Page 25 of Silver Fox's Intern Dilemma

"Look, I'm just telling you what's happening. I can't help it. I have to perform life-saving surgery. Leah will understand. I can pick her up first thing in the morning." I walked past Rita with the phone pinched between my ear and shoulder as I undidmy cufflinks and headed for the doctors’ lounge where I could find my scrubs and scrub cap. Rita gave me a thumbs-up, and I nodded as she indicated seven minutes left.

"You mean while I'm sleeping in? You're ridiculous."

"I have to go, Dana. I'll call you in the morning." I let the phone drop to my hand and continued walking, but the last thing I heard her say was so cruel.

"We'll see if a judge agrees with me that you spend no time with your daughter." I knew she was so mad about this, but her anger was misplaced.

No one liked to have their plans rearranged, and these types of situations were disappointing. But I put myself in the shoes of the victims or their families and how they would look to doctors and nurses with hope and desperation. I wished Dana would be more like me, holding a space in her heart for those who were hurting, even through discouragement. I wished she'd be more like Sophia.

Ten minutes later, Sophia and I were walking into the operating room, scrubbed in and ready to do the chest tube. The patient's vitals were all over the place and he was screaming in pain. I had the team sedate him and we got to work. It took thirty minutes to place the tube and position it correctly, then tape it in place. We waited another fifteen for the pressure to start alleviating and the air to begin abating. It was touch and go, but when his vitals started to level out, I knew we were out of the most dangerous part.

It might take as much as three days for his lung to fully inflate and stay that way, but his heart was no longer under the extreme duress. The other doctors could tend to his multiple lacerations and broken bones, but he would live.

I gave Sophia a nod of appreciation for her stellar attitude under such pressure. She had been the steady, consistent help I needed, though a trained perioperative nurse may also havedone the same, but not the way Sophia did. She and I worked together so well, I was ashamed to admit I knew I'd be less of a surgeon when she finally moved on to her own practice and I had to do it alone again. It'd be hard to find another assistant like her.

"Touch and go for a minute there," she said as she scrubbed out. We had less than ten minutes to get to the next OR for the next patient. Dr. Briggs and his supervisor had taken the perforated bowel, which left us with a mild case of internal bleeding which needed a surgeon's keen eye.

"I'm proud of you. After that emergency a few weeks ago, I worried you'd feel too overwhelmed again." I knew how easily Sophia got flustered and how much she cared about her patients. It wasn’t a dig, just a cautious and compassionate observation.

"I feel better now with you around, though I feel nauseous." She pressed a hand to her stomach and closed her eyes for a second, then returned to scrubbing. Her fatigue and now this nausea concerned me. She'd been working so hard, and I knew how easy it was to get burned out early in your career.

"Maybe you should go home. You’re not required to be here, you know? I can handle this." I knew I could, but I didn't want to do it alone. She was part of my team now and I relied on her help.

"Are you kidding? And skip this excitement? What stories would I tell my grandkids someday?" She winked at me, but her face looked a little green. "Did you call your ex? How did Leah take the news?"

I reached for a towel and scowled. "Dana never lets me speak to her, so I don't know. What I know is she threatened me again, and I'm not taking kindly to it. She thinks she's more important than the whole world. I just don't know what to do."

"Dr. Thornton, OR Six is prepped." The loudspeaker announcement interrupted my thoughts, and I was glad. I couldn’t let myself dive off into the deep end of anger.

"Let's get going. We have to scrub in next door." I nodded at the door and left ahead of Sophia, but I knew she'd follow. I just hoped her nauseous stomach wasn't my fault. She hadn't even eaten dinner yet. I owed her, big time.

19

SOPHIA

The heat of Jack's kisses left my lips as he rolled away from my body, leaving me panting and exhausted. My sweat-slicked skin started to cool as my heart rate slowly came back down to a normal rhythm. My body felt heavy and relaxed as endorphins continued pulsing through every muscle fiber.

Jack was so good at that, making me have explosive orgasms, and I was putty in his hands. He climbed out of bed to dispose of the condom, and I felt the entire mattress shake. I let my eyes flutter shut and just enjoyed the afterglow until he returned to my side and pulled me against himself. He was hot too, panting, and he pressed a kiss to my temple before pulling a sweaty ringlet from my skin and tucking it behind my ear.

"Have I ever told you how incredible you are?" Jack had a lot more scruff than usual this morning, and my nether region was feeling it. I was almost raw from his generous acts of service between my thighs, and I grinned as he kissed me and I tasted my moisture on his lips.

"I think once or twice," I moaned, rolling into his chest.

"I've been thinking.” He sighed contentedly and kissed my forehead a few times. It was like he hadn't kissed anyone in years, like he couldn’t get enough of kissing me.

"What about?" I asked, tracing lazy figure-eights on his chest. He was damp with sweat too, and I wondered if he'd shower with me if I asked him to.

I'd spent the whole weekend with him and we had to head into work in a little more than an hour, barring any emergencies that called us in sooner. After last week's building collapse, we'd been given stand-down time regarding our on-call hours. I was glad for the bit of free time, but I had spent it all with Jack, not at home studying the way my parents would have liked.

"About us." Jack's voice was so wistful and dreamy, like he was happy and content with me, and that made me feel happier and more content with him too.

What we were doing, sneaking around for sex, was wrong on so many levels, but we'd managed to make it work for us. No one at the hospital was suspicious of our relationship, and even Dr. Briggs stopped questioning how seamlessly Jack and I worked together now. We were able to concentrate and do our jobs well, and this intimate connection with him gave me just the confidence I needed to perform at my highest level of skill.

"Yeah?" I brushed my lips over his chest and felt his chest hair tickle my nose. The throbbing between my legs was slowly subsiding, and I was already craving the nearness again. Jack did things to me I couldn't explain, things I wanted to feel forever.

"Yeah," he said, then he curled a few more strands of hair behind my ear. "I am. I think we should go to HR. I want to declare our relationship, Soph." He'd started using that pet name for me when we were alone, and I liked it. It was like taking our relationship to the next level somehow.

But this? What he was saying now? It had me instantly feeling tense and hesitant. "Why do we need to do that?" I didn’t want him to think I wasn't ready for a relationship. My God, was I ever ready. I was falling in love with every part of him, and I had even imagined what life would be like if I lived here, if Leah started to call me Mom. He and I were so right for each other, and I hoped that he felt the same way.

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