Page 7 of Dr. Grump's Surprise Baby

“That’s a really basic procedure.”

“Are you just determined not to like anyone?” Jonathan asked him. “I know we run an exacting program, Dominic. We wash out more candidates than any other training hospital in the state of Illinois. Butsomepeople are going to make it through. Some of these interns are going to be doctors. And I’m saying that of the group I saw today, Dr. Swinton is the one I’d put my money on.”

“I should have taken you up on that drink,” Dominic grumbled.

“Yeah, you should,” Jonathan agreed. “And you should call it a day and go home after this instead of back to the hospital, but I have a feeling you won’t do that.”

“I have a lot of paperwork ahead of me. I’m going to be working all night.”

“Of course. How long has it been since you spent a night at home, Dominic?”

Dominic didn’t answer the question.

Jonathan’s voice softened. “You judge the interns too harshly,” he said. “But you’re too hard on yourself as well. You’re allowed to take breaks. You’re allowed to stop working and go home for a few hours here and there. We have a lot of competent doctors at the hospital. The whole system isn’t going to collapse if you go home.”

Dominic nodded. He knew that. At the same time, though, it was hard to leave the hospital in the hands of anybody else. He was the only person he couldreallytrust with the care of his patients. Anybody else might make mistakes that would have dire consequences, and it simply wasn’t a risk worth taking.

“Call the hospital,” Jonathan said. “Tell them you aren’t going to be back in tonight. Nobody would think any less of you for it, you know that. Everyone thinks you deserve some time off. Everyone would support you for making that choice.”

“Sure, but I can’t do it,” Dominic said. “I’m going back in. You’re not going to change my mind.”

Jonathan sighed. “It’s no wonder you’re not married.”

“I’m not married because I’ve never met a woman I’ve wanted to marry,” Dominic said gruffly.

“Yeah and you never will, at this rate. You’re married to the job,” Jonathan said. “No woman could ever hope to compete.”

“This is completely irrelevant,” Dominic said. “I’m not looking to get married. I’m doing what I want to be doing.”

“How long has it been since you even went on a date with a woman?”

“Do people still go on dates?”

“Dom, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime alone. I just hope you realize that.” Jonathan took a long swallow of his drink. “I know you think I’m being too hard on you, but I’m your friend. I’m saying these things because I care.”

“I get it.” Dominic said. “I’m going to head back to the hospital now, though.”

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to come out with me tonight. I thought we would have some more time together. I thought we’d be able to talk about things.”

“We did. We talked about the interns.”

“And you spent the whole time running them down. They’re better than you think they are, Dom. You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I hope they prove me wrong,” Dominic agreed. He wasn’t so arrogant as to want to be right about the interns. He wanted them to be good additions to the hospital — it was just that he didn’t think they were going to be. He had seen too many interns who were weak, naive, foolish. With a lot of the doctors, the fact that so many interns washed out of the program was either a joke or a point of pride, but for Dominic it was simply a fact. They washed out because they weren’t good enough to make the cut, and that was that.

And that was the way things were going to be for Emily Swinton. If there was any intern he was sure he had judged correctly, it was her.

Showing up late on the first day! Who would do such a thing?

Although… he had looked into the car accident she’d told him about. He had been inclined to believe it was just an excuse, something she’d made up to justify her lateness, but therehadbeen a traffic accident that had caused massive congestion on one of the major thoroughfares. And he knew that she hadn’t lived in the area for a long time, so it was possible to imagine that she genuinely hadn’t known how to look up the traffic patterns and compensate for them. It was definitely a mistake on her part, but it might be a more forgivable mistake than he had originally imagined.

Maybe he should let that go and give her a second chance.

But she hadn’t done anything else to impress him. There was that to consider. There were plenty of interns — well, notplenty,but certainly some — who had distinguished themselves by volunteering for various tasks or proving that they were knowledgeable by offering answers to questions. Emily Swinton hadn’t done anything. She had arrived late for work one day, and that was the only thing he had to judge her on.

He had to take it seriously, because what else was there?

He said goodbye to Jonathan and left the bar, heading back to the hospital, prepared for a long night. Dominic liked working nights. The place seemed quieter somehow, more peaceful. There were times he considered reducing his workload, only working normal hours, but he knew that if he were to do that, hewould miss the night shifts too much. He wanted to stick with them.

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