Page 50 of Sinful in Scrubs

That wasn’t something I could ignore. And they would make problems for me too. I liked her entirely too much to mess up her job for her.

“Just so we’re clear,” I said, “the hospital does not have a fraternization clause in the handbook. I know. I checked. So this sounds?—”

James shook his head. “This is a little more specific, I think.”

I nodded in understanding. This felt a lot like they were looking for an excuse to reprimand Emma and were using me as a means to do so.

I didn’t like the game they were playing. And until I could talk to Emma about it, unfortunately, I needed to play along—because I wasn’t going to put her at risk.

23

EMMA

Ifelt a lightness in my step that I hadn’t felt for a very long time, and it was all because of Marcus Walker.

I wasn’t supposed to fall for another doctor. I certainly wasn’t supposed to fall for someone who worked at the same hospital, let alone in the same department. But I couldn’t wait to see him. Just the thought of him made me happy and erased all the doubts and worries I had.

So what if Kevin was being a jerk? He always was one. And so what if he made the board think I was incompetent? I could pull together and resubmit the proposal, explaining that I had not been properly prepared.

They had to understand that. Right?

I looked forward to seeing Marcus when I made it into the ER, only to find that he wasn’t there.

“Some meeting with James,” Rosa said. “It’s about time Dr. Collins started paying attention to us.”

“He likes to let us manage ourselves,” I commented in response to her complaint. “You know, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it?”

“As if James Collins were even aware that we were having problems. There is hands off, and there is neglect.”

I shook my head as I walked away. I actually preferred to not have James micromanaging my time. But she was right, he probably should check in with us a little more often than those times I needed to adjust my schedule.

Maybe that’s all James and Marcus were discussing. After all, Marcus had kids and it seemed like kids always were getting in the way of the nursing staff’s schedules. I could find Marcus later. We would run into each other in the hallway, like we always did. There would be another opportunity to see him, even if it was just a smile and a quick “hi” in passing. Because I knew that “hi” and that smile—and maybe even a wink—would be loaded with so much more information, so much more feeling behind it.

Patients came in in a flurry of activity, and I seemed to just float through setting bones and stitching up cuts. And by some miracle, even the worst of the traumas that came through our department weren’t as bad as they could have been. That’s not to say they weren’t horrible, because they were. The nature of trauma is horrible. But I had something to look forward to, and I didn’t feel like I was letting those patients or their families down at all.

It was hours before I saw him.

He didn’t see me.

I practically floated down the hallway before I caught his attention.

“Dr. Walker, haven’t seen you all day.” I didn’t hide the smile in my voice.

He looked up at me with a glare.

I stopped, and his expression felt like a gut punch. Something was wrong. What had I done? Had our evening together been just another horrible mistake?

“Dr. Chen. Hi. Here, I think these are yours.”

He handed me a stack of patient records and then turned and walked away.

He. Walked. Away.

My breath left me. I didn’t understand what was happening.

“Marcus?” I asked.

He paused and turned. “Sorry, Dr. Chen. I’m needed.”

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