“You’re here early,” Beth said, with trepidation in her voice.
“You’re not gonna believe this, but I’m actually not early. It’s already 2:00 PM. You must’ve lost track of time.” Bryce reached out instinctively to brush her arm—affectionate but still professional.
Beth flinched. Not dramatically. Just a small, subtle stiffening of her posture. But he noticed.
“I must have,” she echoed, her usual warmth noticeably absent.
Bryce’s smile faltered.
“I have a patient in 4 ready to be discharged, Doctor,” she added, her tone clipped and formal.
Bryce blinked at the sudden chill. “Right,” he said, recovering quickly. “I’m between patients. After you… Nurse.” He added a wink to soften the moment.
Beth shot him a glare over her shoulder as she turned to lead the way.
“Nurse Beth, you’re faster than I thought,” Walter said, fumbling with the bandage on his wrist, his tone gruff.
“Mr. Berry, what are you doing?” Beth asked gently, stepping in to retape the gauze. Her hands moved with practiced ease.
“Tried putting my watch on, but it wouldn’t fit around the bandage. Got stuck on the gauze.”
He nodded toward Bryce. “You the doctor?”
“Yes, sir,” Bryce said, stepping closer. “Looks like you were treated for minor burns?”
“That I was.”
“Has Nurse… Stoner?” He froze mid-sentence, realizing they had never actually discussed whether she would take his name.
He caught himself, glanced quickly at Beth, then looked back at the patient. “Has the nurse explained your care instructions for home?”
“Yes, BETH has. BETH also told me to quit cooking for myself and gave me the printout on how to care for these burns. You might not bother to learn the names of the nurses, but with ones like BETH around, the only reason folks like you are needed is to write prescriptions and send people on their way. So go ahead—get to it and discharge me.”
“You are right about that, sir. She is indeed a very capable woman. Let me fill out these discharge papers, and I’ll be happy to get you out of here.”
The “sir” that came out of Bryce’s mouth sounded anything but respectful.
Based on her curt greeting in the hallway Bryce suspected Beth was having a bad day and two minutes with this grumpy old man? Bryce assumed he was the reason, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Beth rocked back on her heels and leaned against the wall, watching the men interact, puzzled. Bryce was known for his bedside manner—his ‘bedside tone,’ as everyone called it. Even with the most difficult patients, he was calm, composed, and kind. She’d been the recipient of that tone more than once since they got married—his ability to soothe her when she felt skittish was something she’d come to count on.
Yet here he was, snapping at Mr. Berry.
What was even more surprising—Walter, who had been a total sweetheart just minutes ago, now looked ready to bite Bryce’s head off.
It didn’t make sense.
But then it did.
Beth watched them both a moment longer. The pieces began to fall into place. They were both offended on her behalf.
And both wrong.
And this? This, she could fix.
“You know, Mr. Berry,” Beth said, her voice adopting a playful, teasing lilt as she stepped between the two grumpy men, “we are very lucky that Doctor Jensen walked by when I stepped out. Want to know why?”
Walter crossed his arms. “Let me guess—because everyone thinks he’s the best. Clearly, he does.”
