Page 15 of Remedy: Love In Scrubs
"Ah, another doctor who thinks they're God's gift to medicine?"
"Something like that," I admitted. Pops was spot on. Aries Yerba one-hundred percent believed he was not only God’s gift to medicine, but also to Earth. He was talented, smart, and looked good… and he knew it.
"You'll handle it. You always do. Just don't let them work you too hard. You need to take care of yourself too, Skylar."
I wanted to be worked hard, but not in the way he was talking about. I wanted to be worked over like in my dream. If I could have that, being worked to the end of my rope at work probably wouldn’t be so bad.
“Thank’s, daddy. I have it handled, but I think a vacation is going to be needed once my current caseload is resolved.”
"That sounds like a good plan, baby girl. Where are you thinking of going?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe somewhere tropical. Somewhere I can just lie on a beach and not think about medical malpractice suits or arrogant doctors."
"Arrogant doctors, huh?" I could hear the amusement in his voice. "This one must really be getting under your skin."
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. "He's just... challenging."
"Challenging how? Professionally or personally?"
Leave it to my dad to call me out on my bullshit. He must have caught right onto my half truths. Shepherd Wise was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. He also knew me like he knew the back of his hand. So, I wasn’t about to play dumb and pretend I didn’t know what he meant. So, I told him the truth—at least as much as I think he wouldn’t gag over.
"Both, I guess. He's brilliant, but he thinks he knows everything. And he's..." I trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence. My dad didn’t need to hear all of this.
"He's what?” he asked.
Well, I guess he did want to hear it, I thought.
“He’s infuriating. He’s smart. He’s good at his job, and I believe he did everything right in this suit. He’s just…”
“A good man?” finished.
“Why would you jump to that conclusion?” That was an odd way to end my statement.
“Because you sound like you respect him. I know you, baby girl. You are not impressed by much, and I’m not saying you’re impressed, but you’re feeling something,” he paused. “Wait, Skylar Wise, do you have a crush?”
My cheeks heated.
"Daddy, I do not have a crush," I lied, my voice going up an octave higher than normal. "I'm a grown woman. I don't get crushes."
"Uh-huh," he said, and I could practically hear him smirking through the phone. "So, what do grown women call it when they can't stop thinking about a man?"
"Annoyance," I replied quickly. "Pure, unadulterated annoyance."
My father's deep chuckle filled my ear. "Baby girl, I've been around long enough to know the difference between annoyance and attraction. Your mama used to say she was annoyed by me too, right up until our wedding day."
"This is completely different, Daddy. This is work. Professional. I have to keep this man's career intact, and he's making it difficult by being..." I struggled to find the right words that fit.
“Himself?” my dad added for me.
“Ugh!” I let out and rolled my eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes because I’m right.”
“We’re on the phone. You don’t know if I rolled my eyes.”
“Thatughis always followed with an eye roll. Did you forget I raised you?”
“Whatever,” I mumbled like I was a kid.
