Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“Well, about that.” I prop myself on the side of my desk.
“If it’s bad news, I don’t want it. I already owe you a damn arm and a leg for covering my ass for as long as you have.” Gallo looks like death has warmed over, as if he’s been dragged through hell and back. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him jack shit about Shae and me. Except, I’m not keeping this a fucking secret. She’s too good for that, and I’ve already fought myself over the idea of not going after her long enough. Even if it's not been week or date specific, it’s easy to get lost in the woman who’s Shaelyn Parker.
“Could be, depending on how you look at it.” Gallo walks into my office, closing the door behind him and staying near it. Probably a good idea with the couple of gossip mongers who work here.
“Fuck. Well, give it to me straight.”
“Your patient, Shaelynn Parker.” I put my hands in my pocket, waiting for him to be more than pissed off at me.
“Yeah, something happen I should be made aware of?”
“Nothing medically. I haven’t looked at her chart since we started seeing one another. This happened after I released her from the hospital. It seems she’s in tight with the ladies of our friend group. Don’t know if Lennie told you or not.” He arches a brow. I shrug. At least he’s not pissed.
“Damn, when you boys fall, you fall hard, and you fall fast.” Gallo shakes his head, a chuckle leaving him.
“You’re not wrong. Which, just to let you know, you’ve been missed. Hopefully now that things are getting better, we’ll see you there.” I stand up, realizing the time. Patients will more than likely be stacked in rooms within the next few minutes.
“Barring nothing else happens. Back to Shaelynn Parker. Have you seen her pathology report yet?” Gallo asks, switching into doctor mode. My hackles rise, worry sets in the pit of my gut, and now I’m worried he’ll be delivering news to her she might not like and hearing it alone.
“Nope. She hasn’t either. You let me know if she needs someone, and I’ll be there or make the call to the girls. Shae’s your patient from here on out. If you’re out and there’s a reason she needs to be seen, we’ll use one of the doctors on rotation in the hospital. That also leads me to the next part of business we should discuss.” I go to finish my sentence, but Gallo beats me to it.
“We need a third, and soon. I’ll work on the logistics this week. You take some time off when you need to.” He takes a deep breath. “As for Shaelynn, she’ll be good. Ready to get to work?”
Fuck, I feel like I’ve aged ten plus years while waiting for him to settle the nerves building inside of me. Shae brought it a up a couple of times, only stating she wondered when she’d get the results. I’d listen to her, not offer up any sort of advice, even when I could have told her to check online. But I hate when my own patients do that and get the wrong information.
“Yeah, let’s get this show on the road. The sooner we start, the sooner our day will be over,” I state.
“Happy for you, in case I didn’t say that earlier about Shaelynn.” Gallo opens the door to my office.
“Thanks. Seems like everyone is settling down. I didn’t think it’d happen to me, wasn’t even on my radar. She’s it for me, though. When you’re done with Shae’s appointment, will you show her to my office? We’re going to grab some lunch today.” He moves through the door first. I follow suit, grabbing my white coat off the hook. I still need to do a couple of things before seeing patients, like head to the charging dock to pick up my tablet, stop to grab another cup of coffee, and say my hellos to the staff. We try not to be pretentious assholes. The downside of walking around the front is, sometimes patients are in the waiting area, and they try to start up a conversation with you. Then there are the drug reps. While they help, and we can give out free samples, it also means having to talk to them when I could be seeing my patients. A double-edged sword. The reps do a lot, give more, and while I know it’s a tax write-off for their company to host lunches and dinner, it’s still a time suck.
“Will do. Maybe this will get you in and out of rooms with patients faster. Something worth getting home for.” Gallo isn’t wrong, and since he tosses me a look over his shoulder, he doesn’t see Marissa or her counterpart, Nadine, walking together while I name-dropped Shae and he followed it up.