Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Unable to stand the feeling of Dr. Hayes’s eyes burning a hole into the back of her head, Josie fled the cafeteria a minute later.
She brushed bagel crumbs off her shirt and studied the ground as she rushed through the doorway, determined to pretend she didn’t see him sitting by himself at a table in the corner.
In the hall, she said good-bye to Sara, who was on her way back to pediatrics.
“Are we still going shopping tomorrow?”
Sara gave her the thumbs-up as she pushed the UP button for the elevator.
“I need your moral support. Bathing suit shopping is the single most traumatizing experience in a woman’s life.
I can’t think why I ever thought living next to the beach was a good idea.
” She gestured up and down her lean frame.
“I always feel about as sexy as a number two pencil in a bathing suit. I’m just as flat as one. ”
“Oh, please.” Josie rolled her eyes and laughed at Sara’s exaggeration.
Sara was thin, but since Josie had spent a childhood waiting to get taller, only to never see the day arrive, it was hard for her to dredge up a lot of sympathy.
She tended to be round in strategic places like her behind and her chest, the result of being short.
Or more likely it was related to hating exercise, and loving ice cream.
Whatever the cause, for the most part not meeting the media portrayal of female perfection didn’t bother her. She had no interest in self-inflicted starvation or spending the minimal free time she had in the gym. Plus, she looked damn good in a tight dress with heels.
It was more she wasn’t sultry. Overtly sexual.
She wasn’t a born flirt. She was everyone’s friend.
So yes, sometimes she did feel a bit of longing for a man to give her the so-called Look.
She was reasonably attractive, with a cute figure, yet guys always treated her with a best-buds kind of attitude and frankly, she was tired of it.
But being tired of it, and knowing how to fix it, were two separate things.
She had no clue how to address the problem without completely altering her personality, learning the art of smoldering looks, and buying a whole new wardrobe.
Since none of those choices appealed to her, it seemed she was doomed to remain man’s best friend.
With a final wave towards Sara, she pushed her way into the surgical recovery room and approached bed three.
“Mr. Davidson, how are you feeling?” Josie leaned over the gurney bed and studied his complexion, putting Dr. Hayes out of her mind with effort.
Even at seventy-two, Mr. Davidson was one of their livelier patients, and she was confident the knee replacement surgery he had just undergone would have him back on the golf course in no time.
Mr. Davidson’s case had been the fifth or so total knee she had assisted Dr. Hayes on, and despite the fact that Dr. Sheinberg had allowed her to perform the surgery in the past. Dr. Hayes never did.
She had been hopeful that Dr. Hayes would let her operate on Mr. Davidson, but he had merely taken over without a word.
At this rate she’d need her own knee replacement surgery by the time Dr. Hayes decided she was ready to operate.
Mr. Davidson’s eyes focused on her sharply, despite having awakened from the procedure only two hours earlier. “Doing fine. Dr. Adkins. Just a few more hours of sleep, then I’m ready to test this metal piece out.”
She smiled, since she knew he was kidding. At least she hoped he was kidding. She checked his hemovac for blood. “You know you’re going to have intense physical therapy ahead of you. No jumping up and dancing a jig now, you hear?”
He winked at her, his complexion rosy and healthy. “Yes, ma’am.”
She gave his good leg a squeeze through the blanket. Charlie Davidson was a real character. “That’s more like it.”
It was times like these, when she was talking with patients, that she worried in the back of her mind that surgery wasn’t for her.
Not that she should be doing something whimsical, despite what Sara thought.
But that she would be more suited to the people-oriented areas of general practice or pediatrics.
However, she had chosen surgery, specifically orthopedic surgery to specialize in, and there was no going back now. It just wasn’t acceptable to change your mind in the second year of your residency. Of course, she hadn’t really chosen surgery—her father had—but she had to make the best of it.
She knew that she would be good at it, and had handled her cases with Dr. Sheinberg well. Then Dr. Hayes had joined the ortho group and she had morphed into a stammering, clumsy comedy act.
Mr. Davidson said, “You know the only reason I’m even here is for the hospital food and to see your pretty face every day.” He gave her a cheeky grin.
She couldn’t help but smile as she checked his vitals. “That’s an awful lot of pain to go through just to see me and to get a meal.”
“What pain? I’m not in any pain.”
“Wait until the anesthetic from surgery wears off,” she warned him, once again amazed at the man’s vigor. His blood pressure was just as it should be.
He shrugged. “Then I’ll have the nurse get me those little blue pills. Those work.” He impatiently shoved the IV tubing out of his way. “But enough about me. Let’s talk about you. I see you’re not wearing a wedding ring.”
Making a notation of his vitals on his chart, she looked up, amused. “Don’t you think I’m a little young for you?”
He laughed, which dissolved into a post-surgical cough.
“I made you cough,” she said cheerfully. “That’s good. It clears your lungs.” She helped him to a sitting position.
“You’re not my type,” he said with a grin as he caught his breath. “Never went in for brunettes myself. No, I was thinking about my grandson. He’s about your age, a lawyer, looks like that actor fellow the girls are always raving about.”
Josie dropped his chart back on the foot of the bed. She didn’t even bother asking which actor he was referring to. Shaking her head, she held up her hand and laughed. “No, thank you.”
She wasn’t lonely enough to succumb to blind dates arranged by medicated patients. “Now, if you be good, the nurse will arrange for you to be moved to your room on the floor, and let your wife pop in to see you. I’ll stop by first thing in the morning to make sure you’re behaving.”
With a wave and a smile, Josie turned around to leave and connected with something solid. She knew immediately it was Dr. Hayes’ chest, since she had mentally catalogued every inch of his body.
Well, not every inch.
Some she’d had to leave to her very vivid imagination.
Her cheek brushed against his hard, muscular pectorals beneath his light blue scrub shirt before she darted back quickly to avoid further contact. Which had her colliding with her patient’s bedside tray, spilling his cup of water and knocking his glasses to the floor.
“Oh! Sorry Mr. Davidson.” She quickly retrieved the glasses and stood up in time to see Dr. Hayes sigh with long- suffering patience.
She suspected he was tired of her clumsiness. As if she were enjoying it.
“Mr. Davidson is doing well. BP and oxygen levels normal.” She gave him a wide smile.
It was a skill she had perfected, smiling like a demented flight attendant even in the face of cold disapproval.
He ignored her and proceeded to check all the readings that Josie had just recorded on the chart. She stood there silently, feeling humiliation slide into anger. Surely he thought her capable of doing a simple BP read? A second-week nursing student could do that.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Davidson?” Dr. Hayes said in a clipped voice as his eyes ran over the IV bag and heart rate monitor.
“Fine, just sleepy. You’re not going to ask me the same questions Dr. Adkins just did, are you?” Mr. Davidson’s smile was considerably less warm than the ones he’d given Josie. “Because if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather catch some shut-eye.”
So there. Josie felt juvenile satisfaction.
“That’s a great idea. We’ll just see about moving you up to your room.”
She’d beaten him to that, too. Josie said, in a patented cheerful voice, “I’ve already arranged it. Third floor is on their way to transport him.”
He paused in the act of flicking his black hair out of his eye. “Well, aren’t you the busy little bee?”
It shouldn’t bother her, she knew. It was a casual light comment he might have made to anyone, and she didn’t imagine he intended to sound patronizing. But given her current mood of frustration, it rankled too much to let slip by without comment.
“Buzz, buzz,” she said, capping her words off with another bright smile.
His eyes narrowed.
He gestured for them to leave, glancing at Mr. Davidson who seemed to be sleeping, or trying to anyway.
Conscious of Dr. Hayes following right behind her, she pushed through the doors of the recovery room and stepped out into the hall.
She wondered if he intended to shadow her on her rounds, something he only did on occasion.
Too bad she couldn’t go home and clean the oven instead.
With a toothbrush. That sounded about as fun.
A moment later he fell in step beside her, and touched her elbow. Josie came to a screeching halt, an embarrassing little gasp slipping out of her mouth. Yikes. Why the hell was he touching her?
“Can I speak to you a moment?” he said.
When she darted a glance over at him, he was frowning.
“Um, sure, of course.” Like she was going to tell her boss no. Not that he was her boss, technically. But he did outrank her. Supervise her. Was responsible for the trajectory of her career based on his assessment of her performance. Damn it. He was her boss.
“In private.”
Josie felt her lip drop down into the area of her chest as she stared at him. “No problem.”
She was in trouble. There was no other explanation. He was going to fire her and suggest she take her drop-and-spill act on the road.