Danger Zone

-Chapter 3-

Courtney's Point of View

After leaving from Bradley's room I made my way back to the nurse's station happier than ever. I felt so giddy. I haven't felt this way in a very long time. Once I took my seat back behind the counter Josie immediately looked up and said "lord I figured you had run off and snuck out the back door with your patient" as she was giggling. I could instantly feel the blush come onto my cheeks when she said this. I then answered and said "I can't with you. But for real though I probably could have. I'm telling you Jos he is the sweetest patient that I have ever had." Josie then said "and apparently the most good looking patient you've ever had too" then wiggled her eyebrows. I playfully hit her arm and laughed before saying "you ain't wrong about that."

                            -Time Jump- (Day 2)
Checking up on Bradley went on for hours into the early morning, but now it was finally time for him to be up at a normal time. I checked my watch and it was now 9 in the morning. I felt so bad for having to wake him up every 2 hours but it's hospital and concussion protocol. Before I went to Bradley's room I grabbed my clipboard, notepad, and coffee. This girl definitely needed some coffee this morning. After I grabbed everything I began walking to Bradley's room. Once I made it to the room I slowly and quietly  opened the door just in case he was still sleeping. I walked in and again sat all of my things down. I wrote down my time on the white board and re-wrote my name in a pink Expo marker.

I then walked over to where Bradley was in the bed to check his IV stand and wake him up. To wake him up I again did what I have been doing for the past 6 ish hours now by gently placing my hand in his and squeezing it while quietly saying "Good morning Bradley. It's time to wake up." He squeezed my hand back and said "Well good morning to you too." I laughed and then said "I bet you are happy to be back awake now. Having to wake you up every 2 hours was rough. I felt so horrible about it." He looked at me and said "ah it's alright. I mean I'm used to being up early anyways. When I was in the Naval Academy in the TOPGUN we had to be up before the sunrise."   

He then asked "so what's on the schedule for today Nurse Courtney?" I looked at my notepad before answering with "well Doctor Webber will be in to look over your ankle soon. He is most likely going to have you do a little bit of physical therapy on it. After that we will come back up here and you can rest and eat your brunch. How does that sound?" He nodded his head before saying "sounds good to me. Will you be able to see if Maverick is going to come by today?" I thought about it for a minute before answering and said "yes I can. He listed his number as your emergency contact, so I can give him a call once we talk to your doctor. Then he and Hangman or whoever else wants to come visit they can." He smirked at me before saying "look at you knowing the call signs of some of the guys that I fly with." I shook my head before asking "so what is the proper definition of a call sign?" "A call sign is just a nickname/identifier that we use. It can point to a personality, an achievement, or just something interesting about the said pilot. I even have one for you." I looked at him and said "oh really now? And what might that be?" He smirked and then said "oh yours is sweet thang."

I looked back at him while I took a sip of my coffee before I said "sweet thang?" He said "oh yes ma'am. With you it's all about your sweet and caring personality and you being so beautiful. To be honest though I probably could come up with a lot more for you."

                                 -Time Jump-
While Bradley was with Dr. Webber heading down to physical therapy I was going to be making a few phone calls. Bradley wanted me to call Maverick and have him come up here.

Maverick: Hello this is Pete Mitchell what can I do for you?

Myself: Hey there. This is Courtney Alden at the Medical Center. I'm Bradley's nurse. I was just calling to see if you were going to come up here to the medical center today. Bradley has been asking about you.

Maverick: Oh yes Courtney we did meet last night. Yes I am definitely going to stop by. What is Bradley doing at the moment?

Myself: Okay great. He is actually in physical therapy at the moment with Dr. Webber. We wanted to get him started on physical therapy early just because of his ankle injury.

Maverick: Okay. I'll start heading that way then. So his injuries are still pretty mild?

Myself: Yes sir they are. He should be ready to go home by tomorrow afternoon or early the next morning of the following day.

Maverick: Great. I'll be there in just a few minutes. Bye.

After the conversation with Maverick ended I went ahead and started to grab my things. When he gets here I'll walk him to where Bradley is. I also grabbed a dinner menu for Bradley to look at since it was already 3:30 and dinner would start coming around 5:30/6:00. While I was sitting at the station Josie got back from making her rounds and checking on her patient. Once she sat down she said "let me tell you what I am tired. I think I'm going to get myself a large coffee on this break I have coming up." I giggled and said "you got that right sister." A few minutes later Maverick came walking into the ER. He was dressed in some dark wash jeans, a white shirt, and his leather jacket that has the different patches on it. I didn't say anything yet but Josie just so happened to look up and say "damn who is that fine man coming into the ER?" As I giggled he just so happens to walk up to the station where we were sitting. "Hey Courtney, I'm here to see "Rooster." I quickly began to grab my things and said "right this way. He will be glad to see you." Josie shot me a look of "you will tell me who this man is later on" before I walked off with Maverick.

Once we made it down to Bradley's room he was just getting back himself. He was sitting on the edge of his bed getting ready to swing his legs up and onto the bed. Maverick walked in first and said "I heard someone was wanting to see some new faces today. How are you feeling buddy?" I then walked in behind and began setting my things down on the side table. It was so cute to see how Bradley's mood changed and to see the excitement on his face when Maverick showed up. "Well look who it is Captain Pete Mitchell and my sweet thang coming to check on me." Maverick just looked at Bradley before saying "nice to see you Rooster. Also who's sweet thang?" Bradley said "hey Mav it's good see you. If you must know sweet thang is nurse Courtney. I had to give her a call sign." Maverick shook his head before saying "I should have known that ol Bradshaw would be flirting in here." I giggled before telling the men that I was going to be back in a few minutes. I needed to go speak with Dr. Webber and get Bradley's updated medical chart.
Dr. Webber wanted to talk to me about how the physical therapy went today, then we would go into Bradley's room together and speak with him. Dr. Webber wanted to let him know what our game plan was and what we had decided about him being released tomorrow.

A/N: Wowza this chapter was over 1400 words...I've never written that much before. I have finally felt like this was a good stopping point for this chapter. Thank you to all of the other writers that I have been talking to and getting opinions from, it has helped me tremendously. I also got to meet one of the pilots from Top Gun Maverick today and it was the coolest experience ever. He was amazing. Thank you for all of the love with this book so far. Keep voting, and commenting! 💜