Chapter Thirteen
“Hey, you have a minute? Could use your help with a consult.” If someone had told Ethan six months ago that seeing Bethany at work would be the highlight of his day and an integral part of the life he was building for himself in New York, he would have had serious questions about the person’s mental state. Even more so if they added he and Bethany would share the most incredible kiss he’d ever had. But here they were.
“Of course. What’s the issue? Is the patient presenting with unusual symptoms?” Everyone always said to always think horses, not zebras, but it would be exciting to diagnose something rarer than the usual stomach bug or ankle sprain. But as he got a better look at Bethany’s face, his enthusiasm lessened. She had a glint in her eye he didn’t trust for a second.
“I don’t think I can adequately explain. It’s better if you see for yourself.”
Now he was even more weary. “Can I at least see the chart?”
“Just follow me.”
“I’m going to regret this aren’t I?”
Bethany clucked her tongue. “So suspicious.”
“For good reason,” he retorted as they made their way into the thick of the ER. Seeing a large crowd around one patient only increased his certainty that he was being set up.
He raised a brow. “Looks like you have things well in hand here. Why do you need me?”
“This is an all-hands-on-deck sort of thing,” she explained. With a dramatic flair, Bethany threw back the curtain. What he saw tested every inch of his composure and professional decorum.
He pressed his lips firmly together so he wouldn’t lose it.
Really, if he thought about it, he only had himself to blame. He wanted a zebra and damn if this wasn’t the zebraest of all zebras.
Or if not it damn well should be.
Out of respect for the patient, Ethan grabbed Bethany and dragged them to a quiet corner.
“Did I just see what I thought I just saw?”
“If you think that poor unfortunate gentleman is here because of a cock ring he can’t remove then yes.”
Ethan opened his mouth then shut it again. Because really, what else was there to say?
“He needs a urologist, not me. You only did this to mess with me, didn’t you?” Part of him was a bit hurt. He’d thought they’d come further than this.
“Come on, you have to admit this is funny,” Bethany insisted. Her lips were twitching.
“Not something you see every day—I’ll give you that,” he conceded.
“You should have seen how embarrassed the poor boy was when he came in. Could barely get a word out when Nurse Derek tried to screen and triage him.”
“Can you blame him?” From the brief glance he’d been able to get of the poor boy, the patient hadn’t been able to make eye contact with anyone.
Bethany ran her tongue over her teeth. “Well, it can’t be worse than when I had to do a dildo extraction last summer.” When he stared, she just blinked. “Hey, I don’t judge. The way I see it, what people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is none of my business. To them I say hey, you crazy kids, go get your freak on. YKINMKBYKIOK.”
What in the hell did that mean? His confusion must have been evident because Bethany took pity on him and explained. “Your kink is not my kink but your kink is okay.”
And with that, Ethan lost it. He let out the guffaw he’d been trying to hold in since the whole debacle began. Bethany was giggling so hard she was bent over.
Then Bethany took a deep breath and turned serious. “I actually did come find you for a reason. We do have a problem we need help with.”
“I have no experience with sex toys.” None that he was willing to admit out loud.
Bethany rolled her eyes. “What a surprise. No, the poor kid—Chin Wei—doesn’t speak much English and we can’t find a translator. And his girlfriend is freaking out.”
“His girlfriend is here?”
“Didn’t you hear the wailing?”
“I was distracted by the penis and the ring,” he replied dryly.
“Fair enough.” Bethany chuckled. “Mostly she was begging all the doctors and nurses to not call his parents, or even worse, her parents.”
Ethan briefly considered being in the other man’s shoes and having to explain to his mother how and why he ended up having to get treated at the ER. He shuddered in horror. He’d rather eat a bitter melon raw. A whole bushel of them.
“All right, let’s deal with this fiasco.”
An hour later the crisis had been averted. To everyone’s relief, the ring had been removed safely and the young man’s appendage remained intact. But it was touch and go for a while.
“I don’t know if the poor boy was happier about keeping the penis or that neither of their parents will ever have to know,” Ethan remarked, tongue in cheek.
“Fifty-fifty would be my guess.” Bethany chuckled. “All I’ll say is I think those firefighters and maintenance folks we called will never forget tonight. Just like I’ll never forget the looks on their faces when they saw why we needed them.”
Indeed, they’d had to call in outside help for this particular case. At first, they’d called maintenance, but their equipment was not up to the task. The fire department had been called because they had the experience of rescuing someone who was trapped or stuck in precarious situations. Usually out of burning buildings but why quibble over mere details? The point was their diamond saw got the job done.
“Can you blame them?”
“Hell no.” Then Bethany let out a loud yawn and her shoulders dropped.
Ethan frowned. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Just coming to the end of a long shift.”
“At least you can go home, take a nice hot shower, get some sleep,” he commiserated.
“Not really. Jaya promised to help me with prep for the Fellowship.”
At the look on his face, her brows furrowed. “Come on. Nothing in the rules says I can’t have someone help me practice for the interview.”
“It’s not that at all,” he reassured her. “You’ve been pulling lots of shifts lately. You need a break. You’re courting burnout.”
“I’ll be fine,” Bethany said with a roll of her eyes. “You know what they say, you can sleep when you’re dead. And you don’t fool me. You’re just trying to throw me off under this pretext of concern. So I’ll let down my guard.”
“Not at all.”
Bethany threw him a look. “Why are you being so nice?” she demanded, hands on hips. “It’s not like you. This isn’t what we do.”
“I’m perfectly nice. Ask anyone,” he retorted. “Perhaps I would prefer you not collapse from exhaustion and end up a patient yourself.”
The words flew out before he could stop himself. And the look on Bethany’s face told him it was exactly the wrong thing to say, obviously.
His brain scrambled for a way to walk it back.
“Or maybe it’s self-preservation. You know what they say about doctors making the worst patients. And besides, aren’t you the only one who wants their wins to count without an asterisk next to them? Same goes for me. My ultimate victory would be cheapened if it was because you weren’t at your best.”
Bethany’s frame softened and the familiar smirk started to curve her lips.
Whew. Crisis averted.
“Fair enough,” she acknowledged. Then she paused. “But your concern, while absolutely unnecessary, is noted and appreciated. As much as it pains me to admit it, you aren’t a total unfeeling robot.”
“How kind,” he said wryly.
“Are you asking Ash for help?” she asked.
“No. Knowing him, he’d probably be more a hindrance than a help. But I would like to have someone to practice interview questions with,” he admitted.
The two of them paused by the nurses’ station to finish up their shift and went to the locker room to grab their things.
Ten minutes later they met back up at the nurses’ station.
Bethany swung her massive tote bag over her shoulders as they made their way out of the ER and out of the hospital.
“If you want, I can help you,” she offered. She pulled on her sunglasses and turned to face him.
“Excuse me?”
“If we’re being nice, I’m not going to let you beat me. I can be just as nice. I’ll help you practice those questions. We can help each other.”
“Thank you,” Ethan replied, surprised but gratified by the offer.
“Of course. We’ll have you whipped into shape in no time. By the time I’m done with you, the committee will fully believe there is an actual heart beating underneath those ridiculously expensive designer suits.” Her teasing tone took the sting out of the words.
“So now I’m the Tin Man?”
“You said it, not me.”
Despite himself he began to chuckle.
“Who knows? Maybe I can find a way to use what happened today,” he quipped. “I used my language skills to assist a case, and it’s a perfect example of creative problem solving and patient management.”
“That’s sure to make an impression,” Bethany agreed, laughing. Then she pulled down her glasses and threw him a look. “But I’m planning to use that story. I was there from the beginning after all. It wouldn’t be fair for you to swoop in and take credit when you were only there at the end. I can’t stop you though. The patriarchy is what it is,” she ended with a sigh.
“You’re the one who found me and asked me to assist,” he responded, a bit nettled.
She came to a sudden stop and put her hands on his arm. “Hey, relax. I was only kidding,” she assured him. “Of course I’m grateful for your help.”
Oh.
“I suppose the only fair thing to do is for each of us to tell the story and let the committee judge for themselves who told it better and impressed them more.”
“Deal.” He stuck out his hand and she shook it firmly.
“I genuinely appreciate your offer to help,” he added. “Maybe we can get together sometime next week. You can come by my place and we can work. I’ll make you my favorite egg and radish omelet and braised napa and pork.” If Bethany was going to go out of her way to come to his apartment and help, the least he could do was provide a meal.
“You cook?” she asked with surprise. Bethany must have thought the cooking contest had been a one-off.
“I’ve been known to enter my own kitchen on occasion,” he said dryly. “I even know where the stove is—and all the pots and pans.”
“Works for me. Here’s my stop. See you tomorrow.” With a wave, Bethany disappeared down the steps and into the bowels of the New York subway system.
His own stop was a few blocks away and he turned left at the next corner, his hands in his pockets, and he began to whistle. Then a sudden realization brought him to an abrupt stop.
He had just offered to cook for a woman. When he had joked to his mother about Ash’s efforts to cook for Addison, he had ruminated on how none of his relationships had progressed to that point. And the woman who was about to break that streak was Bethany Lee.
It was too late to back out now, even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. She was a colleague he respected, and she deserved to be thanked with a hot meal.
The only difference between him and Ash was that: 1) he could actually cook and 2) there were no romantic designs on his part. This was a strictly platonic meal between co-workers, nothing more. As much as he hated to agree with Bethany, anything along the lines of romance was off the table.
He refused to admit how much the idea disappointed him.
Ethan made a mental note not to mention the dinner to Ash or his mother. They were bound to read more into it than there was. And make all sorts of annoying assumptions (Ma) and innuendos (Ash).
Dinner was just dinner.
Right?