Page 24 of Just One Chance
“Then you could always make a move. Try and woo her away from the guy.”
David scoffed. “That feels irrational and fatalistic.”
Lucy tapped her lip. “Listen, Dr. Pessimism, I’m trying to help you here. What if you just—wait.I know exactly what you need to do. You need to make it easier to stop thinking about Avery by thinking about someone else. You’ve got the new wardrobe, the new glasses. It’s time, David. You need to go on more dates.”
David frowned. He didn’t like the idea of dating anyone that wasn’t Avery. Even if he did, he didn’t know anyone. And the thought of going out socially, among strangers, to try and meet someone felt like the world’s worst sort of punishment. “Like who? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t work at the hospital. Besides Avery.”
“What about Haley, the triage nurse? She’s super smart, really funny once you get to know her, and she’s got that gorgeous long hair. I think she’d be good for you.”
Daniel wasn’t sure he’d ever even spoken to Haley the triage nurse. He definitely hadn’t noticed her hair. “I got nothing,” he said to Lucy.
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You don’t even know who she is?”
“What do you want me to say? I don’t think about dating when I’m working.” That was mostly true. But he’d also been consumed with thoughts of Avery since the first moment he’d met her. There wasn’t a lot of room in his brain for noticing anyone else.
A nurse peeked her head around the corner.NotHaley. David at least knew that much. “Dr. Daniels?” the nurse said. “New patient in Exam Two. Potential—”
“Wait! Don’t say it,” Lucy said. “It’s a . . . herniated disc.”
The nurse shook her head.
“A kid that swallowed a marble?” Lucy tried again.
“Nope,” the nurse said.
“Dang. I’m off my game today.”
“I’ll never not be winning, Lu. You should probably just give up.” David followed the nurse to Exam Two.
“Just think about what I said, okay?” Lucy called out after him. “We could double date if you want.”
The nurse shot David a questioning look at the mention of a date and David felt his cheeks warm. He cleared his throat. “The patient?” he asked expectantly.
“Right,” the nurse said. “Possible sprain or fracture to the left wrist.” She handed David the patient’s chart. “And just a heads up, his fiancée is a little hysterical. She’s convinced his entire arm is broken and I guess their wedding is in a few months? She’s terrified a cast will ruin all their wedding photos.”
“Got it.” David quickly scanned the patient’s information, his eyes catching on the name at the top of the chart. Tucker King. It wasn’t all that common of a name, but this patient had a fiancée. It couldn’t be Avery’s Tucker.
“Order an x-ray just so we can be sure,” David told the nurse. He entered the exam area and paused. Itwasthe same guy. And the look on Tucker’s face told David he wasn’t thrilled to discover who his doctor was. The fiancée was nowhere to be found.
Tucker’s displeasure quickly morphed into what came across as practiced charm. “David, right?” Tucker said, his smile wide. “What are the odds?”
David glanced up from the chart and offered Tucker a tight smile. “Let’s stick to Dr. Daniels while we’re at the hospital.”
“Of course. Sorry about that.” Tucker looked at the door, his expression cagey. He was likely hoping the fiancée he didn’t know David knew about wasn’t going to show up and blow his cover.
David’s jaw clenched. The conversation he’d just had with Lucy about Avery and Tucker filled his mind. He’d told Lucy he wasn’t up for trying to woo Avery away from Tucker, but he took it all back. He’d do anything to get her away from the creep.
He dropped the chart onto the foot of the bed where Tucker lay, his arm propped up on a pile of pillows. “How’d you hurt yourself?”
“Golfing,” Tucker said. “It’s a stupid story, but I stepped backward into a hole and fell backwards, catching myself with this arm.” He held up the injured arm. “I heard a pop, and it started to swell, so here I am.”
David sighed. He didn’t have to like the guy. He didn’t even have to be nice to him. But he did have to be a good doctor. He moved to the side of the bed and silently examined Tucker’s wrist. It was swollen and slightly purple, but David didn’t think it was broken. He tested the mobility of the wrist, noting when Tucker flinched.
“It hurts like hell, man. Can I get something for the pain?”
David nodded. “You haven’t taken anything yet?”
Tucker shook his head.
