Pulse Point chapter 17: The Nightmare Date
The nightmare date
Chapter 17:
This appointment had been on the books before everything with Abbott went sideways. Before the rooftop. Before the rain. Before the way he looked at her like something had already shifted and neither of them knew how to stop it. Four days. Only four days, and it felt like a lifetime had wedged itself in between. Kit sat in her car for a second longer than necessary, hands still on the wheel, staring straight ahead like she could convince herself this was normal. This is normal. People go on dates, people move on.you have broken up with your ex-finance almost 8 months and need to move on and people don’t spiral over their boss who kissed them in a stairwell and then held them like that on a roof like it meant something. Her grip tightened slightly.This is the normal. Her job description calls for her to do this. She exhaled slowly. “It is time for you to go on,” she muttered under her breath. “Here is how you proceed.” The words felt rehearsed. Hollow. Still she opened the door and got out. The restaurant was warm. Low lighting. Comfortable enough that it should’ve settled her. It didn’t. She felt off before she even saw him. Like she had walked in already halfway out of it. Exhausted. Preoccupied. Not fully there.
Jimmy was already seated, standing when he saw her. “Hey—Kit, right?” “Yeah,” she smiled, polite. Easy. Automatic. “Hi.” He was… fine. Delightful enough. Clean-cut. Confident in a way that didn’t feel threatening. The kind of guy that made sense. And that was the problem.
At first, it was tolerable. Easy conversation. Work talk. Light teasing. “You’re a nurse, right? That’s… honestly, I love nurses,” Jimmy said, leaning forward like he meant it. “My mom was a nurse.”
There it was. Kit nodded. “Oh—yeah?” just waiting for his response “Yeah,” he smiled. “I just—have a lot of respect for it, you know? Take a certain kind of person.” The compliment sat weird. Too polished. Too… placed. “Thanks,” she said anyway. He kept going. Talking about how hard nurses work. How he “always admired them.” How he “gets along better with women like that.” It felt like he was reading off something. Like she was a type he had already decided she fit into. She smiled through it. “It’s okay… that’s okay…” she told herself quietly. This is what normal feels like. He never really asked about her, never getting to know who she is but just jumping straight into work. Which is definitely his whole personality. They start sharing story from work and the crazy call the only common thing they found so far telling a story or at least trying he kept interrupting her story and just telling another one of his never letting her finished but she letting it happen because she doesn’t know anything else to compare it too she only has been 3 first date and they were all kinda awful. I mean 2 of them were in high school and one in her freshman year of college. Whatever it would be, good experience if anything but then he brought up a call. “Actually,” Jimmy said, leaning back slightly, “I had this call the other night—total shitshow.” Kit’s attention sharpened despite herself. The first time she heard him say that he was the hero of the story and saved everyone. “Yeah?” He nodded and started spitting
“Guy, mid-40s, OD. Real bad. Barely breathing. It was like 3 a.m. and the call came in a mess. The rig rattled over potholes. Lights flashing just enough to make everything feel tighter and I was getting thrown around on this Let’s not fuck around, my partner muttered. We were moving fast and when we pulled up to the apartment door Stale smoke was coming out of the door and when we found him the Guy half off this blue couch and He was unconscious when we showed up. And there were drugs all over the place and this guy was fat. Barely there. I was like Shit—he’s barely breathing. Yelling my partner to get stuff and I started bagging him I got the Narcan. I did one dose and nothing. So I did the second one which then the guy twitched and then gasped. But it wasn't enough. And he still wasn't getting good air and kept yelling Come on in the house and the family was looking to discuss and I kept adjusting the airway and kept checking my mask seal. But with the movement it was impossible so I decided to just load him up which it wasn't to move that man I will say… I mean… I don't know how someone gets that fat but that's beside the point. We finally loaded him. And we loaded in there fast which might have been my best work yet. By the time we hit the ER I was saying all the calls and directing everyone on what to do while telling people what was happening Overdose, unresponsive… the boring stuff. Hands everywhere And then this fucking asshole was question me. Why the hell is he sitting like that? The doctor that came in and had his panties in a twist, already pissed like immediately on my ass” Jimmy’s jaw tightened even in the retelling and shaking his head slightly. Kit asked “which doc was this” really curious who he dislikes this much “I think his name is abbott or something like that i dont really care to know his name” he said and Kit’s stomach dropped slightly. She already knew where this was going. “But whatever back in the trauma bay he was asking me, did you secure the airway? Like he big honchow We were bagging him— then he has the ball to say That’s not what I asked. I mean he was getting oxygen in his body, and i explained to him that he was breathing— but he cut me off and said No,He wasn’t breathing. He was dying. Which I think is over dramatic. He made it sound like I killed the guy or something, then he pushed me and tubed the guy and then said I got lucky And then he just went off, and he said that I don’t know what I’m doing” Jimmy exhaled hard, sitting back in his chair now. Kit’s fingers tightened slightly around her glass. Kit tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean?” He palmed face and dragged his hand down his face. “He starts going on about how I ‘missed it,’ how I ‘don’t get to miss that , air quoting. Like dude it was a mistake. It happens. He’s just so intense, I’ll give him that, he added. But like dude… relax and I told him that. I was like, hey, it was chaotic, we handled it, the guy lived” she could hear Abbott’s voice in her head, Clear as day.and him saying you don’t get to miss that to her Kit blinked. “Wait, you actually said that to him?”
he shrugged “Yeah,Why wouldn’t I?” And he just looks at me and goes— You got lucky. So yeah—we kind of got into it. Jimmy let out a breath, shaking his head. Kit’s stomach dropped. “Like… an argument?” she asked carefully. Jimmy laughed. Oh no—full-on, back at the ER you don’t talk to me like that, then don’t give me a reason to.That’s bullshit,We did our job then he started yelling at me how I missed his airway, It was a split-second thing And that’s all it takes I shot back made more mad and he stepped closer like he was going to fight me or something he said and that’s all it takes, I actually scoffed then said You act like you’ve never made a mistake he said I don’t make that one, which i find hard to believe but i had to be a man and stepped forward too then told him You don’t get to talk down to me like that then he start yelling at me And you don’t get to walk in here thinking ‘good enough’ is acceptable and The room went still and no one was deafening me or helping me which is crazy because if someone talking to another person like that i would have stepped them and Defend them for making a mistake, so i called his out and said You’re an ass then he had the nerve to respond with
Maybe, but he’s alive.” Jimmy shrugged. “So yeah,” he said. “Guy’s kind of a dick.” Kit stared at her drink for a second too long because she knew that version of Abbott her mind drifting thinking getting mad and she kind wanted it to see it and how it would be sexy then thinking how she should be thinking about that or thinking that mad abbott should be hot to her but then she snapped out of her day dream because jimmy started talking again “He didn’t have to come at me like that,” Jimmy added. “It was just a mistake.” Kit looked up and for the first time all night she was fully present. “It’s not just a mistake,” she said quietly. Jimmy blinked. “What?” She didn’t mean to say it, didn’t mean to defend him but it slipped out anyway. “If you miss an airway,” she continued, voice steady now, “that’s not small.”Jimmy frowned slightly. “I didn’t miss it—” but she interrupted “You did,” not harshly. Just… honest. Jimmy leaned back, looking at her with a scowled at with disdain “You sound like him.” Kit exhaled slowly, shaking her head slightly. “No,” she said. “I just… work with him.” He picked up his drink. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Well. Good luck with that.” and just like that the date was over not officially but in her head
They finished their drinks and made it through the motions. The conversation became lighter now with she was happy about that. They walk toward the outside.which the air was cooler than she remembered. Jimmy walked her to her car.“Well,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “we should do this again.” Kit nodded automatically. “Yeah…” He leaned in and she let him. Because that’s what you do, it was kinda expected on date to end it with a kiss i mean it’s normal. The kiss was… fine, forgettable. He asked “do you want to come back to mine” she was in shock that he asked that, not because she was expecting that he wouldn't ask because most guy expected to fuck on the first date but by how she the date went like does he think that went for him. “No I don't really do that on the first date” his face didn’t change he just said “ no i get it, i just thought since i payed for everything tonight” you looking him with disgust now “ well i would just like to get a return on my investment” she now scoffed at him for even say that. That he could say it like that. She took a big step back basically running into her car door “well you have your right hand for a reason” under breath the quickly saying “Goodnight,” strained coming from her. “Yeah,” Jimmy nodded. “Night.”
She opened her car door as fast as she could and got in her car and just sat there. In complete silence letting her anger fester Her hands gripping the steering wheel. White nucking it, let her head tipped back against the seat. “ what the actual fuck was that” She let out a quiet, frustrated breath then screamed in her car to let all her anger out or what ever the fuck she is feeling. Because no matter how hard she tried but all men all the same she kept thinking but then she slowly started thinking that Abbott would have never done that. She couldn’t make herself feel anything close to what she felt with him and that was the problem. Her phone lit up, Gabbie intimately answered “Hel..” She didn’t even make it through hello before the words started spilling out. “That was awful, I think that was the worst thing everlike genuinely, Gabbie, what the fuck was that?” Gabbie didn’t even try to interrupt, Kit just kept going. “He kept touching me like not even in a normal way just like… on my leg under the table, grabbing my hand like we were already something, and I didn’t even like him like that,” she ranted, her voice rising with every word. “And then when we were walking out he put his hand on my back like… like he had some right to do that, like it was already decided or something.” She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she drove, eyes fixed on the road but not really seeing it. “And the kiss, oh my god don’t even get me started on the kiss,” she groaned. “That was the worst kiss I’ve ever had in my entire life. Too much teeth, too much tongue, like what are we doing? Pick a struggle.” Gabbie snorted quietly on the other end. “And I only did it because I felt obligated, which is so stupid,” Kit kept going, words tumbling over each other. “Like I got all dressed up, spent way too long figuring out what to wear, did my makeup for what? For that? For him to act like I owe him something because he paid for dinner?” She let out another frustrated breath. “And then he has the audacity to say he wants a ‘return on his investment’? I swear to god, I almost hit him with my car.” Gabbie cut in finally, dry “Please don’t commit vehicular manslaughter,” Kit huffed. “I’m considering it.” There was a pause just long enough for Gabbie to actually speak. “I’m sorry,” she said, softer now. “I didn’t think it was gonna go like that. He doesn’t act like that at work. Like… at all. Everyone likes him, he’s always been a really nice guy.” Kit scoffed. “Yeah, well, apparently not outside of work.” Kit to a breath letting Gabbie respond “I’m actually shocked,” Gabbie continued. “Like that’s not the vibe he gives off at all.” Kit leaned her head back slightly against the seat for a second at a red light, eyes closing briefly. “Well, the vibe was not it,” she muttered.Gabbie added, a little more teasing now, “Also… side note… Abbott is probably kinda hot when he’s mad.”
Kit rolled her eyes “What?” saying it with something weird behind it “I’m just saying,” Gabbie laughed. “The way Jimmy described it? Intense, in control, calling people out…” Kit cut in quickly “Okay stop,” but there was no bite to it. “and you backed him up,” Gabbie continued, ignoring her. “Which is interesting.” Kit felt the muscle contracting from the frustration “I didn’t back him up,” she said, but it came out weaker than she wanted. “You literally told Jimmy he missed the airway.” Kit shot back immediately. “Because he *did*,” Gabbie hummed. “Mmhm.” There was a pause then, quieter, almost under her breath, Kit muttered, “…I mean… yeah. He probably is.” Gabbie perked up “What was that?” she quickly responded “Nothing,” remarking “Keep talking.” Gabbie laughed. “Oh my god, no we’re circling back to that later.” Kit shook her head, pulling into her street now. “Gabbie…” she started, her voice shifting slightly. More serious. “Hey I… I need to talk to you in person.” That got her attention.
“…Okay,” Gabbie said slowly. “About what?” Kit hesitated for half a second. “It’s about work,” she said.
Not a lie but not the truth. “…What about work?” Gabbie pressed. Kit exhaled, pulling into her driveway.
“I just… I can’t do this over the phone,” she admitted. “I have too many thoughts and I can’t get them out right like this…Please come over,” she added, softer now. “I really need you.” There was no hesitation this time. “Yeah,” Gabbie said immediately. “I’ll come over.” kit trying to say “You don’t have to—” but Gabbie cut her off “I’m already grabbing my keys, I’ll drive myself, it’s fine. Give me like twenty minutes.” Kit let out a small breath, tension easing just slightly. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you.” Gabbie replied “Of course,” further clarifying “Don’t spiral without me.” Kit huffed a quiet laugh. “No promises.”
By the time Gabbie got there, Kit was upstairs in her room, halfway through ripping herself out of the version of her that had gone on that date. Makeup half gone. Dress unzipped and hanging awkwardly off one shoulder. Hair messy from running her hands through it too many times and then up in a bun
She heard the front door open. “Hello?” Gabbie called. “Upstairs!” Kit yelled back. She can hear footsteps coming up the stairs. The door swung open without a knock, Gabbie stepping in with a bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. “Emergency supplies,” she announced. Kit looked over to see the McDonald’s bag. “…Fries?” Gabbie confirmeding “Large and I almost got nuggets but I didn’t know how bad it was.” Kit stared at her for half a second “Oh my god, thank god you’re here,” she said, dropping her makeup wipe onto the dresser. “You are the best human in the world.” while smiling at her
“I know,” Gabbie nodded, already kicking off her shoes. Ten minutes later, they were downstairs.
Wine poured, the fries spread across the coffee table like a sacred offering, both of them sitting on the floor, legs crossed, leaning into the couch. Kit took a sip of wine, then another, like she needed it just to start. “So,” Gabbie said, popping a fry into her mouth. “Tell me everything.” Kit opened her mouth then closed it. Then opened it again, this time deciding to work “Okay, so work has just been… a lot,” she started, immediately cringing at herself. Gabbie stared at her. “Don’t bullshit me.” Kit groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “I know, I know, okay,” she muttered. “I just didn’t know how to start it.” She sat up again, exhaling. “I can’t take it anymore,” she finally admitted . “I just have to tell someone.” Gabbie leaned forward slightly. “…Okay.” Kit hesitated.
Then it all came out.Not in a straight line. Not clean. It spilled, messy and tangled, the way it had been sitting in her chest this whole time. “The bar the night we went out for my birthday,” Kit started, already shaking her head a little like she couldn’t believe she was saying it out loud. “It was… different. I don’t know how to explain it. We were just talking and it felt easy. Like really easy. Like I’ve known him for years or something.” Gabbie leaned forward slightly, elbows on her knees. “Okay…” Kit added, “And the way he looked at me,” quieter now. “Not like normal. Not like how he looks at people at work. It was… softer? But also not? I don’t know, it just it felt like it meant something.” Gabbie’s brows lifted a little. “That’s already suspicious.” Kit huffed a small breath, almost laughing. “I know.” She grabbed her wine glass, taking a sip before continuing. “And then you know about the case where I had taken care of the SA victim” Gabbie nodded. “Well I ended up on the rooftop, and he came up and found me in a ball crying” she said, her voice dipping a little. “After everything with that patient… I lost it. Like completely. I didn’t even know I was up there until I was already crying.” Gabbie’s expression softened instantly. “Yeah…” Kit said, looking down at her hands now. “I didn’t even hear him come up. He just was there.”
Still a lot to think about that day but the thought of him softened it a little bit “And he didn’t say anything at first. Just… stayed. And then” she exhaled slowly, trying to find the words, “he pulled me into him. Like immediately. No hesitation. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.” Gabbie blinked. “Oh.” Kit nodded “Yeah,” almost helplessly. “And it wasn’t weird. It should’ve been weird but it wasn’t. I just went with it. Like I needed it or something.” added another blow “The way he held me…” she added more quietly. “It wasn’t just like comforting. It was… grounding. Like everything just stopped for a second.” Gabbie let out a slow breath. “Okay, that’s—” with this look that she is trying to retain all of this information she is throwing at her. “I know,” Kit cut in quickly. “I know” She rubbed her hands over her face for a second before continuing. “And then the day I came in with the pizza something happened,” she said, her tone shifting again. “That was… different.” Gabbie tilted her head. “Different how?” She started explaining “He pulled me in there,” Kit also said “Like—checked first that no one was around, and then just—took my hand and brought me in.” Gabbie’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh my god.” kit shaking her head during this part “And he apologized,” Kit went on. “Like actually apologized. Not in his usual way. Like real. Said he was out of line, that I was right to call him out.” then looking at gabbie like what the fuck am I telling you “And he was standing so close,” she added, voice quieter again. “Like way closer than he needed to be. And I didn’t move. I didn’t want to move.” Interminable pause
“And the touches…” Kit muttered, almost to herself now. “They shouldn’t have meant anything. Like his hand on my back in the ER, or brushing past me but it didn’t feel like nothing. It felt like… something.”
Gabbie nodded slowly, watching her carefully. “And then the flowers,” Kit added, letting out a small, disbelieving laugh. “He remembered what I said when I was talking to you I liked. I didn’t even think he was paying attention at the time.” Gabbie just let her finish before saying “That’s insane,” while moving her hand to express it. “Right?” Kit looked at her. “Like who does that?” Gabbie countering “Someone who’s paying attention,” Kit swallowed slightly, her fingers tightening around her glass. “And the way he talks to me,” she went on. “It’s not the same as everyone else. It’s… softer sometimes. Or like—he’s choosing his words more carefully. But then other times he’s still… him. And it just it throws me off.”
She shook her head again. “And the way he looks at me…” she finished, her voice almost dropping off at the end. “It’s like he’s trying not to. Like he catches himself, but it’s already there.” Silence settled between them. Gabbie stared at her for a second longer. “…Yeah,” she said slowly. “No, that’s not in your head, right?” kit taking a big swig of her wine and finished her glass while pouring her a new glass
And then “there was the night at my place” gabbie quickly shouted at her “he was here” Kit grunting and looked away before saying “ yeah and We uh… we kissed,” she admitted, her voice quieter now. “Like against the door. Right when we got inside.” while gesturing toward the front door. Gabbie’s eyes widened but she didn’t interrupt. “It wasn’t planned,” Kit rushed slightly. “It just happened. One second we were talking in the rain outside and then he was just there.” gabbie now be Impatient “ wait what… What do you mean you were in the rain” She shook her head a little, like she was still trying to understand it herself. “Well he found me walking home that night in the rain and then try to convince me to get into his car so he could drive me home but I kept saying no or I am fine but then he pulled over and got out of his car and walked me to my house and then I kinda… uh.. Just blow up at him, trying to make sense of what was happening and then i was crying in his arms again then he told me that we have to go inside and that how he ended up here and then I kissed him ” Gabbie in disbelieve now “that a fucking A movie scene that you just said and wait did I hear you correctly that you made the first move” then quickly adding “go for you to make the first move, you badass” that made kit chuckle a little bit “yeah I know and it wasn’t like a quick thing either,” she added. “It was… a lot. Like neither of us really wanted to pull away.” then kit looked at Gabbie with a face “Then Dana knocked,” she said, letting out a breath that almost turned into a laugh. “Of course she did. Worst timing of my life.” Gabbie let out a quiet “oh my god.” Kit continued “I thought that was it, and I thought he was going to leave, everything was going to snap back to normal. But I—” she hesitated, then pushed through it, “I asked him to stay.”
Gabbie looked at Kit with googleeyes “You did?” Kit admitted softly. “I couldn’t be alone, Not after that shift. Not after that little girl. I just… I couldn’t do it, which seems so pathetic of me” Her voice dipped, more vulnerable now.“No, not at all I don't think I could either, so I dont blame you but wait I am sorry, he stayed.” Kit quickly responded to explain herself “We didn’t do anything. We just… went to bed. Like actually just sleeping. Same bed, but nothing else.” She let out a slow breath, staring down at her hands.“And it felt… safe,” she said. “Which is probably the worst part.” then looking at gabbie like she was going to break “But when I woke up, he was gone,” she finished. “Like he’d never been there. No note, nothing. Just… gone.” That one lingered because somehow that part stuck the most.
“I think I’m—” she stopped herself, shaking her head. “No—I know I’m starting to fall for him.” The words landed heavy between them. “But I can’t,” she added quickly. “He’s my boss. He would never cross that line, and even if he did, it would ruin everything.” Her voice softened. “And I’ve been trying to move on,” she admitted. “That’s why I went on the date. But the entire time it wasn’t going well, all I could think about was him.” She let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know what to do, Gabbie.” Dead air then “…Yeah,” Gabbie said slowly and Kit nictitated “Yeah… Yeah,” she repeated. “That tracks.” Kit stared at her. “That’s all you have to say?” Gabbie shrugged slightly. “I mean… from the outside? It’s kind of obvious.” I know Kit was just more confused from her response “What?” Kit sat up straighter. “No, it’s not.” Gabbie gave her a look. “The way he looks at you?” she said. “The way you look at him? The way he follows you around without realizing it? Yeah it’s not subtle.” A wave of nausea hits her while she is hearing all of this “And the flowers?” Gabbie added. “Please.” Kit groaned, grabbing a handful of fries just to have something to do. “Don’t say that,” she muttered. “I’m just telling you what it looks like,” Gabbie shrugged. “And honestly? I get it.” Kit glanced up. “ I just don't want to get my hope up for them to get destroyed” her lips tightening together “Yeah, I understand that” Gabbie said simply. “ But he's intense, he’s good at what he does, he actually cares, and he treats you differently. That’s… kind of a dangerous combination.” Kit let out a breath, tension easing just slightly. “Okay, so I’m not insane.” Gabbie shook her head.“No, you’re absolutely not insane.” Kit laughed quietly. “Good.” Then Gabbie tilted her head slightly. “…What’s Dana going to think?” Kit froze looking at her, immediately shaking her head. “No. Absolutely not.” Gabbie questions her “You’re not going to tell her?” Kit said firmly “No, I don’t even want to think about that.” Gabbie simply added “Why?” Kit is now getting stress again feeling her body get the shivers “Because she’ll analyze everything,” Kit said quickly. “She’ll watch every interaction, every look, every little thing and then she’ll start interrogating him and me and I just no. I can’t do that.” Gabbie nodded slowly. “Fair.” before she stuff her face with fries that are almost cold because we have been talking for so long. “And I don’t even know how she’d look at me after,” Kit added, quieter now. “Or him. Or both of us.” Kit leaned back against the couch, exhaling. “…I feel better,” she admitted. Gabbie smiled slightly. “Yeah?” Kit nodded “Yeah, I thought I was going insane.” She laughed at that statement. “You were,” Gabbie teased lightly. “Just not about this.” Kit rolled her eyes and gave her a stinker face but smiled anyway. “And now,” she added, glancing at her, “I have you.” Gabbie raised her glass. “You do.” Kit clinked hers against it. “And you’ll be able to see it,” Kit said. “At work. Without me having to explain everything.” Gabbie smirked. “Oh, I will absolutely be watching.” looking at her while slanting her head “Don’t make it weird please.” but gabbie crossed her arm “No promises.” Kit laughed. And for the first time all night everything was off her chest.












