We heard footsteps in the corridor, and I hastily got back into my seat, Beth tugging her uniform straight. "Everything OK in here?" we heard a voice, and a security guard came round the corner, torch in hand.
"We're fine," Beth smiled. "Not seen you up here before?"
"It's a big place," he shrugged. "But we try and get around as much as we can."
He looked at our uniforms. "You're students, right?"
"Mmhm."
"You managing OK on your own, all night?"
I nodded. "The patients are all asleep, and we can get the on-call doctor if we're worried about anything."
"Good stuff. Well, I'll be on my way, then."
"Night."
When he'd gone, Beth grinned at me, her eyes dancing. "If he'd been a minute earlier, that'd have been a very different conversation."
"True," I laughed. "Now, we were going to look for stuff for my trousseau?"
"Only if they've got it in both our sizes," teased Beth...
***
When we got home the next morning, Tim blinked at the enthusiasm with which we almost-dragged him into the bedroom. "Did you two have an imaginative night, then?" he teased.
"Oh, you have no idea," I breathed. "But if half of what we thought up comes true, you are going to be a very happy man."
"Can't wait," he grinned. "Give me a clue?"
I threw Beth an amused glance. "It's a maths problem - if two nurses is fun-squared, what are four of them?"
Tim's eyes widened. "I'd say, more than I can handle."
"Don't worry," chuckled Beth. "As long as you remember to put the plus signs in the right places, it all works out nicely."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tim shook his head, smiling. "But I'll join in the equation if you want."
"Oh, we definitely do," I nodded. "Next week, right, Beth?"
"Mmhm..."
***
When Saturday came, Beth and I napped for the morning, then showered and dressed. "Off somewhere?" queried Tim.
"It's a surprise," I grinned, raising my eyebrows.
"OK," Tim held his hands up. "I'm sure I'll like it, whatever it is."
"Oh, bound to," I teased. "Come on, Beth."
We walked into town, and Beth looked at the screen of her phone. "Down here, it says."
She stopped at the door of the shop. "Are you sure about this, Alice? I'm afraid of it hurting."
I touched her hand reassuringly. "I'll go first - if you really can't, just say."
We went inside, and the girl behind the counter looked up. "Is it Alice and Beth?"
"That's us," Beth ventured, sounding braver than she obviously felt. "You're Amy?"
A nod, then "OK - well, if whoever's first can sit down here, lift up your top."
I sat in the chair, tugging my t-shirt out of my jeans, while Beth looked on anxiously.
Amy pulled on disposable gloves, then poured clear liquid from a bottle onto a cotton pad from a sterile packet. "This'll feel cold," she warned, then carefully wiped the skin around my belly button with the pad. "Brr," I nodded.
She reached for the needle, and I saw Beth's eyes widen. "You can sit down too if you like," Amy invited.
Beth took the chair next to me, unable to take her eyes off the needle as Amy pressed it against my skin, then through. I managed not to make a sound - if I'd let Beth guess how much it stung, I was sure she'd not go through with it herself - and caught my lip between my teeth as the tip of the needle reappeared. "Wow."
"That's the hard part," Amy nodded. She reached into the steel tray beside her. "You wanted this one, didn't you?"
"Mmhm."
The bar slid easily through the new opening in my skin, and Amy removed her fingers. "There."