Billionaire Doctor (House of Kolovsky) - Carol Marinelli Page 0,5

chatted on. ‘Nope, no family—at least, none that he wants us to find out about. I’ve called the social work department and left a message for someone to come and have a chat with him in the morning and see if there’s anything we can do for him, but I’m on tomorrow morning so I can chase it all up if...’ Her voice trailed off as Iosef walked in, bored eyes rolling a fraction in greeting, but whereas only seconds ago she’d been standing on the scales, chatting and weighing herself without giving it a thought, Annie was now blushing self-consciously.

‘Sorry to interrupt your weigh-in. I found Mickey Baker’s ECG in my pocket. When you’ve got time, could you see that it’s pasted to his notes? I’ll be back once he’s in bed.’

‘Fine!’ Annie bristled, as he tossed the beastly tracing on the desk and stalked off without a further word.

So he clearly thought her vain now as well as useless, Annie ranted to herself as she marched back round to the main area, thought she was a lightweight. She halted abruptly, and coolly eyed the chaos that reigned in cubicle two, the suture trolley he’d left behind was piled with dirty gloves and swabs. Her mood blackened further. He hadn’t even disposed of his sharps and clearly he figured it was up to her to dispose of the rest of his mess, as well! Well, Annie decided furiously, tidying up. Whatever he thought of her he was about to find out just how assertive she could be, her grumbling stomach and a healthy dose of premenstrual tension not the ideal time, perhaps, for Iosef Kolovsky to suggest she was otherwise.

‘Dr Kolovsky.’ He was sitting at the nurses’ station, writing his notes and looking as immaculate and groomed as he had at the start of the shift—unlike her. She was growing more and more disheveled. Her cheeks reddened with each and every trudge up to the ward, her hair wild from being pulled in exasperation at having spent the last few hours with a doctor who belonged in the middle of the previous century. ‘Could I have a word, please?’

‘Regarding?’ He didn’t even look up.

‘Regarding the mess you just left in cubicle two.’

‘What mess?’ He glanced over at the empty cubicle then resumed writing. ‘There is no mess.’

‘Because I just cleaned it up.’

‘Good.’

‘I don’t think you understand.’ Annie cleared her throat. ‘You can’t just leave sharps and needles on a trolley—someone could hurt themselves!’

‘I don’t see the problem—you said yourself that you just cleaned them up!’ He frowned, actually looked at her for the first time, his eyes holding hers, as if daring her to carry on, and for the first time Annie wondered if he was deliberately missing the point, especially when the edge of his lips twisted into just a hint of a smile. Well, if that was the case, she’d make things crystal clear.

‘Yes, I cleaned them up,’ Annie answered hotly, ‘but for the last time. I don’t know where you last worked, and you may think the only thing I’m capable of is running patients up to the ward or giving out bedpans, and if you choose to work that way, then go ahead and take the entire load, but don’t ever compromise the safety of myself or my colleagues. If you choose to leave your mess for others to clean up, please, at least have the decency to clear away any sharps.’

‘Sure.’ He turned back to his writing, and heaped insult on insult by giving an utterly bored yawn as he effectively dismissed her, leaving her standing mouthing like a goldfish for a second before she turned on her heel.

‘I’m sorry.’ His apology stopped her in her tracks and slowly she turned around. ‘I forgot. Normally, I am meticulous about this sort of thing, but when I found his ECG I decided to bring it around—and the mess just slipped my mind.’

‘Why didn’t you just say so?’ Annie frowned. ‘You sat there, letting me rant.’

‘You are very easy to goad... to wind up.’ A glimmer of a smile twisted at the edge of his sulky mouth and he gave a small shrug as he returned to his notes. ‘I couldn’t resist. Again—I am sorry for the mess.’

‘That’s fine.’ Disarmed by his niceness, she made the stupid mistake of giving him the benefit of the doubt, of thinking maybe she could have a normal conversation with him. ‘What’s going on with Mickey?’

‘I don’t know yet—I haven’t