Page 37 of Doctor's Surprise Twins

“What if he tells someone, Ally? This could really fuck you over. You could get kicked out of the program, and if you get kicked out of the program, you’ll have to find another hospital to take you on. This late in the semester, that’s not going to be easy to do. Everything will already be filled. And God forbid they find out why you were kicked out. They could use that as a reason to not accept you. If you don’t finish this, you don’t get your credits, and you need these credits to graduate. Do you understand that?”

“Of course I do. But that’s a very long train of thought. When I was in his office, doing what we were doing, I didn’t have that train of thought.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t believe you let this happen.”

All my excitement is replaced with disappointment and anger. I love my best friend, but this is why I didn’t want to tell her. Sometimes, she can act more like a mom than my mom. “He’s not going to tell anyone,” I assure her.

“How do you know?”

“Because his job is on the line, too,” I remind her. “Now, the only person I have to worry about telling is you.”

Her back straightens. “You know I’d never do that.”

I give her a friendly smile. “Then everything will be okay,” I assure her.

16

ETHAN

I’m pulling my lab coat on as I approach the nurse’s station to get started on morning rounds.

As I stop at the desk for my morning briefing, Ally steps out of a patient’s room. Our eyes lock and I watch as hers widen in response.

Her back straightens, and she freezes. It feels like the world has stopped spinning, but I remind myself that isn’t the case, and there are too many people around here to be openly staring at one another. I clear my throat and turn away, letting her go her way while I go mine.

I work from one patient to the next, checking everyone over, giving updates, and ordering tests. All the while, I’m having to work around her. When I step out of a room, she’s in the hallway. When I walk into a room, she’s already inside and excuses herself to get away. She’s everywhere. She’s all I can see and all I can think about, yet the one thing I cannot touch. After only a couple of hours of this, I’m losing my mind. I rush to Noah’s office, not even bothering to knock.

He’s sitting behind his desk, talking on the phone when I barge in. He looks up in confusion, then shakes his head andgoes back to the call. I pace in front of him for a couple of minutes until he finally hangs up.

“Alright, what’s going on? What is this?” he asks, motioning to my pacing.

“I fucked up,” I tell him.

“What happened?”

I stop and turn to face him. “You remember yesterday when that infant patient coded?”

He nods.

“Well, I went back to my office all kinds of fucked up. I have a bottle in my desk, and I had a few drinks to take the edge off.”

He nods. “Alright.”

“Ally came into my office to apologize for calling me in there, and, well…”

“No,” he says, smirking.

“One thing led to another, and we ended up….”

He laughs and stands. “It’s about damn time.” He laughs and claps his hand once in excitement. “That’s what you’ve needed to take the edge off.”

“Are you insane?” I ask him. “I fucked a student nurse in my office while I was still on the clock. It’s a huge mistake that could cost me my job if anyone finds out.”

He shrugs. “So, don’t tell anyone. You know your secret is safe with me.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t plan on telling anyone, but what if she does? You know how easy it would be for her to paint me as the bad guy? What if she tells people I forced myself on her? What if she says I used my power to manipulate her into doing something she didn’t want to do?”

He holds up his hand. “Alright, alright. Calm down,” he says. “Talk to her. I mean, hopefully, she enjoyed it just as much as you did. She might be just as worried that you’ll tell someoneand get her into trouble. You need to make sure you’re on the same page.”

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