Page 26 of Dr. Off Limits

“It’s Off Limits,” I whispered to her.

She laughed beside me. “Not to me.”

I bristled at her response.

The hat went round again and I kept saying my name over and over, desperate to get picked before it ended up in Jacob’s hand again. No such luck. Jacob had his turn again. This time he went really quickly, clearly wanting to avoid any questions from Wanda. He pulled out the name and announced, “Robert French.” He scanned the people sitting around me, trying to find his newest recruit. Our eyes locked. I looked down at my pad, scribbling my name on the paper in front of me. Please let the next name pulled out be mine.

But no, Veronica was next. She got A&E. Lucky her. Before I knew it, the hat was back in Jacob’s hand. He grinned and pulled out another strip of paper.

The look of sheer terror in his eyes gave it away. I knew. I knew it was my name on that paper he was holding. I knew I faced four months of total torture. Holy Madonna Louise Ciccone.

“Sutton Scott,” he said, holding up the paper.

My heart corkscrewed into my stomach. How was it possible for me to be so intent on staying away from a person only to have the universe flip me and my intention off so violently at every turn?

“We’re going to be together,” Gilly said. “So fun.”

“Sooo fun,” I said, trying to sound as genuine as I possibly could.

The rest of the names were picked and Wanda held up her notepad. “As you’ve all been picked, I’ve made a note of who got what specialty. Do not under any circumstances—not even if you think your life depends on it because, believe me, it won’t—come and try to change where you are going to spend the next four months. If you do, I will put you on a special laundry rotation I’ve devised for my favorite foundation doctors.

“Now you know where you’ll be heading, you’re going to hear from each doctor about what to expect, and what not to expect, during your rotation.”

I sat forward on my bench and started taking copious, detailed notes. I wasn’t going to remember anything about this lecture and I’d need to have a full record of what was said. If I didn’t focus, I knew all I would be able to think about was the next four months working in the same department as Jacob, seeing him every day, having to brief him on patients and ask him questions about medicines. All the while hoping no one noticed how much I was desperate for him to touch me.

The next four months were going to be hell.