Sure. Austin started flirting with Melissa within five minutes of meeting her because he recognized her nice personality. It had nothing to do with the nice way her shirt stretched across her chest.
“My family would love her,” Austin continues. “Naturally gorgeous, single mom . . .”
“They like the idea of you dating a single mom?” Drew asks.
“It’s a hell of a lot better than dating a married mom,” Austin says with a grin. “Adultery doesn’t play well politically. But a single mom, maybe with a deadbeat ex . . . the optics could be good.” He turns to me. “Do you think her ex is a deadbeat?”
“No idea.” I’m pretty sure Troy’s not a deadbeat, but I have to maintain the fiction that Melissa’s just a casual acquaintance. “He might just be an idiot.”
“Oh, he’s definitely an idiot,” Austin agrees. “You’d have to be, to let a girl like that get away.”
“Do you know what’s going on with Ethan?” Austin asks as we walk home from the coffee shop. We’ve just said goodbye to Drew, which means we’re free to discuss things we don’t want the chief of surgery to hear.
I’m seriously considering telling Austin about my history with Melissa. I want her so badly I ache with it, but I’m afraid to make a move because I operated on her kid.
Austin’s not a bad guy, and I know if I tell him about my past with Melissa, he’ll back off. And that’s probably why I’m hesitant to tell him—underneath the swagger, he’s not a bad guy, and I’ve never seen him treat a woman badly. Maybe he is ready to settle down, and even if he isn’t, maybe he’ll show her a good time. I get the sense her idiot ex did a number on her confidence, and Austin might help build it back up.
“Luke?” Austin asks.
“Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you’d heard about Ethan,” Austin repeats.
“You mean the lawsuit? I haven’t wanted to ask about it,” I admit. “Why, have you heard something else?”
“Not about the lawsuit, no. But apparently he reamed Grace out in the OR Friday morning. His case was going badly, and he said she wasn’t handing him his instruments fast enough.”
“Huh.” This is bad. Grace is an OR nurse, and one of the worst at the hospital. She’s really slow, and half the time she hands you the wrong thing, which is stressful when a case isn’t going well. But she tries really hard and she’s sweet, so people put up with her. “No, I haven’t talked to him. How’d you hear about it?”
“The nurses are all talking. Apparently Grace left the OR in tears. They swapped her into Beth’s OR for the rest of the day so she wouldn’t have to work with Ethan again.”
“You think Drew heard about it?”
Austin shrugs. “I don’t know. If he hasn’t yet, he probably will. I think the nurses are going to complain to their manager.”
Yep, this was bad news for Ethan. “In that case, Ethan should talk to Drew himself. Make sure he knows his side of the story. Let’s face it, Austin, Grace is a nice person but an awful OR nurse. They should probably move her out of the OR, somewhere she won’t do as much harm.”
“Maybe,” Austin agrees. “Anyway, you know Ethan pretty well, so I thought you might want to talk to him.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Austin.”
I’m struck by a wave of guilt. I’m one of Ethan’s best friends in Somerset, and I knew he was struggling. I should have made more of an effort to support him. I’ve been distracted by the situation with Melissa, but that’s got to change.
As soon as I get back to my condo, I grab my earbudsand head back down to the gym. Since the run was cut short, I didn’t get much of a workout this morning, so I lift weights while I think about how to approach Ethan. Under other circumstances, I’d invite him out for a beer, but since alcohol seems to be part of his problem, that doesn’t seem like the best option.
So when I’m done at the gym, I text to invite him over to watch the hockey game tonight. It’s the kind of thing we sometimes did before he got together with Jessica, and also the sort of activity she’s unlikely to want to join. Since I suspect she’s part of the problem too, this is a crucial part of my intervention plan.
Ethan doesn’t reply until the evening, and when he does, it’s to say that he’s taken Jessica to Montreal for the weekend. I text back to wish them a good time before stretching out on the couch to watch the game myself. I’d invite Austin over, but I won’t be able to look at him without thinking about the way he flirted with Melissa.
As the game’s ending, my phone buzzes with a text.
Melissa: How’s your leg?
It takes me a second to remember what she’s talking about.
Me: Better. I’m fine.
Melissa: You never had a cramp, did you?
