together again. What we needed was to move on, but it wouldn’t be possible with the proximity in which we’d be working, especially if she was planning to head into my area of expertise. It would be a cruel and unusual punishment to force her out of cardiothoracics simply for the sake of a job I had already secured. I was in a position of power, and her face said she knew that.
There was more to her though, more than a great night. I couldn’t shake the idea that she was someone I was supposed to know. We couldn’t be together, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends. I was curious what secrets those hazel eyes held, what richness they could grant to my life. It had been a while since someone had been so interesting that I knew I had to be connected to them, but then Stephanie Christophers apparently could change that.
“Well, it will be great to have you on the team,” I said with as much cheeriness as I could muster. “We’re always looking for new talent.”
“Thanks,” Stephanie said quietly.
I poured myself some coffee and hoped that the caffeine would be enough to stop me from embarrassing myself.
“So, are you going to put her through her paces, Ade?” Angela asked from across the table.
I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, Angela, because hazing is both humane and legal.”
“Probably was when you were a resident, old man,” Jonah laughed, nudging me.
“I’m only four years older than you!”
“And in four years, I, too, will be an old man,” he cackled.
Stephanie watched the whole exchange with wide eyes.
“Wait, so that makes you…” she said slowly.
“Thirty-five,” I stated.
Oh crap. I knew I looked younger than my age, but was she finding it creepy that I had gone home with her? I already knew that she was some kind of genius, having graduated two years earlier than most. That would make her twenty-four.
So, she had slept with a man eleven years her senior and was probably regretting it. Those eyes were unreadable though. I had a feeling they’d be unreadable even if she made direct eye contact with me. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I could guess it was nothing good.
“Yeah, I dragged him through medical school,” Jonah said nonchalantly. “The old man probably wouldn’t have graduated if it weren’t for me.”
“Says the kid that was still stuck in his party phase in senior year,” I grumbled. “The only way you helped me was by making sure your lazy self got to class.”
It went without saying that a kid that graduated four years ahead of everyone else wasn’t lazy, but Jonah still pretended to look aghast at the accusation and went on to tell Stephanie that I was another one who would just be jealous of her genius. I was truly grateful for my friend at that moment, because Stephanie laughed at him; and when she laughed, she could power an entire city with her smile. I couldn’t risk staring for too long though, in case I was blinded.
“So, what was the great emergency today?” Louise queried. “I never asked.”
“I left my fellow in charge, and one of my patients didn’t want someone else performing his CABG,” I sighed. “It was either go or let the fellow be kicked out of the OR by a distressed man resisting anaesthesia.”
“Ah,” she said. “Yeah, I’ve had a mother or two call me in when someone else just wouldn’t do.”
I smiled and settled into a conversation with her about the difficulties of getting patients to trust other surgeons. It was a much easier thing to discuss than my future in the hospital with the stunning girl next to me.
I was only at the brunch for a grand total of forty minutes. I found myself in my car again, with Angela in the front seat and Jonah relegated to the back for being a loudmouth. I had offered to drive them back to the hospital, but my thoughts were anywhere but at my workplace.
The short ride seemed faster than usual, and without registering parking or saying goodbye to my coworkers, I was in my office. There was a pile of papers on the desk, things that needed sorting, things that needed approval. I sat for only a moment, before putting down my current project and standing. It was all wordy jargon. With as calm a mannerism as I could manage, I strode over to the blinds that let me look out onto the ward and