Page 55 of Secret Baby for Dr. Grump

“Are you his secretary?”

I blink, not missing the condescending tone. My shoulders stiffen, but I keep my tone mild. “I’m his medical assistant.”

His gaze narrows. “And you’re the one who sent the email, correct?”

I nod warily. “Yes.”

The man huffs…then, folds his arms and gives me a defiant, smug look. “I didn’t receive one.”

What?

“I sent it around?—”

“I didn’t receive one.” He repeats it harder, then shrugs. “But what should I expect? You’re just some glorified secretary. I should feel insulted that he let you handle this instead of handling it himself, but you should also know that I won’t tolerate your incompetence.”

I’ve heard people call medical assistants that, but this is the first time it’s directed at me. I take a deep breath. “Mr. Wells, I’m sorry. As much as we would both like for Dr. Jennings to be here right now, he’s still in surgery. I would be more than happy to reschedule the appointment or?—”

“Do you even know who you’re talking to? Who the fuck is your manager?”

Alarmed at his increasing aggressiveness, I barely stop myself from taking a step back. “Mr. Wells?—”

“I want to speak to your manager. Or whoever hired you. I want to file a complaint about your rude and unprofessional treatment…like how you failed to send me an email and are denying me my doctor now.”

He’s serious. I can see it in his eyes—and I know his name well enough to know he does donate here and has some weight to throw around. For the first time, my nerves get to me.

“Mr. Wells…”

“Now. Get your damn manager. I want you to?—”

“I want you to get out of my office until you learn how to calm yourself down, Mr. Wells.”

We both whip our heads in shock at the sound of Luke’s voice before he strolls in, already scrubbed out but with signs of weariness that I’m already familiar with after every one of his complicated surgeries. I know he’s been in that operating room for hours. But he faces Bryan with calm…no, with intention, the look on his face sending a shudder down my spine.

Perhaps the man sees the look, too, as he changes tactics and immediately adopts a soft, pitiful tone.

“Dr. Jennings! I’m so glad you’re here. Your secretary here was very rude to me. She’s even lying about sending me an email. She dared to?—”

“As I’m sure she already told you, she’s my medical assistant, not my secretary. And I know she sent you the email to reschedule first thing in the morning, so you would have had plenty of time to see it.”

I expected polite Luke, like he is with most patients—not this Luke who’s defending me and giving his patient a cold, hard stare. Bryan gasps.

“But she’s lying?—”

“I have the email right here, Mr. Wells. She blind-copies me in all her emails.”

Bryan opens his mouth, then closes it. I can tell he wants to ask what blind-copy means, but something else comes out of his mouth instead: outrage.

“This is ridiculous. I want her fired immediately.”

Bryan stands up. I don’t realize I’m still that close to him until he towers over me, but before I can get intimidated, Luke is sliding himself in between us. He’s even taller than the man and now towers over him.

“And I want her here because she makes my work easier. Now, if you want to keep insisting, I can ask security to pull up all the records, including your attempts to lie in my office. We do have surveillance cameras. Please remember aggressions like this are completely prohibited on hospital grounds.”

No, we don’t have surveillance cameras—at least, not in this office. I’m stunned at the lie, but it works as Bryan pales.

“I can’t just get a new neurosurgeon!”

“And I’m not asking you to…unless you do this again. But we’re not having our checkup today because you’ve already been sent the email to reschedule.”

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