Bad Ideas (First & Forever 4)

“Do you have a point to all of this, Nurse Lassiter?” Chad tried to look bored, but the color in his cheeks told me I was getting to him.

“Oh, did I go too fast for you? I guess that’s what happens when you graduate seventy-ninth in a class of ninety-two students. I looked that up, too.” I stared him down as I said, “Let me break it down for you in easy to understand chunks. Stop. Spreading. Lies. About. Theo. Koenig. And that’s what they are—not just harmless rumors, but cruel, hurtful, career-damaging lies.”

I looked around, making eye contact with the mortified doctors as I told them, “You’re better than this. Instead of standing idly by while lies are being spread, you should be thanking Theo Koenig for doing the work of three people and lightening the load for each and every one of you. He’s a wonderful man and a great doctor, and he deserves so much better than this.”

A light touch on my shoulder startled me. When I spun around, I was surprised to find Theo standing right behind me. There was raw emotion in his eyes.

Before I could say anything, he pulled me close and kissed me. Murmurs and exclamations of surprise went through the crowd. I forgot all about our onlookers as I wrapped my arms around my boyfriend and returned the kiss passionately.

Eventually, we were pulled back to reality when a loud voice barked, “My office, Koenig. Now!”

Theo barely glanced at Doctor Wolfram, the head of his department. Then he returned his gaze to me and touched my cheek as he told his supervisor, “Let me save you the trouble. I quit. I can either leave now or give two weeks’ notice. Your call.”

I exclaimed, “You can’t quit!”

“Rules are rules,” Theo said, as he ran his fingertips along my jaw. “Staff aren’t allowed to date, and you’re the most important thing in the world to me. I’d choose you over the hospital any day.”

“But you love your job!”

“I love you more.” He smiled at my surprised expression. “That can’t be news to you. I absolutely adore you, Casey. Don’t you know that?”

I cupped his face between my hands and said, “I love you too, Theo,” before kissing him again. Then I told him, “If you’re quitting, so am I. We’ll open that clinic you talked about—you and me, together.”

Doctor Wolfram stepped up, looking and sounding flustered as he exclaimed, “I don’t want you to quit, Koenig! You’re the best doctor on staff by far, and I can’t afford to lose you.” I shot Chad a look and smirked at him while Wolfram continued, “I was just going to reprimand you for getting involved with one of the nurses. This is obviously more than a fling though, so I can make an exception to company policy. But work on keeping it discreet, please.”

“Quitting is in my best interest,” Theo said, as I took his hand. “This has been a negative environment for me from the start. I know most of that’s my fault. I came in here with a lot of personal issues that made it hard for me to form close relationships. But that doesn’t justify all the lies and rumors that have been spread about me since I’ve worked here.”

Doctor Wolfram looked genuinely surprised. “Who’s been spreading rumors?”

Nora Yang stepped up and pointed at Chad. “That’s what started Casey’s rant. He walked up on Doctor Cunningham telling me lies about Doctor Koenig.” Oh yeah, I definitely liked her.

Doctor Wolfram frowned and ran a hand over his thinning hair. “I’ll gather all the information about this on Monday, and action will be taken. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in my department. For now, everyone who’s off duty needs to leave the floor, and everyone else needs to get back to work. This looks very unprofessional.”

As the nurses scattered and the group of doctors started moving toward the exit, Wolfram came up to us and said, “Please reconsider your resignation, Theodore. Take the weekend to think about it. You’re off the schedule for the next two days, right?” When Theo nodded, his supervisor continued, “Let’s sit down and have a talk on Monday. If you still want to give notice after that, it’ll be this hospital’s loss. You’re an excellent doctor, the most dedicated I’ve seen in thirty years at this job, and I’d hate to lose you. But staying or leaving is obviously your choice.”

Theo nodded. Once Doctor Wolfram went back to his office, Yolanda joined us and I asked her, “Did you see all of that?”

“Most of it.” She turned to Theo and said, “I owe you an apology. I spread those same stupid rumors to Casey, and I should have known better. I hope you can forgive me, not that I deserve it.”