“That guy over at the bar bought them for you,” she said, taking the empty pitchers.
Isabella squinted toward the bar. James was sitting at the bar, alone, with a smirk on his face. One of the tipsy interns waved at him, prompting James to approach their table.
“Thanks for the drinks,” Jordan said.
“This gift comes with some strings attached,” he said. “Consider this my tip to you. Enjoy this free beer, and in return, you do whatever I say.”
They all nodded in agreement, refilling their glasses.
“Do you want to sit down?” Justin asked as they drained their glasses.
“No, we’ve got to keep some boundaries, don’t we?” he teased, winking at Isabella. She gave him a sleepy smile in return.
“I see you’re taking it easy tonight,” he said sarcastically to Isabella.
She giggled. “I’m always easy,” she slurred softly.
Luckily, everyone was too entrenched in their drinks to notice their short exchange.
“On that note, I will be leaving now,” he said, turning toward the door. He let out a long sigh as he left the bar, imperceptibly shaking his head.
After they finished their drinks, they left, splitting off into different directions. Isabella decided to walk home, giving her time to sober up before bed.
Once home, she stripped off just inside the door, brushed her teeth, and flopped down on her bed. She felt like she was floating—from the surgery, from her interaction with the dreamy doctor, and mostly, the alcohol. In the morning, she was certain she would regret it all, but for the time being, she basked in the high.
Chapter Four
The next Monday came too soon for Isabella. All of Saturday was spent nursing a hangover. She tried to catch up on her reading on Sunday but was overwhelmed by the bulk of information she wanted to get through. That, and distracted by how much she was dreading seeing James at work.
On Monday, the rest of the interns were more cordial toward her. By meeting them for drinks, she had proven that she could be one of the guys. This was the only positive result of the night.
She avoided James at all costs, which was extremely difficult since he was their superior and they reported to him. When he spoke, she averted her eyes, and when he asked questions, she waited for others to answer for her.
On Tuesday, he assigned them tasks during rounds and gave Isabella her assignment last.
“Is everything okay? You don’t seem like yourself.”
“I’m fine.” She quickly dismissed him.
“Yeah, it’s just that you’re always first to answer questions, but yesterday, you stood in the back of the group and looked at the floor the whole time.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Dr. Carter,” he pressed. “You’re not fooling anyone. Either you tell me what is going on, or I will figure it out myself.”
She took a deep breath and finally looked him in the eye.
“Fine. I’m just a little embarrassed about Friday night.”
“And why is that?” he asked, his smile growing wider.
“I’m not used to getting drunk around anyone, especially my instructors. It’s not professional.”
“Is that all?” he said exasperatedly. “Listen, it’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t have bought you guys all that beer if I didn’t want you to loosen up a little. You’re truly embarrassed because you thought you were being unprofessional?”
She nodded, biting the inside of her lip.
“Nothing more?” he coaxed.
“No. That’s all.”
“All right,” he said, handing her a chart. “Prep this patient for her appendectomy and answer any questions she has.”
Isabella hurried off. She didn’t want to spend too much time alone with James. He was too flirty around her and she didn’t want him to get in the way of her work. She especially didn’t want the other interns to get the wrong idea about them, especially since things were going so well.
During the rest of the week, she made a point to volunteer for tasks that involved other people to reduce her chance of being alone with James. She worked with other doctors and dragged Jordan around as much as possible.
“You know, I have things I need to get done too,” Jordan said to Isabella after she asked her fellow intern to go to the cafeteria with her for a late lunch. “I already ate. I don’t see why I need to be back here again. People will think I’m a glutton.”
“Shh, just eat your ice cream,” Isabella said. “If you must know, I think James has been acting weird around me ever since we saw him at the bar on Friday.”
“I think you’re the one who’s been acting weird,” Jordan said. “I don’t see him dragging his coworker around so he can’t be alone.”
“Fine. Go,” Isabella said shortly. “But when I face my downfall, I’ll remember when you refused to help me.”
Jordan rolled her eyes and left the cafeteria.
Isabella felt childish for avoiding James just because she was afraid of developing a crush on him. Men were a danger when it came to careers, though.
She had seen it happen with her own mother more times than she could count. Each rich husband was just another reason to not work. Her mother was a talented interior designer, but it was easier just to redecorate her homes instead of making a living doing it for other people. Her mom could hardly go for more than a year between men because then, the money might dry up.
Isabella had also seen her mom heartbroken with each breakup. Weeks of wining and shopping did little to ease the pain of being left by another benefactor. She watched as her mother got drunk and trashed her home until another man came to sweep her off her feet. It was hard to live with. These men funded their lifestyles, but if she could, Isabella would have traded the money for a little stability. Leaving home for college was a great relief for Isabella because she didn’t have a front-row seat for the crazy that was happening within her family.
At the end of the day, the interns met up with James to discuss the surgeries on the schedule for the next day. Isabella stood close to Jordan.
“I forgot to mention this to you earlier,” he announced. “I’m on-call tomorrow night, which means that all of you are on-call too. I hope you didn’t have any plans for your weekend, because you’ll be spending the night here with me. Think of it as a fun work sleepover,” he said cheerfully. “See you then!”
There was a collective groan from the group. They could forget about sleep, or studying, or any kind of free time over the weekend. They were prisoners in their own career.
“I just keep reminding myself,” Craig murmured. “One day, this will all be worth it.”
The next day, Isabella ran into James in the stairwell on her way to a patient’s room.
“Are you ready for your first night on-call at the hospital?” he asked.
“Yes, I believe so,” she responded shortly.
He grinned his sly grin and continued jogging down the steps.
Later, he observed her as she examined a patient. She wished the other interns could be there to take some of the heat off her. He made her nervous, standing too close for comfort.
After dinner in the cafeteria, she went to the on-call room to look at her phone. The doctor’s lounge had also been newly remodeled, so they had a common area with couches and a television, a locker room, complete with showers, and smaller sleeping rooms with tiny cots for the rare occasion that they could get some sleep.
Isabella sat on the bench in front of her open locker, reading text messages from her phone. Apparently, her mother’s wedding to her new (she guessed seventh) husband in Aruba had gone well, and she was looking forward to catching up with her daughter when they returned. She shut her locker door to see James, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, turning his combination lock.
Isabella jumped, completely unaware that someone else was in the room with her. At the sight of his near-nakedness, she shielded her eyes with one hand.
?
?Relax. I have a towel on,” he said. “Anyway, you’re making a living dealing with the ins and outs of the human form. Act like you’ve seen a naked body before.”
She dropped her hand down to her side. Trying not to stare, she peeked at the attending. For someone who rarely left work, he had chiseled muscles. He pulled his scrubs on, not caring about shielding his body from any onlookers.
Isabella had only seen James in dress clothes, so seeing him in scrubs was a new experience. The short sleeves revealed bulging biceps and deltoids. He tied the drawstring on his pants so they sat slightly below his hips. She felt herself blushing just thinking about his body.
“Well,” he said, slamming his locker shut and bringing Isabella back to reality. “I’ll see you out there.”
She waited a few seconds, mentally admonishing herself for being so awkward, and then followed him out into the hallway where the other interns were waiting.
James grabbed a stack of charts from the counter at the nurse’s station. “Where shall we begin?” he said eagerly, looking around the group. He handed charts out to interns like he was delivering presents. “You’re in charge of these patients for the whole night. Don’t let them die,” he said dryly. “Let’s see,” he thought out loud. “Dr. Green and Dr. Carter, you’ll be in the ER with me.”
Jordan shot a look over to Isabella as if she were wishing her luck or giving her sympathy.
“If something goes wrong, page me immediately. Any questions?”
The group was silent.