Serving the Soldier - Part 2 (An Alpha Military Romance) Read Online Free

Parkinson’s. She needed supervision when she was up and about because she was a fall risk. She spent most of her time lying down in bed watching television. I had a four-hour shift with her in the late afternoon, before her husband came home from work.” I paused and noted that he was listening with apparent interest. “One day, the husband didn’t show up on time like he usually did.”
    “So what did you do?”
    “I called my supervisor and let her know that the husband hadn’t arrived yet. Nevertheless, I couldn’t just leave the woman by herself because I didn’t know when the husband would arrive home. He might’ve come home five or ten minutes after I left, but what if he had gotten into a car accident? What if something had happened to him and no one showed up for hours?” I shook my head. “My duty requires that I either stay until someone comes to replace me or a family member could be notified to take my place. The only problem with that was the family lived about three hours away and the weather was already bad.”
    He didn’t say anything and I continued. “So regardless of the fact that you’re able to ambulate… walk around on your own, and you have all your faculties, and you don’t have dementia, or any cognitive issues, the nurse that just left without contacting anyone or letting her supervisor know, or waiting for a replacement could be constituted as patient abandonment.”
    He waved a hand as if it didn’t matter. “I didn’t like her much anyway. Way too snooty for my taste.”
    I smiled, but shook my head. “That’s beside the point.” I cast my gaze down to my menu plan and then looked back up at him. “As a matter of fact, if your friend, Michael, hadn’t been here this morning to pick you up and take you to wherever it was you guys went, you were the one going shopping with me.”
    He made a face and slowly padded over to the kitchen table. He sat down across from me, frowning. “Are you telling me that you can’t leave me alone for a minute?” He shook his head. “I was by myself for several days before you came.”
    I nodded. “Unfortunately, that’s true, but definitely not recommended according to your care plan.”
    He scowled. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
    “No, but you do obviously need some oversight. Do you know how many patients of mine permanently injured themselves because they refused to be compliant to their care plans, or to the advice of their doctors, nurses, and physical therapists?”
    “Nope,” he said, apparently unconcerned. He glanced at the papers on the table. “What are you doing?”
    “Making a menu plan for the week.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I like to be prepared,” I said. “I’ll spend this afternoon or evening doing some cooking, and then I’ll separate them into portions. Some can go in the freezer, others in the fridge. Saves time.”
    He made a face and then smiled. “Sounds terribly efficient.”
    “It is, and it alleviates the need to try and come up with something to fix you for dinner, only to find out you don’t have some of the ingredients.” He stared at me for several moments, until I began to grow uncomfortable. “What?”
    “You take your job very seriously, don’t you?”
    I made a face this time. “Of course I do! It’s my job!”
    He said nothing for a moment, but his next comment took me by surprise.
    “Is it also your job to go snooping around people’s houses?”
    I sat stunned for a moment, confused. “Snooping? What are you—” then I remembered. Against his direct instructions, I had ventured into his office, and yes, I had snooped, but how did he know? I felt another deep blush rise from the bottom of my throat up into my cheeks. “I didn’t touch anything—”
    “No, I don’t believe you did,” he said, still watching me carefully, those chocolate brown eyes boring into mine. I coveted the color of his eyes, and even more so his long, dark eyelashes. They were just damn sexy.