I smiled. “They made a position for me so I could stay.”
“Nice,” she said, and then grinned. “Hey, I just realized that you’ll be working with–”
“Hey, Princess!” Wes called from the kitchen. “Mom has a question about the beach house renovations!”
I chuckled at the interruption, and she shook her head with an apologetic smile before disappearing from the dining room. And did my brother just call her ‘Princess’? Seeing him so affectionate and using cutesy nicknames was going to take some getting used to.
Later that evening, when I got home from dinner, I went right back to studying.
A few days passed quickly. My boss gave me Monday andTuesday off so I could use those days to cram, and on Wednesday, I took the 3P exam.
I was already on edge before, but waiting for the results wastorture. They told us it would take at least a day. So, on Thursday, I was back at work, and every moment of free time I had was spent refreshing my damn email.
Marie chuckled beside me at the nurses’ station while she was charting. “Are you trying to manifest the results into your inbox?”
“Shut up.”
I set my phone down and finished charting on a discharge I had just completed. A few minutes in, and my phone buzzed.
Marie and I both looked at each other, then at the screen. It was an email notification from the school. And my heart went into my throat.
“Oh, for the love,” Marie said as she grabbed my phone and unlocked it—she knew my passcode. I just stared at her as she opened the email, and then she grinned. “It says exam results are posted.”
I took my phone back and quickly logged into the student portal, navigating to the grades section.
“I passed,” I breathed…and then grinned. “I passed!”
“Of course you did!” Marie chuckled. “The only one who had any doubt wasyou.”
“Did I hear that right?” I looked up to see Michelle, my nurse manager, smiling from around the corner.
“Yeah! I passed!”
“Like Marie said,of courseyou did.” She smiled. “Ugh, Ireallydon’t want to have to find a replacement for you.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I said. “I still have to pass the board.”
“Oh,please. You’ll ace that just like you have everything else. And speaking of replacement, Dr. Tomblin is on her way down with the new ER doc. They had to come sign some stuff and get their coat and badge, and she wanted to walk them out this way to introduce them.”
Marie chuckled sinisterly. “Fresh meat.”
“Be nice, Marie,” Michelle said playfully. “We don’t need you scaring them off before they even start.”
I chuckled as I looked back at the computer screen, closing out the patient’s chart just as footsteps sounded down the hall from the back doors of the ER. When I turned and saw Dr. Tomblin, I smiled…and then I froze when I saw the man beside her.
Tall. Broad. Blue eyes. Dimples. My heart slammed against my ribs, my breath lodging in my throat.
Oh, crap.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Blake Pierson. He’ll be taking Dr. Toma’s position, and starts next week.”
Blake looked around, and when his gaze landed on me, the surprise was evident in his eyes. He recovered quickly, schooling his expression as he looked away, and offered a polite hello to everyone standing there.
I looked over at Marie, whose mouth was hanging open through a grin. A bubble of laughter escaped her. “So much for not seeing him at all.”
Chapter 11
Fuck.
