Page 14 of Bad Medicine
“Great,” I chirped, knowing she’d see right through my bullshit, but I tried anyway. “Never been better.”
Linny hummed, her eyebrows lowering. Not wanting to get pulled into a deep conversation, I headed back into the kitchen and started clearing away the plates.
“Sell that shit somewhere else, child,” Linny said, her voice right behind me, and I sighed. “You forget that I know you. I know how far you push yourself, and how you let those jackasses down at the hospital walk all over you. One of these days, I’m gonna head down there and kick someone in the nuts. Just you wait.”
Linny was like the tough-talking, hard-loving grandma I had always wished I had.
When I got pregnant with Jasper, my family had been less than thrilled. It seemed that having an unwed, pregnant daughter wasn’t high on the Carmichael family priority list. My grandmother, the family matriarch, let me know, in no uncertain terms, that she was not going to be funding an education for me to “run around campus like a godforsaken tramp,” and immediately stopped paying my tuition.
My parents, desperate to maintain her approval—and therefore their place in her will—had quickly sided with her, and my father had gone as far as to suggest I terminate my pregnancy. When I refused, they had officially disowned me, leaving me to navigate my new situation all on my own.
Which was why I was so happy to have found Linny; she was the only person I considered family these days, and Jasper and I were beyond lucky she felt the same way about us.
“I appreciate the offer, Lin,” I appeased, scrubbing the last of the utensils and placing them on the drying rack. My dishwasher had shit the bed about eight months ago, and I was in no position to repair it, never mind replace it.
Although, that may not be exactly true anymore.
My mind wandered to the money Francesca had given me last week, my jaw clenching when I remembered the events that had led to me earning that bonus cash so quickly.
Which inevitably brought my thoughts right back to a certain gorgeous, blue-eyed criminal, who I could absolutelynotafford to be thinking about.
Drying my hands, I attempted to find something else to do, something that would prevent me from thinking about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Cocky.
Rock.
Hell, even his name was sexy. I had found my mind drifting to him more than a few times this week—remembering everything from his arrogant swagger to his subtle cigarette smoke smell—and I hated myself for it, because I knew better. I knew that guys like him wanted only one thing, and it wasn’t a single mom with stretch marks and more debt than anyone should rightly be allowed to carry.
Guys like Rock were interested in women who were flashy and fun, women who could do something spontaneous, like hop on a las- minute flight to Cancun, or drop everything to see the latest and greatest band perform on the Strip, not women who spent their free time coloring and watching episodes ofPaw Patrolon repeat.
No, a woman like me was the last thing a guy like him would be interested in.
Pushing Rock out of my mind, I pasted on my best “I have my shit together” smile, which Linny absolutely did not buy, and went to meet Jasper at the bottom of the stairs.
“Have a great day, little man,” I said, squeezing him tight and dropping a kiss to the top of his head.
“Kiss Roy, too,” Jasper insisted, holding up his stuffed white tiger, which I promptly kissed.
Watching, my heart full, as Linny and Jasper drove away, both of them waving like maniacs, I put thoughts of handsome men out of my mind.
I was right where I was supposed to be, and I was more than okay with that.
Chapter five
Mia
Tearingoffmygloves,I tossed them in the bio-hazard waste bin and sighed.
Another patient down, a seemingly infinite number more to go.
I knew when I chose emergency medicine as my specialty that it would be busy, and I thought I could handle it. But I hadn’t known at the time that the rest of my life would get so complicated, making every patient, every test and requisition seem like the most taxing thing I could imagine.
Heading back to the nurses’ station, I smiled at Donna as she handed me the chart for my next patient.
“Better you than me,” Elizabeth, the floor manager, griped, and I frowned.
The chart in my hand was for Mildred Johnston, an elderly woman who was having chest pains. I had seen her earlier in the day, and the lab results were finally back, but by this point, Mildred had already been in the ER for over six hours. She was snarly, and cranky, and bit the head off of anyone who came near her.
I got it. Really. No one liked the endless time spent waiting for answers when they were in the hospital, but treating the nursing staff like shit didn’t help your cause any. It just made everyone want to pee in your pudding.
