“Yes.” She let go of his hand. “If you can point me in the right direction...”
“Of course.” He led her into the hall when all he should’ve done was gesture to the adjacent office. “We’re supposed to be getting doorplates,” he said, wondering when he’d reverted to an awkward teenager. “Are you a medical professional?”
“Nope. Just want to help.”
“That’s great,” he said. “We’re perpetually understaffed and overtaxed. A lot of people depend on the free clinics.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Here you are.” He opened the door and the woman sitting behind the desk looked up. “Valeria will take care of you,” he said and caught the woman’s startled expression. Had he gotten her name wrong? No, he was pretty sure that was right. With her side-shaved haircut, the streak of silver in her long black bangs and her numerous tattoos, it wasn’t as if he was likely to confuse her with someone else.
“Hello.” Lisa moved into the room and glanced over her shoulder the moment his willpower slipped and his gaze landed on her curvy backside. “Thank you, Dr. Cassidy.”
He quickly brought his eyes up to her face. “You’re welcome. And thank you,” he said. “For volunteering.”
She smiled.
“Well, I’ve got patients to see.” He backed into the hall and almost took out a passing nurse.
Annoyed and embarrassed, he headed for exam room 4, where his patient had been waiting too long. Before he entered, he gave her file a second look.
According to Yolanda’s intake papers, she was a sex worker. A number of them came to the clinic for their health needs. He’d order blood work on her, if she’d let him. Probably not, as all she wanted was antibiotics for chlamydia. “I hope you haven’t been waiting too long,” he said. “There was a mix-up.”
Her disgusted laugh told him he could take his mix-up and put it somewhere uncomfortable. This time, he deserved it.
For the next three hours Daniel barely had time to take a breath between patients. No neurological crises arose, but that was true most days. He was technically here as a specialist, but he’d done a lot of family medicine during his training. Another neurologist, Joseph Glick, usually volunteered twice a month, but he was taking a break for the duration of Daniel’s stay.
And Daniel had no idea how long he would be staying. For now, he was content to be there. He liked the freedom and the challenge of this understaffed madhouse. It had no MRIs or CT scanners. Half the equipment didn’t work, forcing them to improvise. It certainly kept him on his toes.
Which was probably what bothered his brother about his job. Warren was as concerned about his professional status as he was about his patients. Actually, that wasn’t fair. Warren was a great neurosurgeon, in one of the most prestigious practices in New York, and he lived for the work. Daniel had begun to prefer his life to be a little more real, a little less neat.
Like his newest patient, Mr. Kennedy. The old man was snoring up a storm on the table in room 5. Mr. Kennedy squatted in a condemned building a couple of blocks away. He came to Moss Street on a regular basis, sometimes to get a hot drink, sometimes to get some sleep, and mostly because he was a diabetic who didn’t take his medication.
It would be a shame to wake him. Which made this a good opportunity for Daniel to grab a quick cup of coffee in what they laughingly called the lounge. Maybe find out more about that new volunteer. His need for caffeine abated as he discovered the woman still in Valeria’s office. Filing. “You didn’t waste any time jumping into the fray,” he said.
Lisa turned at his voice, that smile of hers drawing him inside the office. “Seems they’ll take just about anyone.”
Valeria’s laugh reminded Daniel they weren’t alone. “No offense, but that’s truer than you know.”
“She’s signed up for three whole days,” Valeria said, and there was nothing feigned about her enthusiasm.
“Excellent. I’m sure she told you about the coffee in the lounge. I was just heading over there.”
Lisa blinked and nodded.
He glanced at Valeria, who was watching him closely. The woman was the eyes and ears of the staff. He imagined not much got past her.
“Yes, I did tell her about the lounge, Dr. Cassidy,” Valeria said with a hint of amusement. “I even told Lisa where the bathroom was.”
Okay, it was past time for him to make an exit. No wonder he rarely dropped by this office. “Can I get you ladies anything on my way back?”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Valeria leaned back in her chair and raised her brows comically high. “I’d love a coffee. Black, no sugar. And if they still have doughnuts, I wouldn’t mind one.”
He nodded, knowing news of his “visit” would spread through the office like pinkeye. “Black, no sugar,” he repeated. “What about you, Ms. Pine?”
“I think it’s about time for her break,” Valeria said before she turned to Lisa. “Just leave the files where they are. Come back in fifteen?”
When Daniel looked at Lisa, he caught her staring back, a light blush staining her cheeks. For God’s sake, he was thirty-four years old and he couldn’t have handled this more awkwardly if he’d tried. Talk about showing his hand.
“I could use a cup of coffee.” Lisa put down the work and gave Valeria a nod before leading him down the hall.
For the life of him, Daniel couldn’t come up with a decent opening line. Though he was content to enjoy the view. Lisa had a nice, easy sway to her walk. Too bad she hadn’t worn a skirt. He’d bet she had great legs...
“I understand you’re a neurologist,” she said with a backward glance. “And that you’re single.”
“What?” he said, taken aback until he caught the mischievous look in her eyes.
“And you not only graduated from Harvard, but did your residency at Johns Hopkins and just finished a neurology fellowship at Mount Sinai.”
He sighed. Gossip was as ubiquitous as penicillin at the clinic. Until today he’d primarily been exempt from it. Or so he’d thought. Nothing he could do about it, though, and in this case, he wasn’t sure he minded. “Alarmingly true, but I bet you don’t know my blood type.”
“O-positive.”
He stopped so fast the nurse behind him almost bumped into his back. “Seriously?”
Lisa gave him a wicked grin. “Educated guess. It’s the most common blood type.”
He pointed his file at her. “You’re fixing Valeria’s coffee,” he said as they entered the lounge. “And even if there are any doughnuts left, she’s not getting any.”
Her laugh was as charming as her smile, which made the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket an unwelcome intruder. What was worse, it was a call from Warren. Even though he let it go to voice mail, his mood plummeted. Of course he knew what his brother wanted. Just as Warren knew Daniel wasn’t ready to discuss joining the Center.
He might as well stop thinking about Lisa Pine. Starting something with any woman, let alone a volunteer, was out of the question while his world was in flux. The only thing that mattered to him at the moment was working until he crashed from exhaustion and then repeating the cycle. Filling every nook and cranny of his life with anything that wasn’t thoughts of his future. Eventually, he’d have to face his obligations. But not today.
A row of lockers against the wall, the pair of ugly corduroy chairs and two overworked coffeemakers sitting on a folding table allowed for limited space in the small room. It could hold four people nicely; six was pushing it. He reached around Lisa