At ten-thirty at night in this neighborhood? I absolutely do.
“Don’t worry,” I say lightly. “I won’t try to kiss you goodnight or anything.”
I walk around the car to meet her at the curb, and after a brief hesitation, I take her hand again. At this point, it feels like the natural thing to do.
“I’m in the basement, so my door’s around the side,” she says as we walk toward the house. A moment later we’re there, and I reluctantly let go of her hand so she can unlock her door.
“Thanks, Drew,” she says as she pushes the door open. “Have a good night.”
“You too, Ally. I’ll see you Saturday.”
FOURTEEN
DREW
When I get to the clinic Friday morning, there’s a sharply dressed young man leaning on the reception desk, talking to Celine.
“Oh, Dr. Malone,” Celine says. “This is Ryan. He’s an elective medical student, visiting from . . .”
“McMaster University,” Ryan supplies, stepping forward to shake my hand. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
I groan inwardly. Since I became the department chief, I’ve had med students appearing out of nowhere to work with me. They all want reference letters for their residency applications, and it’s gotten overwhelming. A few months ago I told the med education office to stop placing visiting students with me, but somehow, they keep showing up. It seems the good folks in the education office have ignored my instructions.
As I shake hands with Ryan, I glance over his shoulder at Celine. She gives her head a tiny shake, which tells me all I need to know.
Celine does not like Ryan, which means he’s probably the type of med student who treats secretaries like dirt. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common trait in wannabe neurosurgeons.
Ryan follows me to the workstation in the back, where I introduce him to my resident, Dr. Lucy Sun.
“I thought I’d take the first patient,” Lucy says, looking at the list on the computer. “I’m just reviewing the scans.”
“Sounds good.” Lucy’s probably my favorite resident in the program. She’s bright and hard-working, and she doesn’t have a God complex.
“Ryan, do you want to shadow me for the first few patients?” she offers.
Have I mentioned that I love Lucy?
“Oh, thanks, Dr. Sun, but I was planning to work with Dr. Malone,” Ryan says.
I’m this close to telling Ryan that there’s no point. He’s failed the secretary test, so there’s almost zero chance I’ll recommend him for a residency spot here. He can do us both a favor and stop sucking up.
But in an admirable show of restraint, I don’t say any of that, and Ryan sticks to me like a bad rash.
At around ten-thirty, a couple of patients don’t show up and we get a break. It would be the perfect time to sit down with Ryan and teach him something, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I say, shooting Lucy a look of apology as I escape down the hall.
But it isn’t really an escape, because Ryan follows me. “Okay if I come with?” he asks. “Are you going to the ward?”
“Getting coffee, actually.” I’d been planning to buy tea, but there’s no way in hell I’ll buy herbal tea in front of Ryan.
“Sounds good,” he says enthusiastically.
As we walk past the ER waiting room, I spot a woman with a blonde ponytail. I can only see the back of her head, but from this angle she looks a lot like Ally.
I give my head a shake. Now I’m imagining her everywhere.
Fortunately, there’s no line at the coffee shop. I order a vanilla latte, and Ryan asks for the same. After I tap my card, we step to the side to wait for the drinks.
