Sleeping With The Intern Pt 02

Chapter 11

I released the team and met up with Dr. Wassel, following him around the rest of the afternoon as the group went with Guy to meet the patients. I had several administrative duties to learn which I hadn't known were a part of my new responsibilities--scheduling, hour tracking, payroll submission. Sometime after four p.m. when my feet ached and I was ready to collapse from exhaustion, we finished up and he excused me. Thankfully there were only a few days in the beginning of training on my part, so I didn't have to endure this daily.

I was tired and needed to relax, maybe curl up with Boots and think about how to make this new job and the situation with Cash work. I would have liked a glass of wine too, but drinking alone didn't sound like much fun, and with Annalise back in Chicago it was likely I wouldn't drink again for a few months.

The doctor's lounge, however, sounded like a good place to let the relaxation start. I heard one of the nurses left some brownies out, and I wanted to snag one for my drive home, so I headed to the second floor. When I stepped into the room I was surprised to see Dr. Barbie doll there, pawing at Cash's chest again. It irritated me and I found myself feeling jealous again, but why? So I slept with him once. Cash wasn't mine. I had no say over who or what he did. And I'd made it a distinct point to highlight the non-frat policy too.

I avoided looking at them and headed straight to the counter where the pan of brownies sat, but I was disappointed to see that they were gone. I'd missed my shot at a yummy treat and that frustrated me. I consoled myself from digging a few quarters out of my pocket to get a soda from the vending machine and overheard Kari flirting with Cash. He said something but I couldn't make out what it was, and that was okay. I didn't need to know how much of a player he really was. He was off limits now. And why were they still here even?

Snagging my soda from the machine, I turned to go, but Cash's voice stopped me. "Dr. Ellis, I have a few questions about the program. Do you have a sec?" I froze on the spot and turned slowly to face him. I didn't want this conversation right now, but I knew it was inevitable.

"Sure thing." I forced a polite smile and waited.

"See you tomorrow, Kari." Cash dismissed her with a wave of the hand and approached me. She dawdled, going to her locker and checking her makeup as Cash stood next to me. "So the man who showed us around, Guy... Is he like in charge of us or something?" His eyes seemed more grey than blue right at that moment, and I wondered if they changed like that dependent on his mood.

"No, Guy is second year trauma--so it's his sixth year. He's been around enough to know the ropes and I can't possibly do everything myself so he is my assistant." I gripped my soda in hand, crossing my arms over my chest. I wondered what his game was, sidelining me to ask stupid questions didn't seem like something someone as intelligent as him would do.

He glanced at Kari and then turned back to me. "And will we be assigned surgeries or will we just be selected as they come in? I mean, you can never tell when the doors open with trauma patients on the other side."

I rolled my eyes at him. This was an act. He was stalling. "I'm sure you have experience in the field and know whatever doctor is skilled in a particular skill set and is available will be given the task of saving the life. Some doctors excel at muscular trauma, others brain trauma. It's possible you don't see any surgeries for months based on the patients who come in."

Kari slammed her locker and smacked her lips. She winked at Cash as she passed by and wiggled her fingers. "See you tomorrow Dr. Keller." Her fog of perfume nearly gagged me as she passed. I'd have to discourage that abuse of the hospital atmosphere, as patients could have allergies and scent sensitivities. For now I had to find out what Cash's game was.

"So this is pretty weird. Why didn't you tell me you were starting this program?" I felt a little irritated that this blindsided me. "I would never have slept with you."

He chuckled and shook his head, brow furrowed. "Why didn't you tell me you were a doctor and just appointed chief resident?"

Touché. I had to give him credit. I didn't divulge my position either, which was my fault. I should have known better, but who'd have thought a bartender would show up in my rotation? "Because when I tell men I am a doctor, they get intimidated and lose interest." Was that the case? It had been a while since I dated anyone, and the men who hit on me were coworkers or patients, which were obviously off limits anyway. Still, it was my natural inclination to conceal my job because I didn't want any person to like or dislike me based on my profession.

"So you wanted me to be interested?" He grinned at me and leaned on the doorjamb, blocking my escape.

No, I hadn't wanted him to be interested in me. Not until the moment Annalise fled and deserted us and I was alone with him. Then I'd wanted nothing more than for him to be consumed with me. Even that morning when I woke up I didn't know if I wanted him to be interested in me. Remaking that moment would only spoil the magic, right? And now I definitely didn't need him being interested in me, because I was so interested in him and that was one hell of an HR nightmare.

"That's not the point. I'm your boss now, so this never happened." I gestured between his body and mine, and felt my hand get sucked into his gravity. God I wanted to touch him, feel those corded abs beneath my fingertips.

"By the way, I would have still slept with you had I known. You are sexy, beautiful, and fun." He seemed to notice my hand hover in the air, ready to part the front of his button down and trace his six pack and I pulled it back in horror.

"You cannot say those kinds of things, Cash." I glanced around nervously, praying no one heard him. "I mean, Dr. Keller." I corrected myself and felt my gut churn. This was going to be impossible. Holy fuck.

"Okay, okay," he said, straightening. The way his posture shifted showed me he took my words seriously, but all it did was make his shirt strain against the buttons as he squared his shoulders. I could just faintly make out the hint of his tattoos beneath the fabric of his shirt. "It's strictly business from here out, Dr. Ellis."

"Okay, good. Let's just put this behind us and forget it happened. It was literally just a wild coincidence." I had to keep telling myself that--that it wasn't destiny or fate, or some cruel twisted joke. A coincidence is all. We fucked and now we were working together. Keep it together, Piper.

"Got it, boss." He grinned at me again, turning his dimples into weapons. I felt my body ache again just being close to him. God, I had self-pleasured last night thinking of his face buried between my thighs and that stubble scratching me all to hell and now it's all I could think about again.

"Stop smiling like that. I mean it. If anyone found out about us, I could be removed as chief. Please don't screw this up for me." I heard the faintest whimper in my tone and loathed myself, so I did what any socially awkward, introverted woman would do. I pushed past him and walked out. He was too far under my skin to dig him out, and I needed my best friend's advice--STAT.

By the time I got home I had calmed a little, but walking into my bedroom and seeing my disheveled bed made me bang my head against the wall. I stripped and put on a t-shirt and shorts, then took the entire pint of Rocky Road out of the freezer with a spoon and curled up on the couch. Boots sat on the arm rest purring as I dialed Annalise's number. By now she'd be eating dinner and grading papers or whatever it was teachers did in their personal time.

"Hey, woman. How was your first day?"

"My god, Anna. You're not going to believe who one of my residents is. This is such a fucking disaster." I shoved a spoon full of ice cream into my mouth and groaned.

"What's going on?"

"It's Cash," I blurted out, but the words sounded more like "is cosh," and I wasn't sure she understood me until she responded.

"Wait. What? The bartender?" Her voice rose three notes in pitch and she said, "Shut up."

"Yes, the bartender," I whimpered and swallowed.

"Wait. How does a bartender get into a residency? Don't you have to be a doctor?"

"Yes, he's a doctor." My misery got worse by the second, and I shoved another bite of ice cream in my mouth. Boots nudged my arm, begging for attention, but I had none to give him. My obsessive nature had me so stuck in my head.

"No shit."

"I know!" I whined again and dropped the spoon into the pint. "This is a disaster. How am I going to deal with this?" Boots nudged his way onto my lap and I set the pint on the coffee table and let him rub his head on the bottom side of my chin as I scratched him.

"I wonder why he didn't tell me that when I told him you were... I mean... Uh..."

My gut sank and so did my shoulders. "Annalise, you told him I was a doctor! When?" That sneaky bastard. He knew all along and never told me.

"Well," she started, sounding sheepish. "You went to the toilet and he asked why a hot girl like you was single. You know I had too many 'sexes on the beach'--wait is that the right way to say more than one 'sex on the beach?'"

"Annalise, focus."

"Okay, okay, well, I was just so proud of you and I said you were smart and you were a doctor, that you just got appointed chief resident and you were a kick-ass trauma surgeon and..." Every word that came out of her mouth put another nail in his coffin.

"Did you tell him what hospital?" She didn't even need to confirm it. The stupid grin on his face this morning as I walked in and saw him told me what I needed to know. I just never connected the dots until just this second.

"Well yes... Holy shit. So when I told him, he knew you were going to be his boss? My god, I'm sorry, Piper. I didn't say anything because I know you don't like to tell guys that, and you seemed really into each other."

I shook my head and seethed a sigh out my nostrils. I didn't blame her for one second. How could I? she was a boasting best friend only trying to talk me up. He, on the other hand, was a snake. "Now I'm pissed. That was no coincidence at all. That cocky asshole." I was so furious I could march over to his house and tell him off--if I knew where he lived. And the frustrating part was, even at work tomorrow I'd have to play it cool. But he'd get what was coming to him one way or another.

I'd see to that.

Chapter 12

I sat at the back of the room this time, the chair at the head of the table. Piper stood as she had the other day at the front of the room behind the desk there with her laptop open. She recounted a few stories of trauma patients that entered the emergency room before they had the trauma unit here. Her simple blue scrubs and white lab coat made her look just as amazing as the red pantsuit she'd worn the first day. I could tell she was upset with me though, the fire in her eyes each time she looked at me a little too obvious.

I didn't let it unnerve me. Piper was professional. She, herself, had put the limits on whatever relationship we had--though I wouldn't have called it a relationship at all, just hot sex and chemistry. But I took her seriously when she asked me not to bring that into this space. It didn't seem to stop her from bringing it in though and Kari even noticed.

"What's up with the looks she keeps giving you?" Kari whispered in my ear. I could smell her strawberry lip gloss and it brought a grin to my face when Piper happened to look right at me as Kari leaned in to make the comment. It only made her eyes darken.

"Not sure," I whispered back, holding Piper's gaze as I spoke to Kari over my shoulder. "I think maybe she doesn't like us talking during the lecture."

It was true; I could see Piper visibly grow frustrated as I spoke. She didn't say anything, but she stared me down as she continued her story. Kari sat back in her seat and I was glad she did. It was sweet that she was so into me, but she was too young, nearly ten years my junior. She had a lot of growing up to do before I could take her interest seriously. Piper, on the other had, made me start to doubt everything I had told myself since my divorce a few years ago.

"So, you see the faster the response to the initial trauma, the more tissue can be saved in this situation." Piper closed her laptop. "Any questions?" she glanced at the clock on the wall and then turned to take questions from the group.

Shana asked a question about how and when to remove a tourniquet that had been applied by an EMT. Piper's answer was smart and spot on. I admired that she knew so much about this field. It was something we had in common, and it felt like she was a kindred spirit too.

Kip cracked a joke about an amputee victim lying in a pile of leaves being called Rustle, and while the rest of us laughed, Piper scowled at him. So the class clown act definitely wasn't the way to her heart at all. I tried to cover my mouth so she would'nt see me smiling, but when she looked at me I knew she'd seen it and was even more upset that I'd laugh at the joke. She had to understand most of these people were way younger than me, and I'd spent fifteen years of my life serving my country without the freedom to have a little fun and express emotions.

"If there are no more actual questions, I'll let you all have a break. We have rounds in thirty minutes. We'll meet in the trauma bay near bed one. That patient will be a unique one for you all to see. He checked in this morning with a screwdriver through his hand."

The group made a collective gasp--all but me and Piper that is. They acted like we were going to a freak show, not practicing medicine. Their hushed words as they paired up and left were proof of their immaturity in the practice. I hung back, not only distancing myself from that, but curious to see why Piper was fuming mad with me. She busily packed up her things into her desk and locked the drawers and when she looked up at me, I knew she was about to let loose.

"What?" I asked, stacking my notebooks up and picking them up. I hugged them against the side of my body and walked toward her.

"You knew." Her tone was sharp enough to run me through, and I had to stifle a chuckle at how comedic it was that she was so angry.

"Knew what?" She didn't have to explain. Her first statement was enough to tell me everything I needed to know. She'd figured it out, that I had known about her position and our future work dynamic when we slept together. The outrage in her eyes was almost as priceless as the expression on her face when she saw I was on her roster the first time.

"Don't play games with me! Annalise said she told you." Piper's chest rose and fell in short choppy breaths. She pushed her glasses up her nose and glowered at me with pursed lips.

I held my hand up in my defense and offered a lighthearted tone. "Okay, okay. Yeah, I knew. I was waiting for you to tell me you were a doctor, where you worked. You know, normal stuff like when you're out on a date." I shifted my notebooks to my other hand and she shook her head in a fit.

"It wasn't a date. I didn't even invite you!" She was so cute when she was angry.

"So you're telling me that you regret the most mind-blowing sex you've ever had?" I smirked at her and stepped closer, bridging the gap. She backed away cautiously and glanced at the clock again. I could see her wheels turning as she thought of something to say. The pregnant pause only proved my point.

"You're pretty damn arrogant."

Ah, there it was. She was resorting to name calling because I was right. "Self-assured, yes. If that is what you mean." I squared my shoulders and leaned my hip against her desk. I was getting to her, making her flustered. Her eyes darted around, searching my face. She was thinking of a comeback. I liked that she was like this, that she wasn't witty and snarky like me. It meant her heart was actually pure, that she was genuinely hurt and not just a bitch. I felt bad for hurting her; I never thought it would.

"How do you know I haven't had better?" Her emerald eyes flashed with anger again, her nostrils flaring. Damn she was sexy.

I chuckled at her question. "Trust me. I know." The sounds that woman made when I fucked her had never come from her throat before in her life. I guaranteed it. I did things she'd never had done, and I liked knowing I had.

"You're a real jerk, you know? If you thought that little escapade was going to get you special treatment, you're sorely mistaken." She picked up her hospital issued tablet with all her patient files loaded onto it and hugged it to her chest, pushing her glasses up her nose again.

My chest tightened. Is that what she really thought of me? That I was some player using her as a pawn to get a leg up in this rat race of medical residency? That by sleeping with the boss I would get better marks or more attention?

"I was never expecting any sort of special treatment. I just wanted to have sex with one of the most beautiful and funny women I have ever met." The words sliced through my heart faster than a hot knife through butter. Why did I say that? It was true, but admitting that out loud physically hurt. Why?

"Stop saying things like that!" She rushed past me forgetting her stethoscope. I snatched it off her desk and dangled it from a finger and when she turned to say something else, she glared at me and stomped back to me to take it.

"You got it, Dr. Ellis." I winked at her as she took the device from my hand and huffed at me.

"I have to go. We have rounds in less than thirty minutes." She turned to go and called over her shoulder. "Don't be late."

"Never. I'm a military man, remember?" I couldn't but smile at her as she stormed out. So it wasn't the exact reception I thought I'd receive when she learned that juicy tidbit, but it was enlightening. Piper took her job very seriously as evidenced by the way she was handling me in the aftermath of our indiscretion. Knowledge of what we had done would be a blight on her reputation fi anyone found out. I knew that and she was scared of it.

I, however, began to feel like the future I saw as crystal clear wasn't so cut and dry anymore. The water was muddied and things I had drawn as a hard line in the sand seemed less distinct, more like a snowdrift curling over the edge of an abyss I told myself I'd never encroach up on again.

Heading down to the trauma unit, I tried to put the interaction behind me. I was here to learn, not hook up. If Piper really was that upset about things, then it wasn't work the energy to continue goading the bear. What was most important now was my ability to fit within this system and make it work. They did things differently than we did in the army, and I had no rank here. Holding my tongue would prove challenging, of that I was certain.

After a good wait, Piper joined the amassing group and we began rounds. The gentleman with the screwdriver through his hand wasn't as gory as I pictured, but judging by the reactions of the rest of the residents, it was pretty gory for what the trauma response team around here got to see regularly. I'd seen guys' eyeballs hanging from their sockets with half their face blow off by an IED. This was nothing.

We visited a patient who came in after a car accident. It broke my heart that it was a child whose parent hadn't put them in the proper restraint and during the accident the safety belt caused some major issues. I knew immediately that his pain was caused by internal bleeding just looking at the symptoms. In the field I'd seen this at least five times--all from car accidents just like this one.

Kelly asked a very smart question and Piper gave a great answer, but I couldn't help myself from piggybacking on what she said to clarify it. "Actually, Kelly, if you remember the ABCs of CPR, you'll remember it's airway, breathing, then circulation. If your patient is bleeding out you can operate to fix that, but if you don't intubate first, you'll lose them in less than six minutes as they suffer lack of oxygen. One of the biggest mistakes trauma responders make is not getting airway secured first."