Andrea was standing next to the medicine cabinet looking for a pill when she heard someone come up behind her swiftly and then place his hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" A voice said. She didn't recognize it. It was probably Brent disguising his voice.

"Brent!" She said and tried to turn around. The hands held her fast.

"No." The voice said. Well, now she was confused. She reached up and touched the hands. They were large and soft. No, not Brent! Brent's hands were thin and bony, his fingers were long. She moved her hands along the arms as far back as her arms would let her. She felt a long, buttoned sleeve that was rolled up to the elbows. It had to be a doctor.

"Ummm .... Doctor ....." She said, thinking. "Duvall?" The voice denied. "Doctorrrrrr ... Jacobs?" Once again, the voice said 'no.' "Okay, I give up. I was always bad at this game." She said pulling the hands off her eyes and turning around. She stared right into the big, brown eyes of Dr. Dom. She smiled. "Very good." She said. "I never would have guessed!" He smiled at her.

"Should I take that as a bad thing or a good thing?" He said and chuckled. Andrea turned back to the cabinet. She had a patient waiting for meds.

"Take it whatever way would make you the happiest." She said bending over and retrieving a white stock bottle. He watched her and smiled.

"Then I shall take it as a compliment." He said confidently.

"Good for you." She said, standing and tugging at the front of his shirt. She walked away from him then and down the hall to the patient's room. He watched her go. She was a fine specimen of a woman. She wasn't tall but she was thin and it made her appear taller. Her long, straight, blonde hair bounced behind her in the ponytail she wore on the back of her head. His eyes moved down to her behind and regarded it. He sighed as she disappeared into the room. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes. Of all the people, nurses, doctors, business people he'd met since coming to this hospital none of them affected him like Andrea had. From the moment he set eyes on her he felt something inside. Some sort of spark, some tingly feeling. It started in his toes and slowly moved it's way up. He thought about her day and night. Especially night, when he lie in his bed alone ... He heard her footsteps as she came from the patient's room and breezed right past him like he wasn't even there leaving a trail of faint perfume. He smelled it and committed it to memory. She went over to the nurse's desk and sat down. She dipped her head and began writing in the chart. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood in front of her leaning his elbows on the counter.

"You don't work over the weekends, do you?" He asked. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"Not any more." She said going back to her charting.

"I was thinking of having a Christmas party at my house. Would you be interested in coming?" He asked, throwing it out there and seeing how she'd react. She looked up at him, frowning.

"Party?" She said and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something about a party?" He chuckled.

"Yes, I did. I said I was going to have a Christmas Party and would you consider being my guest." She smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you the first time." She laughed. "But I doubt it. I haven't anywhere near finished my shopping yet and Christmas is right around the corner ..." She finished writing in the chart and then closed it. "Hey! Can I ask you something?" She said to him. He brightened.

"Of course!" He said.

"Well, I left early the other night so I could go Christmas shopping for my fiance. I wanted to get him a necklace. He's Italian, like you, and I wanted to get him some sort of 'symbol' to go on the necklace." She thought a moment and frowned. "You know, like a 'love' symbol or something in Italian." He thought a moment, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"I don't think there is anything like that. Amore ... that is love in Italian and I don't think there is any 'symbol' for that." Andrea listened intently and felt butterflies the way he said "amore" in his Italian accent. "You could always fall back on the Italian Horn of Plenty which means ..." He looked up at the ceiling and tried to think of how to describe it. "It means, the best of everything, plentiful, much luck in anything you do and the best ..." She frowned and wrinkled up her nose. "I know." He said with a sigh. "They went out in the 80s!" Then they both laughed. "There is always this symbol." He held up his hand with all fingers held down except the index finger and the pinky finger. "But be very careful." He warned. "Because holding it one way it means something good but holding it down ..." And he pointed the fingers at her. "It is an Italian curse." Her eyes opened wide.

"Nooooo ...." She protested. "That's the symbol for 'rock on'." He smiled. "People do that to Brent all the time!" He laughed out loud. Well, good for them, he thought.

"Oh God, no!" He boomed. Andrea thought a moment.

"Hmmmm ... I wonder if that's why Brent seems like he lives under a cloud of doom ..." She said and then giggled.

"Does he?" Dr. Dom asked. Andrea looked at him. He held her gaze and looked into her deep blue eyes.

"Does he what?" Andrea asked, distracted.

"Live under a cloud of doom?" She shook her head and frowned. She stood up behind the desk.

"No, no he doesn't. He's just ..." The elevator doors opened and she saw Brent emerge, bags in his hands. "He's here!" She said and smiled. Dom glanced over to where Andrea was looking and saw a tall, gangly, scraggly-haired man in a leather jacket exit the elevator and head towards them.

"I have to get going." Dom said. He reached forward and touched Andrea's arm briefly. "Later!" He said and then he was off.

Brent watched as the big man standing in front of Andrea reached out and touched her before taking off down the hall. He frowned. He didn't like the looks of that! He watched the man go and didn't even notice Andrea had come towards him and now stood in front of him until she leaned up and kissed him.

"Hey!" She said taking his arm. "What are you doing here?" She pulled him towards the nurse's desk.

"Interrupting something, obviously." He said, not amused. He saw the man disappear around a corner and turned to Andrea.

"Him?" She asked. "You weren't interrupting. That's just Dr. Dom." Brent nodded and then leaned down and kissed her.

"Hmmm ..." He said staring at her for any sign of anything. "I brought some dinner, Annie. I couldn't bear the thought of eating alone, again." She took the bags from him and brought them into the breakroom. She pulled him in with her.

"It smells wonderful. Thank you Brent." She turned to him and put her arms around his neck. His arms circled her waist and he kissed her, long and sensual on the mouth. When they broke apart she smiled at him. "Don't do this to me, I have a few hours yet." He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck.

"We could always find a place and fuck right here ..." He whispered in her ear. She felt tingly all over at the mere thought of it.

"Oh, no, Mr. Adventurous. We could not." She pulled away. He stood there feeling the warmth of her dissipate. "That's all I'd need is to walk past someone and smell like ..." She eyed him. "You." He smiled and then laughed.

"Well, then all those handsome doctors would know you're spoken for, wouldn't they?" He said, directed at that doctor he saw chatting with Andrea as he'd arrived earlier. She headed towards the doorway.

"Either that or they'll think I'm a walking sperm bank. Wait here for me I'm gonna tell someone I'm having my dinner now." And she was gone.

"Sperm bank." He muttered. "I'd like to make a deposit." He said and then laughed at his own joke. He sat down at the table and waited for her. She joined him moments later and they ate together. "Ohhh, I almost forgot." He said pulling a pamphlet out of his pocket and tossing it down on the table in front of her. She picked it up and glanced at it.

"What is it?" She said eyeing the pictures of paradise on the pages.

"I thought we could go there." He said after taking a bite of his food. Her eyes grew big.

"Ohhh Brent, it's gorgeous!" She said flipping through the booklet. He smiled.

"I was hoping you'd think so." She looked at him, her blue eyes sparkling, a grin on her face. She bit her lower lip.

"I do! I've never been anywhere as beautiful as this." She breathed. "When will we go, I'll have to ask for the time off." He waved a hand at her absently. He didn't want her to ask for the time off, he was going to call Jocelyn, her supervisor, himself and arrange it all.

"I have to check and see when we have to be back in New York. Put that on hold for now." She frowned.

"Okay. But don't wait too long, I have to tell them plenty in advance." He nodded and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I will, I will." He said. As she ate, she looked through the pamphlet again. The blue sky, the white sand, mountains, trees, the ocean. She could almost feel the warm breeze just by looking at it! She looked up at him and grinned.

"I can't wait." She said excitedly. He took a drink of the Coke in front of him, reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. She got up and sat down, sideways, on his lap. He placed his arms around her waist and laced his fingers together.

"I love you, Andrea, and I can't wait either. You have been very patient with me lately and I have been an ass. Just the thought of being alone with you there is enough to keep me going." She watched his face as he spoke. His eyebrows went up and his forehead wrinkled. His clear, blue eyes emitted warmth and love. She ran her hand across his forehead and down his cheek before bending her head down and kissing him. When they broke apart he cleared his throat and then went back for seconds. One of the nurses poked her head in the room.

"Annie, one of your patients needs you -- he's having trouble with his dressing." Brent and Andrea made an audible 'smacking' sound as they pulled away from the kiss. Andrea blushed and stood up quickly. Brent covered his lap with his hands.

"Oh, uh, thank you, I'll get to him in just a brief moment." The nurse winked and left them alone again. Andrea turned to Brent and he saw her cheeks brushed with pink. It was very becoming. He grinned.

"Well, I guess you could call that 'caught'." He said and then laughed. She giggled and smoothed some stray hairs back against her head.

"I guess so!" She said. He got up and began cleaning up the mess.

"If you have to go help your patient dress, I'll clean up." He said tossing the cartons in the garbage.

"Dress?" She asked, helping him discard the leftovers.

"She said he was having trouble dressing!" He pointed to the doorway where the other nurse was a moment ago. Andrea giggled and then laughed. He made a face.

"Now what did I say?" He said, not getting it.

"She said he was having trouble with his 'dressing.' The bandage on his wound!" She approached him and slid her arms around his waist. "You are so cute." He grinned and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you think so. I feel like a dork."

"Well, you aren't one." She said heading towards the door. "I'll see you in a few." And then she was gone.

Brent slipped his jacked over his shoulders and headed out of the hospital and then home.

Dom watched them from down the hallway. He stood, leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. He was not only appalled but could not believe that this long haired, skinny, poorly dressed man was the one to capture and hold Andrea's attention! She was so beautiful and yet she settles for that? He watched her as she sat at the table and ate gracefully. She was perfect. Her body was lean and muscular, her hair long and silky, she had the most beautiful, angelic face he'd ever seen. Not even Barbie was more lovely than Andrea. When he spoke to her and gazed at her face, he nearly melted every time. Her heart-shaped face was accentuated by a small, pouty mouth and upturned nose. And her eyes ... those deep, blue pools of ocean water ... he swam in them. He glanced over at the man who sat across from her. What did he weigh? His guess was 150 pounds, give or take the leather jacket! What did this lightweight have that he didn't have? He had skinny arms and no chest. One punch and that guy would be a goner. And that hair! What was up with that? He ran his hand through his own short, black, wavy hair. The skinny man, what did Andrea say his name was? Brad, Brett, Brent? Brent, that was it! He either had some very greasy hair or some sort of black streaks running through it. It was tacky none-the-less. Andrea had said he was Italian. What a curse to the Italian race! He, Dom, had direct ties to Italy himself. And he even studied medicine there for a year before returning to the United States to finish. He watched, appalled as Andrea moved from the chair in which she was sitting and plopped herself down on the man's lap and they began kissing. Again, he thought what does he have that I don't have? He smiled and stretched his lips into a line across his teeth. Well, he has Andrea O'Connor for a start ... He was startled by the footsteps of a nurse coming down the hallway towards him. He straightened up, away from the wall.

"Hey," He tugged her shoulder as she passed by. She stopped and turned to him, smiling.

"Yes, Dr. Dom" She said lightly. He nodded towards the patient room across the hall.

"That patient needs a new dressing. Will you go and tell Andrea to take care of it?" She nodded quickly.

"I sure will!" She said and continued down the hall.

Dom took one last look into the breakroom as Andrea and her man kissed. He held up his hand and pointed just the index finger and the pinky finger out at them.

"Rock on, Brent." He said and then left.

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