Nick fake chuckled and looked around at the others he had been talking to. None of them would make eye contact with him. That was the way it worked on the playground. The bully was funny until he was called out or turned on you. I was disgusted with the lot of them.
“You know Dr. Mitchell is a stiff, Emma. Why are you protecting that man when I know you can’t stand him?” Nick challenged me to defend Alex. To take a side. To throw my lot in with Alex or be one of the gang.
I had no problem deciding whom I’d rather spend my time with. “Dr. Mitchell is a great man who genuinely cares about his patients and those he works with.” I drew a deep breath, rising to my full height. “And when is iteverprofessional to make fun of our colleagues?”
Those at the back of the crowd slowly shuffled away, their heads lowered in shame.
But Nick wasn’t backing down as easily. “Come on, Emma. Dr. Mitchell could be a stand-in as the Tin Man inThe Wizard of Oz.”He grinned at those left, who shook their heads, silently telling him to stop.
“You don’t even know him!” I yelled, which wasn’t professional either, but I didn’t care. “I will not be party to this kind of behavior. I’m leaving,” I said as I stormed out of the clinic.
Normally, I would have stuck around, eaten lunch with some of the staff, and helped smooth the transition from the morning crew to the afternoon crew. But Nick’s childish behavior had awoken a protective side of me, and things wouldn’t be good if I stayed. I couldn’t help patients in my current state of mind.
All I could think of was finding Alex.
I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I wanted him as more than just a friend or a colleague.
I wanted to make Alex a part of my world.
And I knew just where to start.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex
As I raced out of the clinic, all I could think about was getting out of there as fast as I could. I couldn’t find Emma before I left; I was too humiliated. Besides, she probably saw me the same as the rest of them … just the cold human robot.
I’d always had an inkling that my coworkers barely tolerated me, and today confirmed it. Dang it all—sometimes I hated being right. The thing was, when I was with Emma, I didn’t worry about what everyone saw me as; I just worried about her. We’d shared a close moment, one that I thought could lead to more under the right circumstances. Those circumstances being a candlelight dinner or quiet stroll along the river, maybe even a kayak ride together.
More humiliating than seeing Nick do his robot impression of me was knowing he’d say those things in front of Emma. I didn’t want her to hear Nick mock me and see the truth in his words.
Not that I thought I was a robot, but I could see why people thought that of me.
But that wasn’t me.
I got in my car and just started driving, not having a destination in mind. Slowly, my shattered feelings flamed into anger. How dare Nick say those things about me! He had no right to degrade a fellow doctor—or anyone, for that matter. I’d done nothing to him and nothing to deserve his mockery.
And yet it came anyway.
Obviously, learning something new wasn’t projecting the confidence Dylan claimed it would. I’d been better off the way I was before, keeping to myself and working nonstop. Maybe I hadn’t connected with my coworkers, but at least they’d left me alone.
I slumped. They could have said the same things behind my back, and I wouldn’t know it.
As rage stung my eyes, I got out my cell phone and called Dylan’s office. I knew he had a limited amount of office hours on Saturday, and I was determined to let him know that I was done with this whole experiment.
His receptionist answered, and I told her I was coming and hung up. I was not taking no for an answer.
When I got to the clinic, I stormed into Dylan’s office and found him packing up for the day. My shoulders rose and fell with my forced controlled breathes.
“Hello, Alex,” he said calmly, as if his clients stormed his office on a daily basis. If he gave out bad advice, maybe they did. “What is wrong?” he asked, his eyebrows wrinkled with concern.
“I will tell you what is wrong. I trusted you; that’s what’s wrong. I knew it was a bad idea, but I overruled my gut because it meant hanging on to my job. And you know what? It was a bad idea!” I yelled, my face heating.
“What was a bad idea, Alex? I am a little behind here. Catch me up to where you’re at.”He stopped packing and faced me. If he’d come back at me with a snide comment or yelling, I might have been able to hold on to my anger. But Dylan wasn’t like that. He was calm and really looking to understand me.
The frustration boiled off of me like steam from a teapot. “I told you and Emma that I am not good with people. That’s why I am a surgeon—because my patients are usually asleep,” I said as I threw my hands out in exasperation.
A knowing look settled on Dylan’s face as he pulled his desk chair up behind him and took a seat. I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing him get comfy. I hadn’t come here for a session; I’d come to tell him I wasn’t coming again. I braced for his question about what happened, why I was so mad, and what Emma had to do with all of this.
