Page 3 of Careless Whisper

It was a petty, predictable move. But I had worked too damn hard to let his grudge dictate my career.

“She’ll be on rotation,” Cindy insisted, unfazed. “You want to postpone surgery because you don’t want to work with a competent nurse, that’s your prerogative, and you can explain your reasons to Dr. Cabrera.”

She rose then.

She was pissed as hell.

Cindy protected her nurses from doctors with a God complex, which most of them had, especially in the cardiology department, because they made hearts beat again.

Whatever!

“Nurse Sanchez, may I request you to wait outside?” She smiled at me to let me know I wasn’t in trouble.

“Yes, of course.” I stepped out, shut the doorbehind me, and lingered nearby—close enough to listen in but far enough to pretend I wasn’t if I got caught.

“These are my nurses,” Cindy spoke in her toneless voice. “They aremyresponsibility. I know each one of them. I know what’s happening in their homes and their lives. I also know who’s good at what and where they slip.”

“This is my department, Cindy, in case you missed the memo,” Eli, bless his stupid heart, said arrogantly.

Attendings would never learn that nurses ruled the hospital, not them.

“And in case this is the first hospital you’ve ever worked in, you know that pissing off your head of nursing is one way to screw yourself over. I don’t know what Stratford was like, but here, we respect one another, and the way you spoke about Reggie in front of her was disrespectful. So take the advice of someone who’s been here longer, shape up, Dr. Graham.”

“Thank you, Cindy. I’ll take that under advisement.” He wasn’t backing down.

Foolish, foolish, man, I thought gleefully.

“Also, I know what happened in Boston,” Cindy stated.

That made me straighten. I didn’t think she’d talk about it.

She knew because I had told her as soon as I heard Elias was coming to Harper Memorial. I had warned her that he would want me kicked out and even asked if she preferred that I resign. She told me she wouldhandle Dr. Elias Graham as she did all ‘these entitled surgeons.’

“What does that mean?” Elias demanded.

“It means that I know you were in a relationship with Reggie, albeit casual. We don’t have a no-fraternization rule here, but I would prefer it if you didn’t piss in the nursing pond.”

I giggled at that.

“So noted.” Eli’s voice was cold.

Cindy was dressing him down like a toddler. I wish I were in there because I’d have loved to see his reaction to being smacked down.

“And from the little I know, it appears that when push came to shove, you and other attendings blamed a nurse for what couldneverbe their fault.” Cindy seemed to have no intention of not speaking her mind. “She’s supporting the attending. She’s nottheattending. If you’re expecting that kind of situation here, where you can pawn your mistakes on the nursing staff, think again.”

“Be careful of the lines you cross with me, Cindy,” Eli retorted acidly. “I’m head of this department, and I’m sure Dr. Cabrera would rather lose you than me.”

“If that time comes, Dr. Graham, I’ll be happy to resign. And speaking of crossing lines, you crossed the first one when you attacked the competency of one of my nurses in front of her without discussing it with me. If you want to take a shot at Reggie, do it outside the hospital so I can letherhandle you without worryingabout hospital protocol. You do it here; I’ll be the one who’ll get in your face.”

Eli dropped his voice, so I couldn’t hear his words.

Finally, Cindy said crisply, “Have a nice rest of your day, Dr. Graham.”

“You too, Cindy.”

I stepped away from the door and waited for my boss.

Cindy saw me and arched an eyebrow. She knew I’d listened to their conversation.

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