Almost Perfect

“Shit, I’m going to be late for work,” Stacy Walker mumbled to herself as she looked at her watch. She quickly closed the gas cap to her pearl white Nissan Maxima and rushed inside the local gas station.

She had to start her shift in 10 minutes and it took exactly that amount of time to get to the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center where she worked as a critical care RN. She worked 12 hour night shifts and she needed to grab a large coffee before her shift tonight. It was her last shift of four straight in a row and she was ready for a few days off.

The young woman, dressed in navy blue scrubs quickly filled a large Styrofoam cup with the dark liquid, placed a lid on it, and then moved to the counter to pay.

“This all for you?” The clerk asked from the behind the counter.

“Oh, gas on pump nine as well,” Stacy dug her wallet out from her purse and pulled out her debit card, handing it to the young man cashiering.

“Need a receipt?” The kid asked but Stacy was already throwing her wallet back in her purse and rushing out the door.

“No thanks!” She turned her head and gave the boy a smile as she hurried out the door. She was just turning her head back in the right direction when her small frame collided with something hard, sending her hot coffee down the front of her. She let the cup fall to the ground and quickly pulled her scrub top from her skin, feeling the searing liquid seep through.

“Oh fuck!” A man’s voice exclaimed as he saw what he had done. “Shit, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

Stacy’s face was one of pure shock, she looked down at her shirt that was completely saturated with coffee and then glanced up at the stranger. “I think I’m fine, just covered in coffee.”

“I’m really sorry, can I give you money to buy a new shirt? It was a total accident, I wasn’t watching where I was going and,” Stacy raised a hand to cut the man’s rambling off.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t watching where I was going either.” She picked up the now empty cup from the ground and moved towards the garbage can near the coffee machines, throwing it away quickly.

She picked up some napkins to help soak up some of the excess fluid, thankful the hot liquid didn’t burn her skin.

“Here’s some money so you can replace your uniform, I really do apologize.” The guy’s voice was a bit quieter now as he stood next to her, holding out a $50 bill.

Stacy looked down at it and couldn’t help but snort, “Scrubs aren’t that expensive!”

“Well I feel horrible, so please, just take it!” The guy pushed it towards her and Stacy finally got her first good look at him since he crashed into her. “Wait….Stacy?”

“Adam?” It was her older brother’s best friend from high school, she hadn’t seen him in years. The two had been inseparable and Stacy got to know Adam very well, he was like another member of their family until he started touring with his band ‘Kara’s Flowers’. The last she had heard, his band ended up calling it quits and he was on the verge of starting another band.

“I didn’t recognize you! It’s been so long!” He smiled at her and was about to hug her when he stopped, “Oh, seriously I can’t apologize enough; I need to watch where I’m going!”

She laughed, “Oh well, no harm done! Look it’s really great to see you, but unfortunately I’m already running late for work and I really need to get going.” She pointed towards the door and made a move towards the door.

“Right, well it was nice to see you too,” He smiled again, “Take care!”

She smiled at him and then turned her back on him and hurried out to her car. Once inside she let out a huge breath, she hoped someone had an extra scrub top at work because she couldn’t afford to go back home and she was definitely already going to be late. She started her car and then headed off in the direction of the hospital.

Once she was at the hospital she quickly made her way to the fourth floor where her unit was located.

“Whoa! What the heck happened to you?” Kristie, Stacy’s coworker asked her as she walked out of the elevator.

“Long story, please tell me you have an extra scrub top here,” Stacy pleaded, stopping at the desk to talk to her friend.

“I do, but it’s going to be awfully big on your scrawny ass.” Kristie laughed. She stood up and led the way to the employee locker room and found her spare scrub top, handing it to Stacy.

“Thanks, you’re a life saver.” She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed shirts, her bra was also slightly wet but she would have to deal with it.

After clocking in and getting report Stacy went and checked in with both of her patients, being on a critical care unit meant that she never had more than two patients because of the high acuity of the patient conditions.

It was around one o’clock in the morning when she was first able to sit down and do some charting. She sat next to Kristie and opened up her first patient’s chart, documenting his assessment.

“So what happened to you before work?” Kristie pried.

“I was at the gas station and as I was walking out this guy was walking in and he ran into me, spilling my coffee all over me.” Stacy said, not even looking away from the computer screen.

“Dude that sucks! Was he at least nice about it or was he a jerk?” Kristie asked her coworker.

“Oh yeah, he was super nice about it. He tried to offer me $50 for a new scrub top but I wouldn’t take it.” She smiled slightly, “Actually he turned out to be an old friend of my brother’s so I knew him, he was even more apologetic after he realized it was me.”

“Well that’s good at least, was he cute?” Kristie was always trying to set Stacy up with guys. Stacy had been in a few serious relationships in her life. Stacy had always been fairly independent and she never felt strong enough about someone to make a commitment that large.

“Yeah I guess, I didn’t really get a good look at him.” She shrugged, “Adam was always just Adam Levine, guy that never leaves my house and almost always has a guitar with him.”

“Adam Levine?” Kristie looked at her friend with wide eyes.

Stacy turned to face her coworker and gave her a confused look, “You know him?”

“Do I know him? Every girl in the United States knows him!” Kristie frantically turned to her computer and typed a few things in before clicking on something with her mouse and then turning the screen to Stacy. “He’s one of the hottest rockstars on the planet!”

Stacy looked closer, there stood Adam, his shirt was off, his toned, tattooed body for the world to see.

“He’s the lead singer of Maroon 5! They’re a pretty big time band right now, new comers, they are amazing!” Kristie gushed.

“Huh, I guess I had no idea he was in another band, I just never paid much attention.” Stacy shook her head, her thoughts trailing back to Adam again. He was good looking, but she had always been afraid to look at him in any other way but a friend, she figured her brother wouldn’t allow anything between them anyways.

“Well if you ever see him again, PLEASE give him my number!” Kristie giggled.

“I’m not so sure Mike would appreciate that.” Stacy replied, referring to her friend’s boyfriend.

The two friends laughed before being interrupted by the ding of a call light. Stacy and Kristie went about the rest of the work shift without any more discussion of Adam or Stacy's encounter with him.