Page 92 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

“Tracey is going to kill me if I break her table,” Imani said giggling after they got them off.

He lifted her into his arms and her legs wrapped around his waist. The sweet heat of her sex on his stomach made him bite his lip. “We’re not risking your life over a table.”

He took her to the bed. Imani smiled up at him. She was so sexy and beautiful and once again he was struck with that same amazement that he’d felt when he’d first seen her at the Dairy Bar. She was the one for him. The one person he wanted to learn everything about. The woman he could envision spending his life with. And after tonight he wouldn’t have her.

Her hand cupped his chin. “Don’t do that. Don’t look at me like that. We aren’t going to think about tomorrow. Just love me tonight.”

Emotion wrapped round his chest like a vice. He couldn’t speak. If he did, he’d beg her to stay. Instead, he shifted so her legs would spread wider. Lowered his head and kissed just as he adjusted his hips so he could push deep into her.

thirty-six

Imani sat and waited for an opportunity to jump into the conversation at the hospital board meeting. She’d been trying to jump in for several minutes, but every time she opened her mouth, she was either talked over or asked to hold on a second for the person to finish their thought. Unfortunately, the person’s thought tended to end with a question for someone else. She was getting sick and tired of waiting her turn.

When she’d participated in the previous board meeting via video conference she hadn’t bothered to talk much. She listened to the discussion and honestly showed up because she was expected to be there. Now she couldn’t get Cyril’s words out of her head. She wanted to use her time as doctor of the year to her best advantage.

And just like that, thoughts of Cyril came back to her. Honestly, it didn’t take much for thoughts of him to take over her mind. From the moment she’d left him sleeping in bed after spending the night with him until she arrived back in Florida, she thought about him constantly. The man was like a television jingle playing over and over in her head. He wouldn’t go away. She’d known spending the night with him ran the risk of having that happen. But like any person addicted to something, she couldn’t deny herself one more hit.

The way they spent that night together made things worse. They hadn’t just spent time making love. Afterward they talked. He’d asked her about her childhood; she told him about the good days before her father’s mistress ruined their life. He talked about the summer beer blend he was concocting for the bar and his dreams for the town to win Best Small Town and how he was excited about all the attention the label would bring to Peachtree Cove. She’d even admitted that she was nervous about coming back to the board, expressing her thoughts and trying to be the doctor of the year they claimed she was. Of course he told her she would do great and supported her even though he wished she would be doctor of the year in Peachtree Cove.

That last night had been more than just a night of “getting each other out of their system.” It was as if they tried to pretend they really were a couple who could still be together when the sun rose. Which made being together even more sweet and painful because the sun had risen, and she had to leave and come back to Florida. Now she was here in the board meeting listening as the other members went on and on about all the things they needed to do to improve the hospital’s image without really naming how all of this could really improve patient experiences.

There was a lull in the conversation which drew Imani from her thoughts of Cyril and their last night together. This was her best chance to jump in.

Imani raised a hand. “Excuse me, but I have a point I’d like to make.”

Bill Robinson, the board chair, was a middle-aged white guy with wire-frame glasses and an expression that was pleasant on all of his company photos but seemed to pull tight every time Imani tried to jump in.

“Yes, Doctor Kemp, what would you like to add?” Bill asked trying and failing to sound as if he welcomed her input.

Imani didn’t care if he didn’t want to hear what she had to say, this was why she was here. They’d made her doctor of the year, which meant she was supposed to be here and could speak up. “While we’re talking about things that can help the hospital look better, it would also be beneficial to consider ideas about ways to make our patient experiences better.”

Bill raised his brow. “Really? You know Mid-State Health has a pretty good rating with our customers.”

“True, but pretty good isn’t great. We’ve also received some very valid complaints. Just because the majority of our customer base is content doesn’t mean we should underestimate the experiences of others.”

“And what do you think we should do? We all realize that there will be outliers. Patients won’t be happy even if we give outstanding service all the time. It’s human nature for some to complain.”

There was a round of head nods and agreement with Bill’s comment. Imani straightened her shoulders. “I believe we should include training programs for the staff, doctors, nurses, technicians and others on ways to recognize warning signs and high-risk patients. Some of our complaints come from minority patients or members of the LGBTQ community about feeling as if their needs are overlooked. It may not be the case with each example, but training to identify ways to recognize bias may help some employees pay more attention to patients when they complain about pain and other symptoms. There haven’t been any training programs here that can help employees recognize these kinds of underlying biases so that they can overcome them and be sure their patients get the best care.”

“How will a training program make the hospital look better?” Bill asked in a tone that said unless it helped the hospital’s image the betterment of the staff didn’t matter.

Imani had to fight not to roll her eyes. She’d started the conversation by saying her idea would make patients feel more comfortable. She took a deep breath and tried to smile. “Well, again, I was focusing more on the patients. This training program targets all levels of staff who encounter patients and can help improve patient experiences here at the hospital. Improved patient experiences mean they’ll say good things about the hospital when they go out in public. If they say good things about us in the public that in turn improves the hospital’s image.”

He squinted his eyes as if considering before nodding. “I can kind of see what you’re talking about. It may be something that the board can consider in the next budget cycle.”

Imani raised a brow. “Are you trying to say there’s not enough money in this current budget cycle? I was under the impression that the budget for training was large. I don’t understand why this type of training can’t be included with some of the other trainings that we have.”

“The training budget is designed to ensure we don’t have any increased liability and to keep everyone up-to-date with any professional development hours they need.”

“Recognizing how underlying biases may affect your reactions to patients and keep the hospital out of trouble reduces liability. I don’t understand how this doesn’t tie directly into what you’re trying to do?” she countered.

Bill waved a hand. “Now, now, there’s no need for you to get upset. I understand what you’re trying to do. I’m just making the point that we’ll look at the hospital budget next year and see if we can tie in some type of... I don’t know, diversity and inclusion type of training in the future.”

She wasn’t upset. She was being direct and straightforward. Why did that have to be interpreted as being upset? “But—”

Bill cut her off. “Very good points, Imani, but we’re getting close to the end of the meeting.” He glanced at his watch. “We all have a lot of other things that we need to do. I try to be respectful of all members’ time and not keep them longer than necessary. If you’ll just write up your ideas and send them to my admin assistant, I’ll be sure to have her check with finance and see what the current training schedule is. We’ll see if we can have something added in.” He gave her a patronizing smile and spoke in a tone that didn’t give her much confidence that he’d look into her training suggestion.

“Okay, folks,” Bill said. “If that’s all then we’ll wrap up today’s meeting. Do I have a motion to adjourn?”

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