Way to go, Evan, I thought to myself with a humorless laugh. I took another sip of coffee, thinking about how not only did the living Aphrodite think I was an unfit doctor, but she likely thought I was a sexist pig as well. I squirmed in discomfort at the thought.
The door to the break area swung open. I reached for a magazine, pretending to be interested as I sipped more of my coffee.
“Hey, Evan. How’s the daylight hours treating you?”
I looked up to see Morris, one of our surgeons.
“Makes me remember why I resigned to the night life,” I answered.
Morris chuckled. “Oh, so you’re not fond of being here with us mere mortals?”
I smirked. “No, that’s not it. It’s just that my brain doesn’t always kick in until the AM hours are over.”
“Well, you’re in luck,” he said, pulling a paper bag from the staff refrigerator. He crossed the room over to the table, took a seat, and pulled a sandwich from his bag. “It’s past noon now.”
I gave a strained smile. I had nothing against Morris. He was a great doctor and someone I could have even considered a friend. I just wasn’t in the mood for small talk, which was clearly lost on him. He beckoned me over to the table with him. “Come and keep an old man company, will you?”
I’d been staring down at the magazine in my lap, trying to appear engrossed by it, but apparently I hadn’t been convincing enough. I glanced up at Morris again.
“Anything interesting in there?” he asked, nodding toward the magazine.
“Not really,” I said, although I hadn’t actually been reading anything.
“So you’re filling in for Dr. Nualli, I hear?” Morris asked around a mouthful of his sandwich.
“Yeah. Just for a little while. No offense, but I’m not trying to make mortal hours a permanent thing.”
Morris laughed heartily, once again beckoning to the table with him. “Well, in the meantime, I hope you’re having something more than just coffee for lunch, doc. You’ll be a jittery mess by the time your shift ends. Those of us working in the daylight have to refuel properly.” He held up his sandwich as if offering me a bite. “You should know that.”
I smiled tensely again, not liking the sound of anyone telling me what I should know, even jokingly. Yet, right on time to save me, Dr. Morris’ pager went off. He swore under his breath. “Can’t catch a break around here these days!”
“Another day, another dollar,” I said, gratefully resettling into my seat now that Dr. Morris was rising from the table, being called for duty.
“You’ve got that right. See you around, Evan.”
“Yeah. See you, Morris.”
The instant I was alone again, I almost regretted it. Morris’ brief appearance had at least managed to push Tessa from my mind. But now that I was in solitude once more, I no longer had a distraction.
While her looks were undeniable, her skills had left me rather stunned as well. It was obvious that she was light-years beyond the other nurses. The way she worked around the GSW, she could have been a doctor. It’s not every day—or ever, in my case—that a nurse catches and calls out a doctor for making a mistake. Something about the way Tessa spoke to me while treating that gunshot patient had made me feel like a scorned child. It was like I was 14-years-old all over again, getting scol
ded by my algebra teacher in front of the whole class about “being too smart to be so careless.”
On the other hand, I didn’t even have legit reason to be upset with Tessa. She had every right to call me out on my mistakes because she was one-hundred percent right. If something had been overlooked with that patient, the blame would have ultimately been on me. Yet, this realization did nothing to alleviate my conflicted feelings about her.
And it was just barely past noon. Dammit.
With a sigh, I drank the last of my coffee and tried to mentally prepare myself for the long hours ahead.
CHAPTER 3
Tessa
In the break room, I drank the last of my water and threw the plastic bottle into the recycle bin just as Molly walked in.
“Long day,” she said.
“Tell me about it.”