I watched the two men again and shook my head. Not my type. Plus, I don’t feel like going for it any more than I feel like doing a nice twenty-mile jog. I have no place for men right now so I try distracting Paris with the best strategy I have: talking about her.
“Tell me, how is the swimsuit campaign going? You’ve been shooting non-stop for a week now.”
“I know.” She rolls her eyes and pops a strawberry in her mouth. ”The designer wants to have a full portfolio by the end of September. I don’t know why, since the line will not be out until next year.”
“Maybe he just wants an excuse to have pretty girls around all day?”
“Ian Yang? Nope, trust me, he likes dick more than I do. His boyfriend is on set a lot actually. Very nice guy. Too bad Yang is a pain in everyone’s ass.”
“Mhm, having a dick boss sucks.” I say and gulp my drink like it’s draft beer.
“Speaking of dick bosses, how’s that hottie doing? Did you two do the dirty already?”
My boss is a plain, boring, self-centered old man, but he’s not the one Paris wants to know about.
“I, umm, don’t work with Dr. Ford anymore, if he’s the one you’re referring to.” I try to be as dismissive as possible, not leading her on in this discussion. For two weeks I have managed to keep my life in check and hide like a hermit in the on-call rooms from the far west wing of the hospital. I haven’t even seen Ford around - Thank God! - and spending my only day off this week talking about him is not an option.
“What? Since when? And why don’t I know this already? I swear to God, woman, we live in the same house, but I talked more to you when you were in France.” Kinda true. We’re both very busy and I don’t feel like talking about it. Not that my cousin would care how I’m feeling about it.
“I transferred to a different doctor fifteen days ago. It’s a good thing, really. This guy is like a surgical God and I learn so much from him .” I don’t learn anything. Brogan doesn’t talk to anyone when he’s operating, not even his residents, and he has no interest in teaching. “And I told you already that I don’t like Ford at all, so drop it.”
“So you said.” She plays with the rim of her glass and bats her long lashes at me before continuing. “But after you said it, I found you with him, flushed and ravished in the back of a clothing store so...”
“He didn’t ravish me, I... Oh, my God, can you just drop it? He is hot, but he’s also a jerk and me and him? We’re never gonna happen.” I refrain from telling her why I’m sure. There’s only so much humiliation I can take.
“Ok, ok. So this means you’re gonna make a move for blondie over there?”
“No, this means I’m paying the check and going home. I have work tomorrow morning.”
With a sigh, she finishes her drink and gives me a cold look.
“You are so boring, London.”
Today started like any other day with Brogan. Slow. He moves with no urgency whatsoever. I believe this is why chief Sadin doesn’t give him any emergency cases anymore. Patients would die left and right in the ER waiting for Brogan to put his lab coat on.
We have surgery in thirty minutes. If I’d still been with Ford, I’d be sprinting through the hallways to be there early and double-check everything but now I’m just taking my time. I have the time since Dr. Brogan will take twenty minutes to scrub.
I’m walking with my eyes in my coffee cup when Tatiana jumps from around a corner and scares the shit out of me.
“Stranger danger!”
“Jesus Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack. Hello to you too, you crazy psycho.” She laughs with joy and puts her arm over my shoulder walking along beside me.
“How the hell are you? I never see you around anymore, London. You can’t tell me that general keeps you on your toes so much ’cuz I won’t believe it.”
Nope, I’m just hiding.
“Brogan is a lot of work, actually. I’m sorry I neglected you, but I didn’t know how needy and emotionally clingy you are. My bad, Tati.” This time we laugh together.
I genuinely feel bad for ditching Tatiana along with anyone remotely close to Ford, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m afraid that if I see him, he’ll make me come back to him, only to push me away again, you know, the usual drill.
“You are a bitch and you missed me. I don’t know what are you doing around the old man but he doesn’t need or want help. He’s been here since before there was a hospital and knows the human body better than anyone. Are you running from Dr. Ford?”
My jaw drops on the floor along with my empty cup of coffee.
“Why would I do that?”
“First, he is pissed at you because Helena is the worst scrub nurse ever. Also, I heard Shaw telling him off for transferring you. He believes Dr. Ford harassed you and that’s why you walked out of the department.”
I gape at her, incapable of comprehending this. I’m praying this is not serious.
“Is this a joke, Tati?”
“He said it word for word.”
“My, God, this is horrible. I left because I wanted to, not because he made me. This is ridiculous. Is Ford having any problems because of it?”
Tatiana made a dismissive sign with her hand, telling me to not sweat it a bit it.
“Calm down, French babe, it was just a cocky talk between guys, not an official complaint. I was just curious to see your reaction. Please come back to cardio.”
“Did Ford put you up to this?”
“No, but I can’t say he’s not in deep misery. Maybe you’ll rethink your decision if I remind you how awesome it is to be close to me.” Well, I can’t deny that.
“Sorry, babe, but I have surgery now.” With a kiss goodbye on her cheek and a quick hug, I leave Tati behind and go on my way, ready to nap in my shoes while Dr. Brogan fixes some
abdominal dysfunction.
“Everything set for the surgery, London?” I turn from the table and nod .
“Yes, Dr. Brogan, the anesthesia just kicked in. Are you ready?” He should have been here ten minutes ago, but I stop myself from saying it out loud.
“Yes, let’s do it. This right here is Johnathan and he’ll be my resident today. Jonathan, present the case while I open please.”
The guy was the usual I-Got-Through-Med-School-Just-Because-I-Had-A-Sport-Scholarship stud. Sleek hair, cocky white smile, and a lot of muscles, but not sexy, like Ford, more like someone who doesn’t know when to stop abusing the gym membership. He placed himself in front of me, flexed his arms and winked - yeah, winked - before he started talking.
” Fifty-six-year-old female presenting with a cancerous mass on her uterus. We’ll perform a clean operation today, extract the mass, and send a sample to biopsy. The patient has no other additional conditions and her immune system is good. Piece of cake.” Piece of cake? What a jackass. “Can I just say, Dr. Brogan, that working with you is more than a learning opportunity, it’s a privilege?”
Oh, he is a suck-up too! Brogan is not teaching anyone a thing. I am starting to believe he thinks it is beneath him to do so.
As expected, the surgery was boring, no one except Brogan did anything or said anything. I got to move from time to time to wipe his forehead so his perspiration wouldn’t end up in the patient’s cavity. Great.