“Great, and I’ll expect to see you in surgery bright and early tomorrow morning,” I teased the new resident on my floor, watching her flushed cheeks turn another shade of red.
“Are you just saying that so I don’t go out with the girls tonight, Dr. Brandt?” Kelly bashfully played back.
I stopped and turned to face her. Her soft green eyes shied away from staring up into mine. As beautiful as this young woman was and as insane as my hormones were these days, I was thankful that I viewed her as a little sister type. Fortunately, I wasn’t the type who was easily tempted to fuck around at work. I knew myself well enough to know that the ease at which I was able to move on from casual relationships would be a problem in the workplace, and I didn’t need HR breathing down my neck.
Something about Kelly reminded me of what my little sister might’ve been like if she’d had the chance to grow up, and I appreciated our strictly platonic friendship.
“Well, Dr. Palmer, if that keeps you out of Mark’s bed, then yes. Surgery starts at four in the morning.” I folded my arms and watched her face turn beet red. “Ah, ha,” I said with a laugh.
“What! How would you know anything about that?” she whispered as if he were standing on the other side of me.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fifteen different shades of red your cheeks turn while talking about him every single day.” I turned to walk toward the office I used when I was on call. I desperately needed to brush my teeth after the coffee I’d been downing the entire night started to leave a disgusting aftertaste in my mouth.
“No,” she said, feistier. “How did you know that I was planning on…you know. Bed.”
She paused, and I smiled, punching the lever to open the automatic doors, admitting us into the lounge area.
“You give yourself away completely, you know? Your facial expressions, and then having these moments where you’re so defensive that you easily forget how schedules work and so forth.”
Her face scrunched up in this adorable expression. “That’s ridiculous. You guessed. And then you just were being you by trying to get me back here at four in the morning.”
I smirked, “Who else is going to buy me breakfast after a long four days on call?”
“Cameron,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You know I’ll be here if you need me. So, what is it?”
“You know I’m messing with you. Enjoy your night out with your friends. I’m going to catch a nap before the next call comes through.”
Before Kelly could respond, my phone rang. I picked it up when I noticed it was my secretary calling.
“Janice,” I answered. “How’d the past few days go? I’m impressed you haven’t called me over the past few days since I’ve been on call.”
“You know the drill, Dr. Cam. Emergencies only, right?” Janice responded with a half laugh.
“Yeah, right. We know how hard and fast that rule is,” I teased. I’d always made it clear if she needed to reach me, she should do so no matter what.
“I was calling because Jessica Stein finally called to schedule that appointment for Jackson to meet with Lisa.”
I’d been ready to get out of here in an hour so I could sleep for twenty-four hours, but now, I was wide awake.
It’s about fucking time! I was beginning to wonder if Jessa had lost the number to the hospital or if I would have to hunt her ass down myself and figure out if I’d scared her and Jackson off so bad that they went into hiding.
“That’s fantastic news. Okay, I’m off for two days, but why don’t you see if Lisa can meet with them the day after tomorrow? I’ll come in on my day off. I really want this young woman to breathe a little hope into Jackson’s situation.”
“Sounds great. Ms. Stein said she was available any day.”
“Excellent. Then so long as Miss Lisa can make some time for us, we’ll be golden. Is there anything else before I go?”
“Some prescriptions for Haylee Brown need refills. Other than that, everything is buttoned up nicely over here at the office.”
“Send the scripts to me, and I’ll have them refilled. I’ll see you when I’m back in the office next week.”
“Perfect.”
“Also, text me the updates on when Lisa will meet with Ms. Stein and her son.”
“You got it, Dr. B.”
My long-ass on-call week had finally come to an end. I was too tired to think of anything besides sleep at this point, so I ordered an Uber because I was too sleep-deprived to get behind the wheel.
I was bone tired but relieved that Jessa and Jacks were moving forward. This was not an easy surgery for anyone to accept, and I was grateful that they were brave enough to hear Lisa’s story.
