Chapter 4
Jade
J ade watched Lillian walk away and just shook her head.
She was a really amazing doctor, but sometimes she just didn’t make sense.
The surgery they had performed was impressive to say the least—it truly was.
Jade firmly believed that if it had been any other surgeons in that operating room, then Stephanie likely would not have survived.
It wasn’t luck; it was skill. Lillian had skill and plenty of it.
Yet, she just left Stephanie’s family out here for almost an hour scared and unknowing of whether or not she was going to survive.
For what? Credit? Who cares who gets the credit?
Jade shook her head again. She knew better than that.
In the medical field, credit was the highest honor.
It’s what was fought for, but that’s not why Jade became a doctor, and it definitely isn’t why she became Chief of Medicine, she didn’t care about who gets the accolades or pats on the back; she wanted to do what she did in that operating room.
She wanted to look death in the eye and tell it to wait.
She thought about Lillian and how she reacted in that OR.
Her specialty was neurology, and to be fair, once the pressure had been relieved on Stephanie’s brain, her work was done.
Still, she jumped in when Jade needed help to get the bleeding under control.
She was fast and precise. Those bright green eyes behind the mask were intense.
Jade pressed her lips as she pictured Lillian in her mind, and her heart sped up.
Just then one of the nurses called her over, her face was lined with worry.
“What is it?” Jade asked, but her eyes trailed up to where she had lost sight of Lillian.
“We are running out of space,” the nurse said. She was young, likely newly hired, and Jade had to glance at her tag to remember her name, Jennifer.
“Space for what?” Jade asked, schooling her features back to neutral.
“Well, for families and discharged patients,” Jennifer said, shooting glances around the crowded waiting room. “Should we start sending them home?”
“No,” Jade answered quickly, “not unless we want them right back in here.” She looked around. The hospital’s gift and coffee shop was dark, closed for the night, several empty tables sat with upturned chairs on them. “Didn’t you work in the gift shop while you were in nursing school?”
The nurse’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded.
“Do you know if any of the other employees are here?”
The poor girl’s eyes went wide, unable to answer the question. Jade pulled in a deep breath, fighting annoyance; there was no reason for this woman to be frightened of her.
“See if you can find any of the current employees, if not then I may have you stay in there until the storm is over. If nothing else, we can offer some more space. If you can get some coffee or anything else that will help comfort the people, then that would be even better.”
The woman nodded and took off. Jade quickly called the head of maintenance, to come down and open the door and get the lights on, then several others came in and assisted with getting the chairs onto the ground.
Within a few minutes, Jennifer returned with one of the other employees and they started up the coffee machines.
“Without the manager, we won’t be able to open the registers,” the employee told Jade.
“Don’t worry about that,” Jade said. “Just try to keep a total of what we use, and I will make up for it later.”
“I don’t think Jess is going to like that,” the kid said. He didn’t look to be more than eighteen.
“Leave Jess to me,” Jade said with a wink. The manager of the contract company that ran the store was abrasive, to say the least. Jade didn’t mind, however, taking one for the hospital in this case. “Just try to keep it simple.”
Jennifer and the employee nodded and set to work making space for people to come in and sit, even order coffee or drinks while they waited out the storm.
Jade took a deep breath as people quickly filled in the space but didn’t dwell on it long.
A few more hours and the storm would be past. Then they could start letting people head to their homes.
She quickly checked her phone for any notifications, things still seemed to be running smoothly despite the crowds, and Jade couldn’t help but smile.
She had a knack for hiring the best people and the hospital ran like a machine.
She turned and headed for the stairs, determined to catch Lillian before she left the breakroom.
She went up the stairs and just as she swung open the door, she was face to face with Lillian, clearly on her way out.
“We need to talk,” Jade said quickly and gestured for Lillian to go back into the breakroom.
“About?” Lillian said, moving just enough to let Jade into the room.
“Why did you wait to give Stephanie’s family an update?” Jade asked, though she already knew that part of the answer.
“I told you,” Lillian said, her eyes starting to glitter.
This woman was so intense. Jade’s heart started thumping as she looked at her.
Her lips made a natural pout, even when pressed together in irritation.
“I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly during closing. I also figured you would want to be with me when I delivered it.”
“Who cares who delivered the update?” Jade asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“You know as much as anyone how hard this job can be,” Lillian said, her voice exasperated. “Sometimes we need a win, and we both deserved that one.”
“You thought I needed some validation?” Jade asked with a smirk. “Like saving that woman’s life wasn’t reward enough?”
“You know what I mean,” Lillian said with a wave of her hand.
Jade noticed the flush of Lillian’s cheeks and the press of her lips as she became flustered. Her green eyes shined brilliantly with agitation—and something more, Jade hoped. She opened her mouth to say as much, but hesitated.
“I did what I thought was best in my professional judgement,” Lillian said.
“Professional judgement?” Jade scoffed.
“Yes!”
“You left them waiting for almost an hour when they could have at least known that she was stable,” Jade said and took a step toward Lillian.
“And how would they have felt if I told them that, only for something to come loose during closing and then I have to go back and explain that? Oh, sorry I told you she was going to be fine, she actually died?” Lillian snapped.
Jade felt heat flowing through her body, though it wasn’t quite anger. “You know as well as I do that she was stable at that point, anything you could have told them would have helped a lot more than leaving them in the dark,” Jade countered.
“Why didn’t you want to tell them?” Lillian challenged.
“I did, but I had to finish my job,” Jade said, excitement was building in her chest. She loved to see Lillian fight for herself. She couldn’t explain it, but it was beyond sexy. “Why didn’t you?”
“I told you!” Lillian practically shouted taking a step toward Jade. Her face was inches from Jade’s; it would only take the slightest movement to kiss those pouty lips right then. Jade could smell the trace of coffee and sweetener on Lillian’s breath, warm against her cheek.
“Is there anything else, Lillian?” Jade asked, her voice almost a whisper. Her eyes dropped to Lillian’s lips, which were quivering just slightly.
“Doctor Holder,” Lillian almost purred, her lips almost close enough to touch.
“Of course, Doctor Holder ,” Jade smiled and pulled in a breath, ready to close the distance.
The door swung open. Dr. Hu from Lillian’s team walked through without so much as looking up from his phone.
Lillian’s eyes flew wide, almost as though she hadn’t realized how close they had come.
She turned on her heel and stalked out the door, leaving Jade breathless and staring after her.
Heat coursed through her veins, and she realized at that moment that she was wildly attracted to Lillian.
Underneath all that planning and strategy and organization was a brilliant woman that Jade could not get enough of.
She wondered what Lillian would be like beneath that armor.
The thought quickly turned to wondering what Lillian would look like underneath that silky dress, and heat flared in Jade’s core.
A sudden determination to find out filled her.
Her phone chimed at her, signaling a page. She didn’t need to look down to know that it was from the ER. Trying to shake the thoughts from her mind, as well as images of Lillian’s naked body writhing beneath her, she hurried out of the room and to the stairwell.
A loud clap of thunder rattled overhead, and Jade clenched her jaw as she took the stairs two at a time. The lights flickered. The hospital had emergency lighting, but the stairwells would be very dark for a while if the power went out.
She exited the stairwell at the emergency floor.
In the few minutes that she had spent upstairs, the room had filled even further.
All the beds were full, and in the waiting area people were sitting almost two to a chair, while others were leaned against the walls and sitting on the floor.
She glanced over at the gift shop; it was also packed.
She pressed her lips together, still several hours were left of this storm, and she couldn’t take the risk of letting these people leave.
She headed to the end of the room where the page had directed her. Her heart dropped through the floor when she recognized little Jasmine standing near the bed, her eyes wide and watery.
“What’s happened?” Jade asked as she stepped to the side of the bed.
“We think it’s a heart attack,” one of the resident doctors said.
Jade signaled to one of the nurses. “Take Jasmine to the cafeteria, get her some hot chocolate.” She looked down at the little girl. “We are going to take good care of your mom,” Jade said in a firm voice. “I need you to go with Nurse Williams here so we can do that, okay?”