Page 58 of Sweet Heart

“That’s not true. I do—”

“Not at work, you don’t. But this morning, your lips were curled all the way up here.” She presses her two index fingers into my cheeks and giggles. “Crinkling eyes and rosy cheeks included.”

I swat her hands away and scowl. Carmen lets out a fake yelp and acts offended, but she is beaming at me as she does.

“Why are you here, anyway?” I deadpan, trying to ignore her antics.

“Oh, right. The results of that CT came back.”

I frown at her. My mind is so scrambled that I’m coming up empty. But when she taps her fingers against her clavicle, the realization dawns, and I only frown harder.

“Coffee,” Carmen murmurs, and I nod. We walk toward the break room together while the hallways are finally emptying.

“Isn’t the resident in?”

“I looked for her on the board. She isn’t set to present yet.”

I let out an irritated sigh. In theory, rotations are amazing. They allow freshly graduated physicians to get a taste of the different specialties of medicine. But in practice, it means the staff has to memorize new faces every four weeks.

We push through the door, and I instantly dart to the pot of coffee. It’s empty. I let out another frustrated groan, and turn to face Carmen. She scoffs and takes the pot from me.

“You are such a surgeon sometimes. Too lazy to make your own freaking coffee.”

There is a soft chuckle in the corner, and we both whip our heads toward the sound at the same time. Tucked away in the farthest chair, nearly out of the light, sits a young woman. Her legs are propped up, and her face is half-hidden behind the latest issue of Woman at the Front. She peers at us over the edge of the magazine, her green eyes taking us in. I give her a blank stare and return my attention to Carmen.

“Do me a favor and find that resident. Isabel... something. Let her have a look.”

“Fellow, actually,” the woman says, lowering the copy and smiling at us. She nods at me once. “Doctor Ramos. Isa. And you must be Doctor Durand.”

My mind quiets for a beat when I remember the meeting nearly three months ago. I pushed for this fellowship myself. Doctor Ramos had shown outstanding work during her rotations in L.A., but transferred to Fairfax only recently. My old roommate had called me. She had sent over a few papers the fellow had worked on, and had vouched for her. I made no promises, but the committee seemed fine with adding a possible prodigy, and the paperwork was signed.

“Doctor Ramos, aren’t you a little late?”

If the lack of facial expressions bothers her, she makes sure not to show it. Instead, she places the magazine on the table, stands up, and walks toward me with an outstretched hand. Carmen shifts uncomfortably next to me, and the woman’s gaze instantly drifts toward her.

“Oh, and the infamous Nurse Rodrigues, I assume?” she adds after a quick glance at the embroidered title on her scrubs.

“I, uh… yeah,” Carmen breathes, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from snickering. Smooth, hermana.

I grab Isa’s hand, and her eyes travel back to mine.

“It was my understanding you were supposed to start two months ago.”

The woman nods. Her honey-brown ponytail bobs softly up and down, but not a hair falls out of place.

“There were some issues with the move, so it was pushed back. Were you not informed?”

“I will have to check that. For now, welcome to Inova.”

Chapter 22

Cat

“Can you tell me what you see, Doctor Ramos?”

We stand in front of the screen and stare at the image in front of us. The seven vertebrae of the neck show up as stacked little ghosts, almost see-through on the screenshot. Nonetheless, the abnormality is instantly clear to me. Isa doesn’t rush, though. Her eyes calmly scan the image before she nods once and turns to me.

“There is a minor fracture of the fourth cervical vertebra, which should heal with proper care and physical therapy.”