Though the cafeteria is nearly empty at this hour a couple sits at a small table, a woman dabs at her eye with a white napkin. Charlotte's rosy red hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, her back is turned to me while she picks at a premade salad.
"Hey," I say when I'm about four feet away from her. I pull out the thin light wooden chair and it squeaks against the ivory floor.
"Mmm," Charlotte greets to the best of her ability while having a mouth full of food.
I take a seat in the uncomfortable chair, grab a protein bar out of my purse, take a big ole bite, and repeat the "mmm" right back at Char with chocolate-covered teeth. Her burgundy colored lips lift in a smile.
"Loser," she chuckles with a playful eye roll.
"Yeah, yeah, so what's the tea?" I ask placing my elbows on the matching thin table and balling my fists under my chin.
"Okay so Lisa has heard of Cole," she says leaning in closer.
Okay, big whoop so Lisa knows him how is this tea worthy? Lisa is one of the plastic surgeons who works here and one of Char and I's more recent but close friends. I'm about to ask what the big deal is but she continues on before I can open my mouth.
"So anyway, apparently he's a pretty well-known motocross rider from California, travels all over the world, bad boy type, even dated an A-list celebrity a couple of years back. A reporter has already contacted the hospital for information."
"Hmm yeah, that's the tea I was not expecting. What's going to happen now?" I ask as I look into her light brown eyes.
She shrugs her shoulders clearly wondering the same thing. Charlotte pulls her phone out of her scrub pocket types away and pushes the phone towards my face.
"Is that him?" I ask surprised taking a better look at the photo in front of me. He obviously looks far different in this image than he did the other night lying half dead. The thought of his bloodied broken body sends a chill down my spine. In this picture, he looks absolutely stunning. He's leaning against a black and yellow dirt bike with his arms crossed against his chest, snow-capped mountains littered in the background against a coral and orange sunset. Some of his intentionally messy brown hair falls on his forehead, sun-kissed skin, hazel eyes, a smile that resembles one of Kellan Lutz, his black and gray fox racing shirt is rolled up to his forearms revealing tattoos on both arms, hands, and peaking through the collar. The guy is gorgeous beyond words..or was. If he needs a plastic surgeon Lisa practically performs miracles.
"Hot right?" Charlotte pulls the phone and takes another glance before sliding it back in her pocket.
"I can appreciate a good-looking guy but so far from my type," I say scrunching my nose in distaste.
Charlotte dramatically rolls her eyes, "Okay first off this isn't Tinder I wasn't offering him out to you and secondly no one is your type other than Roman."
I frantically lean across the table covering my hands over her mouth to shut her up, she said that way too loudly. Charlotte knows I'm pretty equivalent to in love with my boss but god damn that doesn't give her the right to scream it from the rooftops!
She pushes my hands away from her mouth, lipstick smeared on her outer lip, "Would you stop? No one is even around!"
I look around and she's right, the couple that was once here is now gone, not like they know me, Roman, or give two shits about my massive secret crush anyway.
Charlotte takes another stab at her salad and I take another bite of my protein bar while wondering what celebrity Cole dated.
I ask around chews, "So other than Cole being attractive and famous, how's he doing in your unit?"
She slumps in her chair, "not much of a change yet, he'll be weaned off the Pentobarbital starting around noon tomorrow and we'll take it from there, probably won't be awake until tomorrow night or the next day but for now he's stable."
Charlotte and I finish our break and ride up the elevator together, me going to floor three and her going to four. The rest of the night goes smoothly and by seven I am more than ready to head out so I can crawl into bed.