GB Ch. 3 Visiting Hours

A week passed since Ray and his friends brought the woman to the hospital. They could not visit her due to her needing to rest, and only family members were allowed to see her in that time frame.
The day that the Ghostbusters were able to visit, only Ray Stantz was able to attend. The others had plans after the four of them finished a job. He dropped them off at their destinations.
Ray was still in uniform, not caring to get out of it even if he had civilian wear underneath it.
As he walked up to the visitors’ desk, many women, including the nurses and doctors, looked at him in awe. They either drooled over him or whispered to one another about him; in a good way, Ray guessed, hinting at the way they were looking at him.
Many of the women went up to him to talk or get an autograph. He was nice enough to sign some, but he really wanted to see how the woman he rescued was doing.
Ray finally got loose from the pack of fans as he walked into an elevator and pushed the number three button. But when he stepped out onto that floor, he was bombarded yet again with fans. Nevertheless, this time, he only smiled nicely and kept walking to his destination.
Ray made it to her room without incident and opened the door ajar before knocking lightly to tell her he was there.
She did not hear the low knock, dispersed while gazing out the window. The only time she then realized Ray was there was when he cleared his throat.
When she turned to see who it was, she smiled then, knowing who he was. “You must be the one I was told saved my life?”
Ray smiled back, “yep, that was me.” He saw two white bandages on her forehead and left cheek, then saw her right ankle, and his smile fell. Her ankle was in a cast, and he realized why.
He did that to her.
“I’m sorry about your ankle,” his voice was soft with the presence of guilt. “But it was the only thing I was able to grab hold of to save your life.”
She waved the explanation off. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you any. I blame that damn ghost. I mean, if it weren’t for you and your friends, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I think you for saving me.” She smiled at him once again.
He grinned.
“You can come closer unless you’re in a hurry, and that’s why you’re hangin’ by the door.”
“What?” Ray still had not moved away from the door, though it was closed behind him. “Oh! No, I don’t have anywhere to go after this.” He walked toward her. “It’s just you’re the very first person who was sent to a hospital under our care. And I wanted to see how you were doing.”
As he got closer, he got a better look at her; her dirty-blond hair was straight, she had an oval-shaped head, her lips seemed to be just right, not too thin and not too big, her eyes, though, were a rarity, for her left eye was green, and her right eye was blue. Her voice was evenly beautiful.
He was mesmerized by her.  
She gave him another smile. “That’s sweet of you.”
“You wouldn’t mind if I got your name, would you? The nurses seemed to have forgotten to tell me.”
She snickered at that, knowing why they would have forgotten to tell him what he needed to know. She put out her right hand and introduced herself, “Victoria Trisity.”
Ray shook her hand, but before Victoria let go of his hand, she asked, “What about you? Do you have a first name, or would you prefer being called, Stantz?”
He laughed a little at that, then answered, “Raymond, but everyone calls me Ray.”
“Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Ray.”
“And it’s nice to meet you.”
The two then started to talk about anything, having more laughs here and there.
Ray sat on the edge of Victoria’s bed, making sure not to hit her ankle.

Back on the first floor, three nurses were still talking about the Ghostbusters.
“You know, since those four came into being a year ago, I couldn’t believe how hot they were, still are,” Melinda Grovers said. “Including the one named Dr, Stantz.”
“They are good-looking men,” Kelli Brown answered. “Too bad they have such a strange job, though.”
“Someone’s gotta catch those ghosts,” Nurse Brown shrugged.
“You like that Stantz guy?” Brenda Stevenson asked. “What about Dr. Venkman? Now he’s hot!”
“I think he’s still taken,” Grovers said. “Remember after that huge marshmallow man was destroyed and he came out with that one lady by his side, and they kissed, like twice?”
“Oh, right,” Stevenson remembered, sighing in sadness.
“I have a thing for Zeddemore,” Brown said dreamily.
The two laugh at the face she made when she said his name. Her face resembled a face filled with pure pleasure.
“I wonder if he’s also called, Doctor,” Brown wondered.
“Don’t know,” Brenda answered.

In Victoria’s room, the two talked for two and a half hours.
Noticing the time on his watch, Ray told her, “I guess I should be going.” It was getting close to the end of visiting hours.
She peeked at his watch. “Wow! It’s that time already?”
“Time sure has flown past us,” he agreed. “How long do you have to stay here for?”
“They want me to stay for at least another week.”
“Maybe I can swing by tomorrow with the other Ghostbusters for you to meet?”
“You don’t have to waste your time on me.”
“You’re not a waste of time.” He took hold of her hand and kissed the top of it.
Victoria flushed and smiled shyly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said with a chuckle. Then he got up and left.

Ray got back to the first floor. Just as he stepped off the elevator, the nurse named Grovers asked her friends, “you think I should go up to him and ask if he’d like to go out for coffee or lunch?”
The two shrugged. “You can try,” Stevenson responded. “You never know what could happen when it comes to those guys.
Ray was now at the desk, but before Melinda could ask anything, he told another nurse who sat behind it that he would be coming back tomorrow.
The nurse nodded in acknowledgment, then handed him the sign-out sheet.
Melinda jogged around to the other side of the desk just as Ray turned to leave. “Excuse me, Dr. Stantz?”
He stopped and turned to her, “Yes?”
“I was just wondering if you’d like to join me for coffee or lunch sometime.”
“My schedule is swamped, so I’m going to have to take a rain check on that. Sorry.”
“Oh, okay. It’s no problem.”
He smiled apologetically then left the building.
Melinda walked back over to her station.
“What did he say?” Kelli asked.
“He said that he’s busy and that he’d have to take a rain check.”
“Oh, we’re sorry,” Brenda said, laying a hand on her shoulder in sympathy.
“It’s okay. I may still get that date with him.”

The next day arrived, and Ray had just awoken out of bed. It was 10:30.
After hitting the bathroom, Ray walked to the kitchen, where he saw Egon and Winston sitting at the dining table.
“Morning, guys,” he said, going over to the refrigerator to get a drink and the leftover pizza.
“Morning,” his friends’ unison.
“How was that woman we rescued?” Egon asked, looking up from a ghost trap he was repairing.
“She’s doing well. I’m going back today.”
“Why are you revisiting her?” Winston asked.
Ray swallowed, “I told her that I’d introduce her to you guys.” He put two slices of pizza in the microwave as he asked, “Are you guys able to come along this time?”
“Sure, I can swing by,” Zeddemore answered.
“I guess I could go visit,” Egon responded.
Ray’s smile was ear to ear, “Great! Is Pete still here?”
“He’s downstairs,” Spengler answered.
Without another word, Ray ran over to the pole and slid down it.
“Is he overly excited, or am I imagining things?” Winston asked Egon.
“No, you’re not imagining it,” Egon went back to working on the ghost trap. Ray was prone to overexcitement.

It was 11:21, and all four Ghostbusters gathered into the Ecto-1 to visit Ms. Trisity.
Peter agreed to go along with them after they were to, once again, catch a few more ghosts.
In addition, before going to the hospital, they decided to get out of uniform and be in their casual wear.
They walked up, now, to the visitors’ desk to sign in.
The three nurses who were there yesterday were here again today.
Nurse Grovers walked up to the counter to say hello to Ray.
Ray smiles with a nod and a small wave. He suddenly feels strangely uncomfortable but hides it so that no one will notice.
The Ghostbusters walked to the elevator. As they waited for the doors to open, Peter said to Ray, “I see that nurse is into you.”
“Yeah, she has a crush on me. She even asked me out for lunch or coffee.”
“Really?” he asked with a wide grin. “What did you say?”
“I told her I’d have to take a rain check.”
The elevator doors opened, and Ray hit the number three button.
“What?” Peter asked, confused. “Now, why would you say that, Ray? She’s good-looking.”
Ray slowly shook his head, “I don’t have an interest in her, Pete. She’s not my type.”
“Um, okay? Then why’d you say you’ll take a rain check if you’re not interested?”
The elevator doors opened, and the four walked out toward Ms. Trisity’s room.
“I don’t know. I guess I just wasn’t thinking and didn’t want to sound rude.”
They got to the room, and Ray knocked while saying, “Victoria? It’s me, Ray. And I brought the guys along.”
“Come in!”
Ray opened the door, and as soon as they walked in, Peter instantly guessed why his best friend was not interested in the nurse but rather the patient.
She was much more gorgeous than the nurse was. Peter knew that he should not think that way since he already had a girlfriend of his own, but it was true. In addition, he knew Ray. He would not just go for the pretty ones, but more so the gorgeous type.
“Ah,” Venkman said in a whisper close to his friend’s ear. “Now I know why you’re not into the nurse.”
“Pete!” Ray said in a louder whisper than he wanted. The others in the room looked over at him; he was embarrassed by what his friend said.
“A…Sorry.” He cleared his throat, looking away sheepishly.
“It’s alright, my friend,” Peter assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “We’ve all been there.”
Venkman looked over to Victoria and continued to speak with Stantz. “Now, why don’t you properly introduce us to our client since we couldn’t do that the first time we met.”
“A, yeah, sure,” Ray swallowed some of his discomfitures away. “I guess I should.”
“You should. It’s only polite.”
“Okay. Well, this is Victoria Trisity. Victoria, this is Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore.” He pointed to each person as he said their names.
“Nice to finally meet all of you.” Victoria extended her hand to them.
“Likewise,” Peter shook her hand with a smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Egon said, shaking her hand next. He secretly wiped his hand behind his back; the hospital was just too germy for him.
“It’s nice to meet you, miss,” Winston said, doing the same as Peter.
“Ray told us you have another week until the doctors release you,” Egon started the conversation.
“Yep. It’s not every day they get a patient who’s been thrown out a window by a ghost. They just want to make sure everything’s good before I can get out of here.”
“Where are you going to be staying now?” Ray asked.
“I called the hotel the other day, and they said that they’ll give me a refund on a new room.”
“You’re staying at the same hotel?” Peter asked with a strange look on his face.
“Why not? You did get rid of all the ghosts that were there.”
“Same floor?”
“No,” she laughed. “They brought me down to the second floor.”
“Afraid you’ll be flying out one of their windows again?” Peter joked.
She chuckled, “Probably.”
Venkman looked over at Stantz, who was standing on the other side of the bed now, then asked Victoria, “How long are you in New York for?”
“For at least two months.”
“Oh. You going back to anyone?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you have a boyfriend waiting for you back home?”
“Sadly, no. Why?”
“Just asking.” Peter took a glance at Ray and saw the anger on his features: his mouth a straight-line.
Ray walked up to Peter, “Pete, I need to speak to you alone for a moment.” He pulled him by the arm, out the door.
The two walked a few feet away from the door before Ray asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m just trying to get you a date with the girl, that’s all.”
Ray sighed. “Pete, I thank you for tryin’. But she won’t be in town for very long, and I’m not ready for a long-distance relationship…Even if she likes me back.”
“Maybe you two can work something out.”
“We may have talked for a while yesterday, but I barely know her.” Stantz leaned up against the wall now.
“That’s the whole reason behind dating. And then maybe you can convince her to stay a bit longer.”
“I’m sure she has a job to get back to.”
“What job allows you two months off?”
“True, but…”
“No, buts, Ray. We can get her a job with us. Janine would be so happy to have that extra help and finally stop complaining.”
“She doesn’t look like the type to be sitting behind a desk all day answering phones.”
“C’mon! Who wouldn’t want to work with us? I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.”
“What about her home? I doubt she wants to give it up just for me.”
“It’s just a house, an object. I’m sure she’ll be more interested in the man she loves than some building.”
Ray sucked in a breath and turned his head away, his eyes landing on the door handle of Victoria’s room.
“Ray, just give it a chance. For how long I’ve known you, you’re a great guy. Any woman would fall head over heels in love with you.”
“Maybe, but for the type of job we do, we’re always so busy. I’m just scared that the relationship won’t work out because of it.”
“Uh, Ray, remember Dana? The one I’m dating.”
“I’m, I’m just scared.”
“Give it a try, Ray.” Peter placed his hand on Ray’s shoulder.
Ray sighed. Did he really want her to give up her life just to be with him? Does she have the same feelings toward him? He was worried, to say the least. He never dated anyone who was from somewhere other than New York.