“He threatened to replace the tap of Red Frog IPA with a strawberry cream ale and not tell him,” Beckett supplies helpfully from my other side.
Knowing how much Sawyer hates strawberries, that makes me laugh. “Dean’s a diabolical genius.”
“Shut up,” Sawyer mumbles, taking a sip of his beer.
I’m just thankful the attention is off me. Truthfully, I shouldn’t have bothered coming tonight; I’m too riled up about the Heidi situation to be good company for anyone.
The conversation steers toward Sawyer’s constant attempts to get Beckett to join him and some of his firefighter buddies on one of their “hookup excursions,” as he calls them. He’s an immature fucker, and for a guy pushing his mid-thirties, I can’t help but wonder when the hell Sawyer will settle his ass down.
Then again, maybe I do need to go out with him and find some willing woman to fuck. Hell, if I wasn’t due back at the hospital tomorrow morning, I’d suggest we go out tonight. I need something — anything — to distract myself and get today’s events out of my head.
Because no matter what I told my brother, working with Heidi Morgan is definitely going to be abig deal.
Chapter two
Heidi
Walking through the doors of Westport General Hospital for my first shift as a fourth-year resident feels familiar and yet, so very different. The hard work making it through med school and the first three years of residency, being the oldest student in my cohort, the long nights and longer days, it all lead me back here.
This is my final term for my residency, which is why I begged and pushed to be transferred to WGH. I want to finish my education here, and hopefully, get a job here after I’m done.
I grew up on the mainland but moved to Vancouver Island to get my nursing degree. The job at Westport was my first, and I stayed here three years. I love the natural beauty that is everywhere around me, I love the small towns, the rugged coastline, the mountains and forests; I love it all. This area is where I always envisioned settling down and starting a family.
My ex, Thad, had other ideas. And like the meek little sheep I was ten years ago, I let him uproot my entire adult life and move me back to the mainland forhiscareer. Because supporting the one you love is what you’re meant to do, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you always stand by your partner and encourage them to reach all of their dreams?
Apparently, that was a one-way thing with Thad.
But life always gives silver linings. For me that was a patient — Molly.
Who knew a mouthy teenager could be so wise.
Her life was ending just as it should have been beginning. And somehow, she changed mine forever.
Fast-forward to today, and I realize it’s not the hospital that feels different, it’s me. I loved my work as a nurse, don’t get me wrong. The value nurses have, the role we play in caring for sick and injured patients, that’s priceless.
But I was a shadow of who I should have been back then.
“There she is!” Ginny shouts as I walk through the sliding doors to the unit after storing my things in the residents’ lounge. Several other familiar faces appear, and soon I’m surrounded by my former coworkers. God, I love these people.
“Way to make me the pariah of the residents on day one,” I grumble good-naturedly as I hug Ginny. The older woman hated it when we called her mom, but she truly did mother all of us nurses, making sure we drank water and took breaks. “If my cohort weren’t worried about me getting special treatment before, they are now. You better bust my ass just the same as we used to any resident in their first week, or I’ll never live it down.”
“The difference between you and them, honey, is that you know how to start an IV in one shot,” she retorts, and we share a quiet laugh.
“Residents, over here, please.”
Ginny straightens and gives me a wink. “Better go, hot doc is calling you.”
I roll my eyes, even though I don’t disagree with her nickname for Max Donnelly. It seems some things never change. When Max started working here, just a few months before I left, many of the nurses had a thing for him. “You’re still calling him that?”
“Do you have eyes? That man gets better with age.” With a wave, she heads over to the medication dispensing room, and I’m left standing by the nursing desk alone. Taking a deep breath, I pivot and make my way to the back of the small group of residents starting today.
I take advantage of the small distance between us to covertly study Dr. Max Donnelly. Ginny’s not wrong, the man is hot with a capital “H.” He always has been, but she’s right, he somehow got even hotter in the years since I left.
Ten years ago, I wouldn’t let myself admit that I too was attracted to him. But now I’m a free woman. Free to enjoy the scenery, as it were. I’ll never act on it, not now. Not when my goals are all within reach. And especially not now I have to work with him. Closely.Intimately. Make no mistake, real life at a hospital is nothing likeGrey’s Anatomy. We’re not all hooking up in storage closets and making rash decisions that break all the rules and moral codes of healthcare. But there is an undeniable closeness that comes from working together to save someone’s life. It bonds you in a way that nothing else does. Nurses feel it, and I would imagine doctors do, too.
As Dr. Donnelly’s resident, I’ll be his shadow for the next several months. Ideally, he’ll start to give me more and more opportunities to practice independently, but he’ll always be there watching.
That thought shouldn’t make me shiver the way it does. The person in front of me asks a question, startling me back to the present moment just in time to hear everyone chuckle at Dr. Donnelly’s response to whatever was asked.
