Page 22 of Dr. Alaska
After a pause, she scowled. “Are we playing this game? Do you want me to psychoanalyze you right here, right now? Because I will do it.”
“Hell no.” He conceded the win to his sister and pushed back from the desk. “Back in a bit, then I’m heading out.”
“Where are you going?”
Big sisters.
He rolled his eyes. “Restroom. Do I have your permission?”
“Hmmph,” she said. “You should go to the doctors’ lounge and use that one.”
“Why?”
Her broad smile made him want to pop her in the arm. “For good reason.”
“Quit matchmaking, Dee!” he bit out.
But sure, the lounge would be a good place to find… a restroom.
“Not matchmaking, Mav.” He didn’t buy the innocent expression. “Johan had mentioned that the main restroom is out of order for a bit.”
“Oh. Then I’ll use the ED ones.”
Thumbing behind her, she said, “And Johan started cleaning them a minute ago.” She waggled her fingers, irritating him, like when they were in elementary school.
Over the years, Dee had honed her skills for poking until Mav would lose his cool. Felt like manipulation. After a long day at the end of a long week, he was too tired to argue.
He tipped an imaginary hat at Dee as he strolled through the ED doors and hung a left toward the inpatient wing.
The hospital at nine p.m. on a Friday was nearly empty. Night shift nurses were busy doing rounds on their patients. Visitors had left.
He badged into the door next to theDoctors’ Work Roomsign.
The space held a small couch, recliner, coffee table, computer desk, fridge, and kitchen table with a few mismatched chairs.
It also held an unhappy doctor, judging by the slump of her shoulders and the frown.
“Knock, knock,” he said out loud.
“Oh.” Lee turned her head and rubbed her hands over her face, but not before Mav spied a glimmer in her light brown gaze.
In the space of a breath, he switched gears from work to… something else. His arms itched to wrap around her. Provide comfort. Support.
What about more?
He would not answer dumb hypothetical questions.
She sat up straighter, shoving her long hair away from her face as she reached for her lab coat on the arm of the couch. “Does someone need me in the ER?” she said, pulling professionalism around her like armor, her jaw stiff.
“No. You’re good.” He hovered a few feet inside the room. At the end of the day, she looked like she could use a friend. “Ah, mind if I take a break with you?”
Lee’s shoulders rose and fell as she scooted over. The vee of the shamrock-green shirt emphasized the smooth line of her neck.
He swallowed. “Is this an exclusive restaurant or can anyone dine here?” He pointed at her makeshift meal.
Lee blinked, then waved a hand at the paper napkin with a half-eaten snack and an apple juice cup on the coffee table in front of her. “May I interest you in the chef’s special? All-natural artisan flatbread with a peanut reduction garnish paired with a late-harvest fruit cocktail?”
“A peanut butter packet and stale crackers?” He grinned, then wandered over to the counter with a basket full of packaged cookies, chips, and crackers that the dietary services staff stocked. He held up two packets of fig bars with a flourish. “I believe I’ll try the free-trade fruit compote wrapped in organic pastry dough. Let me get one for you as well.”
