Page 32 of Dr. Do-Right
“It’ll be okay, Mal,” I whispered, pressing my lips to the crown of his head. A sigh shuddered out of him again.
“You don’t mind if I crash your off day?”
I could hardly hear him, he was pressed so tightly into me. I frowned down at him, wondering where my confident, assuredboyfriend had gone? Maybe distraction was the key. If he just needed a break from the real world, I could do that.
“Hmm. Actually, you might be able to help me out. See, I had ‘give someone a blowjob’ on my to-do list today, so I’m looking for a volunteer. Any chance you’d be interested?”
His head rose enough to meet my gaze. His face looked hot and dark. Progress.
“Sigmund, go to your crate,” Mal ordered, his eyes flicking down to the dog when he didn’t move an inch from the pillow. They stared at each other. “Siggy. Crate.”
Mal snapped his fingers and Siggy finally hopped up with a grumbling whine, jumping off the bed to settle into his crate. A good trick. We’d been working on it all week.
“I think I can be of service,” Mal growled. I grinned at him, already sinking beneath the covers.
“I think I’m the one doing the servicing here, actually.”
He groaned.
Chapter 10
I was on edge Sunday, dreading having to call my mother during my lunch break. Mal had promised he’d come with me to the dinner she’d been texting me about all week, but I couldn’t do that to him. I’d stick with my original plan: tell mom something came up with Mal’s work, and weather the storm tonight, solo.
I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I’d handled my parents’ disappointments countless times now. Besides, the thought of coming home and cozying up to Mal and Siggy afterwards made it seem less daunting. Somewhat.
I never enjoyed getting on my mother’s bad side, and I already had a pit in my stomach when I stepped out of the scrub room.
“Sanchez, I need you to come with me.” My sneakered feet stumbled to a halt in the hallway outside of the OR. Dr. Caplan, the director at Cedar’s cardiothoracic surgery unit, stood in front of me looking serious.
The pit in my stomach ripped open into a chasm.
“Is everything alright?” I gulped, mind racing over the last few days. Had I done something wrong? In my Mal-induced haze, had I made some horrible mistake?
The look he gave me didn’t ease my sudden spike of anxiety. He seemed apologetic, but uneasy? “Let’s discuss it in my office.”
Adrenaline rushed through my veins. Megan, one of the surgical assistants, passed by, her eyes asking if everything was okay. I shook my head, unsure of the answer. “Well, I…I have to eval this patient…” I looked back at the OR, where just minutes ago, I’d been going about my regular day, assisting with a bypass surgery.
“I’ve already asked LeeAnn to step in on that.” Caplan motioned me forward. “Come with me, please.”
It was surreal, riding in the elevator silently with Caplan. Despite what my parents might think, I’d always been good. Good student, good worker. I’d never once been called into the principal’s office, or anything.
I didn’t know what to say. Was I supposed to say something? I continued to wrack my brain. What was going on? When I asked again, Caplan just shook his head and told me we’d discuss it in his office.
We walked down the hallway in a grim silence, my palms sweating. Fuck, I’d have to cancel dinner plans with my parents. There was no way I’d be able to face them if I was getting fired. My mouth dried out.
Was I gettingfired? Usually, when they fired people, they called security in to watch them clean out their lockers while we all whispered about it in the hallway. Was this a precursor to the locker clean out?
My heart tripped in my chest when I walked into Caplan’s office to see a tall, black-clad security guard standing in the center of the room. Bile rose in my throat.Oh fuck, oh fuck.This was it. I was getting fired today. For what? What had I done?
The guard turned as we entered, and my grip on reality started to slip.
“Asher?” I stared, my brain struggling to comprehend what I was seeing. The hot security guard from the gala was standing right there in front of Caplan’s desk, arms crossed and looking grim.
“Hello, Miss Sanchez.” He gave me a small smile that only curved up the corners of his mouth. “I wish we were meeting again under better circumstances.”
“What?” It was the only thing that came to my mind as my heart thumped faster in my chest. I tried to slow my breathing. When had it gotten so fast? “You… you work for the hospital?”
“No, ma’am. I apologize, I know this must seem abrupt—”
