“I don’t think you have the chops for this,” said Dr. Pissed Off, whom she was beginning to think of as Dr. Jackass. “I really don’t. Any third-year medical student would have ordered the film. Hell, anyone’s who’s ever watched half an episode of Grey’s Anatomy would’ve ordered the film. I’m thinking you should’ve gone to law school, Brown.”
Ouch. Low blow.
Brown seemed to think so too, because he jerked his chin up, grew a pair and tried to defend himself. “Look. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
Dr. Jerk was not impressed. “I don’t want your apology,” he said. “I want you to do your job. Now get out of here.”
Brown wavered for a second, his humiliated and defiant gaze flickering between his tormentor and their avid audience. A couple of the nurses gave him an encouraging smile, which seemed to give him courage. He looked like he wanted to return to the battlefield and maybe fire off one last salvo, but he couldn’t seem to find the guts.
Instead, he ducked his head and hurried off around the corner, heading for the elevators and, probably, a long day spent beating himself up for his honest mistake.
Poor guy. Lia’s heart squeezed with sympathy as she watched him go. Was this kind of abuse dished out to the beleaguered residents on a daily basis? And did Dr. Pissed Off think he was God?
Dumb question. Yes, of course he did. Didn’t all doctors?
“For God’s sake,” Dr. Evil muttered to no one, continuing his ridiculous little temper tantrum by slamming the patient’s metal file on the counter as he strode off. Everyone jumped and then hastily resumed their busywork, as though they’d been so engrossed in minding their own business that they’d missed the whole interlude. “How am I supposed to teach these clowns?”
Something possessed Lia. She’d been accused, on more than one occasion, of being a crusader, and right now she felt the strong urge to find a cape and a sword and fly to the rescue of young Dr. Brown.
Idiotic, yeah, especially considering that she didn’t know the guy, who could well be the worst student to ever claw his way through a sub-par medical school, but she couldn’t just stand quietly by while his boss the jerk tore into him. Injustice of any kind, real or imagined, made her face burn with anger. And why was no one else standing up to the ogre and speaking out against his reign of terror?
“For God’s sake.” She kept her voice loud and clear as she spoke to Dr. Jackass’s departing back. “How are residents supposed to learn when they’re being bullied?”
A ringing silence bloomed like a nuclear explosion, giving her time to wonder if she’d gone too far.
And … yeeeeeaaah. She’d probably gone too far.
Jaws dropped. Heads swiveled in her direction. Wide-eyed looks were exchanged. Even Dudley raised his brows and gave her an are-you-crazy glance.
She waited with a growing sense of foreboding.
The bully paused, cocked his head as though he wanted to make sure he’d heard right, and then wheeled around, facing her for the first time. His attention zeroed in on her, the big mouth, and she’d almost swear that everyone else ducked and scurried away so as not to be caught in the oncoming path of destruction. In that pregnant moment, she had a wild image of the indigenous people tying Ann Darrow to her sacrificial post and then sprinting back to the other side of that primitive gate, where it was safe from King Kong.
Only this was no King Kong. Not by a long shot.
Oh, man. The breath leaked out of her lungs in one quick whoosh, and she found herself caught in the fierce gaze from a pair of furious but extraordinary brown eyes. He had long lashes and straight brows that showcased a burning intensity and a keen intelligence. His dark skin was flushed. One edge of his full lips pulled back in a disbelieving sneer, which revealed a hint of both white teeth and a bracket of what would be dimples, if and when he ever smiled.
He was, in a word, stunning.
Shock hit Lia like the leather thong of a cracked whip.
In two long strides he was on her, right in her face. “What did you say to me?”
Locking her knees in place, Lia stood up to him because no one else had. “I said that if a student isn’t learning, it’s generally the teacher’s fault.”
A collective gasp, quickly stifled, rippled through the crowd of avid onlookers, all of whom were probably wishing they had an ICEE and a large buttered popcorn to go along with the show.
His eyes—his unforgettably amazing eyes—widened with shock, probably because no one had challenged his arrogance in the last decade or so. Recovering quickly, he looked her up and down with cool disdain.
“Are you a licensed physician?”
“No,” she admitted.
Triumph gleamed in his expression. “Then you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, do you?”
With that, he gave Dudley a curt nod and strode off, sucking all the air out of the area with him. His departing back posed a real challenge to her. She wanted to hurl just the right comeback and prevent him from having the last word, but her mouth was dry and her brain was empty.
Best to just leave well enough alone. For now.
“In case you were interested,” Dudley told Lia, flashing her an amused grin, “that was Dr. Bradshaw. The youngest ever head of surgery here and the best we’ve got.”
Oh, she knew who he was, even though they’d never met. He bore a remarkable resemblance to someone very close to her, but now wasn’t the time to get into personal details about her life. Soon, but not now.
“Hmm.” Badly shaken and acutely aware of both her burning face and Dudley’s curiosity, she tried to get her head back in the game. She’d confront the arrogant Dr. Thomas Bradshaw soon enough. Until then, she had a job to do and a role to play with her new boss. “Too bad no one ever taught him to be a kind human being.”
“He’s only kind on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” said a new, male voice behind her. “So it looks like we’re all out of luck today. Jerome Stubbs, RN. I just wanted to meet the woman who confronted the dragon in his lair. And you are … ”
Bracing for the worst—she was wrung out already, and her first day at this godforsaken hospital wasn’t even halfway over yet—Lia turned to discover a grinning young man extending his hand to her. Relief hit her in a wave. Here, at last, was the friendly face of someone who didn’t appear to be a jerk or have an agenda.
So she shook his hand, discovering that Jerome had a firm grip, which was another sign of trustworthiness as far as she was concerned.
“Lia Taylor. Computer security expert. Nice to meet you.”
Jerome reached out and slung his arm around the shoulders of another man nearby, this one with dark skin and a mustache with goatee, scooping him into the conversation as well. “This is Dr. Lucien De Winter. Say hello to the dragon slayer, Lucien.”
They all laughed, including Dudley, and Lia felt some of the seething tension of the last few minutes leach away from her.
“He’s not so bad, you know,” Lucien told her. “Thomas has standards that are exceptionally high. But he’s not terrible once you get to know him. Bad, yeah, but not terrible.”
“I’m not convinced,” Lia said. “But you two seem perfectly nice. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“We know. We’re a delight,” Jerome assured her.
Still laughing, he headed back to the nurse’s station. Lucien, meanwhile, waved his goodbye and disappeared into the cafeteria. Lia turned back to Dudley and discovered him watching her with a glimmer of amused respect in his eyes.
“What?”