Chapter 3 - The Assessment

"Hi Trey, my name is Caterina, but you can call me Cat. I'm going to be your nurse for the next few hours. I need to do an assessment, and then you should be able to go back to sleep after that, okay?"

She smiled down at him, and he nodded but didn't say anything. She saw him glance at her name badge, and a crease formed between his eyebrows like he was confused about something.

Cat sensed his gaze following her around the room as she prepared, and it made her senses go into overdrive. She felt like she was tingling all over. She didn't understand why she was so aware of him.

She did admissions of handsome young men all the time, and they had never had this effect on her. Her entire body was responding to his stare. Cat couldn't look him in the eyes because she feared he would see how uncomfortable he was making her.

Trey stared at Cat, unable to take his eyes off her. She was even more beautiful up close. He knew he should go ahead and tell her why he was really there. However, seeing her with her stethoscope around her neck, knowing she was getting ready to touch him, made him stop.

Why not let her play nurse on him for a little bit first? Trey could tell that he was affecting her by the way she tried to avoid his eyes. He was now certain she was his mate, and it pleased him to no end. He just needed to touch her.

"I'm going to check your vital signs first, and then I need to assess your skin. After that, I will ask you some questions. Are you feeling short of breath right now?" He appeared to be breathing okay to her.

"No, not like I was earlier. I felt like I was gasping for air, but now I can breathe normally." Trey spoke softly. His voice was deep and smooth, making her feel warm all over, like he had just wrapped her in a warm blanket.

"I'm glad your breathing is better. Are you having pain anywhere?" He shook his head no.

Cat pulled her stethoscope from around her neck and asked him to breathe normally while she listened to his heart. She then had him take several deep breaths so she could listen to his lungs. Cat determined that everything sounded normal; he was young, so that was no surprise.

She put the blood pressure cuff on him and asked him to hold still. As the machine checked his blood pressure and pulse, Cat checked his temperature while counting his respirations. Everything there was normal as well. She wrote the results down on the piece of paper she kept in her pocket so she could enter them into the computer when she was done. Trey was impressed she had done everything she could not to touch him with her hands. The other nurses hadn't hesitated.

Trey never took his eyes off Cat's face the entire time, and it was making her self-conscious. She also kept picking up the faint scent of his cologne. It wasn't overpowering, but rather a light musky pleasant smell. Cat found herself breathing deeply whenever she got a whiff.

She usually didn't let men get under her skin, but Trey was causing her to feel things she couldn't describe. She knew she needed to hurry and get his admission done so she could get out of his room.

"Now, I need to check your skin for any hives, bruises, abrasions, open areas, scars, or other abnormalities. Do you have any of these that you know of?"

Cat walked over to the computer while she was talking. She went to the assessment section that showed a person's front and back so she could fill it out as she went. Before turning back to him, she grabbed her supplies to measure anything she saw. She was rushing to get everything done because she didn't feel like herself.

"I have a scar on my right shoulder where I was shot by a suspect." Trey saw the confusion on Cat's face, and he quickly added. "I'm a detective for the Sacramento police department."

Cat briefly wondered why Millie hadn't mentioned that he was a detective. Police usually get VIP treatment in the hospital. Not that it would make a difference to her because she treats all patients the same.

"I'll need to measure the scar, and then I'll look at the rest of your skin to make sure there's nothing else you're unaware of." Cat put on a pair of gloves, just in case he had any open areas. "Can you pull your gown up, please? You can leave the sheet so your bottom half remains covered."

Trey pulled up the gown, along with his white t-shirt. His skin was so smooth and muscular that Cat had to stop herself from staring. His abdomen and chest had no marks unless you could count the perfectly sculpted abs that were on display.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart and get the thoughts out of her mind of what it would feel like to run her hands over him. She quickly measured the scar on his shoulder and noted its size.

Cat then checked his arms, hands, neck, face, and head, but there was nothing to add. Trey's skin felt so warm through her gloves that she wanted to keep touching him. She knew she must be even more tired than usual because she'd never had thoughts like that.

She noticed that Trey reacted each time she touched him, making her think her hands probably felt cold through the gloves. She had him lower the gown as she pulled the sheet down so she could examine his legs. There were no marks on either leg, foot, or any of his toes. Cat then had him turn over on his side so she could look at his back, which was also clear from any marks.

Trey was working on keeping his breathing normal. When Cat had run her hands all over his body, it was all he could do not to grab her and pull her into the bed with him. Atlas was purring in his head, but Trey told him to be quiet. He didn't want Cat to hear him. He needed to touch her skin, but she had only touched him with the gloves.

"Now it's time for the questions. I know it's late, but the quicker we get this done, the sooner you can rest. Are you still doing okay?"

"I'm fine. When we're done, can you help me to the restroom? I don't want to mess up the IV." He was looking Cat in the eyes again, and she had to look away before she could answer.

"Sure, do you need to go now? We can finish after you're done."

"No, I can wait."

The way Trey looked at her made her feel uneasy like his words had a hidden meaning, but she didn't dwell on it. He glanced at the clock on the wall, so she took it as a hint reminding her of the late hour.

Cat went through the assessment questions quickly. With him being so young, there was relatively no medical history. Besides the medications he was receiving from the hospital for the allergic reaction, he wasn't taking anything else.

After she was done, she unplugged the IV pump from the wall and took off his oxygen. She pulled out her pulse oximetry to check his oxygen saturation level on room air to ensure he was safe to be off the oxygen while in the restroom. His level stayed at 99% even after a few minutes with it off, so she decided he would be fine.

When Trey grabbed Cat's hand so she could help him up, she gasped out loud. She was no longer wearing her gloves, and the skin-on-skin contact felt like it made an electric shock run through her entire body. No one had ever caused that reaction in her, especially when she was prepared for their touch.

She quickly dropped his hand as soon as she knew he was steady and told him to let her know if he began to feel short of breath or dizzy. She felt silly asking him to tell her if he was short of breath or dizzy when she was the one that felt like she was going to pass out when they touched, or he looked into her eyes.

Trey asked if she could bring the bag he had brought up with his clothes and personal things. Cat carried it, wondering what he needed it for, as she pushed the IV pole behind him while they walked to the restroom. She told him to let her know when he was done, and she would assist him back to bed. Cat pulled the door shut as she stepped out. She then went to the computer and started filling out her assessment notes while waiting for him to finish. She took a deep breath. As soon as she helped him to bed, she could get out of there and hopefully avoid him for the rest of her shift.