Page 17 of The Marriage Negotiation

"You want to stop for the night?" Patrick asked. "I hear the music scene in Albuquerque is pretty good. We could get a room for the night and get something to eat, listen to some good music."

"That's sounds fun." I glanced at Patrick's profile. "Do you dance?"

"I'm a doctor. I checked and I got two left feet."

I chuckled at his joke. "Guess we'll need to find a gay bar then. We can slow dance. Doesn't matter if you have two left feet if you slow dance."

Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Slow dance?"

I just shrugged.

"If you promise not to punch me if I step on your feet, I'm in."

"No, I wouldn't punch you because then I'd have to patch you up and my license is valid in New Mexico."

I was dreading the paperwork I'd need to do to get licenses as a nurse in New York City. If I wanted to work in a good hospital—and I did—I'd probably have to take a few courses at a medical school to get caught up with their regulations.

"Do you know which hospital you want to work at?" I asked.

"Not really. I haven't gotten that far yet. I thought about taking some time off to just enjoy life for a little while beforeI jump back into practicing medicine." Patrick glanced at me briefly. "What about you?"

"I've put a few feelers out just to see what's available. Hospitals are always hiring nurses so I don't think I'll have much problem after I get a state license."

"One of my friends told me about an opportunity that I wanted to discuss with you."

I gave Patrick my full attention. "I'm listening."

"Nothing has been finalized yet, you understand. This is all just talk at this moment."

"So, hypothetical then?"

"Maybe a little more than hypothetical, but yeah."

"So, what's this opportunity?" I asked.

"Several of my friends in New York are rather well off. Joe mentioned that they might be interested in an on-call doctor. All of the particulars on how this would work haven't been ironed out yet, but we'd basically be giving medical care to them whenever they called."

"An on-call doctor?"

"Well, an on-call doctor and nurse. I'd have to hire someone to work with me, so why not you?"

It was an interesting proposition.

"Would there be enough work for us?"

Patrick squinted for a moment. "That I am not sure of yet. Joe said we'd get together with the others once we got settled and they would explain things in greater detail, but he seemed to think they needed a full time doctor. I guess right now they are using a doctor that leaves a little to be desired."

"What?" I nearly shouted. "Is he not licensed or something?"

"He's the husband of a mob boss."

My jaw dropped. "They are using a mob doctor?"

Was that even legal?

"Apparently, he's a friend."

If my jaw wasn't already on my chest, it would have hit there at that statement. "A friend? These people hang out with the mob?"

---