“Simon…do I know this Simon?”
She ran a finger over her brow. “The Tahoe Dance Floor guy.”
“From the wedding?” I cried. “All this time, it’s been Simon from the wedding?”
She nodded, her gaze on the table. “Yeah, and believe me, I’ve wanted to tell you but—” Her phone buzzed in a long, low pattern. She frowned at the screen and then her eyes widened like a pair of full moons. “Shit. Twenty-seven-week twins.”
“Can you fill me in on the rest of the Simon story on the way back to campus or will you be jumping into a bike messenger’s basket in the next thirty seconds?”
She stood, reaching for her coat as she surveyed the traffic outside. “Do you think I can find a bike messenger? That would be great.” She glanced back at me. “We’ll talk. I promise. In the meantime, thank you for lunch and don’t give up on the best man. I’m rooting for you two.”
The elevator was beingcranky today. It wouldn’t go to the right floors or it went up when it was supposed to go down. It made for a long ride to my office after lunch and I used that time toggling between trying to remember Simon from the wedding and wondering what to do about Henry.
I didn’t have any answers when I reached my floor though I decided that was fine because?—
“Aldritch!”
I skittered to a stop in the middle of the hallway. Dr. Cossapino marched in my direction, hands fisted on his hips and his mostly bald head tucked low into his neck. Wiry chest hair puffed out of the v-neck of his scrubs. His face was red and his eyes angry. He looked like a charging bull.
“What kind of double standard is it that allows you to run around here preaching aboutethicsand so-called standards ofprofessionalism,” he roared, drawing the attention of everyone nearby, “while you’re sleeping with one of your residents?”
Ice ran down my spine while my salad flipped over in my stomach.Fuck.From the corner of my eye, I spotted Jenelle and several other fifth-year residents. The cohort that rotated in after Henry’s was nearby. I was pretty sure I saw Cami and Tori. Others spilled into the hallway, following the noise.
Quite the audience I had for this.
I squared my shoulders and tucked my hands in my pockets. I wasn’t about to let this gasbag see me fidget even for a second. “That’s inaccurate, Dr. Cossapino. Allow me to correct your facts.”
“You’re not going to get away with this. I know what you’re doing,” he yelled.
“Of course you do,” I said, hoping my voice was as sturdy as it sounded in my head. “Then you’re aware that my relationship with this resident began before the start of the residency program, and that when he rotated to my service—which is mandatory, as you know—I recused myself from his training and assigned him exclusively to Dr. Hirano and Dr. Salas’s cases.” When Cossapino started to huff and sputter, I added, “As I’m sure you can see, it’s not that difficult to make fair, appropriate choices. It’s just a matter of shifting supervision to another attending and continuing to keep my private life private, but if you have more questions, I’m happy to explain.”
A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd gathered around us.
“How convenient that you have an answer for everything,” he snarled.
I shrugged and I knew it was going to irritate the hell out of him. “Sure, when it’s a simple matter.”
“There’s nothing simple about you abusing your position,” he said. “It’s come to my attention that you canceled procedures last month to get yoursisteran OR.”
“No, no, excuse me, I’ve heard enough.” I glanced over to find Dr. Emmerling pushing her way through the crowd. “That was all me. You want to holler at someone about that, you’ll be hollerin’ at me. And before you give me theyoung ladyroutine, let me hand over some receipts. First off, Aldritch was in a procedure when I made that call. She had no idea it was happening. Two, my patient needed an emergency bowel resection. And finally, for fuck’s sake, nothing was canceled. Moved around and rescheduled to put the right people in the right ORs? Yes. Surely you can comprehend the difference,Marvin.” She clapped her hands together. “Now then. I’m going to invite you to apologize to Dr. Aldritch for being completely unnecessary. If you can’t do that, I suggest you walk away.”
Cossapino jabbed a thick finger at me. “I’ll be watching you.”
“Thank you. Your professional admiration means so much to me.”
Another roll of laughter from the onlookers. Someone loud-whispered, “Finish him!”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He turned and stomped off, muttering to himself as he went.
I glanced to Emmerling. “Thank you for that.”
She pulled me in for a side hug. “Anytime. I would’ve thrown hands if he kept going.”
Rather than waiting around for another outburst, I ducked past the crowd and into my office. A breath sagged out of me as I paced behind my desk. I’d always known something like that would happen though I’d never expected it to be out in the open, a modern-day duel.
The door swung open, banging into the wall and then slamming shut as Jenelle darted inside. “I need to talk to you,” she panted.
“Can I just have five minutes to recover from that or?—”
