Grumpy Doctor by B. B. Hamel

Author:B. B. Hamel [Hamel, B. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

17

Lori

I kept thinking about the look on his face back in that small alley, after speaking with Robert on the phone: it was agony, pure and simple. He realized then, right in that moment, that it didn’t matter what he did or said, didn’t matter how good he was—he couldn’t fix this with surgical skill alone.

He’d need something else. He’d need my help.

And I was angry enough to give it to him.

Maybe the kiss helped convince me. His lips against mine, his arms around my body, maybe that pushed me over the edge a little bit. Maybe I was tumbling, head over heels, into the abyss.

I liked the way it felt to fall.

They didn’t call it sitting in love. They didn’t call it walking in love.

It was a wild, reckless, crazy thing.

For so long I’d done what was right: gone to the right schools, studied the right way, dated the right boys. I didn’t drink too much, I didn’t stay out too late. I was a good girl.

I wanted to be a doctor, and I thought I had to give up certain things.

I gave up myself, and replaced it with hard work.

Now, I wanted that self back. One way was to have what I wanted, and to help the person that deserved it, even if that meant it might hurt my career in the end.

I wanted Piers. And he deserved my help.

I sat in the courtyard next to the cafeteria stabbing a wilted salad with a plastic fork, listening to a small group of nurses laughing with each other, and staring at the patterns of light and shadow through the single small shade tree planted near a group of benches. It smelled like pollen and syrup, probably from a sticky patch of spilled soda on the ground next to my feet. The nearby door pushed open, and I watched Milo step out, hands shoved in his pockets, looking around before spotting at me. He nodded and hurried over.

“I was looking for you,” he said without greeting.

I smiled a little and waved my fork in the air. “You found me.”

He seemed nervous, jittery almost, and looked over at the group of nurses like they were conspiring against him. He seemed to pull himself together before flinging himself down onto the bench next to me.

“I have to tell you something,” he said, staring at his shoes, a comfortable pair of black sneakers.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “Are you all right?”

He ground his teeth and stomped his foot twice on the pavement. “I’m fine,” he said. “But you’re not.”

I took a breath and put my food down. “What’s going on?”

“I overheard something.” He looked up at me. “Swear you won’t mention my name.”

“Whatever you’re about to say, I didn’t hear it from you.”

He nodded once. I didn’t know why that was enough for him—he didn’t seem to like me all that much, and he definitely didn’t trust me. But maybe none of that mattered to him. I liked to think I was an honest person, and he could’ve seen that, despite how he might’ve felt about me personally.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.