Grumpy Doctor

I wondered if one day, I’d have awards in my office.

Maybe not, if I kept going down this road.

I’m not sure the awards would matter, if I sacrificed so much to get them.

27

Lori

I didn’t hear from Piers for a few days.

He texted and asked for Rees’s phone number, which I gave him right away. I figured if he wanted to talk to Rees, he probably had a good reason—and it might involve him finding a way to come back from suspension.

Instead, he ghosted me. I tried to get in touch, called, texted, even sent him an email, but there was nothing. He’d never gone completely silent on me before, and for the first three days, I was pissed off.

Then by day five, I was confused. And still pissed off.

After everything, he wanted to disappear. I didn’t understand it. Piers was an asshole, but he wasn’t a careless bastard. He didn’t seem like the type to disregard and toss away someone like that, and for a while I thought maybe he got sick, or he got hurt, or he went away—but none of that made any sense. I would’ve heard from him.

I decided I’d had enough. No more games, no more bullshit. If he wanted to be done with me, then he was doing to tell me to my face.

One night, after work, I marched over to his building. It was intimidating, walking into that lobby and telling the doorman that I wanted to go up to Dr. Hood’s apartment. He nodded knowingly, pointed at some chairs in a small waiting space, and made a quick phone call. After an anxious minute, he gestured at the elevator, and I rode it up to Piers’s floor.

He stood at the door, watching as I walked down the hall toward him. I felt a strange flutter in my chest at the sight of him in a tight t-shirt and a pair of joggers. His head tilted, and those lips pursed, and I almost lost my nerve.

“Where have you been, asshole?” I said.

He smiled a little, and I felt some of the ice and anger chip away. “You haven’t lost any fire in the past few days, I see.”

“No, but I have been wondering where you went.”

“I’ve been busy, is all.”

“You text me to for my cousin’s number, then you disappear?”

He grimaced a little and glanced around the hall. “Come on, come inside.”

“Oh, right, wouldn’t want to make a scene for your neighbors.”

He rolled his eyes, but walked away, into his apartment. I followed, shutting the door harder than strictly necessary. A lot of the rage began to ebb and fade away as I moved into his space and was reminded of all the reasons I liked him. That cocky smile, his muscular chest and torso, the way he looked at me like I was some prize that he’d worked hard to win. I liked that look, even if it was a little infantilizing and objectifying. Maybe I wanted to be objectified, at least a little bit. Maybe it was exciting to be wanted by him.

He stopped in his kitchen and poured me a glass of wine. I took it without comment. If he wanted to ply me with alcohol, I wasn’t going to say no—not after a long day of work.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “You haven’t been sitting around in your apartment, stewing, have you?”

“I have,” he said. “But that’s not all I’ve been doing.”

“Why did you want my cousin’s number?”

He shook his head. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” I drank the wine down in two gulps then crossed my arms. He gave me an amused look and leaned against the counter.

Then he told me about the patients. He talked about the first day when he found eight, and the next day, when he found more, and more, and kept adding to his roster. “I’m up to twenty now,” he said. “Twenty good patients. Some of them need surgery in the next few weeks, and some of them aren’t pressing, but will need an operation sooner or later.”

“The next few weeks?” I chewed on my lip. “I doubt that Westview’s going to let you back anytime soon.”

“You’re right about that,” he said. “That’s why I don’t plan on working there.”

I sucked in a breath and narrowed my eyes. “Explain.”

“Your cousin made me a deal.” He looked away, down at the floor. “He said he’d get me a job somewhere else.”

“In exchange for what?”

He seemed pained as he spoke, nice and slow. “In exchange for not seeing you anymore.”

I gaped at him. I had a feeling Piers was beginning to push me away, and I figured it was due to his situation—but I had no clue Rees would want that as well.

“I’m not some bargaining chip, you know,” I said. “I get a say in this.”