her chops, but Julie knew there was a hint of truth behind his so called teasing. He really must think I am a selfish person.

  And she was convinced selfish person was synonymous with bad mother to him. Julie had never met Josh’s mother, yet he had always put her on such a pedestal that she never felt she could measure up to her in Josh’s eyes.

  Paired with the fact they seemed to be arguing more than not, Julie was beginning to worry that their marriage was heading toward failure. She loved Josh today as much as she had the day they were married, but she was beginning to feel that his love for her was waning. He definitely seemed disinterested in her life and her work. It also seemed like he mocked and belittled her personal interests lately. Not at all like when they first started dating and he hung on her every word and encouraged her to go after her dreams. Ever since I went back to work after the girls were born…

  Julie pulled her new SUV into her marked parking space and cut the engine. She glanced down at her dashboard clock as she opened the car door. 7:12.

  “Oh well,” she remarked out loud. “I try to be on time.” Grabbing her bags from the passenger seat, she exited the vehicle and hurried to the hospital entrance. She greeted the 6’5” security guard with a smile. “Hi, Clyde.”

  Clyde pretended to look at his watch. “Running a little late there, Mrs. Hendricks?” he questioned with a chuckle. It was almost like a running gag between them. Julie rarely walked through the door before her designated start time of 7 am.

  “Crazy morning!” Julie called back at him, scurrying past. Aren’t they all?

  Clyde just shook his head and replied, “You have a good day now Mrs. H!”

  “You too,” Julie shouted as she dashed to the open elevator. Once inside, she leaned against the back wall and took a deep breath. She rode the elevator to the 4th floor, stepped out and was greeted almost immediately by her clerical assistant, Maryanne.

  Maryanne was a robust, sweet, motherly type woman in her late 50s. She was Julie’s right hand man and Julie adored her.

  “Julie, dear,” Maryanne clucked, handing Julie a blueberry muffin. “Wes Moffat has called twice already this morning to discuss next year’s budget meeting agenda. He has stressed to me that he needed the staffing projections like, yesterday.” Julie grimaced as she unloaded her purse and attaché onto her desk. “Did you tell him I am still waiting to hear back from Peds and oncology?” she asked with a frown.

  “Yes, yes, I did,” Maryanne replied, following Julie around the desk, “And I already put a call out to Alice in Oncology and what’s her name in Pediatrics.”

  “Starlight,” Julie interjected as she turned on her computer monitor. Maryanne knew the name of the Peds nurse manager, but it just drove her crazy that her moniker was so bizarre.

  Maryanne rolled her eyes and continued while brushing a piece of lint off of Julie’s blouse, “Well, whatever her name is, she hasn’t gotten back to me. Really, Julie, of all days for you to be late.”

  Julie glanced up from her keyboard where she was typing in her password and took a bite of her muffin. “What do you mean, of all days?”

  Maryanne blinked at Julie in disbelief. “New grad orientation? The new nurse hires? Remember?” Maryanne asked, and then added, “Didn’t you see the email? You have to speak at the beginning of the orientation. At 8:00 in the auditorium.”

  Julie slammed her muffin down onto her desk. “Damn,” she groaned. “Yes, I did see that email. I thought it was next Wednesday.”

  Tossing the remainder of her muffin in the trash, Julie stood up, smoothing the crumbs off her skirt. She opened her purse and retrieved her pocket mirror. “Damn!” she cursed again while studying her reflection. “I knew I should have plucked my eyebrows this morning.”

  Maryanne grabbed Julie’s elbow and ushered her out the office door in the direction of the elevator. She halted at her own desk and grabbed a stack of note cards which she shoved into Julie’s hands.

  “Here,” Maryanne said, “I knew you would probably forget, so I went through the files for last year’s speech. I transferred it to note cards. I also took the liberty of correcting some grammatical errors,” she whispered to Julie even though they were the only ones in earshot.

  Julie kissed the top of Maryanne’s graying head. “Bless you, my darling! What ever would I do without you?” she implored in a mock English accent. The elevator opened and Julie stepped in.

  “You’d be lost without me, dear, simply lost,” Maryanne quipped, using an equally dreadful accent. She chuckled and shook her head as the elevator doors closed.

  Julie smiled to herself as she reviewed the note cards. Leave it to good old Maryanne to not only save her speech from last year, but to have note cards on hand. She truly would be lost without Maryanne.

  They had been through a lot of stressful times together, supporting each other when in need. Maryanne was the head clerk on the cardio floor where Julie began her nursing career. Shortly after Julie started working, Maryanne’s son Gabe left home after finishing college and announced in the same breath that he was gay. Maryanne’s homophobic husband, Paul, had refused to allow her contact with their son. Maryanne’s dreams of him marrying the daughter she never had and having grandchildren to spoil, walked out the door along with Gabe.

  Fortunately, when those dreams walked out, Julie walked in. She and Maryanne had an instant bond. Julie had lost her mother to breast cancer when she was 13, so for almost ten years, she had longed for, and needed, a mother figure in her life. Her father had remarried when she was 20. However, his new wife cared more for her Bichon Frise lap dog and her Botox treatments than she did for her stepdaughter and two stepsons. Julie’s brothers were 5 and 8 years older than her and had moved on in their lives, but Julie had once again been left motherless.

  So needless to say, Maryanne and Julie were a match made in heaven. Maryanne finally had a daughter to take care of and Julie welcomed the affection with open arms. Spending countless hours together outside of work, they shopped, went to movies or just talked for hours. Maryanne was the first person Julie called when she and Josh got engaged. Maryanne helped Julie prepare for the upcoming nuptials in her motherly way, taking over shower plans, assisting with the floral arrangements and helping Julie choose a dress. In the front row at the church, Maryanne sat with tears of joy glistening in her proud eyes.

  When Julie was promoted to nurse manager for the fast paced emergency department, her only request was to have Maryanne as the unit’s head clerk. They worked side by side for four years, through Julie’s infertility and Maryanne’s husband’s surprising infidelity. They grew closer and more inseparable through each hardship, so it seemed only natural that when Julie became Director of Nursing, Maryanne would become her administrative assistant. Their relationship was effortless, with a mutual respect for each other.

  “Unlike Josh and me,” Julie mumbled with disappointment. Lately, their marriage seemed more work than it was worth. Julie shook her head and ordered herself t
o stop thinking about her personal life on the job. Stepping off the elevator on the ground floor, she headed toward the hospital’s auditorium. This is where the new recruits were gathered for a host of inspirational pep talks from veteran staff, before being turned loose to their respective supervisors and nurse mentors. It was a familiar scene each June after the nurses that graduated from nursing schools took their nursing boards. Huntington West prided itself in its grooming of new nurse graduates while many other area hospitals turned them away as liabilities. It was also a major headache for the legal department as these novice nurses were subject to common mistakes and ultimately, lawsuits.

  This was only Julie’s third year as D.O.N., so she was still feeling slightly nervous as she entered the vast room filled with women and men more than ten years her junior. She stared straight ahead as she was introduced, rose to her feet, and headed toward the podium where Donna Flanders, director of human resources, was standing. Julie nodded politely at some of the nurses that acknowledged her as she walked by.

  Julie was close to the front of the auditorium when a young man with closely cropped dark hair turned around in time to catch Julie’s eye. Locking eyes with him, Julie felt her heart surge and her throat close up. Something about him was fiercely familiar. As his piercing steel blue eyes continued to hold her gaze, she felt her left heel catch on the aisle’s carpet. The young man swiftly reached out an arm and stopped her from falling face first into the stage.

  Feeling her cheeks burning with embarrassment, Julie quickly freed herself from his grasp. Smoothing her skirt, she gave the man a cursory nod and continued up the stage steps.

  Good move, Julie, she berated herself. Way to make a fool out of yourself in front of a room full of twenty somethings.

  Attempting to gather her composure, Julie stepped up to the podium. Pausing, she scanned her audience. Just as she had suspected, it was full of youthful, energetic people in their early twenties. The vast majority had just graduated, eager to begin their lives. Most had their attention on Julie, interested in hearing her words of wisdom, although, some were still snickering from the incident that had just occurred. The room was comprised of a disproportionate number of females, but there were also a handful of men in attendance.

  Julie’s gaze settled once again on the man who had stopped her heart only seconds before. He was seated in the front row with neatly pressed suit pants, grey dress shirt and bright blue tie which brought out the color of his eyes. Why do I feel like I know him? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.

  Julie shook herself free of the trance this stranger had placed on her. Get ahold of yourself, she commanded silently. She peered over the heads of her audience, a trick she had learned in college to minimize her anxiety, immediately launching into the speech that she was almost able to recite from memory. She avoided all eye contact; especially with the mystery man in row one. Julie introduced herself and welcomed the new employees enthusiastically. She explained to them how they would learn and grow as nurses and altruistic human beings under the tutelage of the superior staff at Huntington West. She spoke about how this job would bring them tears of joy and tears of despair, sometimes all in a single day. She delivered her speech flawlessly and without looking at a single face. Julie was certain she had won the crowd over and that they had forgotten about the earlier mishap when they responded with thunderous applause. She smiled politely and turned the podium back over to Donna Flanders.

  Julie glided to the right side of the stage and into her designated chair, prepared to listen to the encouraging speech by Donna followed by speeches from each unit’s nurse manager. Starlight Caldwell, the nurse manager Julie and Maryanne had been discussing earlier, squeezed her right hand and whispered, “Wonderful, Julie. So inspiring.”

  Julie chuckled to herself. Starlight thought everything was wonderful and inspiring. Those were her two favorite words to overuse. She was an earthy, hippie individual who literally wore flowers in her hair to work every day. She could definitely be described as flakey, but she was intelligent and had a good heart. Her patients and their families loved her and that’s all that mattered to Julie.

  Julie leaned forward in her seat, straining to hear the Jayne Meyers, nurse manager of the Labor and Delivery department, while fighting the urge to peek at the mystery man in the first row. She knew he was still sitting there because she could see his legs out of the corner of her left eye. She could feel his stare, which caused her skin to prickle.

  Why, Julie? Why would he be staring at you? You interacted with him for less than a moment; you never even spoke. Yeah, he looks familiar, but he probably has one of those common faces everyone thinks they know. You don’t know this guy at all. He’s not staring at you.

  Regardless, Julie caved to the temptation and casually glanced his way. She tilted her head slightly to the right so it would not appear so obvious that she was trying to sneak a peek at the mysterious stranger.

  There he was, staring directly at her! In shock, Julie felt her cheeks burn for the second time today. Her eyes quickly darted away, but not before he winked at her. What nerve this guy had! While it was understandable to stare at someone on stage, it was awfully daring to wink at a stranger, unprovoked. It was at that moment that Julie realized she needed to find out who he was.

  Chapter 3

  Julie sank into the front seat of her Range Rover at 7:30pm. After a long day of balancing budgets, reviewing procedures and dealing with the day to day minutia of Huntington West, she wanted nothing more than to crash into bed. She was sure Josh would be less than pleased at her, especially since she had being receiving texts from him since 6:00. She was running behind schedule as usual. Julie and Josh were supposed to be having dinner with Josh’s friend Nick and his wife Kristen that evening. Julie had been dreading it ever since Kristen had contacted her to make the plans. Kristen was a sweet woman and pleasant company, but Julie could not help comparing herself to the petite brunette dance instructor. Her perfect body was kept in shape, even after having four children, by teaching dance in her home on weekends. During the week, she volunteered as president of children’s school PTA and as a mentor to inner city youth. Chairing many committees, she rarely had any free time, but Kristen had a constant smile painted on her face. Julie naturally felt inadequate in Kristen’s presence, even though she had always been gracious and never boastful of her endeavors.

  Julie started her engine and checked her rear-view mirror before she backed up. She instantly blinked, thinking her exhaustion must be causing her to imagine things. She could have sworn she saw the unknown male nurse from orientation, standing behind her car. That couldn’t be possible. The new nurses had left hours ago. Julie rubbed her eyes and rechecked the mirror again. Nobody was there.

  Shaking her head, she threw the Range Rover into reverse and started backing out of the parking space, anxious to get home. Suddenly, a figure appeared at her driver’s side window. Julie gasped and hit the brakes.

  It was him! He smiled pleasantly and tapped on her window. Shaking, Julie shifted the car into park and hesitated. Should she open the window? What if this man was some stark raving lunatic that was going to drag her from her car and rape her? Julie considered her surroundings. Groups of nurses were leaving the hospital as their 12 hour shifts ended. Julie could also see the night security guard, Chuck, in his booth at the entrance to the parking lot. Feeling comforted by all of this, she pushed the button to lower her window.

  “Yes?” she inquired while trying to avoid meeting the eyes of the heart stopping stranger. “Can I help you with something?”

  The man beamed, producing a dimple in his cheek and extended a hand through the open window. “I’m Alex,” he announced, firmly gripping her reluctant hand and shaking it. “I’m going to be working on the Ortho floor. We didn’t get to properly meet earlier at the, um, orientation.” Alex winked, causing Julie’s heart to thunder in her chest. She dropped his hand as if it were on fire.

  “Nice to me
et you, Mr., um…” she began. “Peyton,” Alex finished for her, “Alex Peyton.” He flashed another charming smile.

  Julie nodded politely. “Mr. Peyton. I hope you haven’t been waiting around all day to introduce yourself.”

  “Oh, no, not at all!” Alex answered hastily, “I’m not some crazy stalker or anything.” He added a chuckle at the end and Julie tittered as if the thought was ridiculous and wasn’t exactly what she had been thinking a moment ago.

  “I wasn’t implying that you would,” she started to say, but Alex interrupted her.

  “I stayed to shadow Joe in Ortho for a couple hours. He’s one of the best nurses on the floor. I want to learn as much as I can before I’m on my own in a few weeks,” Alex explained. “As I left, I happened to see you getting in your car.”

  “Of course,” Julie replied, feeling relief mixed with a twinge of inexplicable disappointment. “It’s wonderful to see that you are so committed.” She stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say next. She really wanted to leave but couldn’t very well back up; he was standing in her way.

  Alex cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you. I’m sure you have a family to get home to.” He glanced into the back seat at Kaylee and Molly’s booster seats. “I just wanted to introduce myself. Nice meeting you,” he added as he turned and walked away.

  After quickly rolling up the window, Julie sat with her car half backed out of the parking spot, slightly shaken. Giving off an air of being all business, most employees generally saw her as unapproachable. Nurses never came up and introduced themselves to her. Especially not in the parking lot of the hospital. And certainly not new, young, attractive male nurses. And winking at her earlier? What was that man thinking? That could totally be misconstrued as sexual harassment.

  “Enough,” Julie grumbled as she shifted her car into reverse. “The guy is just an overzealous new nurse. Give him a year and he’ll be burnt out like everyone else. Right now he’s just trying to impress the bosses.”