“It’s great. I’ve settled in, I like the team and management. Nothing to complain about.”
She smiled. “That’s what I like to hear. I knew this team would be a good fit for you.”
“You were right. They have great talent and everyone gets along. Management is willing to spend the money to get the right players, and the coaches know what the hell they’re doing. I couldn’t have asked for a better fit.”
Victoria nodded. “Plus, one of your brothers lives here in town.”
“Well, you can’t have everything.” He cracked a grin.
She laughed. “You’re so bad. There’s Garrett now so I have to run. If you need anything, call me, okay?”
“You got it. Thanks, Victoria.”
He watched her walk away. She was smart, had been in the business for a long time now, and she was an absolute shark in contract negotiations. He couldn’t ask for a better agent.
He laid back and watched her scoop up Garrett and walk away with him, then he lingered awhile longer. Liz was there to greet Gavin, throwing her arms around him and giving him a long kiss and hug. Gavin had told him Liz used to be his agent, until the two of them got involved, and eventually married. Then they had to sever their professional relationship, but it sure looked like they had a great personal one. Gavin spotted him and waved as the two of them walked away, along with several of the other guys and their wives or girlfriends.
Nice.
He shook his head.
He had no idea why he was even thinking about all the other couples today. Not having a significant other had never bothered him before. He always worked his way past the crowds without a second thought.
So what made the idea of a . . . someone . . . pop into his head today?
He got into his car and started the engine. Was it because he’d never heard back from Aubry? Why did that bother him? He pulled out his phone. It had been two days, since he’d texted her. He punched in her number, figuring maybe this time he’d call.
She didn’t answer, which meant she was probably at work.
Rather than heading home, he turned his car onto the highway in the direction of the hospital. He’d just stop in and see if she was there.
He was sure she’d be happy to see him.
IT HAD BEEN A GRUELING DAY ALREADY. SHE WAS nearing the end of her shift, and Aubry found herself watching the clock, counting down every minute.
Chen had ridden her ass about a case she’d worked this morning. A mother had brought in a child with a broken wrist. No matter what she’d done or said, the kid wouldn’t stop screaming. It happened sometimes. The little girl was four, in pain, and utterly inconsolable. And the parent was nervous as hell about her little girl’s broken wrist, so instead of being the rock her little girl needed, the mother had only added to the tension.
So Aubry had had a screaming child with a broken wrist, along with an extremely upset parent, and she was trying to set the arm when Chen had chosen that moment to walk in on her.
It wasn’t her finest moment.
Of course, her normally gruff and not-at-all warm attending physician had somehow managed an utter personality transplant. He’d gone all smiley and sweet and calmed the highly emotional mother and got the little girl to stop crying. How he did that she had no idea, because half the time Dr. Chen made her want to cry. He was intimidating as hell, yet in the room he had the little girl laughing and the girl’s mother in a state of absolute calm about the whole ordeal.
Aubry finally managed to set the arm and cast it without the kid screaming the entire time. And after they got the cast on the girl and the instructions relayed to the now-calm mother, Chen talked to her in the hallway.
“You didn’t handle that well.”
She lifted her chin. “I was handling it.”
“Not from what I saw. You were tense and nervous.”
“I’ve set broken bones before, Dr. Chen. I can assure you I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“Being a doctor is about a lot more than just the medical aspect of patient care, Dr. Ross. What you had in there were two people in severe emotional distress, one of them a child. And while the procedure might seem minor to you, to them it was traumatic. Your first priority was to calm both the patient and her mother. The medical procedure could have waited, since it wasn’t life threatening.”
No shit, Sherlock. She didn’t need him to point out the obvious to her. But he was her attending, and whatever he had to say, she needed to listen. “I understand, Dr. Chen. I’ll do it better next time.”
“See that you do.”