“…and of course, I do hope you’ll make an appearance at our autumn gala, Dr. Ellis. I know you typically avoid it, but I do hold out hope that one day you’ll give in.” With a bright, motherly smile, Elaine put a large medical journal on the shelves near her desk, and finally sat down herself, clasping her hands together on the battered, doodled-on, old-fashioned paper desk calendar that filled up so much of the desk’s surface. “Now. Let’s talk about your morning. I understand you didn’t exactly fulfill the mandate I handed down to attend a wellness evaluation with Dr. Monroe.”
“I went to the clinic. I spoke to her.” Victoria rolled her eyes skyward and waved a hand. “Obligation met.”
“On the contrary.” When Elaine leaned forward, her blue eyes were steely. “You insulted her, avoided relevant discussion, informed her that you wouldn’t be needing her services, and skipped out on forty-five minutesandthe actual point of the appointment, the evaluation of your mental state.” Her eyes narrowed. “Explain.”
“Oh, please. I was simply forthright.” Victoria slumped down into her chair. “I saw no need to waste either her time or mine. My mental state is fine. I’ve done two entire bronchoscopies just today, and I have a stent insertion and an aortic valve replacement this afternoon.”
“And I don’t have to worry about you walking out of any of these?” Elaine raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to insist we take a gowned, draped, and unconscious patient back for another CT scan or two? You’ll actually cut into these patients?”
“Well, that’s the plan, of course,” Victoria retorted, feeling a bit stung. “I don’t particularly care for the feeling that a person isn’t allowed to make mistakes. These things happen.”
“They do, and part of my job is to ensure there’s not a repeat performance.” Elaine’s gaze softened slightly, and somehow that was more terrifying to Victoria than the combative determination. “Victoria?—”
Victoria froze at the uncommon use of her first name by this woman. Elaine seemed to not notice.
“—I am concerned for you. The reports I received from several staff members yesterday… you do know they’re not the first? I wouldn’t send you to Staff Wellness after one bad day. You’ve had a few bad days lately, don’t you think?”
Victoria squeezed her own hand tightly, making her knuckles ache. “Well…”
“I’ve got scrub nurses threatening a mutiny, patients complaining about your bedside manner—more than usual—and then I get reports of you having breakdowns in stairwells and in active operating fields. Frankly, this is cause for concern.” Elaine shook her head. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I have to insist you see Dr. Monroe. Properly. In full. Let her do what she can to help.”
“I don’tneedhelp,” Victoria hissed.
“I disagree. And I’m fully prepared to back up my assertion with action.” The soft concern was replaced with iron steel. “Commit to the evaluation and the therapeutic visits, or I suspend you.”
That got Victoria to jump to her feet. “You can’t do that!”
“Can’t I?” Elaine chuckled. “I not only can, I have the full support of Steve Sundstrom. You’re to receive counseling, whether you like it or not.”
“I don’t like it!” The words burst out of her, and she hated that there was a petulant note to them.
“Yes, we are all aware.” Looking thoughtful, Elaine checked her computer. “I’ll let you off the hook this afternoon, but I want you in Dr. Monroe’s office first thing tomorrow morning, Dr. Ellis.” Back to formality. “She has a nine AM slot free.”
“I don’t, I have a pacemaker installation then,” she protested.
“No, I’ve gone ahead and reassigned that to Dr. Proctor,” Elaine replied absently, her fingers flying over her keyboard. “You’re all set.”
The phone in Victoria’s pocket chimed, and she knew it would be a notification from her healthcare portal with the new appointment. She didn’t even bother to check it. Getting to her feet, she stalked over to the office door.
“Dr. Ellis,” Elaine called after her. “You know it’s not a cardinal sin to accept help every once in a while?”
“Of course I know that,” she snapped as she yanked the door open. “But Ido notneed help, damn it all.”
Without another word, Victoria whipped out into the hallway and slammed the office door shut behind her.
This is unforgivable.
But at 9 AM sharp, she was back in the Staff Wellness clinic. Furious, of course. And undercaffeinated; in her haste to get to the hospital and get this over with, she’d forgotten to make her morning flask of tea. So there was nothing in her bloodstream or stomach to help her cope with the appearance of Dr. Anna Monroe, who was once again in a long, floral skirt—this time big pink peonies, inappropriately springlike in October—and a sweater over her cream silk blouse. A goddamncardigan, in fact, as shabby as the previous day’s pullover, in a nondescript mauve with unfortunate bobbled cables. And matching ballet flats, of course. Mauve leather. Did the woman have a fresh pair of the things for every outfit? What did she do on winter days? Or in summer? Did she even own a pair of sandals?
Anna’s pleasant attitude only riled up Victoria’s foul temper further. “I see you don’t have your flask today,” she observed as they walked to her office. “I know my tea collection isn’t up to your standards, but I’d like to offer you the chance to pick something from it for yourself.”
Victoria tried to repress a shudder. The aforementioned collection was a far cry from her beautifully aromatic Fortnum & Mason Darjeeling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d made tea with abag. It was the ritual of loose leaf that she liked, that soothed her. The precisely boiled water, the carefully filled infuser, the ticking of the little timer she liked to set for steeping. It was a slow, satisfying process, and it absolutely couldn’t be replicated with a bag of—Victoria checked the tea selection and this time, couldn’t stop herself from shuddering.Typhoo.Good Christ.“Where did you evenfindthis?” she demanded, holding up the red box.
Anna blinked as she sat down. “At the grocery store by my apartment. It has an international section. I thought that might be a nice addition to the collection here.”
“My grandmother used to buy it in bulk.” Victoria shook her head, her nose filled with the memory scents of Typhoo, mothballs, and Fairy liquid. “Don’t you have any loose leaf?”
“As a matter of fact, I do, but nobody ever asks for it, so I typically keep it for myself.” Getting to her feet, Anna came to stand close to Victoria, who found herself surprised by the unexpectedly spicy rose perfume she was wearing. She crouched down under the table the tea and coffee station was on and rummaged through a box. When she came up, she had a small bag of tea leaves in one hand, and a teddy-bear shaped tea infuser on a chain in the other. “Here. You’re welcome to use any of the cups on the rack.” She tilted her head to indicate it, fluffy red ponytail spilling down over her shoulder. “They’re clean, and there’s fresh water in the kettle.”
