Page 16 of Doctor's Surprise Twins

I step up as the line moves. “When’s your first shift?”

“This afternoon. I’m nervous as hell.”

“You’ll do fine. You know your stuff,” I tell him.

“You know your stuff, too, and if you did as bad as you say you did…”

I chuckle before stepping up to the coffee cart to order. Tray adds his to the order and passes over cash for both.

“You don’t have to do that.”

He waves off my concern. “My treat. You can pay me back by giving me some tips so I don’t suck today.”

I roll my eyes. “The whole point of a treat is that you don’t have to work for it.”

“Come on, Ally. Help a friend out,” he says, bumping my elbow with his.

“Okay,” I agree, taking my coffee. “Ummmm, let me think,” I say, noticing how close he’s walking to me. Our shoulders keep bumping together, so I take a step away. “Brush up on your codes. They call them all day long.”

He nods. “I got them all right here,” he says, tapping his temple.

“Everyone says Dr. Cole will run you down if you get in his way, but you’ll have to figure that out for yourself because he was really nice to me.”

He snorts. “Probably because you’re a pretty girl.”

I snort. “No; he’s much older. He wasn’t creepy at all, just a nice, caring guy.”

Tray rolls his eyes. “Okay, what else?”

“Try and shadow Val if you can. She’s super nice and understanding. Plus, she’s very thorough about explaining things, and she has a sense of humor, so the time passes quickly.”

“Okay, this is good. What else?”

“Keep a pen and a small notebook in your pocket. If you’re given orders to get something or do something, and you think there’s even the slightest chance you’ll forget, write it down. I know, you think writing it down will make you look stupid, but it will only make it look like you care about getting stuff done.”

“That’s great. Thanks for the tips, Ally.”

“No problem. Are you ready to get this morning started?” I ask, pausing at the door of our first class.

He snorts. “No, but that won’t stop time, so we might as well.”

We walk into class together and take our usual seats. I sit in the middle of the room so I’m far enough from the windows I won’t be distracted, but I’m also far enough away from the door that I also won’t try to look out into the hallway. Tray sits beside me like every other day, and we pull out our laptops to take notes when class starts.

Professor Moore walks in and starts the lecture. She dims the lights as the projector puts the lesson up on the smart board. Everyone starts typing, their fingers making the keys on their computers click, but instead of paying attention and taking notes, I go back to thinking about Dr. Cole and the curve of his lips.

Is Dr. Cole my new obsession? For my future’s sake, I hope not.

6

ETHAN

I’m staring out of the window in my office, watching as the cars speed down the highway in front of the hospital.

The sun set long ago. The sky is black with thick gray clouds, and only a few stars are out while the moon stays hidden.

I can feel the cold from outside coming off the glass.

There’s a soft tap on my door. I turn, but before I can get a word out, it opens, and Ally steps in.

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