Page 14 of Stone Vows

I’ve never seen anything so captivating. Her bright blue eyes are puffy from crying. Mascara is smudged down her cheeks, but her smile, it lights up the goddamn room. And I vow to do everything in my power over the next three and a half weeks to keep it on her face.

Chapter Seven

“I heard you got stuck on scut right out of the gate,” Gina whispers to me as Dr. Redman addresses us, along with the three other residents who are starting a new rotation tonight.

I shrug. “No biggie. I doubt it’ll take much of my time.”

“Doctors Stone and Lawson,” Dr. Redman says, staring us down. “Is there something more important than hearing about what I expect from you over the next four weeks? An interesting case that I haven’t been made aware of, perhaps?”

Gina looks at me apologetically before turning back to our new attending. “No, Dr. Redman,” she says. “I’m sorry, I was just asking Dr. Stone about his exciting delivery last night. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“And yet you were,” Dr. Redman says, looking down her nose at Gina before turning to me. “I heard about it as well. You were lucky it all went off swimmingly.”

“I’d say our patients were the lucky ones,” I tell her. “There weren’t any attendings or senior residents to help so I had to fly by the seat of my pants.”

“Are you blaming my department for not getting there quickly enough?” she asks defensively.

“No, ma’am, not at all. It happened very quickly. I meant I was flying solo because none of my immediate supervisors were anywhere to be found.”

She walks over to me. “First off, I’m not just some lady off the street who is here to teach back-alley medicine. I believe I’ve earned my title and I expect you to use it.”

I furrow my brows at her. I’ve heard as attendings go, she’s a pain in the ass. But I thought maybe she was misunderstood because she’s British and sometimes Brits get a bad rap for being stuck-up just because of the way they speak.

“Doctor,”she says. “I’m notma’amorprofessororsupervisor. I’mDoctorRedman.”

“Yes, Dr. Redman, of course. I’m sorry.”

I resist the urge to turn to Gina and roll my eyes. Misunderstood my ass, she’s a certifiable Nazi.

“And secondly. If you have an issue with staffing, you need to take it up with the residency director. But as a second-year, I’ll expect you to be able to handle those kinds of situations should you find yourself in the middle of one again.”

“I did,” I say, defending myself. “I will.”

“Very well, then. Would you mind terribly if I continue with your orientation?” she says sarcastically.

“No, ma—” I get a swift kick from Gina. “No, Dr. Redman.”

“Brilliant.” She walks back towards the other residents. “Now that Dr. Stone has given me permission to carry on, I’ll introduce you to your senior resident, Dr. Anders, who will be your immediate supervisor for this rotation. If she is unavailable, you may report directly to me. Butonlyif she’s unavailable. And only if it’s extremely urgent.”

An hour later, as we leave orientation with glazed-over eyes, Gina says, “What a grade-A bitch. I wish we could have Dr. George from our last OB rotation.”

“I think he only gets first-years,” I say. “I’m starting to understand why. I don’t think Red would have the patience for interns.”

Gina snorts. “Red. I wouldn’t let her hear you call her that. She’d assign you to enemasfor sure.”

“I’ve had worse. If four weeks with her gets me further in the program, then I say bring it on.”

She studies me. “Have you always been this glass-half-full, Kyle?”

I laugh. “I guess I have. Why, do you have a problem with it?”

She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose. “No. I kind of like it.”

Her stare lasts a little longer than I’m comfortable with. Her eyes rake over me as if she’s looking at me in a new light. We pass by the on-call room and she nods to it before tapping on the charts Redman assigned to her. “Want to meet up later, after we make our nightly rounds?”

I check my watch. “Sure, if we can fit it in.”

She smiles. “Page me, okay?”

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