I understand now why she’s Tom’s bet and I can’t help but think she’s mine, too, especially after I’ve worked with majority of the competition.
I slow down as I catch a glimpse of her through the blinds as I pass through a corridor. She’s with a patient, an old woman, and they look like they’re doing origami Christmas ornaments. The old woman is struggling to do the folds with her shaking hands, but she looks like she’s having fun. Not as much fun as Ellis, though, whose face is all lit up like a Christmas tree.
Right. She loves Christmas.
“What are you looking at?” Dr. Carver nearly makes me jump.
“Nothing,” I answer quickly.
She peers through the blinds, then narrows her eyes at me. “Nothing?”
“The origami, actually,” I give her a more satisfying answer. “I used to do it as an exercise for my fingers.”
“Oh.” She looks at her hand. “I guess that would work, actually.”
Suddenly, her phone beeps. She takes it out of her pocket, mutters a curse and runs off. A moment later, Ellis comes out of the patient’s room.
“Dr. Ca – ”
She lets out a sigh as Amelia disappears inside the elevator, her shoulders slumping. She holds them up when she sees me, though.
“Dr. Knight.”
“Smithson,” I acknowledge her.
She glances in the direction Dr. Carver has gone. “I was just going to ask Dr. Carver something.”
I shrug. “Well, she’s gone. Maybe I can help?”
“No.” She pushes her glasses up her nose, then slips her hands into the pockets of her coat. “It’s a general surgery question.”
I scratch my cheek. “Right.”
“But here’s an idea.” She gives a wide grin. “Why not pretend you didn’t see me?”
I frown. I guess Tom’s right. She isn’t going to get over it.
I draw in a breath. “El – ”
“Ellis!” I turn my head as I see another intern walking down the corridor. Banks.
“Yup?” Ellis answers.
“You’re still hanging out with us tonight, right?” he asks.
“Yup. I’ll see you at the Barrel.”
Banks nods. When our eyes meet, he grins and walks away.
I turn back to Ellis. “You’re going out with your fellow interns?”
“Yeah,” she answers as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “We’re trying to have a life outside the hospital.”
“Good.” I nod. “But do them a favor and don’t drink.”
Ellis crosses her arms over her chest. “Because when I’m drunk, I sleep with people I’m not supposed to?”
“Banks might take advantage of it,” I tell her.
“One…” She lifts a finger. “Asher may act like a sex-crazed jerk, but he’s actually a nice guy. Plus he’s honest. He doesn’t seduce women. He asks them to have sex with him and gives them a chance to say no.”
Is she saying I didn’t give her a chance to say no? Yeah, right. She could have refused my dinner invitation, and even at the restaurant, she could still have bolted at any moment. She didn’t.
“Two, I can take care of myself. I’m not a virgin anymore, after all.”
I frown.
“And three, I’ll drink if I want to and I’ll have sex if I want to. It’s none of your business.”
With that, she turns around and goes back into her patient’s room to continue with their art project. I let out a sigh.
She’s right. Why should I worry about her making a fool of herself or going home drunk? Why should I be irritated at the thought of her being with Asher? She can drink as much as she wants to. She can sleep with whoever she wants to. She’s an adult and she’s definitely not my responsibility. Or any of my business.
She’s none of your business, Rainier.
~
Still, when I see Ellis hugging Asher after watching her successfully perform her first thoracotomy in the ER the next day, I can’t help but think she is my business.
She was mine first.
Besides, I was all ready to congratulate her, my chest swelling with pride and a smile stretching from ear to ear on my face.
I wipe it off and clear my throat.
“Smithson.”
“Yes?” She pulls away from Asher.
“Get Mrs. Gardner from Room 426 ready for her surgery and scrub in with me,” I tell her.
Her blue eyes grow wide. “But I’m with Dr. Keller.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Asher turns to face me. “But Dr. Knight, I was supposed to – ”
“Smithson, did you understand what I just said? I know you don’t like neuro, but if you want to become a good surgeon, you have to learn about every area as much as you can.”
Ellis nods. “I understand.”
“Good. I’ll meet you in the OR.”
~
At first, the operating room is silent except for the whirring of machines. I say nothing as I carefully prod the brain of my patient in search of the clot I’m supposed to remove. Ellis stands stiff beside me in her lab gown.
“Breathe, Smithson,” I tell her. “I’m not going to cut you with a scalpel. Am I, Dr. Lane?”