Bad Ideas (First & Forever 4)

“I’m sorry too. I know I’ve been difficult to work with,” he said.

She shrugged and told him, “It’s not like you’re the first doctor who’s been a pain in the ass. Most specialize in it. Just ask us nurses.” They both grinned, and then Yolanda turned to me and said, “Take the night off, Casey. I was supposed to be off at six, but I’ll stay and cover your shift.”

“Why?”

“You have to be tired, since you’ve picked up hours for literally every nurse on staff these past three weeks. As shift leader, the least I can do is make sure you go home and get some rest.” She smirked at me and added, “Or go home and bone your boyfriend. Either way.”

“I hate making you work late, though.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t make me pull rank and order you to go home, Lassiter, because you know I’ll do it.”

“Fine.” I gave her a hug and told her, “I love you, Yo. Thanks for covering my shift.”

Theo thanked her too and said he’d meet me outside, and I smiled at him before heading toward the locker room to change. As I passed the nurse’s station, Darice shot me a look and said, “I knew it. No wonder you and Koenig have been wandering around here like a pair of lovesick puppies lately.”

“You know I wanted to tell you.”

“Whatever. I guess I forgive you.” She grinned at me when she said that, so I knew she wasn’t really mad.

Once I changed into my street clothes and left the building, I found Theo standing beside my car in the parking lot. He threw his arms around me as he murmured, “Thank you. Nobody’s ever stood up for me like that before.”

“Didn’t I tell you I’d always have your back?”

I kissed his forehead, and he asked, “What should we do with this unexpected night off?”

I grinned and said, “I have some ideas. And yes, I’m obviously talking about sex, but there’s something we need to do first.”

About two hours later, we stood in Theo’s backyard admiring Brucey the Sprucey in its new home. The blue spruce had been planted in a perfect location, framed by shrubs we’d just relocated to make room for the tree, and it was all lit up with Christmas lights.

We’d finally gotten it out of my car by splitting the plastic tub in two with a utility knife, then digging out the roots and lifting the tree from the back of the Honda. I still had a destroyed pot and a hell of a lot of soil in my trunk, but at least the hatchback closed now, and the tree had survived its time as a holiday float.

Theo had been soaking the tree’s roots, and he turned off the hose and put it away as he said, “A job well-done. What’s next on your agenda?”

I tossed aside my work gloves and indicated my soil-smeared clothes. “Taking a bath with you, followed by fucking your brains out and eventually, dinner.”

“Excellent plan.”

We went inside, and as we stripped in his mud room, I said, “Even though Wolfram pretty much begged you not to quit, are you still considering giving two weeks’ notice?”

“I won’t be ready to leave in two weeks, but I did decide to get the ball rolling with the community clinic.”

“Oh wow, really?”

He nodded. “As soon as I gave notice, I felt happy, because it meant I could start moving toward that goal. That’s how I know it’s time to do this. But it could take months to find the right building and retrofit it to meet our needs, not to mention all the licensing and paperwork that’ll need to happen before we can open the doors. It makes sense to stay at the hospital in the meantime, and that way they’ll have plenty of time to find a suitable replacement.”

“They really will have to hire three doctors to do the same amount of work as you.” He grinned at that, and I said, “Are you sure about sticking around, though? I know you haven’t been happy there.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to be different now. Everyone will probably think twice about spreading rumors. They’ll be worried about my big, protective boyfriend publicly calling them out and make them look like an ass.” He flashed me a huge smile. “That was epic, by the way, and I’ll never forget it.”

“It was overdue, and I hope you’re right about it becoming a more positive place for you.”

“Me, too,” he said. “But either way, it’ll probably just be for a few more months. Then I can switch my focus to the community pediatric clinic.”

“I meant it when I told you I want to be a part of that. I don’t just mean working there when it’s finished, although that’s a given. I want to be involved from the ground-up. In fact, my experience in construction might come in handy once we find a location.”