Page 4 of The Doctor's No-Strings Deal

“And what is that?” Charlie asked as George began to pull away.

George called back with a single, surprising answer. “You’re too damn serious!”

It was no lie. Charlie knew that as well as anyone, but he didn’t feel he had the leeway to be anything other than serious. So, as he made his way inside the hospital, he straightened his tie, his posture, and his smile. And he prepared to meet his fellow residents with the kind of seriousness that would be expected of anyone with his family name.

CHAPTER 3

MEGAN

Megan locked her bike to the hospital’s bike rack and took off the seat to keep with the rest of her things. She was a little more sweaty than she would have liked, so she was eager to change into her scrubs.

Though her locker was full sized, Megan was momentarily worried that she would not be able to fit all her things into it. It took a bit of doing but she managed almost everything outside her bike seat. Getting that in proved to be more of a challenge. Everything else threatened to tumble out no matter how she tried to cram it into the locker, and Megan began to worry that her first day was not starting out as well as she would have hoped.

Then, just before her books came tumbling out of her locker once again, a pair of small hands found them and stabilized them for her.

“Thanks,” Megan said, panting from the effort she’d expended before help had arrived.

“No worries,” the girl beside her said. She was short with dark hair, a round face, and a dark green ribbon tying her hair back. Megan wanted to ask her what her name was, but the second she took her hands from the pile of stuff in her locker, it threatened to come tumbling out again.

“How are we going to do this now?” Megan said with a laugh.

“We have to come up with a plan,” the girl said, her face scrunched up in thought. “Okay. I’ll keep holding the books, and you count. On three, I’ll remove my hands, and you close the door. You’ve got to be quick about it, though.”

“Do you think it will work?” Megan asked.

The girl shook her head. “It’s going to have to, or we’re out of luck.”

“Ready?” Megan said. When the other girl nodded, she counted to three. All at once, her new teammate released her hold, the books teetered dangerously, but Megan was already slamming the door on them.

“That was close,” the girl said.

“Yeah, it was.” Megan laughed and held her knees. “Wow. Thank you so much. I should not have brought that much stuff. Guess it’s nerves.” She stood up and offered her hand. “I’m Megan.”

The girl shook her hand a little too gently. “Kayla. I’m under Dr. Ralter. And you?”

“Same!” Megan shook her hand and buttoned up the scrubs she’d just changed into. “So we’re going to be in a group together?”

“Looks like it,” Kayla said.

“I’m so glad. I was worried I wasn’t going to make any friends on my first day. I’m so nervous, aren’t you?” Megan always had been one to overshare. She found herself immediately comfortable around almost anyone, and she tended to talk maybe a little too much.

But Kayla seemed to appreciate the openness. “Yeah, so nervous,” she said with a laugh. “I’m glad we’re in a group together, though. Maybe we can help chill each other out.”

“We may as well keep on helping each other,” Megan said as they both started out of the locker room. “Seems to be working so far. So hey, Kayla, you’re going to have a great day. Like, it’s going to be your best first day ever. I know because I’m psychic. It runs in my family.”

Kayla cocked her head. “Really?”

“Not really.” Megan laughed. “But I thought it made a good introduction. Way more interesting than, ‘Hey, I’m Megan, and I’ve got no idea what the hell I’m doing.’”

“You were right.” Kayla nodded. “The psychic thing was way better.”

They made their way through the bright white halls to the room where they were supposed to meet their attending physician, Dr. Ralter. They walked into a meeting room where three other people were already waiting for them. Tightly woven carpet covered the floors and exceptionally neutral beige paint covered the walls. The lights were all florescent, but at least the chairs were padded. Megan and Kayla sat down beside each other, and Megan took stock of the other residents in the room.

A man and a woman sat together on one side of the table, and one lone man sat on the other. The two residents chattedamongst themselves, clearly having made friends already. The lone man, on the other hand, couldn’t be bothered to even look up from his notepad. He seemed to be deep in thought, or study, or something else. He was probably the blondest person Megan had ever seen, looking every bit like the villain in a Bond movie. Megan imagined him menacingly petting a fluffy, white cat in his lap while they waited. She giggled at the thought. That, apparently got his attention.

He looked up, and Megan was taken aback by the shade of his eyes. Pale blue, like ice, she thought, or a very light topaz. She realized she was staring at him when he narrowed his eyes at her. Well, there was no use pretending she hadn’t noticed him, so she decided to compensate with an overabundance of friendliness.

“Megan Bright.” She stood for her introduction and offered her hand from across the table. “Sorry for staring. I was just noticing the unusual color of your eyes. They’re so striking, you know? Are you having a good first day so far? Mine’s just stellar, especially now that I finally get to meet my fellow residents. I hope we get to be friends.” All while she spoke, her hand hovered across the table, while the blue-eyed resident she addressed failed to take it.

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