Page 42 of Careless Whisper

But Maren wentnuclear.

She waited until the room cleared out. “You almost cost us a transfusion window, Sanchez. If you can’t stay on top of orders, you shouldn’t be in cardiac surgery.”

I stared at her, not sure why she was making thismyproblem.

Go after the resident who fucked up, lady.

“It wasn’t my order. It was still pending from?—”

She cut me off. “So, you’re blaming someone else for your oversight?”

And there it was. The familiar script. The trap. I’d seen it before.

“I caught it,” I said, keeping my voice level. “I fixed it.”

She smiled maliciously. “And you want a pat on the back for that?”

The next day, I was called into Cindy’s office.

“There’s been a complaint filed,officially,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

I already knew.

“By Dr. Loring,” she added.

I nodded.

“She claims you missed a transfusion prep window that put the patient at risk. The resident backed her version.”

Of course, he did. He was the one who fucked up,and it was so nice of Dr. Loring to offer my head for the chopping block.

Cindy looked tired. “I’m logging it as a formal report. I have no choice.”

“You know that wasn’t my fault. Don’t you?”

Cindy nodded. “I do. But…I don’t know what to do, Reggie.”

You and me both, sister!

If I thought Elias would be any help, which I didn’t, I’d have been wrong, so I avoided that disappointment, at least.

Always looking for the silver lining, aren’t you, Reggie?

“I heard,” Elias said whenheaccostedmeas I stepped out of an on-call room.

I was starting to lose weight. The stress of working for Maren was killing my appetite to the point that Luther was getting worried.

“Huh?” I gave him a blank look. I didn’t have the energy to deal with Dr. Elias Graham, not when his fiancée had put me on back-to-back shifts from hell. It was either kick me out of rotation or kill me on it.

“I just think,” he continued, “you could try to be more careful. Maren’s part of a clinical trial, and there’s a lot of visibility. Any small error will make all of us look bad.”

“I know, Dr. Graham,” I replied wearily, my eyes downcast.

He frowned. “Are you feeling okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, Dr. Graham.”

“Damn it, Gigi. You need to protect yourself.”

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