Page 26 of Seduction
Goodness, I was counting the days to the end of my residency. I didn’t know what it felt like to have a vacation, but I planned to take one in August. I hadn’t decided where to yet, but I suspected it would be somewhere tropical and exotic. I moaned as I dragged myself out of bed. At least I’d slept comfortably again.
After getting dressed, I found the standard continental breakfast in the kitchen but no flower. I’d forgotten all about the red rose I stuffed in my bag. It had gotten lost with all the other shit I hauled on a daily basis. I couldn’t help but feel that Sparrow was sending me a message and had indeed thought something sexual had occurred between Rich and me the day before.
I wasn’t late so I ate one of the blueberry-glazed-and-sweet-cream-cheese-filled croissants, some apple slices, and some bacon. Next, I put coffee in a to-go cup and added cream. Then I got in the elevator and headed down.
As I walked the path I usually took to the hospital, passing Bernard’s Bakery, I ran into Eloise, who was on the sidewalk, setting up a sign promoting their summer buns, which were melt-in-the-mouth flaky pastries filled with cinnamon-encrusted pecans, warm caramel, and a butter-rum ganache. Each bun was over eight hundred calories, which was why I never ate more than one a month.
“Penina, is that you?” she asked, spotting me before I said something first.
I waved. “Morning, Eloise. It’s me.”
We hugged.
After we released each other, Eloise put her hands on her hips. “Where’s Zara?”
I turned down the corners of my mouth. “She’s not with me this morning.”
“Is she okay?”
“As far as I know.” My tone rang optimistically.
The nosey baker smiled, and I knew she was pressing me for the same information my colleagues at the hospital wanted to know.
“Well, you know that missing Christmas brother?” she asked as I checked my watch. If I stayed a full minute, I would be late.
“Huh?” I asked, distracted.
“One of my customers said they spotted him around here.”
I wanted to get my feet moving as fast as possible. “Spotted who?” I asked, feeling my frown tug at my temples.
She flapped her hand, waving me away. “Go, sweetheart. You hospital people are always in a rush.”
That was exactly what I did, practically running the rest of the way to the hospital.
* * *
My day beganas it usually had. I logged in to the EMR system and did handovers, then I started rounds, then Deb sent me to float in emergency, where I ended up performing an aneurysm clipping that took four hours and a craniotomy to drain a hematoma. Next, I repaired a ruptured blood vessel, which took three hours. I was going on eight hours with only a turkey-and-cheese sandwich that I scarfed down between procedures along with two juice boxes. I hadn’t seen Dr. Sparrow all day, either, and was sort of relieved about it.
I sat out on the patio of the fourth-floor terrace with Angela. We both needed fresh air, food, and a moment to talk about anything but work. She had just told me about her call with Zara.
Angela checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening then leaned toward me. “I think she’s getting married,” she whispered.
My jaw dropped so fast and low that it could’ve hit the floor. “You think?”
She shrugged indifferently. “She sort of alluded to it.”
I scooted to the edge of my seat. “What does alluding to getting married sound like?”
Angela threw her hands up in surrender. “I don’t know, but don’t bust my balls, okay?”
I sat back and relaxed as much as I could. “I’m not busting your balls. I just know Zara’s not the marrying type.”
She checked over both shoulders. “I never thought she was the type to quit the program when she only had one month to finish.”
I raised a finger. “One month, one week, and one day, actually.”
Angela had been frowning at something behind me, so I turned to look. When I saw, I quickly faced forward.
