Page 47 of Wish I Were Here
I shoot a quick glance at Luca. If I say we’re going down, is he going to wonder why a doctor and a janitor are riding down to the basement together? “Uh, up?” I blurt out, slamming my hand on the button with the number ten.
The guy nods and pushes the number seven. Then he looks at Luca. “You?”
Luca gives him a nod. “Also ten.”
We settle in, facing the doors as they close, Luca on the right, the blond doctor in the middle, and me on the left. There’s a moment of silence as we slowly ascend past floors two and then three. The blond guy looks over at me. “Which department?”
“What?” I look up blankly.
“Which department do you work in?”
I remember Dr. Dawson’s badge around my neck. Thankfully, we’re all facing the front, so he can’t see it. Still, I flip it around and cross my arms over it. “Um. I work in—” My mind whirs.What should I say?What if I name a department, and that’s whereheworks? “Uhhh.”
I start to panic, and suddenly, I can’t remember the name ofanymedical department at all. Luca clears his throat as if to nudge me along. I start to sweat.
And then—thank the Lord—the blond doctor slaps a hand on his forehead. “Duh, how dumb of me. You’re going to the tenth floor. You must be in neurology.”
“Yes!” I seize on that answer. “I’m in neurology. That’s it exactly. Uh—you?”
He puffs up his chest just a little. “I’m in emergency medicine.”
I remember the blinking red sign near the entrance. “Isn’t emergency on the first floor? Not seven?”
Luca clears his throat again, and I get the message.Stop engaging, Catherine.Too late now.
The doctor looks at me sideways. “I’m headed up to the cafeteria. It’s on seven?” He says it like I should know that.
“Of course. The cafeteria. I forgot. I’m, uh, I’m new here.”
The elevator begins to slow, and the numbers above the door show we’re approaching floor seven.
“I could have guessed that,” the blond doctor says. The doors slide open, and he steps out but turns to look at me. “I’d definitely remember seeing you around.”
Luca gives an awkward cough.
“Oh,” I murmur, pressing a hand over Dr. Dawson’s ID, just in case. “That’s—uh. Thanks?”
The doors start to close, but the doctor shoves his hands between them, and they slide open again. “Since we’re here, do you want to grab a coffee?”
My eyes widen. “Gosh. I’d love to, but sorry. I can’t. Off to perform an emergency brain surgery.” I hold my hands up in an exaggerated shrug. “You know how it is.” And then I remember I’ve left my ID badge exposed and slam my hand back over it.
The doctor nods. “Sure.” He takes a step back, and I breathe out a sigh. But my relief is premature, because thenhe reaches between the closing doors again. “Maybe tomorrow? Same time?”
With a grunt, Luca reaches out and hits the “close door” button. “I really should be going. Emergency spill on ten.” He holds his hands up in an exaggerated shrug, a mirror of mine a moment ago. “You know how it is.”
“Right. Sorry.” I turn to the doctor. “Sure,” I blurt out to move this along. “See you tomorrow.”
The blond doctor gives me a shiny white grin. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” With a wink, he pulls his hand from the door, letting it slide closed.
I slump back against the wall. “That was close. I almost forgot to hide my badge.”
Luca’s sneakered foot is tapping on the floor, and a muscle twitches in his jaw. “I can’t believe that guy just hit on you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it since Dr. Daphne Dawson is rudely going to be a no-show tomorrow.” I adjust my surgical cap, hoping that no blond strands have slipped out.
“Still, it seems presumptuous of him, don’t you think?” Luca crosses his arms over his coveralls, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was—jealous? But that’s ridiculous, because Luca definitely doesn’t have any reason to be jealous of a guy I met on an elevator when I was in the middle of pulling off a heist.
The elevator rises to the tenth floor, and we stay on it as the doors open and close. Luca hits the B button, waves his ID card to gain access, and we head down to the basement. I begin to worry that someone else might hop on and we’ll end up riding up and down on this thing all night, but I don’thave to worry. It’s close to one in the morning, and we make it to the basement without incident.
