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Monday afternoon, moments after Andrea left for the hospital, Taylor pulled into the driveway and parked her car. Brent was waiting for her and before she could even make it up the stairs to the front door he was bounding down them, keys jingling in his hand. He motioned to Taylor to get in the car and then got in himself and revved the engine. He loved his car! It was one of those things he got as a bonus for signing with the record company. He'd always wanted a sports car. Up until then he'd been a pick-up truck man. Not any longer, now he was a jet black, sleek, low to the ground sports car man! He looked over at Taylor and smiled. She smiled back at him. He slid his sunglasses onto his nose and backed up out of the drive, heading towards the Aurora Valley Mall.
Andrea parked the car in the hospital employee parking lot and headed inside. She rode the elevator up to the surgical floor and greeted the other nurses that were already there. There was a new Poinsettia plant on the ledge. Andrea counted them, there were four. She hated those plants. It really irritated her that after the Christmas season they usually got thrown out. What was the point of spending money to give someone an ugly plant that you just throw out after a few weeks? The money would be better spent donating it to a charity. She sighed and checked the day's charts. Karen came up to Andrea and grinned.
"Hey, have you seen the new doctor?" She asked Andrea excitedly. Andrea looked up from the chart she held in her hand and blinked.
"Nope. What about her?" Karen shook her head.
"Oh, no, not HER ... HIM!" Andrea nodded.
"Ahhh, another handsome doctor added to the staff?" She teased. Karen sighed contentedly.
"He's really handsome! I'm not kidding." Andrea made a face. She'd seen plenty of handsome doctors in her nursing career and most of them knew how handsome they were and their personalities reflected it. They were much on the outside and nothing on the inside. You had to be smart to be a doctor or surgeon, you didn't have to have a personality! Andrea waved her away.
"I've seen it all before Karen. And usually they are quite shallow. What is this new doctor like?" Karen thought a moment before she spoke.
"He seems nice. Actually he seems a little shy." Andrea frowned.
"Shy? Now that's an oxymoron -- a SHY doctor." Both girls laughed.
"Well, he was awfully quiet this weekend."
"Hmmmm ..." Andrea said thoughtfully turning to her chart. She wasn't all interested in this handsome new doctor anyway, she had a man a home who satisfied her every needs. She felt a pang of jealousy. And, evidently, stimulated the needs of her own sister! Andrea wasn't normally a jealous person, and if her sister wasn't so pretty and thin she wouldn't be jealous now. But Taylor had stolen more than her fair share of men out from under her and it left Andrea suspicious and angry. At least her attraction for Brent was obvious. If she was truly planning on stealing him away from Andrea she would be much more sneaky about it. She thought about Brent. He wouldn't leave her for Taylor anyway ... would he? She frowned and looked down at the rock on her hand. It sparkled and made her smile. No. Brent was hers, lock, stock, and barrel. He enjoyed the attention that Taylor gave him and that was all. He had learned his lesson about cheating the time he'd broken his arm and Andrea refused to talk to him. Karen gathered her purse and miscellaneous gifts she'd received from patients into her arms and prepared to leave.
"Hey, Dr. Dom will be around later tonight to check on his patients." She winked at Andrea. "Enjoy!" Andrea frowned, sighed, and dropped the chart down on the counter.
"Karen, you know very well I'm engaged." She said, irritated. Karen made a face.
"I know that, but it doesn't hurt to LOOK!" She said, laughed and headed down the hall. Andrea watched her go and then busied herself with her patients.
The surgical floor was busy and for Andrea, time flew by. It was 8:00 before she had a free moment to sit down and eat her dinner. As she sat behind the nurse's desk, munching on a sandwich a shadow engulfed her. She looked up quickly into the face of a gorgeous brown-eyed man. He was leaning on the counter and stared down at her as she ate.
"Can I help you?" Andrea said absently turning the page of the magazine in front of her.
"Perhaps." The man said. He stuck his hand down in front of Andrea. "Dom Pellegrini." He said to her. "M.D." Andrea took his hand and looked up at him. So this was the famous Dr. Dom! They shook hands.
"I'm Andrea." She said to him. He smiled brightly at her, she noticed he had dimples on either side of his cheeks. It was quite striking.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Andrea. I've heard very much about you." When he spoke she noticed a slight accent. "Good things, of course!" He said quickly. She laughed softly.
"Well, that's a relief." She joked. He stood up then and Andrea noticed his height. He was quite tall and well built. He had wide shoulders. He was wearing a suit, appropriate for visiting patients. "I noticed you have an accent. Where are you from?" She asked.
"I came from Philadelphia." He joked. She laughed. "No, really, I was born in Italy. My parents moved here when I was very young. They only speak Italian at home. It's hard not to have an accent!" Andrea nodded.
"It's very ... interesting." He nodded too. "So you last worked in Philadelphia before coming here?" She queried.
"Yes. I studied there a while and did my residency there but moved back here to be closer to my family." Andrea finished her sandwich and took a drink of her Diet Pepsi. She wiped her mouth before speaking.
"So did you grow up here?" She asked.
"In Vernon Hills." Andrea's eyebrows went up. Vernon Hills was a very well-to-do town in Northern Illinois.
"So your parents had money ..." She said. He raised one eyebrow and nodded.
"Yes, they did. My father is a winemaker." Andrea smiled but covered her mouth with a napkin, she was worried that she might have some food stuck in between her teeth.
"Ahhh, wine! One of my favorite beverages!" Dom smiled and stood straight.
"Well, then, I shall bring you a bottle from the family supply." She nodded at him.
"Thank you!" She said appreciative of his kindness.
"So, are you married?" He asked, indicating her ring. She held up her hand and looked at it.
"Not yet. But it is pending." He smiled and nodded.
"There aren't many single women in this hospital." He teased. She chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sure there are, you just haven't sifted through them all yet." He cleared his throat and glanced up at the clock.
"Oh, I'd better get going. I have patients to see." Andrea stood up as Dom came around the corner of the counter. He held his hand out to her. She slid her hand inside his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it lightly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Andrea." He said with a slight Italian lilt. She felt herself blush.
"The same to you Dr. Dom." She said softly. He winked at her and strolled down the hallway with confidence. She stared after him a moment, a multitude of feelings washing over her. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror. He wasn't arrogant, she told herself. That was strange. He didn't seem shy either. But he was handsome, she thought and winked at herself. She rinsed her mouth and dried it off. And that accent ... it made her giggle. She went back to work feeling a little happier ...
