Page 6 of Egotistical Jerk
When I finally reached the fourth floor, my mouth stretched into a smile again. Gone was the hustle and bustle from the ER. In its place, a serene quiet that made you want to shut your eyes and find your zen.
In the open space, that could easily be called a lobby, sat a large nurse's station. At the very end of the counter were four baskets with names on them sitting in a neat line. One of those names was mine. Dr. Mia Phillips printed in big bold letters.
This was actually happening.
"Morning sugar, you must be Dr. Phillips."
Dragging myself from my daze, I focused on the woman behind the counter. She had to be in her late thirties or early forties. Her brown hair was cut into a short pixie style that accentuated the roundness of her face.
"I am." I rushed forward. "And I'm also late… Do you know where I can find Gillian?"
"I'm right here." She winked and then motioned for me to follow her. "Don't worry, Dr. Hogue called. I know why you're late."
We entered a room I could only describe as a locker room. There was a row of tall lockers stacked against one of the walls and a few cubicles lined up against the other.
Gillian motioned toward the three long benches in the middle of the room.
"I left your scrubs there this morning. You'll notice that the doctor's scrubs are teal-colored while the nurses wear light blue. The attendings wear whatever they want, of course." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you get changed and we'll see you for debriefing in the conference room as soon as you're done."
After she gave me quick directions to said conference room, she took her leave. I wasted no time in stuffing my belongings into the nearest locker and swapping my jeans and tee for the teal scrubs. Once I pulled the top over my head and down my upper body, I caught a glimpse of white. My initials and title were stitched onto the left side, just below my collarbone. I took a moment to trace my fingers over the delicate stitching before hightailing to the conference room, hoping Dr. Ryker was a lot less ticked off than when we first met.
Not knowing someone was standing right there, I sprinted through the door. No matter how hard I tried to skid to a stop, I still barreled into Dr. Ryker's back.
"I'm so sorry."
"Now, that's how you make an entrance," someone mumbled.
I couldn't see who because the instant he was able to do so, Dr. Ryker glared at me. I swear, if looks could kill, I'd be dead and buried five minutes ago.
"You're late," he gritted out.
This man's attitude toward me rubbed me the wrong way. Narrowing my eyes, I straightened my spine and widened my stance. Tucking my arms under my breasts, I glared right back.
"You know why."
With a harrumph, he gave me his back; facing the three other people in the room. "Now where were we before that rude interruption?"
Letting out a slow and steady breath, I calmly joined the other doctors. In a perfect world, I would have liked to grab Dr. Ryker by the shoulders and demand he tell me what the hell was wrong with him.
Because this could not be the man I'd placed on a medical pedestal for years.
My annoyance only grew when he refused to make eye contact with me while he was explaining how everything worked and what was expected of us. His gaze would scan over the room before landing on the woman standing beside me. Then it would travel back to the person farthest from me.
I might as well have not been there at all.
Determination lit a flame under my butt. I didn't need him to like me to prove I was a great doctor. I'd just let my work ethic speak for itself.
Chapter 4
SEBASTIAN
I kept my distance behind the four doctors as we made our way to Mrs. DuBois's room. Five minutes with them and I'd already summed them up. Well, all except one. There was just something about Dr. Phillips that had my every sense on high alert. Determination oozed out of her pores in a way that reminded me of a decade younger version of myself.
I liked that, admired it even. But I was also man enough to admit it scared the shit out of me. When I'd just started out, I'd been so determined to prove myself that I had no regard for rules or regulations. Listening to mentors who'd been where I had been hadn't been on top of my priority list. I'd had a point to make, and I was going to make it no matter the consequences.
If it hadn't been for my father, who knew what mistakes I would have made? Now, I was tasked with being the voice of reason to these doctors. It was my responsibility to mold them into the best possible physicians they could be. I did not doubt that this would be an easy task when it came to Dr. Sandeep, Dr. Brent and Dr. Lawrence.
Dr. Phillips, however, she had this defiant streak that I wanted to both nurture and break at the same time. And for whatever reason, my brain automatically switched to annoyed whenever she was in the vicinity.
