Page 32 of Sinful in Scrubs

Rosa just rolled her eyes. “Why would I want to go with anybody? I’ve finally gotten rid of my husband.”

“Your ex-husband, you mean,” another nurse at the station said, correcting her with a saucy grin.

“Exactly. He’s my ex-husband,” Rosa said. “Why would I want to get rid of one man only to have to deal with another?”

She had a very good point. Why would she? But then again, I knew exactly why she wouldn’t.

When I had broken up with Kevin, the last thing I wanted was to get entangled with another man. But time heals all wounds, as the saying goes. And I was definitely interested in becoming entangled with Marcus. He wasn’t just any other man. He was Marcus.

“How about you, Dr. Chen? You have a hot date lined up?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m with Rosa. I got rid of one guy. I don’t think I’m ready for another one.”

Rosa narrowed her eyes at me as if she knew something I wasn’t saying. I just gave them both a smile.

“What I’m looking forward to,” I admitted, “are all the dresses. It’s almost as fun as the Met Gala. It’s so much fun to see how everyone dresses up, especially when I only ever see anybody in scrubs.”

“Well, I’m on duty that night,” one nurse huffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said.

“Oh, don’t be. I actually requested it that way. I don’t have to fork out money for a dress I’ll only ever wear once.”

Rosa harrumphed. “I’m going to wear the same dress I wore last year. I looked hot in it. It deserves another showing.”

“Sure, if you don’t want to be judged,” another nurse chimed in.

“What are you talking about? I wear the same dress every year. Nobody judges me.”

“Nobody judges you to your face, Rosa. We all know you wear the same dress every year. You need a new one. Styles have changed.”

Rosa snorted. “Why should I change my style for fashion? That dress was not cheap, and each time I wear it, it becomes more affordable.”

The first nurse laughed. “Girl-math, right? I forked over a ton of money on a crappy pair of shoes, so not worth it, and then Jamie convinced me to get these” —she twisted her foot so we could all see her hot pink shoe— “not cheap, but I wear them every day. So they’ve ended up costing me something like less than fifty cents a day.”

“Don’t listen to them, Rosa,” I said. “You can wear the same dress if you want to.”

“What about you?” Rosa asked. “You don’t wear the same thing. But I guess with a doctor’s salary…” She trailed off.

“I never buy a dress for the gala. I’ve already made arrangements to rent my gown, like I do every year.”

“You can rent a ballgown?” one nurse asked, wide-eyed.

“You didn’t know that? From a girl-math perspective, it is pricey, but not nearly as expensive as buying one.”

Before I could elaborate further, another nurse interrupted. “We have incoming.”

“What have we got?” I asked.

She shrugged. “You know as much as I do, but there are minors involved. It’s definitely your rodeo.”

Frustration bunched in my gut. Marcus was right. It would’ve been helpful to have more information. Anything was better than just a vague heads-up. It’s about to get bloody in here. It reminded me I needed to follow up with him about those protocol procedures he was interested in.

We all waited in quiet anticipation as the bay doors opened and the ambulance backed in.

“What did I miss?” Marcus asked as he arrived on the scene.

I shrugged. “Another opportunity to discuss the necessity of intake protocols,” I said, shaking my head. “I just know that minors are involved and they’re going to need both of us.”

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