I definitely don't want the Chief Resident to know that, especially not when I already pissed him off last week when I failed to report that my intern had gone AWOL. Not that he ever liked me to begin with, not since I caught him making out with a nurse on the stairwell two weeks into my internship.
"Then go get the lab results for Mrs. Archer stat," Dr. Hansen barks. "And don't let me catch you napping again, Red."
"Yes, ma'am," I answer as she waddles off.
I let out a sigh as I lean against the wall and look up at the ceiling.
"What happened to you?" Kelly asks as she passes by.
I glance at my fellow resident. "Did I tell you that Dr. Hansen still calls me 'Dr. Red'? I've told her a gazillion times that my name is Marian Carver. Dr. Carver."
"And I've told her a gazillion times that my name is Kelly Burbank, but she still calls me 'Braids'. Even though I'm no longer wearing braids." She points to her blonde ponytail. "At least she calls you 'Doctor'."
"Only when she's really pissed," I say.
"Like how your mother used to say your whole name when she was pissed?"
I give another sigh. "I barely knew my mother, remember?"
"Right. Sorry."
"Anyway, I better go," I tell her as I pull myself off the wall. "I need to get lab results for Dr. Duckberg."
I start walking off.
"Hey," Kelly calls after me. "Are you alright?"
Sweet, sweet Kelly. Sometimes I think she's too sweet to be a doctor. Other times, I think she's exactly what this hospital needs. And what I need.
I stop and glance over my shoulder. "I'm fine, Kel. I've just been having a bad morning is all."
"Okay."
I keep walking. "I'm fine, Kel. I'm not one of your patients, so I don't need you to worry about me."
"If you say so."
I glance back. "By the way, have you, by any chance, seen my interns? I mean the three interns I have left."
Kelly shakes her head. "Nope."
I roll my eyes. God, I sure hope they're not having a threesome in the supply closet.
"By the way..." she adds.
I turn. "Yeah?"
"There's a hunk in room 2412." Kelly flashes me a mischievous grin. "Taking a peek at him might just make your day a bit better."
I roll my eyes again as I turn away. I don't have time to check out a member of the male species, hunk or otherwise. I don't have time for anyone other than patients and doctors. Liam pointed that out perfectly when we broke up last week.
Still, I think as I turn a corner, room 2412 is on the way to the lab.
Besides, I'll just be taking a peek.
~
Fine. I'm taking a thorough, three-minute peek.
How can I help it when the man on the bed is an anatomical wonder? His features are perfectly symmetrical, which is something I've rarely seen, whether in patients or in cadavers. Smooth, sun-bronzed skin is draped over impeccable bone structure - high cheekbones, a forehead I feel like I can flatten my palm on, a prominent, narrow nose that's slightly bulbous at the tip, a square chin that rivals Superman's. Not even the trimmed hair that coats the lower half of his face can take away from that.
Oh, what I'd give to study that face up close.
Suddenly, his eyes open and the breath I didn't even know I was holding leaves me in a soft gasp. He turns his head and his dark eyes meet mine. They narrow at first beneath creased, thick eyebrows. Thick, but not bushy. Then they light up as his thin lips form a smile beneath his mustache, bringing out the lines at the sides of his mouth.
I stand a little straighter and swallow.
"Aren't you going to come in and give me a kiss?" he asks in a husky voice that makes my heart stop.
I run my fingers nervously through my hair. "W-why would I do that, Mr...." I quickly glance at the name by the door. "Montgomery?"
"Dustin," he corrects me. "Because you look like you want to."
In spite of the fact that it isn't true, I blush. "I was just..."
"Just kidding," Dustin says. "Seriously, though, shouldn't you come in? You're a doctor, aren't you?"
"I am?"
"The white coat." He points at what I'm wearing. "The stethoscope around your slender neck. And that smart look in your eyes."
"You mean the lack of sleep in my eyes."
He chuckles. "Well, come in. You've been waiting for me to wake up so you can check my